Getting to know me & my hubby

I've seen this little survey on several blogs lately and since I can never think of anything to blog about other than house hunting lately, I thought I'd play along too.

How long have you been together?

Almost 5 years! We met on July 8, 2006 and our first date was the next day. We got engaged 3 years later and we've been married for 7 months now.



Our first picture together (August 2006?) - San Francisco before a Giants game

How long did you know each other before you started dating?

Oh about 20 hours...

Who asked who out?

He asked me, after I dropped plenty of subtle hints first.

Did you go to the same school?
We went to Sacramento State together my last two years. We met through a community college summer school class (Art History), coincidentally the semester before he was transferring to Sac State.



Graduation - May 2008

Who is the most sensitive?

I am, but J is sensitive for a man - meaning he notices when people are upset, etc.

Where do you eat out most together?

Sushi Cafe, Giovanni's and Chicago Fire. Sushi and pizza in general!

Where is the furthest you have travelled together?

Victoria, British Columbia. It was so beautiful and such a fun trip!



Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC

Who has the worst temper?

I am much quicker to get annoyed, but he is worse when he's really mad.

Who does the cooking?

I do! J can cook frozen burritos, scrambled eggs and pancakes. The good thing is that he's so far from picky it's not even funny! Everything I cook is delicious to him :) I like my cooking most of the time but there have been some serious fails that I refused to eat... and he happily finished them.

Who is more social?

I am, by far. He's become much more social in the past few years though.

Padres vs. Giants in San Diego - 2007

Who is the neat freak?

Neither! We're both medium-cleanliness.

Who is the most stubborn?

Him.

Who hogs the bed?

I don't know, we're equal - but I know that I want a California King!

Lake Tahoe - 2007

Who wakes up earlier?

J is such a morning person. He's always up early.

Where was your first date?

Dinner at Outback Steakhouse, and then we went to the movies and watched Pirates of the Caribbean (whichever one came out in 2006). It was such a boring movie... I have a short attention span for movies I don't like!



How long did it take to get serious?

Fast! A few weeks. We were pretty much inseparable immediately.

Music in the Park - 2009

Who eats more?

J does.

Who does the laundry?

I do - I like to do it! He puts it away half the time, and I always make him match up the socks. I never want to do that. But I control the actual washing the laundry.

Who drives when you are together?

Whoever's car we're taking usually drives. Except when we're going downtown - I always drive because he gets stressed out finding parking! Often other times I'll ask him to drive my car because I prefer to be the passenger... but it's about half and half.

Tacky Sweater Party - 2010

Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong?

We're both good about doing that, I think.

Who wears the pants in your relationship?

It's about equal. Some things are important to each of us and we can compromise.

Who eats more sweets?

Most likely me.

♥

I love my hubby and being married to him! I didn't know how much marriage would mean to me before it happened. It's priceless to have someone that I know will always be there for me and loves me no matter what.

Top 10 reasons I'm glad our offer was rejected

1. The kitchen needs to be remodeled
2. Difficult sellers/selling agent
3. Boring backyard with not enough shade
4. Power pole, electrical lines and sewer manhole in the backyard
5. The walls are dirty
6. Moldy wall in the bedroom
7. Tiny bathrooms
8. Lack of closet storage
9. High price
10. We'll find something better!

There, I feel better already :)

We're going to start looking into a neighborhood that I used to live in when I was in college. J didn't like the idea before because he grew up very close by, so it felt too close to home. But now he's changing his tune thanks to our dislike of a lot of other areas (too new, too master planned, too trashy, etc. etc.)!

I'm not sure if we're picky about location or not... we don't want to live too far out in the suburbs, but we don't want to live in the ghetto. We want to live in a nice neighborhood but can't afford many of them.We want to minimize commute time (and work in slightly different areas). We want to feel safe and send our future kiddos to good public schools. I know we'll find this place (with a house we love and can afford in it) eventually!

Rejected

Our offer was rejected :( The selling agent is really unprofessional and crazy, so it's probably best that we don't have to deal with her. She was never going respond to our offer despite our agent's 10+ calls and emails because the sellers are not willing to accept anything under the asking price. What really gets me, is that the listing specifically says "Willing to entertain all offers." Why did they say that then?! We offered 92.5% of asking, it's not like we super low balled it. Ugh, I'm annoyed. I have hope that we'll find something even better...

Offer update

I just heard from our agent that even though we gave the sellers until tonight at 6 p.m. to respond, they won't be doing so until Wednesday :( Apparently their "schedules aren't meeting up," and my best guess is that they are going to meet in person to put together a counter offer. We expected this. I hope I can sleep the next two nights!

Mango avocado salad

Chili season is over! Lately I'm loving light and springy tastes like this yummy salad I found at SkinnyTaste.com. This is my version.

Image Source

Ingredients

2 mangoes, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 avocados, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 tablespoons chopped red onion

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 lime

Directions

Cut up the mangoes, avocados and red onion. Combine in a large bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lime onto the salad. Toss and serve immediately! I sometimes let it sit in the fridge for half an hour or so, but don't wait too long. It's best fresh and not ice cold.

House hunting 4/17/11

This weekend our Realtor was out of town, but luckily she set us up with a partner of hers so we didn't have to miss out on seeing some new listings.

House #1

 

Pros

• Large rooms.
• High ceilings.
• Like the kitchen.
• Great curb appeal.
• Lots of storage.

Cons

• Pretty sure the neighborhood is just not for us - it's too new and "master planned."
• Seems smaller than it is. It's over 1400 square feet but it doesn't feel that large.
• Small dining area.
• Yucky carpet.

House #2

Pros

• Very big.
• It has a bonus room (basically a fourth bedroom, but without a closet) that we could use as a guest room or office.
• Good curb appeal.

Cons

• Same area as house #1.
• Quite a bit more expensive that house #1. Although it's bigger, the first was big enough. If we wanted to live in that area, we'd choose the smaller house and save the money.

House #3

I'm not going to post pictures of this house, because we made an offer!! Potential stalkers could find the listing with photos I post here, and then they'd know our address. So no pics for now... sorry :(

I'm trying not to get too attached or excited, because lots of things could prevent this from being our home. It's an old house (56 years old) and may have problems that the sellers are not willing to pay for.

FYI with a VA loan like we are using, the sellers must fix any safety-related problems. The VA buyers are not allowed to pay for them, and we will not be given a loan if the sellers won't fix them.

The one thing we know will need to be fixed is a wall in one of the bedrooms that is rotted/moldy. It doesn't appear to be too bad though, and it has a new roof so the source of the damage should be fixed now.

We'll see, if we even get to an inspection! First we have to agree on a price. We're not willing to pay full asking price, even though it's a steal for the area. The neighborhood is fantastic... but we have a budget.

Anywho, we found a house we like!! I was fearing that this would never happen... my stomach is in knots. The seller has until 6 p.m. to respond to our offer!

Pros

• Great school district.
• Adorable neighborhood.
• Big, and it feels big.
• It has hardwood under the carpet, which we'd like to refinish.
• Huge master bedroom.
• Good curb appeal.
• New double-pane windows, new roof and new garage door.

Cons

• Small kitchen, but I have plans for expansion :) It will take quite a bit of work though.
• Small bathrooms, for which I have no plans for expansion... this is something we're willing to live with.
• Old, and kind of dirty.
• The landscaping in the backyard needs help.

House #4

Pros

• We like the neighborhood.
• Right next to a walking path.
• Great layout.
• Fab yard.

Cons

We knew this was a no-go as soon as we walked in. All the wood flooring is waaaay warped. Like, crazy warped and there are waves a foot high in most rooms. It appears that there was either a major flood in the house, or they didn't leave room for expansion that naturally occurs with wood. It's freaky!

Of course they didn't post a picture with the online listing, but I found a similar photo here:

We'd never be approved for a VA loan with this situation going on. Too bad, because it's a great house!

___________________________________________

So where are we now? We're currently waiting to hear from the seller - they can either accept our offer, reject it, or counter offer. This is bananas! :P

Thomas Jefferson's Ten Rules for Living a Good Life

Today on our nightly walk around our neighborhood, I spotted a postcard in the gutter. It was addressed to someone in the area, but at least half a mile away (we weren't sure, but we knew the street was close). It was such a freaky situation because it was dated 2003 - why was it on the street today?!

We (read: I) decided to go on an adventure to find the house it was originally sent to and leave it in their mailbox. I hope it was the right thing to do. I just wondered if they missed it...

So we found the house, which is just blocks from our own, and left it on the porch. But on our way, I read the front of the card which featured "Thomas Jefferson's Ten Rules for Living a Good Life." This woman's father sent her a postcard from Charlottesville, Virginia (home of Jefferson) in 2003. I wonder why and if she ever saw his message before today!

This list features some fabulous pieces of advice, and I had to share them! I think it's so cool that these were written something like 200 years ago (since I totally just Wikipedia-ed him and he died 185 years ago), but these are sooo applicable to my life today!

1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3. Never spend your money before you have it.
4. Never buy what you do not want because it's cheap; it'll never be dear to you.
5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.
6. Never repent of having eaten too little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8. Don't let the evils which have never happened cost you pain.
9. Always take things by their smooth handle.
10. When angry, count to 10 before you speak; if very angry, count to 100.

These are speaking to me - especially #4, #6 and #10!!