The engagement

So Rico is engaged to his lovely gf Susan. I thought I would post some photos for those interested in seeing how it all went down.

Leave it to Rico to propose at a Viking's game.





The big screen says, "Susan, you came into my life and showed me how wonderful it can be. Now I have one question, Will you marry Me? - Rico"

Now I am hoping for a destination wedding!

House guest: Goldy

We have been thinking about getting a dog, but having Goldy around this weekend has proven to me that I really don't have the patience that one would need to be a real pet owner.

While getting up early in the morning to get her out for a bathroom break and a walk hasn't been too much of a challenge, trying to get anything done while she has been around has been near impossible. Every time I step into the kitchen to cook, she isn't far behind - wagging her tail and looking for some food. Whenever I escape to the garage to grab something she is chasing me down like I am leaving for thd day. And the worst part - every time I go into the bathroom - she insists on joining me.

I understand that not all dogs have these needy behaviors and that Goldy just happens to be a very attention hungry dog, but the truth is that she makes me feel so bad when she looks at me with those cute little eyes and I know I can't just love her up all hours of the day.

For now, it just fun to have her around to cuddle up with on the couch. But I am sure happy she isn't permanently lodging with us.

The consequences of constant home projects

Is that I haven't paid any attention to my blog.

I intend for that to change ASAP. Expect posted photos on the home progress and eventually some actual writing projects - since that is the intention of the blog and all.

So domestic

Life in a new home is full of domestic activities - so much so - that being able to make dinner doesn't even seem like that domestic of an activity.

Last weekend, we took on the daunting task of painting. I had a misconception that this was going to be a quick two weekend project, but after realizing that three paint rollers, one brush and two rolls of tape really can't tackle much - I had to re-examine that theory. There are definitely going to be a fair number of white walls in the house.


Some interesting strategies we have come up with to avoid the dreaded activity of fully painting more rooms:

Stripes
Square patterns
White walls

I highly recommend the stripe method... it saved some serious time in painting the bathroom. Plus, who wants to spend that much time painting such a small space?

Why yes, we are home.

Here are some of the photos from the house that we took last weekend when we moved in. I apologize if they are blurry... for some reason the boys thought we didn't need flash at 8 PM.







And some of the awesome scooter as well.

Home sweet home

We moved into our beautiful new home this weekend. Though it is still in a state of complete mess, I can already see it coming along and I feel so thankful that life has afforded me the opportunity to be a homeowner.

I am also so thankful for all the people that came and helped us move our lives into our new home. Let me just say that in purchasing such a large couch, I should have considered how much of a pain it would be to move it.

I will post photos soon, as things get settled and all technology boxes get unpacked.

Hopefully you can all come visit us on Lookout Place really soon!

The final week

Slowly but surely things are getting packed into boxes in the apartment. It is a long and frustrating process, but it will all be worth it in a matter of days when all those boxes are being upacked into our beautiful new home.

My least favotire things to pack? Books and clothes. Books are so incredibly convenient on their shelves, and clothes in their closet. When packed into boxes - those those items are a complete pain.

To take a break from the packing, we stopped by the house to see where things were at. The exterior of the home is in its final stages, so I thought I would post some of those photos.

Progress continues

Ten days and I will be closing on my first home. I can finally begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And even more importantly, I can finally see how everything has come together in the home. The fun stuff, like countertops, flooring and light fixtures have been installed and there has been a great deal of progress on the exterior of the home.

Let's go to the pictures to really get an idea.

Interest rates

One of my most stressful worries was that odd time between the loan approval process and the closing process is the floating period when you are allowed to lock your interest rate.

With a lot of luck and a limited amount of strategy, we managed to lock our rate at 5.5% which felt awesome. I never thought I could be savvy enough to manage that, but we have and just in time too. I wanted to see what the Federal Reserve was going to do last week before we made any decisions, since most analysts were anticipating one more cut. The cut did work in my favor, and this week, rates are back around 6%. Hooray for a poor housing market - said to say it, but that is exactly what has made it possible for me to buy a home.

In other news, we drove by the house last night and the exterior has been completed and a retaining wall is now being constructed. I will post some more pictures of that later.

More progress

This weekend we were able to go into the home and see some of the interior projects. It is incredible to think that this is all going to be done in a mere 26 days. As of this weekend, the cabinets are installed, as well as the fire place. Here are some of the photos from the tour.

Designing a home

One of the benefits of buying this townhome was being able to select the basics for the home. I am so picky that this was definitely a huge plus. Also, I wanted to design an interior that I knew would be appealling for a while down the road. I haven't even moved in yet and all I can think about is resale. Yet another reason why my mother says I am years beyond my true age.

Below you can see some of the selections we made. Note that if you click on the photo, it will enlarge.

I think one of the better choices was some of the mixed textures. The dark gray slate that will be used for the mantle of the fireplace is definitely going to be unique and beautiful. The cabinets are called, "Autumn" which I think is a perfect explanation. The warm glow of that varnish on the maple gives it a varied golden color that contrasts well with the dark maple floors. I have to admit that seeing all of it on a small scale makes it very difficult to imagine. It is hard for me to wrap my head around what it will look like when it all comes together - so fingers crossed we have created something beautiful.

Progress

The best way to see the progress of the home building progress is through a series of photos, so here is a series showing how the work on the home has progressed.

I have complained about this before, but every time in my life that I have moved from one place to another - it has been pouring rain. Nearly every time we go to the house to take photos, it is raining. I am hoping this is an omen that we are going to finally get a sunny day when we move in.

Start:

What I do

What I do on a daily basis is a complicated mess of technology based things. But for those of you that have an insatiable interest in my work life, then here is a sample:

www.youtube.com/umn
www.unews.umn.edu
www.national.umn.edu

I would highly suggest you check all of it out. I only deliver the best in web 2.0.

Also, rate all our videos 5 stars on YouTube. You know you want to.

Inspired -- (finally!)

I am ashamed of how long it took me to sit down and actually write this post out, but it has been stewing in me for about two weeks now so it is about time I share it.

I consider myself to be a fairly crafty person - give me a hammer and I can hang it, give me a staple gun and I can upholster it, give me a thread and I can sew it - but there are certain jobs that require an extra hand in order to finish the project.

Recently, I was inspired by the structure of the stool. The stool is one of the few pieces of furniture that functions on three legs and still serves its purpose fully. The metaphorical perspective behind the structure of a stool is what truly inspired me.

A good friend of mine was talking about the stool as the structure of love. Imagine a couple when they first begin their life journey together. To make their love work, they must build it. Each day, week, month and year these two people work together to build upon their love.

The first leg of the stool represents committment. Together as they make a committment to each other they are building this leg, sanding, widdling and cutting it to the right length.

The second leg is passion. This leg is built with desire to please one another - in the sack and otherwise. With the committment and passion leg attached - the relationship can function, but still isn't quite there.

The last leg is intimacy. The leg is so representative of what makes relationships more than just friendships or more than just sex. While passion gives relationships the fire, the intimacy is what fills you with warmth.

With all three legs built up and working together - two people can truly have love. But like anything made with wood - the stool needs care and attention. Love needs are and it needs your attention.

I believe this metaphor is something that should be marketed to young people in relationships - so we can stop quitting when things get tough and start learning to treat our love with respect by caring for it the way we would for a piece of woodwork we spent so much time to craft.

A blovel teaser

After much contemplation on how to make this blog of use to me and anyone else who may stumble upon it - I have decided to write a blovel. I have to write the first chapter, but until then here is a bit of a teaser, just to make sure you come back and read the whole chapter later.

The frigid cold of 7 a.m. when you are waiting for a bus and it is seventeen minutes late is what I imagine hell to be - if it were inversed. I complain about winter, whether I am in it or not. This is not because I am a chronic complainer or one of those people that likes to make meaningless small talk about the weather - it is because I genuinely do not understand why any people choose to live in this place.

Words to know.

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”

-Coco Chanel

I always appreciate it when someone can say something meaningful and completely unimportant in the same sentence. That is how I feel about this particular quote. It is commonly misunderstood that fashion is something to never be taken seriously. What is occurring on earth is so frequently reflected in the fashions we see prancing down runways and walking through streets. It shouldn't be taken lightly, but rather respected. It is an art form to dress oneself well.

At the same time, it is equally as valuable to have something meaningful to say every time you open your mouth to speak. To do this blog, myself and readers justice I hope that the words I scribe here, the pictures I post and the future of media I discover here - prove to be meaningful. If for no other reason than to justify this post.