it gets easier but....hard day popped up

OK.  So I have not blogged in months because we got the house - were busy with that.  Then Vegas vacation.  Then I got sick - three times fairly major in three months.  First the flu (caught on plane home from Vegas), then a really bad cold, then a four day stomach virus (I did lose 4 lbs from not eating for three days).  So life got in the way.  And in between all that illness?  I got a new job.  OMG I got a new job!!  I only had applied for seven jobs since February because well - I became exceptionally picky...I wanted something within 10 miles (at most) as an administrator which cut down opportunities.  And I had to clearly understand what the company did - and you would not believe how vague a lot of admin job descriptions are about the actual company.  ANYWHO...what leads me to blogging tonight?

So today was my first day at my new job at a dental office.  It's a brand new practice in town, that doesn't actually open til Friday so right now it's just orientation and training.  And there was that dreaded "Let's all go around the room and say a little bit about ourselves."  And yes, I understand that kids is the most important factor for people.  But then my lack of children is just that much more obvious and a *odd man out* feeling.  I can't even put into words just how much it hurt.  Everyone not only said "mother of two" or "mother of three", but then everyone wanted to know the gender, and ages, and names.  And at lunch it was picture time.  And the final nail in the coffin?  One asked me "So....what do you like to do then?" after kid talk.  As if,  you don't have children how on earth do you fill up your life?  And after I explained we were huge Blackhawk fans, read a lot, and I love nature photography (although - no I do not own a nice camera - it's just something I like to do).  She said "And?"  And I felt like "and what?!?"  I felt like screaming hanging out with my husband watching TV or going on little trips to gamble is enough for us damnit!!

Hello feelings of inadequacy!  WHY??!!!??? Why should someone make me feel like my life is not enough.  I felt like it was enough yesterday.  And home alone with my husband mocking people together on "love it or list it" I feel like it's enough.  But yet put on the checklist of womanhood without that box checked suddenly I'm ???  EFF THAT SHIT!!  

Yet Jeff asked me "Are you still excited about the new job?"  And it's like the the job? Sure.  The feeling I have tonight?  Well it's temporary but I know it's there.  Accept it.  Mull over it. Have a small pity party. Throw it aside and move on.    So thanks blog for letting me get it out so now I can go watch mindless TV and move on.

Vegas Trip 2015

I know that this is my third trip to Vegas so you'd think there would be not much new - but Vegas is always changing, and there is much to see and do that you never get everything in during one trip.  But this time we made a list of a few of the things to check off the "must do" list that we wish we had done before.  I know I have still not done all there is to do but I really feel we've know done most of the quintessential "must do".  

Last trip our goal was to try and hit every casino on the strip - and we did hit every single one except Treasure Island and Stratosphere.  So this year the list included going to the top of the Stratosphere...I will say it was a bit of a let down.  I imagined a better view of the strip - and maybe it would have been more impressive at night but eh, it was just OK.  Not worth the $20 per person they charge.  Thankfully we had discount from Jeff's work to lower it to $13.50  - but even at that price I'd only bother to go either at night or if you want to ride one of their insane rides up there (no thank you!).  We did this on St. Patrick's Day because we wanted to avoid all the 20 somethings anywhere near Irish events.

See what I mean? View ws meh.

A second on the "must do" was ride the roller coaster at New York New York.  This was another let down - and I'm getting the two disappointments out of the way because the rest of the trip was amazing.  First off let me give you a tip...Take our your earrings before riding.  This ride makes your head bounce violently back and forth on the shoulder straps so it was hard to enjoy a ride while having little daggers dig into my head.  That said, I had heard it went "through the casino" - yeah no, the last 10 feet goes through a small section.  I mean - as coasters go it was great with the giant drops, corkscrews and upside down loops but nothing cooler than your typical Six Flags.  And I think I've finally become too old at 37 for roller coasters.

Now for the cool things - Hoover Dam trip.  We decided our first full day there we would rent a car and drive the 45 minutes to the Hoover Dam.  It's only $10 for parking and you do not have to pay extra for a tour to walk all over the dam.  If we wanted to learn more about the dam and go inside we could have paid more - but we really just wanted to see this man made wonder.  And it's breathtaking.  In my mind totally worth the time.  We spent about 45 minutes walking the entire damn and snapping photos.  I don't know how much farther away the grand Canyon was but I kind of wish we had added that while we had the car since we were done with the dam by 10:30am.  Oh, and that was the perfect time to leave because just them several bus tours had shown up.  Rent the car at 8:30, get out there by 9:30 and you have the place almost to yourself.

Then we drove back towards Vegas and then 15 minutes past it to the start of Red Rock Canyon.  We were only on the edge of it and it was beautiful.  If I wasn't starving for lunch we would have driven deeper in.  But even at the edge of this unplanned excursion - look how pretty!  We even climbed a huge foothill for 15 min to get a better view.

View of the road leading in

Looking into the canyon 

We went to the Minus 5 Ice bar again which was fun, but we had two free entries because of the online game "My Vegas"  which makes it worth the price of booze ($10 per drink).  The last Activity we did was the High Roller Observation Wheel.  Do yourself a favor and pay the extra $5 to enjoy cocktails in the bar car.  This is probably amazing at night as well but the views of the strip during the day were also so great during the 30 min ride.  I would have really loved to have gone when the bellagio fountains were going off.  Next time we'll do this after sunset for a change.

Finally - aside from all the gambling and activities we had planned - we had certain meals mapped out as well.  As an adult sadly the part I look forward to most is not having to cook or clean for days on end.  So I wanted good eats!  The best meal of my life was in 2013 last trip to Vegas so we repeated it - everything the same - at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in Caesar's.  Some might say why not try a different meal.  Because it's THAT GOOD people!  We also got our burger on at Fatburger (requirement when in Vegas) and tried In and Out Burger for the first time.  No need for debate - Fatburger wins hands down.  We did breakfast at both Mon Ami Gabi in Paris (OMG was that delicious!  Apple Cinnamon Waffle and date encrusted bacon) and at Guy Fieri's Kitchen at the Linq (Good but waaay too much food -Brioche French Toast and pepper bacon).  And the last night our friend Skippy was in town and treated us to possibly the most expensive meal of my life at Ruth Chris Steakhouse in Harrah's.  (I had blue crab crab cakes while the boys had steak).  The rest of the time we looked for the old cafe's or coffee diners that used to be affordable ways to eat in Vegas only to learn they're basically gone.  We ate at Mirage's Pantry twice and each time was great food but $50 for two? Really?  There was a little cafe in Flamingo we had breakfast at one day but even that for two breakfast sandwiches and drinks was still over $35.  Good lord.  I'm fearful of seeing our credit card bill for simply eating in Vegas.

Last Day meeting up with Skippy at 6pm for drinks and dinner

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All in all it was a fabulous vacation with Jeff and I just getting away from it all.  Yes, we will probably be back within the next three years.  And I'm sure we'll come up with more "must do's" but for now, I feel we've done Vegas right.

Pictures of the House

So I told you some of the things we did to the house before moving in (Paint and hardwood floors) and as promised now I'm just showing off.  I'm seriously in love with our house.  But to really appreciate some of it you have to see the before and after to grasp the transformation from just some house into OUR home. After all - everyone has their own sense of style and I know mine is not for everyone.  But it's now very "US".

One that I think would surprise people who know me well is how proud of I am of our dining room.  I don't think I come across as a "formal dining room" kind of person.  And I would agree that I'm not the stuffy type you normally see on like house hunters who insist on a formal dining room - BUT I have the antique set from my Great Grandmother whom I was named after.  And as a single woman I had picked the print that's now hanging above it (You can't tell but it's a photograph of the grand canyon so really ties in with the reds), and the wall sconces on either side (Have desert flowers pressed in the center that are tan leaves and burgundy flowers so it goes perfectly with the print), and dear friends and family have given us the various crystal pieces and they mean a lot to me so suddenly we have a very put together and elegant looking room!  And I'm just in love.  Admittedly this is the room where Jeff had no influence over.  It's all me.  I'm just happy he agreed and liked everything I said.

 

Then the room we obviously spend the most time in - the family room.

I wasn't so sure on Jeff's choice of "Amazon Mist" (aka a sage green) for the kitchen and family room but now I love it because it really picks up the colors of the print we have of the snake river.  Right now we have the ottoman in the corner just holding blankets and Chicago Pillow Pets (Tommy Hawk and South Paw) but I'd like to get two armless chairs from Target for either side of the entertainment center.  Mainly so that when either family comes to visit we have seats for every adult.  

Many believe the heart of the home is the kitchen.  I think I've said that I hate the counter tops (laminate) but if I have not said it yet - seriously I HATE them.  I think it was done poorly by a previous owner because the caulk line around the sink is globby and awful, the backsplash is nasty colors and around the window they got lazy and didn't even cut pieces to fit.  But aside from hopefully getting those replaces next year (and then new appliances to follow) it's a nice layout.  This picture is two weeks old because we've since unpacked more boxes, put the door back on the pantry and installed blinds on the windows.  What I am most thankful for is that the linoleum floor is gone YUCK.  Not that there can't be nice tile or even decent linoleum in a kitchen but seriously that screamed 80's to me.

  

That first door on the left (between family room and kitchen) is the powder room.  The "Windsor Haze" blue color I chose is beautiful in there and really plays well with the Claude Monet print Jeff's parents gave us a few years ago when they redid their master bathroom.  And I spent more time than I care to admit to pick out those towels so the collage pic had to have them when showing my mom how the room ended up.  

The Master Suite - this was a sticking point when looking for a house.  We wanted an en suite that had double sinks and separate tub and shower.  Call us spoiled, but the townhouse had this and once you've had it you really can't go back.  I am a bath lover.  I take 3-7 bathes a week so it needs to be heaven.  

It's hard to tell from the pic but that color is a light gray, our bedroom is a shade darker gray and accent colors of both rooms is khaki so things really flow well from one room to the other.

Now the rest of the house is just bedrooms and the one room you got a small glance of in the foreground of the dining room.  I don't really know what to call it.  In house hunting speak, it's the Living Room - but we don't need a formal living room with the family room just steps away.  So I've referred to it as the "front room" but that sounds so old fashion and southern.  I'm not receiving gentlemen callers there or something.  It's Jeff's desk and office stuff.  But also our bookcases so my parent's joke we should call it either the Library or the Study - either of which sound waaaay too stuffy and more sophisticated than what you should call a room with a hand-me-down La-Z-Boy amiright?  So I've been caught still calling it the front room and sometimes the office.

OK I think that is more than enough pictures.  Sorry to be such a show off but I am so seriously in love with our house.

The HOUSE :)

Many things to catch up on.

First let me say that our lawyer was awesome (what? Did I just say that?) Yeah.  His office found some document that said we got a $3,000 credit yet it wasn't in the contract.  We were like "huh? It's a short sale.  There was never any mention of a credit."  Selling agent said "Oh, yeah I put that in every short sale but the bank that needs to approve the short sale almost never ever approves it.  I hadn't noticed that they had."  So in order to get that three grand we had to scramble the day before closing to get things signed in order for it to go through.  We found out at 12:30 and I worked starting at 2:00 - but you can bet your sweet ass I hauled my butt off to our mortgage company in order to sign it (and fake Jeff's signature haha) to get the $3k.
Oh, and our closing had already been delayed a week because the stupid bank & VA forgot to calculate the entire year of taxes that we'd get as a credit.  They only calculated six months.

So suddenly it was closing day on Jan 15th and we didn't have to fork over $7,500 of what we'd been told way back in December when we had gotten the 401K loan for the down payment.  So since a 401K loan you can't give them a lump sum unless it's the total owed we had to keep that extra (darn) so that meant that we COULD afford the hardwood floors and having the entire house painted!!  And I literally mean the whole house - closets, ceilings, trim work - everything!  AND they did all the patch work and let me tell you, there was some areas where the people had knocked away the drywall bad enough it was down to the metal frame thing that goes on corners.  It was crazy.

And we really wanted high quality hard wood.  Something we may have skimped on before when we had a smaller budget but add an additional $7,500 and we got exactly what I would have wanted if we had an unlimited budget.  So now that house looks almost brand new!  Well, except for that kitchen...that's the dead giveaway on our house being older.  And OMG Ew!  The previous owners were disgusting!  It took me five hours to clean the kitchen (an additional two to clean the refrigerator we got from Jeff's Aunt...).  And another two hours to clean the master bathroom.  And five times vacuuming the upstairs carpets to feel I had got up enough pet hair to build my own dog and cat - this was before I felt it was clean enough to have Stanley Steemer come and professionally clean it.  I'm sensing a theme - am I a clean freak?  Ugh - and if this wasn't enough then I got to go spend several hours cleaning our townhouse in hopes of getting some of our security deposit back.  We'll find out next week how much we get.

And tonight we just had our first date night as home owners - we went to dinner and to Lowe's. $500 later and we headed home.  Oh and another $260 today at Target.com for furniture for the family room (Entertainment center and two end tables) and I'm starting to feel increadibly poor.  But hell that Target purchase check this shit out.  10% off for home items (check), 15% off of order of $75 or more (check) 10% employee discount, 5% red card discount and free shipping.  I saved over $200!

Next post I will show you before and after pics as I'm growing tired of typing.  But seriously - this place looks like a brand new house so yes, lots of money spent in the last three weeks but oh so worth it!