So my friend Melanie had a great idea to focus on a few of her favorite things, to 'bring a smile to her heart & remind her of what she's thankful for, and whenever she's in a funk, to think of these things'. Sounds like something we could all use! So here are a few of mine:
- Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies
- Sleeping in (that moment when you wake up and realize you don't have to get out of bed, so turn over and snuggle in for some more sleep!)
- The huge, sleepy grin on Sam's face when I get him out of his crib in the morning
- Morning snuggle time with my boy
- Foot massages
- A nice glass of wine
- Bubble baths
- The smell of summer (fresh cut grass, BBQs, suntan lotion)
- Warm sand between my toes (I don't even remember the last time I felt that)
- My cute pets
- Annual summer trip w/ my parents & brother's family each summer
- Shopping :)
- A new haircut
- Dinner w/ Bill
- Traveling - in general- I really miss it
- A clean, organized house. Ah, how I miss that!
- A good book, one that you can't put down
What are some of yours? Tag, you're it. :)
Would love to hear some of your favorite things too.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Change is in the air
So... the reference to having a tight budget in my last post is related to some big changes!
First, we finally decided to look into moving and getting out from under the huge debt we're in with this town house. The first step was to meet with a real estate attorney who specializes in loan modifications, short sales and foreclosures. What we discovered talking with her and crunching, re-crunching, then crunching some more numbers, was that unless we plan to stay put for the long-term (5-10 more years), we should consider a short sale. (With no back yard, a pretty bad school district, and plans to grow our family, we definitely don't want to stay here). It came as a bit of a shock, since I always thought of short-sales and foreclosures as solutions for either people in a lot of trouble financially, or the irresponsible. The reality is that with the way the market's going and the banks' unwillingness to work with the average person paying their mortgage, we don't have a whole lot of options. The even more surprising advice we were given was to plan to purchase a new home before we stop paying on this house, and before our credit takes a hit. Yikes. Sounds crazy! With the low prices and really low interest rates, it makes more sense to pay a new mortgage then to pay someone else rent when we do move. That's the long and short of it. So we are now officially house hunting! It's been an emotional roller coaster so far. The first week we looked, we found two houses we really liked, both of which sold before we could even consider making an offer. Since then, it's been kind of slim pickins' for our price range. (Oh yeah, that was yet another surprise, that we pre-qualified for a loan on a secondary residence...). As of today, the search continues. We're struggling with whether to buy an older, larger house that needs lots of work (for which we have no cash) or a newer, smaller place with less character.
Add to all of this some big changes at work. My department has been re-structured and my whole team was notified last week that our positions had been eliminated. We've known of the reorganization for months but weren't sure how it would all go down. Basically I will have to re-apply for a job on the new team (with my job share partner). It's exciting and unnerving at the same time. I think the end result will be good for our organization and I'm hopeful that it will mean a new, more interesting and challenging job for Sarah and I. So obviously we won't be signing on any dotted lines for a new house until all this work business is straightened out. Needless to say, I could use your prayers!
First, we finally decided to look into moving and getting out from under the huge debt we're in with this town house. The first step was to meet with a real estate attorney who specializes in loan modifications, short sales and foreclosures. What we discovered talking with her and crunching, re-crunching, then crunching some more numbers, was that unless we plan to stay put for the long-term (5-10 more years), we should consider a short sale. (With no back yard, a pretty bad school district, and plans to grow our family, we definitely don't want to stay here). It came as a bit of a shock, since I always thought of short-sales and foreclosures as solutions for either people in a lot of trouble financially, or the irresponsible. The reality is that with the way the market's going and the banks' unwillingness to work with the average person paying their mortgage, we don't have a whole lot of options. The even more surprising advice we were given was to plan to purchase a new home before we stop paying on this house, and before our credit takes a hit. Yikes. Sounds crazy! With the low prices and really low interest rates, it makes more sense to pay a new mortgage then to pay someone else rent when we do move. That's the long and short of it. So we are now officially house hunting! It's been an emotional roller coaster so far. The first week we looked, we found two houses we really liked, both of which sold before we could even consider making an offer. Since then, it's been kind of slim pickins' for our price range. (Oh yeah, that was yet another surprise, that we pre-qualified for a loan on a secondary residence...). As of today, the search continues. We're struggling with whether to buy an older, larger house that needs lots of work (for which we have no cash) or a newer, smaller place with less character.
Add to all of this some big changes at work. My department has been re-structured and my whole team was notified last week that our positions had been eliminated. We've known of the reorganization for months but weren't sure how it would all go down. Basically I will have to re-apply for a job on the new team (with my job share partner). It's exciting and unnerving at the same time. I think the end result will be good for our organization and I'm hopeful that it will mean a new, more interesting and challenging job for Sarah and I. So obviously we won't be signing on any dotted lines for a new house until all this work business is straightened out. Needless to say, I could use your prayers!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Napa
Bill and I got to escape to Napa Valley for 3 nights last weekend with 2 other couples. I had so much anxiety about leaving Sam for the first time, I don't think I was really even excited about it until we actually landed in Sacramento. My mom came up to my house and stayed with Sam all weekend, and he did just fine. I finally did relax and start to enjoy myself after talking with her just after we got to our hotel.
The weather was great, not quite warm, but sunny and clear. The landscape was beautiful - rolling hills, huge old oak and walnut trees, vineyards as far as the eye can see. Ah...now I am really missing it! The weekend was pretty much all about wine and food. We had a great hotel with a yummy breakfast buffet; after breakfast we would go sit by the open air fire pit and sip our coffee, then hop in the car and start visiting wineries. I really don't know much about wine (just what I like and what I don't like) but I think we tasted some pretty darn good wines. We had some great meals too. We tried to get into Bottega but it was a busy Fri night and we didn't have reservations. We did catch a glimpse of Mike Chiarello though. That was as close to a 'celebrity' siting as we got - our friends went last year and saw Robin Williams at this place. We had dessert there but again no celebrity sitings. :)
These pictures really don't do the trip any justice. I wish I a) had a nice camera and b) knew how to use it. Alas, the iPhone pics will have to do. All in all, a great trip. And I'm glad it was because it may be the last one we can afford for a while. That will be the topic of my next post....
A quick stop for IN-N-OUT burgers on the way to Napa.
Tour of Stag's Leap - there is a cool story behind this winery, one of the first in Napa. The movie "Bottle Shock" was indirectly about Stag's Leap.
Table-side S'mores!
Coffee by the pool.
The weather was great, not quite warm, but sunny and clear. The landscape was beautiful - rolling hills, huge old oak and walnut trees, vineyards as far as the eye can see. Ah...now I am really missing it! The weekend was pretty much all about wine and food. We had a great hotel with a yummy breakfast buffet; after breakfast we would go sit by the open air fire pit and sip our coffee, then hop in the car and start visiting wineries. I really don't know much about wine (just what I like and what I don't like) but I think we tasted some pretty darn good wines. We had some great meals too. We tried to get into Bottega but it was a busy Fri night and we didn't have reservations. We did catch a glimpse of Mike Chiarello though. That was as close to a 'celebrity' siting as we got - our friends went last year and saw Robin Williams at this place. We had dessert there but again no celebrity sitings. :)
These pictures really don't do the trip any justice. I wish I a) had a nice camera and b) knew how to use it. Alas, the iPhone pics will have to do. All in all, a great trip. And I'm glad it was because it may be the last one we can afford for a while. That will be the topic of my next post....
A quick stop for IN-N-OUT burgers on the way to Napa.
Tour of Stag's Leap - there is a cool story behind this winery, one of the first in Napa. The movie "Bottle Shock" was indirectly about Stag's Leap.
Table-side S'mores!
Coffee by the pool.
10.5 months and crawling!
I wasn't sure if Sam would crawl, but he finally has! We finally kissed the sleeping wedge goodbye about a month ago so now he has room to wiggle and move around in his crib. I think he might have crawled much sooner were it not for that, who knows. He still doesn't really like to crawl because he can't get where he wants to go fast enough. We'll keep practicing.
Try to ignore my high pitched voice. (Every time I record Sam I insert my own soundtrack - sorry I know it's annoying). :)
Try to ignore my high pitched voice. (Every time I record Sam I insert my own soundtrack - sorry I know it's annoying). :)
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