Christmas

I had a nice little vacation at home for Christmas- I was lucky enough to get Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off from work- and even luckier that Mike was home for weather : D We spent Christmas Eve at home, we invited a friend of ours over for a few hours, had a couple cocktails and just relaxed. We watched a couple of movies, it was very fun. Christmas Day was nice too- we went for a walk at the park with Buddy, and then went to see The Spirit in theaters. I made sweet and sour chicken for dinner, it was delicious!! 

Today I have to go back to work, but I enjoyed the last two days so much I guess it's ok to get back to the real world! Mike has his fingers crossed that the book he ordered from Borders online comes inthe mail today- he is pretty excited for that!

I wanted to make sure that everyone knows how much I appreciate them- I am blessed to have such wonderful friends and family, I feel so very loved and thankful to be surrounded by the people I know and love, whether I am physically surrounded or just surrounded in spirit- I have been thinking through the holidays about all the wonderful friends and family that Mike and I have been blessed with, and it makes me very happy : )

Guess the Songs

Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.
Step 3: Bold out the songs when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.
Step 4: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!
Step 5: If you like the game post your own! 

1. "If I could tear you from the ceiling, and guarantee a source divine"

2. "A certain shade of green, tell me is that what you need?"

3. "Sunrise, wrong side of another day, Sky high and six thousand miles away"

4.  "Well I woke up in mid afternoon 'cause that's when it all hurts the most"

5.  "I'm waiting for the moon to come and light me up inside."

6.  "The first time I saw you you were chasing down a cyclone all alone in a field"

7.  "No matter where I am bless me with all your light"

8. "Well now friends let me tell you about this cat that I once met"

9. "Hey little dreamer's eyes open and staring up at me"

10. "Well she was just seventeen, and you know what I mean"

11.  "In the darkest hole you'd be well advised not to plan my funeral before the body dies"

12. "People ask where murder city is, where murder city is"

13. "Whenever skies look gray to me and trouble begins to brew"

14. "Maria Maria, she reminds me of a west side story"

15. "Well shake it up baby (shake it up baby)"

16.  "There's no way to tell you, there's no warning bell"

17.  "We are 138, we are 138."

18. "I know she said it's alright, but you can make it up next time"

19. "Hit the road, Jack, and don't you come back no more"

20. "In the distance she saw me comin' 'round, I was calling out, I was calling out"

21. "All I can say is that my life is pretty plain"

22. "Tony Danza cuts in line"

23. "Could you whisper in my ear the things you wanna feel"

24. "Welcome to our fortress tall, take some time to show you around"

25. "Tell me who's that writin', John the Revelator"

26. "Stop! Look and listen baby, that's my philosophy"

27. "Didn't believe when I gave you the diamond"

28. "Now the summer's come and gone, I feel September comin' on"

29. "I'm gonna dancehall dancehall everyday"

30. "Fire eye flashin' bright, come again into my dream tonight"

Other People's Lives

Oh what a fun game!!! : D

1. Put Your iTunes on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.
5. Tag at least 10 friends.
6. Anyone tagged has to do the same, because fun pointlessness spreads like a virus

If someone says, “Is this okay?” You say?
Walking After You (Foo Fighters)

How would you describe yourself?
Lightness (Death Cab for Cutie)

What do you like in a guy/girl?
Miniature Disasters (KT Tunstall)

How do you feel today?
Mothers of the Disappeared (U2)

What is your life’s purpose?
King Rocker (Generation X)

What is your motto?
MFC (Pearl Jam)

What do your friends think of you?
Cheatin' (Gin Blossoms)

What do you think of your parents?
Got you by the Balls (AC/DC- LOL that one is funny!)

What do you think about very often?
Losing a Whole Year (Third Eye Blind)

What is 2 + 2?
Hey Man, Nice Shot (Filter)

What do you think of your best friend?
Fiddle and the Drum (A Perfect Circle)

What do you think of the person you like?
Beautifully Broken (Gov't Mule)

What is your life story?
any dream will do- orlando pops orchestra

What do you want to be when you grow up?
We are the Road Crew (Motorhead)

What do you think of when you see the person you like?
Tourette's (Nirvana- LOL that one is funny too)

What will you dance to at your wedding?
Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk (Rufus Wainwright)

What will they play at your funeral?
Maddest Kind of Love (Big Bad VooDoo Daddy)

What is your hobby/interest?
How do you do? (Radiohead)

What is your biggest fear?
Valley of the Dolls (Generation X- that does sound a little creepy)

What is your biggest secret?
Skin O' My Teeth (Megadeth)

What do you think of your friends?
Cold Cold Heart (Nora Jones- my friends really aren't bad LOL!)

What will you post this as?
Other People's Lives (Modest Mouse)

I am tagging Mikey Reed, Jenny Holloway, Katy Peterson, Courtney Bowlden, McKenna Wadsworth, Debra Kaitschuck, Rachel Barton, Tiffany Bryden, Elyse Gisclair, Marc Bodensteiner, Morgan Durman, Annie Haefner, Dan Hagelberg

SNOW!

I forgot to add last week, it snowed!!! Yep, right here in Southwest Lousisiana we had about an inch of snow. Crazy, huh? People were so funny to watch, it was obvious they had never made snowmen or really played in the snow before, it was great. The snow was gone by about 2 pm, but we had fun with it while it lasted! 

So far this month...

It's been a busy month of December- and we aren't really even buying Christmas presents! I wish we could- we would both love to. But we are getting closer to having the house we want within reach- we are looking to close on January 30th. We can't guarantee that Mike will work through January or February, and we want to make sure the money we have now is saved for that back up plan, we need to know we can pay our first month's mortgage!

But, as far as the house thingy goes, We had the inspection last week- everything went well. A few minor things here and there that will need fixing, most of it being vanity things that we would like to fix. We have spent the last 2 weeks dreaming together of all the things we will do (some things soon, some things eventually) to our first home that we actually own! We are kind of waiting to hear back from the lenders to make sure the appraisal went through and hear that we were officially approved for the loan.

Mike went offshore again last night. I have a tendency to update my blog right after he leaves- I guess it's because I am bored. I am so glad he went back to work, because I am pretty sure he was not on standby pay this last week, but I am a little bummed because there is a Christmas party for his company this Saturday, and this is my weekend off so I was going to be able to go, but more than likely he won't be here. Oh well, I guess we will see.

Work has been going pretty well too. I am finally fairly comfortable with the position I have, I don't feel so timid and having to ask questions all the time. I'm also meeting a lot of nice people that I work with, which is always nice. We are doing a secret santa this week- we picked names and we had to buy 5 $1 gifts, one gift to bring each day. It's kind of fun because you don't have to feel obligated to spend a ton of money, but it's fun to be receiving a gift everyday. 

And in other news, we found out yesterday that Mike's sister is having a baby girl! We are both so excited to know that we will be Auntie Jenn and Uncle Mike : ) We are hoping to be able to see the new baby sooner than later once she is born. 

I guess that's it for now. One of these days I will get back into updating every few days so I won't feel like I have to write a novel every time I log in!

More info on the house

Update for the link I posted to the house at the bottom of my previous post- if you click on the picture of the house, it gives you a few more pics to look at. The last pic listed there has a "v" on it- if you click there, it takes you to more pictures, and at the bottom of that page there are a few virtual tours: of the kitchen/living area, master bedroom, mother in law suite, and the front yard/neighborhood.

I am so anxious to meet up tomorrow with our lender- if she tells me the math is right, we will accept their offer. If not, I am hoping that we will be able to work something out, with another offer, so we can afford it. I think I did the math right, and it will be ok, but again this is our first house so I keep feeling like I am missing something or I may not understand it quite right. 

I feel like I am getting my hopes set on this house- I know that if it isn't right then it's ok, we can just keep looking. We found this one in a week, so it's not like we can't find another one. I can accept that maybe it isn't the right house- but it feels so right!! I will keep praying about it, and try to get it out of my immediate mind so I am not overwhelming myself : )

Blog is finished, and updates on the house

Ok, I think I'm done updating my blog for today... I picked a Christmas theme. I'll have to start thinking about how I want it set up after Christmas- I accidently lost most of the settings for my original layout, but I think I got most of it set up the way I'd like it for now.

Here's an update on the house situation- I put an offer down today. Mike and I discussed it right before he went offshore, and if it comes down to it later down the line, Virgil said I could get power of attorney for Mike for just this offer. The sellers counter offered, and it's not too far off from what we offered. My only thing is they lowered the amount they were willing to put towards closing costs, which means more money for us to put down upfront. I'm meeting with the lender who pre-approved us on Monday- she's going to answer all the questions I have and give me an idea of what we need to do to get the monthly payments as well as the down payment to where we are comfortable- at that point we can see if we will need to put a different offer or even accept their counter. 

The house we're looking at is great- it's over 2000 square feet, and right within our price range. It has a mother in law apartment- at first I was skeptical about that, but it's actually great! We figured that between having Josh live with us, and all the guys that Mike knows through work that need a place to stay, we can most definitely rent it out. Plus, if Josh is staying in one of the rooms, and we rent out the mother in law as well, we would be almost having our house note paid in just the rent we collect! And I figured out the house note to be right about the range we're comfortable with, so even if we don't have renters, we will be fine to pay it as is. 

In addition to the mother in law area, it has 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, and a decent size kitchen. The yard is not huge, but it wraps around the house and the existing fence won't be too hard to fix up for Buddy. It has a nice large driveway, a two car carport, and a garage that was turned into a work shop (Mike's favorite part). The landscaping is really nice too. 

Once we figure out if we are going to accept, we will do the inspections, etc. I will keep you posted. 

I'm going to post a link with the info on the house that Virgil sent to us- let me know if it works for you guys.

122 Downing St, Lafayette, LA 70506 If you click on the picture, it lets you view some pictures of the inside. 

Under Construction

Just wanted to apologize for the way my blog looks right now... I was trying to mess around with the backgrounds last night and got tired before I was done... so I guess you could say it's under construction. 

I'm going this morning to go talk with Virgil, our realtor. I'm off work today and tomorrow, and I plan on spending a little time on the computer- Mike, of course, went offshore last night, after being home all this week while I was working. Figures. But I have plenty of spare time this weekend, so I'll fix my blog and post some more info as to what been going on with us the last few weeks. 

Looking for a house

I don't have a lot of time to write because I  need to get to work, but I have been meaning to update my blog all week and just have been so busy!!

Mike and I have spent the last week looking at houses- our lease is up in February and we have been thinking and discussing buying a house for a long time now. We have finally decided that time time is right- so we have been working hard to find what we want!

We found a realtor named Virgil, he is awesome! He has been helping us a lot this week, we went and sat with him while he explained to us the process (this will be our first home so we had a lot of questions!) and he walked us through a house we had been looking at from afar for the last 7 months or so.

He also found a bunch of houses online for us and we went and looked at some today. I don't have time to go into detail but one of the houses really stood out to us, so we are thinking about maybe putting up an offer. 

I will try to update more this weekend if I'm not too busy! In other news, Christmas is around the corner, so the house is decorated, the tree is up, and I am totally enjoying the cold weather! Yey for actually being able to wear a scarf in Louisiana!!