What I Love...Day 21, 2011

I love...

water heaters.  It is freeeeeeeeezing and I'm just happy that my shower was warm.  Warm verging on scalding water rocks my socks off.  End of story.

Ikea, Burt Reynolds and The Hoff

I've lived in my house for 9 months now...NINE!  Holy cow!  Times flies when you're awesome having fun.  Anyway...I'm not good at decorating.  My house is bare.  Here's photographic evidence. 

You can't argue with photographic evidence.

I bought some pictures at Ikea a LONG time ago and they've just been sitting on the floor since.  Well, today was the day we hung them on the wall.

Assembling our supplies.

As we began, the doorbell rang.  We didn't answer because we were busy.  As we kept taking pictures we decided we should have answered the door so the salesman could take pictures of us both doing our decorating thing.

First, Ikea...what the heck am I supposed to do with this bracket thing?  Your instructions with the goofy looking guy and a question mark sure didn't help me.   We decided to just throw them away.

We are so puzzled...

We measured the wall and the art and made a very difficult formula to figure out the middle of the wall in proportion to the couch.

 Okay, we didn't really.  We just measured a little and hammered a lot.

But we did level the pictures.  We are so super.

Oh so level.

We decided I needed a picture of myself so you know I really did help.  I only took pictures when we stopped and posed these.

Two down, one to go!

And there you have it, folks!  This wall now makes it look like people actually live here.  Now we just need to find something to put on the giant wall across from this wall.

I'm thinking life size portraits of Burt Reynolds and David Hasselhoff...it will be classy.

What I Love...Day 6

I love...

...having a whole weekend to do what I want...well, I take that back. I love having a whole weekend where I don't have to work at my job.

Weekends off are great but holy crap! There's so much to do. Have I mentioned the giant hole in the ceiling lately? Oh and the huge mess that I call a bedroom? Or the boxes that I still haven't unpacked?

Yep, it's been almost 3 months. Don't judge.

What I Love...Day 5

I love...

...that I'm super handy.

Yep. And I'm humble, too.

Bathroom Calamity

I like making movies of myself. I'm also now obsessed with the mini calamity in my bathroom.



Not only do I have this hole in my ceiling but it's also moldy...great. I'm probably going to die. Apparently it's just been a slow drip forever and the drywall finally couldn't hold any more water and it began to crack last night. So due to the fact that my bathroom is moldy and smells like a garden and old men and is connected to my bedroom, I slept on the couch last night.

How's your weekend been?

Prepare to be Super Un-Jealous

I came home from work today to a horrible thing...


a dripping bathroom ceiling. I wish I would have taken a picture of the severe damage done by the water before the severe damage done by the plumber.



If you were laying on the floor of my bathroom, this is what you would now see.

I guess the universe likes to even things out...win a super give-away...have your ceiling fall in on you...the universe is now back in perfect harmony.

Guess What!

I have internet.

I know...you're jealous.

Ok, probably not but I'm pretty excited.

It's Coming...

By "it" I mean the internet...to my house. I've made an appointment to get it set up at my house. Bloggy friends, this means I will write more often...soon.

I've also decided I'm spending my next off track time painting my whole house...anyone up for helping? I'll buy you lunch when we're done!

After the Couch, I'm Getting Internet Access

Seriously, I might as well have moved into a cave. I have no idea what is going on with any of you and you have no idea what is going on with me. Geeze! The nerve!

Here's a short and sweet version of what's been happening in my neck of the woods (after moving, I've also taken to using really out dated terms like "neck of the woods". It's something that happens without TV and Internet. Really. Go look it up.):

I moved in (which super sucked) and got a refrigerator, washer and dryer and a couch (for 2.5 seconds).

First load of laundry. Yeah for being a grown-up. This is the coolest washer and dryer ever though. Don't believe me? Watch the video.



Then when it's done, it sings me a sweet little song. Admit it, you're jealous.

Here's the man installing my mammoth fridge. Really, it looked normal sized at the store. In my condo, it's ridiculous but awesome.

Here's my couch that I had for 2.5 seconds because it was the wrong one. Ugh. Annoying.


Devin is so sad I'm gone:

And that's my life right now...I get excited about appliances, I keep the heat at a very low setting and I go to bed by 9pm. Obviously I've turned into a grandma.

Moving In + Huge Snow Storm = Dislike Times One Million

The weather on Friday was amazing. The weather today (Sunday) was amazing. The weather yesterday ruined my life.

I got my keys late Friday evening so my mom and I went over to the condo to vacuum, clean walls, and clean the carpet. We got done about 9, said "Goodbye new home, see you tomorrow" and went home. Little did I know tomorrow would be a horrible day.

I wake up at 7:30 to begin getting things packed into a pick-up truck only to see that it was snowing outside and the snow was sticking to the ground which means the snow was also sticking to the truck outside. Ugh! I don't want wet things. What to do? Call Budget-Rent-A-Truck.

We got lucky and they had one (giant) truck left. I thought it was going to be really expensive but it's actually quite affordable and I didn't have wet things when we arrived. (As a side note, next time don't park so close to the garage. Courtney's collision with the garage door that almost caused a concussion was not fun and it cost me one worker. She thought that just because she was almost concussed she could get out of working. Geeze. The nerve!)

By the time we headed to the condo it was snowing kittens and puppies. Double ugh.

Fast forward 2 hours. We're almost done. My arms are so tired from holding and lifting boxes that I can't raise them above my head any more. My jeans are soaking wet up to my knees. I can't feel my feet any more. I'm sweaty and gross. And I'm starving. I probably wasn't very friendly at this time.

We saved the mattress for last hoping the snow would let up (it didn't). Then my neighbor shows up and offers to help. We jump on his offer. Thank goodness one of the three guys that live next door is a gentleman.

Hallelujah, we're done. To celebrate, we went out to Mexican...looking like white trash. It was great and we got many stares but I didn't care.

All I've done is set up my bed. I was so sick of moving that I couldn't do anything else.

Stay tuned for pictures.

I Have a Home, Holmes!

I signed my life away today.

I'm officially a home owner...well, almost.

I have to wait for all the money to go through the bank but on Friday (hopefully) I'll officially have a home. Holy crap I'm a freaking grown-up.

Visit this post to remind yourself of the cuteness I'm about to move in to.

P.S. If you'd like to live in this cuteness with me...I need a roommate...call me! (or email, facebook, drop into my classroom, send a carrier pigeon, whatever works for you.)

P.P.S. If you love to paint walls or have some good ideas when it comes to decorating, CALL ME!!

I'm a Grown Up

I put an offer on West Jordan Condo today.


Holy cow. I don't think I've ever been this excited and simultaneously close to vomiting in my life.

Wish me luck!

House Dreams

Here's some background before I get into the dream I had last night.

When we went to see #2--Taylorsville Condo yesterday, another realtor and a client were looking at it when we got there.

This condo is priced right now at $128,000.


Here's the dream:

I went to Tom, my realtor, to tell him I wanted to put an offer in on Taylorsville Condo. So to do this you go to the persons house and tell them what you're offering. When we arrived this same realtor lady that was there yesterday came strolling out of the bedroom and told us that she and her client had just made an offer that was accepted. We asked what they offered and she said $220,000. I was baffled at why you'd offer almost $100,000 more than the asking price but I left and went home.

When I got home I was going to watch TV so I plopped on the couch and pressed the "on" button on the remote. Nothing happened so I looked up and saw that the TV was gone. I then looked around and noticed that doors were open and many of our things were missing.

I freaked out and ran out of the house because I was sure that who ever had stolen our things was still in the house. I was headed to my neighbor's house to call someone. As I'm walking over there a big black dog comes running down the street and then heads to our fence. The dog is barking and going crazy. I see the fence open just as the dog is getting there and a young kid (probably 13 or 14 years old) runs out with the dog chasing him. I'm super freaked so I scream and run to the neighbor's house.

Weird.

House Hunting Marathon

In this post, I told you I started looking for *houses and I was very disappointed. Well, today I also looked and it was a much better experience. Though I still ended up looking in some ghetto areas, the houses were very nice.

We began looking at 9am and weren't done until 2pm. Geesh! Looking for a place to live it exhausting.

Here are my top 4:

#1--West Jordan Condo

This is the outside of the building. One great thing about this place is there is a mammoth amount of visitor parking. Some places we saw had like 2 extra places. Also, this place was built way after I was born (2004 to be exact).


This is the living room. The big glare-y window is a sliding door that lead out onto a deck. Please ignore the old man furniture. The guy that lives here now is about 80 and moving to a retirement condo.


This magical place has 3, yes 3, large beautiful bedrooms. This is the master bedroom. It also has a giant walk in closet in the master. Really, this thing was huge. About the size of some of the bedrooms in other condos.

Here's the kitchen. The man who lives there now was there when we went to look. He kept telling me, "The microwave is an upgrade and the counters and the floor and the cabinets and..." What a cute old man. If I had some single 80 ladies in my life I'd set them up...and then the owner would give me a really good deal.

The only bad thing about this place is that it's just a bit out of my price range. Ugh! I'm hoping that I can get him to come down a bit and hopefully I'll be moving in soon.

#2--Taylorsville Condo


This is the point I got a little ghetto. First, look at this building. It's a bit run down. It was built in 1985. Plus, the condo I'm there to look at is not on this side, it's on the back, with a nice view of Family Dollar's garbage dumpster. When you walk around the building, it gets really dark (there are a lot of large trees) and the grass and plants either all died, were pulled out, or just never there (it's kinda creepy, it would be a great place to live during Halloween). I was not expecting anything nice.


Obviously, I was surprised by what I saw. This condo has been kept up very well and it's super cute (any very in my price range). This is the living room. It has really nice carpet and it's a pretty big space. To the right is the kitchen. There aren't any pictures but it's nice.

This is the master bedroom. Again, it's really nice. I don't know what else to say about it.

This place has 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms (which is really hard to find. Most have 2 or 3 bedrooms with 1 1/2 bathrooms. Ugh! That's annoying!).


#3--Salt Lake Condo (West side)



This place was vacant. It's a really nice complex nestled in a kinda rough area but I'm ok with that.


The front door is the white door next to the window on the left. The kitchen is on the right and that smidgen of blue you see is one of the 3 bedrooms. There is a second bedroom right behind the living room and a full bath between the 2 rooms. If you're standing in the living room facing the kitchen, the master bedroom is to your right.


A better shot of the kitchen. That faucet was a bit messed up. Things were not in the right place and the handle that turns on the water gets in the way. I'd replace that if this were the one I bought.

This is the master bedroom and bathroom. Yes, the carpet is horrible. Yes, I would also replace that.


#4--Salt Lake Condo (East Side)

This place is in a really nice but older area of Salt Lake. It was built in 1964 (my dad was born in 1963). It's really maintained well though. The window in the picture is the window in the living room. I liked this area a lot but the only drawback is that everything I do is on the West side and this condo is way on the East side.


The couple that live here are older and a bit formal and outdated so ignore the furniture. When you walk in the front door, you come into the living room. It's really big and nice.

The kitchen is updated. It's right off the living room. If you go out to the left, you come to a hall. There is a laundry room (it's actually a closet but whatever) an ity-bity bathroom (only 1 in this place), and two bedrooms. I think this place could have so much potential but it needs some work.

So, out of 11 places we saw, 4 were acceptable. Well, more than acceptable. 4 were places I'd actually live.

*I know I always say "house" even though I really mean condo. To me, it's somewhere I'd live and own so it's a house.

It's Been a Very Productive Day...and P.S. It's Opposite Day

Kinda how I'm feeling right now.

Growing Up Part 2

I began officially (I think) looking for a home today. I went and met with the realtor and he showed me a few places. It was very disappointing.

I want something like this:


but can only afford something like this:

Very disappointing.

About 50% of the homes that came up in his system he would say, "I can't let you live there. Your mom would kill me."

I responded with, "Why?"

"Lots of crime...you'd probably be killed."

I may have to reconsider my stance on Sugar Daddies...

Ok. Maybe something really good will pop up really soon.

On a happier note...

How I Met Your Mother starts tonight! I love that show!

I may have ADD

I am not licensed to diagnose anyone (though I do on a regular basis) but I really think I might. I say this because I cannot finish anything. Everything I do is in small chunks. I start a million projects at a time then it takes me forever to finish these million things. Here is a classic example from today:

I began by going to look for places to live. Because I hadn't done any research, the search didn't last long and I went home (plus I needed to use the bathroom, I have the bladder of a 3 year old lately!). I arrive home (used the bathroom) and decided I need to organize all my crap from the past year of school so I begin making piles. This then leads to me seeing my graduation announcements and realizing that I need to send those out asap so I should probably forgo the piles and work on addressing envelopes. As I'm addressing, I think "Man, it's so quite, I'll turn on some music." Which inevitably leads me to my computer where I turn on music then play 2 games of Free Cell followed by a jaunt through Facebook land and a little blog stalking. Then I made lunch and watched some How I Met Your Mother (which is the funniest show ever! Watch these if you don't believe me.)

Barney is hilarious!

Then I picked up my sister from school, finished up some homework and went to get ready to go to school. This is the time I remember I had left my piles of junk and graduation announcements all over the floor along with my music playing. ADD?

Today was my second day as a graduate student. I really like the class I'm taking but because I don't have the experience the other students have, I feel like I don't have anything to say.

I also have an interview at Grant Elementary on Friday. I hope it goes well. I really want this job!

Growing Up

Things I want...no, wait, NEED.

• A teaching job in Murray School District


• A house/condo/townhouse


• A super cute boyfriend or a sugar daddy (I'm not really this serious about a sugar daddy.
  "The Sugar Daddy and Sugar Baby Relationship--The typical Sugar Daddy is an older gentleman who has the financial means to support or help out his Sugar Baby, whether she needs help in paying bills or just wants to enjoy some of the finer things in life that she otherwise couldn't afford. The typical Sugar Baby is young, attractive, and in need or seeking a more financially stable gentleman. She could be a college student, a single mom, a model, or even an aspiring actress.)" BARF! Please ignore the 'I need a sugar daddy' comment. I was trying to be funny but apparently people join websites for this purpose. For a funnier side of 'sugar daddies,' read this blog. In sacrament meeting of all places. Hilarity at its finest!

I've been thinking I would start looking for a place of my own once I graduated college (i.e. right now). I've been making mental lists of places that are for sale for some time now and I went out to really look at them, make some calls, etc. today. YIKES!! I've never bought a townhouse before but I never would have expected them to be so expensive. I would need 10 roommates and a 0% interest rate to afford the places I like and I'm not even looking at super expensive places.

Now, I don't need anything extravagant but I'm not going to live in squalor. I've done that before. Not fun! I want somewhere in a nice-ish area, close to Murray (because I will be working there!). I'm thinking 2 bedrooms so I can get a roommate to share the expense and then one day when I find said 'super cute boyfriend' and he turns into 'super cute husband' we'll have room to grow as a family. Nice carpet is also a must because I won't have money for furniture so I'll be spending a lot of time sitting on the floor.

Ugh! Growing up and being an adult is a lot of work and takes a lot of money.