Now is the time

It is definitely time for me to get back into writing mode. I have enrolled in a creative writing graduate course this semester. This is the first course I have taken and hope it will awaken the side of my brain that is keen to creativity.

With that being said, I feel it is time to get back on the blogging bandwagon again. Not sure what I will write about. For the class, I have to keep a journal about how my writing is going. This blog might be an appropriate forum for that. At this point, I am feeling totally daunted by the prospect of writing. There is something that is slightly paralyzing about the process, because there is no concrete process to doing it. Too often, my approach has been to write when I feel like it. Well, that has resulted in too many stories ending at their climax and scripts going unseens for months. It is time to commit and write it out, even when I don't feel like it.

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.