Home Ownership

Ahhh, the joys of home ownership.  No longer "throwing away" rent money, decorating any way you would like, pride in your yard, extra space to store all those amazing wedding gifts, creating memories and traditions... the list goes on and on.  Unfortunately, so do the repairs.

Let me quickly take you back to May 2012.  We had a decision to make when we moved back to Houston.  Buy a home and move in right away, rent an apartment month to month while taking time to look, or live with the husband's parents.  Many normal and logical people try to limit the amount of change happening at one time.  Not us.  We thought living seperately, working full time, job searching, preparing for a move, and buying a home all at once seemed like a good plan.

HAHAHAHAHA (that was us laughing at those normal/logical people).  

We went with option "buy a home and move in right away".  We thought moving one time from Waco to Houston was such the obvious way to go.  So we did it.  We found our dream home!  Those normal, logical people are boring and don't know what they're talking about.  It's better to get it all done at once.  

Now, I'm not going to go so far as to say our home isn't our dream home.  I love it.  Mainly for the memories and traditions that I know will take place here for years to come.  But I would like to share with you all the things that have happened to us thus far.  After all, this blog is called "It Happens" and boy, has it happened with this house.

Over the first year of owning our home, here are the rennovations we have done (most out of sheer necessities):

1.  New windows in half the house (it use to rain inside our home before the new windows)

2.  Scrapped all popcorn ceilings (popcorn should only be used as a snack, not wall treatment)

3.  Painted every room, hallway, bathroom, ceiling (with threat of only 4 divorces minimal fighting)

4.  New insullation (oops, someone forgot to put any in the house at all... in Texas)

5.  New pipes (if you ever need this, be prepared to part of your first born child to pay for this)

6.  Rod iron fence (this was a neccessity since Vedder attacked a pit bull, lost, and had to go the ER vet on a Sunday to get tubes, skin grafts, and stiches... let's just say the fence was a lot cheaper than having this happen 2 times)

7.  New furniture (some rooms remain empty to this day)

8.  Chimney updates (loooove our wood buring fire place, love the fire staying inside the fireplace even more)

9.  Landscaping (neighbors stopped for months to thank us for doing this, best money spent yet)

10.  Extermination (infestation of wasps who didn't realize we now possessed the title to this property)

11.  Dry wall/ceiling repair from leaking AC unit (this also lead to removing the carpet form our bathroom and yes you read that correctly, carpet in the bathroom...)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (that is the logical and normal people laughing at us)

Perhaps waiting a beat before jumping into new jobs, new home, new city could have been a good idea.  Maybe those normal/logical people are on to something...

Next on our renno list... total redo of our master bathroom.  Sounds exciting right?  Well, I'll save that story for another post...  

In Another Life

You know when you're cleaning your house or driving somewhere or working out and you play that game with yourself "if I didn't do (insert job here), I'd be _______"?  Well, I know what I would do.  If I wasn't a teacher, I'd be a singer/song writer.
Whenever I am doing chores around the house, I love to put on some great music and belt it out as loud as I can.  Of course, the husband absolutely cannot be present for such an event.  He might not understand my using a remote control as a microphone while I dance around on my stage and get the crowd going. And yes, I do have a crowd; thank you Vedder and Gabby for being my most loyal fans. Sometimes, my audience even sings along!  I haven't decided yet if that is a good or bad thing...
But I love music.  I always have.  I like all kinds of music.  For example, here are some upcoming concerts the husband and I will be attending: Pat Green and Randy Rogers Band (Texas Country) then Godsmack (rock) and Staind (alternative).  I'm not a particularly talented singer, much to my dismay.  However, that doesn't stop me from living my dream every time I have to clean my house!
Today I am currently jamming to some Eric Church.  He has a song called "Carolina" and it's amazing!

If you didn't do your current job, what would you do???

A Valentine's Love Story

Last year on Valentine's Day, a boyfriend picked his girlfriend up and took her to a hole in the wall Italian place.  For some reason, the electricity was out, but because they cooked using gas, they were still opened.   There were only 10 tables in the whole place and every table/chair was mismatched.  Candles were everywhere, creating an unexpected romantic glow in this tiny little restaurant.  To the girlfriend's surprise, her boyfriend had brought a wonderful bottle of wine and chocolate dipped strawberries.
The evening was perfect.  He opened all the doors, said all the right things, took her to his favorite place... she was falling in love.  She shared with her boyfriend that this was the best Valentine's Day she had ever had.  And it really was.  No one had ever put so much effort into one night just to make her feel special.  The thing that made him different was that he didn't just put effort into one day, it was everyday.  He just added special touches on Valentine's day.
As they shared a wonderful meal, the girl realized this was the last valentine she would ever have.  This would be her valentine for the rest of her life.

A year later, that same girl's doorbell rings.  She opens the door to find a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  Smiling, she takes the flowers to her kitchen and admires them before sending a thank you text to her fiance.  Later that evening, when her fiance returns home from work, he tells her that the flowers are only part of the gift.  He shows her an e-receipt for 2 tickets for a concert she's been dying to go see.
They get ready and head to their favorite Chinese restaurant for a delicious Valentine's day meal.  You see, fortune cookies played an ominous role in the beginning of their relationship.  They both reminisced about last year's Valentine's day, with no electricity.  While that Valentine's will always have a special place in her heart, this one is pretty darn close.

Those who can't do...

I feel like I did everything "right".   I graduated from college with a degree in marketing and economics.  I earned an internship with Nestle while in college that parlayed into a career upon graduation.  Within a month of graduating from Pittsburgh, I moved home to Cincinnati, visited Houston to find an apartment, moved everything I owned to Houston, said good-bye to everyone I knew, and started working full-time at this mega-huge company.
Before I knew it, I was wrapped up in a career that I wasn't sure I even wanted.  Fast-forward to three and a half years later and you will find me unemployed and searching for a job.  I've shared my job search with y'all and have been opened in the fact that it's hard.  Interview after interview, I felt something was missing.  I was looking for a job to fill my time and not a passion to enrich my life.
Now, I know I complained about my old job, but there was one part of it that I truly loved.  Training new associates.  And not to brag, but I was good at it (at least that's what my trainees said after I told them I had the authority to fire them).  But I felt like I was making a difference.  That's when it dawned on me...
Recently, I enrolled in program to become a certified teacher.  I am so excited.  I'm also very nervous.  I had orientation last night and I can't wait to officially begin.  There's a saying, "those who can't do, teach."  And I'd have to say that in my case, the first part is fairly accurate.  I'm hoping the later is as well.  Nonetheless, I already feel better about this career decision than any other decision I've made in the past.  The problem is that I was 18 when I chose business as my career.  Actually, I was 17 when filling out my college applications and haphazardly checked the business school box.
So I am embarking on a new adventure and I will keep y'all updated as my progress continues on this endeavor.

On another note... Happy Friday!!!! It's 70 degrees here today.  Gabby won't come inside :)

Paying Tribute

America lost one of its greatest citizens a few weeks ago.  He was a humble farmer from rural Pennsylvania.  He truly personifies what it means to be not only a great American, but a great person.  I would call Major Richard "Dick" Winters a hero, but, true to his soul, Major Winters declines being a hero, saying instead that he "served in a company of heros".  Take a minute today and read this article or listen to the clip about this amazing man.  And please try to always remember that we owe our country and our freedoms to men like Major Winters.

Major Winters