Homeownership

Don't look too closely at how gross we look.
This was after all day moving, wearing the same clothes several days in a row, and probably a few skipped showers.

Owning a home is great. The day we realized that we could afford a mortgage payment was the best day ever. It is what all renters look forward too. There are things about owning a home where renting just doesn't do it. For example, we can put as many holes in the wall as we want. No more ridiculous rules demanding "there can only be one nail hole per wall" or "you can only use nails the gauge of a staple." To add to that, if we want to paint a wall, by golly we're painting a wall, and we don't even have to get the colors approved. No more of the insane asylum super gloss white that is easy to clean and nice and generic. Owning a home lets us decide who comes to visit and how long they stay. No landlords setting visiting limits that family shouldn't be stay for longer than a month because then they should probably collect a deposit from them. If we want someone to visit or even live with us, the door is open. Most importantly, the cats aren't an issue. The way I see it, kids have the potential to do more destruction that my cats; but landlords don't understand. Having our own house gives us full cat lady privileges: if we want more cats, so be it. And don't forget about the tax and investment benefits of owning a home. Now that is something to look forward to. But when you're renting, you can just tell that money good bye. Sounds great! But don't get me wrong, owning a home is only so fantastic until there are the downsides. Like the carpet. Surely it didn't look this worn when we looked at the house, did it? The house is about 2000 sq ft: that'll be a pretty penny to replace it all. And hear that rattling of the fridge? Yep that's the compressor going out. Better count on that being a couple hundred dollar fix. Or the fears of the "what if"s. What if the house burns down along with all of our belongings and life savings? You can't just replace that and now the lingering doom of possibility is on us. Or how about the water heater just unexpectedly going out. Yeah, its a $10 part but we can't fix it. Sure give me a book, give Bobby a computer, but a water heater?! That is out of our league. So we can call a repairman and he can come tell us that it just seemed to be a wire that had a slight short and worked when he giggled it. Yeah, we actually could've done that and saved money had we known; but that's just the joys of homeownership. You win some and you lose some; but in the end, you are just thankful for actually having a home and know that things could be worse.

I cant believe it is December.

I can't believe it is already December and Christmas is here

Barry's mom gave us her old Christmas tree so we have a beautiful big tree for our house

Life is such a blur! 

This was our first time hosting Thanksgiving. Bobby's parents and brother and sister in law and my mom and step dad and sister were all here. It was a full house! And there were our two cats and Bobby's parents' two dogs. 

It was great having everyone here though. I really wish we were closer to everyone

This is one dog Tige. She stole the kitties' bed and they were not very happy

The semester is coming to an end! I can't believe I only have one semester left. That is what is most surreal. The stressful thing is that I have so much to do in the next two weeks. Between school and English Society and I just got promoted to co manager at work. Ahh! Just one thing at a time!

My First Football Game

This is a look from Bobby of the people next to us were weird lol 

I went to my first ever BYU football game this weekend. I know, its pretty pathetic I havent been after being a BYU student for 4 years. And I know, it was the worst first game to go to. It would have been bearable had it not been raining but the rain was just miserable. But we got free legacy tickets from Bobbys work so it was worth it. We got a free pre game lunch and snacks at half time, so it was way cool.

Also! Selby moved in this weekend :) it has been a blast thus far even though homework is a downer.

Trinket Shelf

There is a shelf in my house full of special things. I have moved three times; but in every house, the shelf follows holding a main spot on our walls. I like to call it my trinket shelf. But it is really a shelf of memories. Shells, a shard of pottery, pictures, wine bottles, animal figurines, miniature famous landmarks. While some objects do not hold as much meaning as others, I cherish them all because they remind me of the neat things life holds. There are also things on that shelf that would hold no meaning to others. Like a splintered drumstick: a memory of the roughest concert I was lucky to live through. A slip of paper from a cheap Chinese fortune cookie: holding my engagement ring, the promises and future of my husband and me, and the irony of the fortune. Yet that would never be apparent to an innocent onlooker. The items would be just that of trinkets. Thus giving the shelf more meaning to the curator. A shelf of deep meaning.

Food

I have been on a cooking frenzy as of late
I really do enjoy cooking.
Luckily my mom was a pretty good cook to teach me
and also luckily Bobby is pretty open minded when it comes to food.
He will eat anything I make for him.
He may not always enjoy it (tuna casserole)
But he always eats it which I am grateful for

I normally feel like I dont have time to cook dinner
but in reality, cooking doesnt take that long
and it is so much cheaper
and so much healthier

We have a ton of left overs though.
I used to love left overs
but a lot of the time when I cook the meal I am not even hungry for it anyways

There is something about cooking for yourself that is unappetizing
I am not sure why

Last week I made a one pot tomato basil pasta (Google the recipe [Martha Stewart], it is one of the cleanest meals I feel like I have ever eaten. Also it is beautiful)
I also made this green curry soup which was very good

And then tonight I made a potato soup from scratch

We have been trying to buy more organic and healthier groceries.
It kind of kills me inside to pay $5 for milk and way more like this for things that could be so much cheaper
but it is way better
and its not that much more really
also our health will benefit from it

also, as I was peeling potatoes this morning
I was thinking about how good my mom is at peeling potatoes with a knife
that is hard work.

and on a side note
I went to UCTE this last week
it was fabulous as always
I am getting more and more excited to teach

also I am trying to use Twitter more

And I need to come back to loving reading and writing

I have been listening to a lot of audio books
I just need to write more

heres to this blog and writing more