Kate & Kyle's Wedding Weekend!

Ironically, the last post I posted was about Kate's engagement.  And here I am, posting about her wedding weekend!  That makes me a not so consistent blogger.  I'm not going to promise to blog more, because I hate it when people over promise and under deliver.  That's not to say I don't have plenty of stories to tell that could possibly include, an unforeseen hole in the ceiling, stenciling a wall, a garage storage shelf installation, a wooden frame around a mirror, numerous paintings, a trip to Florida, a trip to Oregon, a trip to Boston, and many more that I can't even think of right now.

But, I know Kate's wedding is worth blogging over.  One day, we will want to look back on this weekend and remember just how hot it was.  Because, while the story may be how it was the hottest day all summer long in Arkansas right now, I have feeling that the story will change to it really wasn't that bad and sweat was non-existent as the years go by!

The beautiful bride and groom.  Aren't they just glistening?!

Robert, my cousin Julia and myself arrived on Thursday, August 29th.  The girls all headed to get pedicures.  Where I had chosen to get a pale pink (one of Kate's approved colors by the way), the lady doing Kate's feet was giving her a French pedicure.  She asked me if I liked it and of course I said, yes.  (I mean a) it's my sister who is getting married so why would I ever say no and b) French toe nails always look nice).  But, the lady interpreted me liking it as, 'please, go ahead and paint my nails French, too.'  I didn't notice because I was talking to Kate until it was too late.  So, here I am with French painted toe nails that are already ruined due to beach volleyball after the wedding.  So be it.  I'll have to get my third pedicure in two weeks time b/c I have a wedding this coming weekend, too!  (P.S.  I had gotten a pedicure just before I went to Arkansas in preparation for the wedding w/o knowing Mom was going to pay for us to get one when we got there!)

Thursday night we ate my favorite pizza place---Guido's, duh!--- with Kyle's family (minus his dad and brother who were coming in later that night).  Then, we headed to the house to tie 170 bows on favor boxes.  Surprisingly, that only took an hour with me, Julia and Kirstie tying bows (Kate cut ribbon and Mom trimmed the bows).

Friday, we had a bridal luncheon for all of the ladies in town at the Crumpet Tea Room, hosted by Kyle's Aunt Margo.  The boys of the Wedding Party all played golf at Lost Springs where it ran a little late and caused Kate an ounce of anxiety. We headed to the Botanical Gardens that evening where the Rehearsal was and got a first tasting of how hot it was going to be.  I immediately knew we were going to need fans.  Industrial fans.  Of which, we had neither.  We headed to the Whole Hog Café for the Rehearsal Dinner.  We had a barbeque tasting and wedding trivia.  Who knew that if Kyle was a fruit, he would be a strawberry.  I guessed Kiwi, go figure!  If Kate could speak any foreign language, it would be British English.  That's my girl!  Awards were also given out for 'closest to the pin (winners: Robert, Kevin, Weldon),' and 'longest putt (winner: Hoyt Watson).'  Robert won a closest to the pin award for which he won a Razorback golfing towel that was promptly used as the "sweat" towel at the wedding and is now lost.  He is pretty sad about that.

 

Bridal Lunceon- Kyle's mom to the left and our mom to the right

Bridal Luncheon

Kyle's Aunt Margo who hosted the Bridal Luncheon

 

Bridal Luncheon-- Yes, we look that good!

Kyle's mom also presented Kate & Kyle with a flag that was flown over the Texas Capitol in honor of the marriage of Kate & Kyle Watson.  I didn't know Texas did that, but I think that is AWESOME!  Who knew?!  Small speeches were also given that brought tears to everyone's eyes and displayed all the love and admiration for Kate & Kyle.  Kate & Kyle also gave out bridesmaid presents which included suspenders and a tie if you were a boy and shoes and monogrammed polo shirt if you were a girl.

All of the cousins on the Hesseltine side at the wedding!

Bridesmaids wearing our monogramed shirts!

Saturday, August 31st, was the big day!  Us girls all got up early to begin getting our hair done (I was the lone wolf who did her own hair).  We ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast and started our make up around noon.  Mom did Kate's make up to make it look "professional."  We headed to the Botanical Gardens around 2:30 PM.  I estimate it was approximately 97 degrees outside at this time.

The Botanical Gardens is BEAUTIFUL!  Did you know there are no flies at the Botanical Gardens because they plant flowers that attract dragon-flies which eat mosquitos!  What a blessing!  The photographer also showed up at 3 and so the picture taking begun!  I walked with an umbrella to keep Kate guarded from the sun as well as a battery powered fan.  As much as I wish that would keep us from all sweating, it did not.  We were sticking fans up Kate's dress even to help keep her cool.  One can only hope that the photographer has some mad photo shop skills because she has a lot of shininess and wetness to brush away on all of us!! 

See, now that is a relaxed bride having a good time on her wedding day!

Let me just say that Kate & Kyle were TROOPERS!!  It was HOT.  No question.  But when it would be easy to become irritable and frustrated at the situation, they didn't let that get the best of them.  I think that's so great.  They didn't let a little sweat (okay, a lot of sweat) damper their moods.  Alex Bare, a great young man who lives next door to my parents was the videographer and he captured Kyle's first look at Kate, perfectly!  I can't wait until it ends up on the video.  I got to see a small clip that he showed me while were waiting for them to get past "their moment."   It's going to be awesome and very sweet.

The ceremony was sweet and you could see the love on their faces and hear it in their voices.  I'd say you could see it by the tears on their faces, but at this point its hard to distinguish the tears from the sweat.  I'll just go with they were SPARKLING in the sunlight!  :-)  If anyone went to my wedding, they know that everyone cried the whole time.  You will be glad to know that Kirk & I held ourselves together for 95% of it!!  Yes!! 

Here comes the bride!

They are just sparkling with love!

Once the ceremony was over, we took lots of family pictures with Kate & Kyle while the guests mingled and got started at the bar for a cool drink.  I don't know anything about it, but I've been told there's nothing like a cold beer on a hot day.  While I'll have to take everyone's word for it.. if the saying is true, then this was the perfect day for cold bottles of beer!  We had a pasta buffet for dinner that was EXCELLENT. 

After dinner, it was time for the Father of the Bride speech, Best Men speeches and then my speech with Kirstie.  Let me just say.. my dad was MARVELOUS.  I've never seen him in such rare form.  He was so well spoken and funny.  I had already warned him that he was not allowed to cry because if he did, then there was no way I was going to make it through mine.  I was barely holding it together as it was.  To see my dad cry would push me over the edge.  Dad's speech was just so great.  It was funny, heart warming and advice driven.  It was perfectly clear just how much he loved Kate and reminded Kyle that Kate is a follower and has to be led.  The two best men also gave funny, heartwarming stories about Kyle.  We got to see Kyle's competitive side really come through in memories from them.  If I do say so myself, my speech was pretty darn good.  I had a hard time getting started at first because tears and outright bawling was about in ensue.  I somehow managed to get going and kept myself from becoming a crying mess with a microphone.  Kirstie on the other hand, she kind of lost it.  Her part of the speech was so sweet and it was obvious that Kirstie is really going to miss her Katie.  I tried to keep my speech funny and talked about our pink Barbie car and riding bikes with no hands.  In the end, I reminded Kyle to take really good care of our Katie because we can't be Jessica & Kirstie without her.

Me & Kirstie with the beautiful bride.  You know what they say (slightly out of context, I know), but a chord of three strands is not quickly broken.  That's us.  Three strands.  Never broken.

 

We toasted all of these speeches with real sugar Dr. Peppers in glass bottles.  They were sweet like Kate & Kyle and as dad said in his speech, represents the hope that he will have 23 grandchildren.  OH LORDY!

Kate & Kyle took bites of their cake (sorry folks, no smearing of the cake on faces occurred).  They also had their first dance and Kate danced with dad and Kyle danced with his mom.  Kyle and his mom did this awesome "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO dance right in the middle of their slow dance which was really hysterical and sweet.  I know Kyle & his mom are really close, so it was the perfect dance to show how close they really are.  If you missed it, you really missed out.  Seriously.

Then, the party got started!  Lots of dancing happened and my cousins Dena, Julia and Ann helped lead several of the line dances that were played.  We all would have been lost without them on the dance floor!  I'll give Aggies credit on one thing.. they know how to country line dance!  :-) 

I also want to give a shout out to Kyle's Harvard friends.  It was so cool to see that many people travel far and wide for a wedding.  They all had to fly to get to this wedding.  Obviously, I think if you go to Harvard I think you are there not just for the education, but to network and make connections.  It's refreshing to see that people will travel all over the world to keep up their network and remain friends.  You don't see that all the time and can really speak to the kinds of friendships that Kyle makes. 

Kate & Kyle left to us blowing bubbles in the heat of the night around 10pm.  I could tell they were ready to get out of there and I told them the first thing they should do when they get to the hotel is take a shower.  First thing.  I bet they were just exhausted.  But like I said, real troopers.  They are safely in a resort outside Cancun, Mexico where we have been told we won't hear from them again until this coming Sunday.

So, that pretty much sums up Kate's wedding weekend.  It could have not been a more beautiful, sweet day.  It turned out perfectly.  Sure, it was hot.  But, no one let that get the best of the day.  It was a day filled with love.  Which is exactly how it should be.  I know Kate and Kyle have many journeys ahead of them.  I can't wait to hear their stories as a couple.  They should know that trouble will always find out, but to never be to prideful to ask for help.  That's what our families are here for.  To help when its needed, to laugh with often, to let alone when its best, to love with always.

Right before we headed out for the big ceremony!  The only full family photo I got all weekend.

I know my sister Kirstie is particularly sad about losing her sweet sister to Chicago.  I personally know its all going to work out.  I already live away from my sweet family.  But, I know we can all do it.  It just takes a little more effort and sacrifice to get with your family.  I still make it to all of the big events, just not all of the little ones.  Sure, sometimes it hurts to see everyone having a good time without you, but it makes the moments that I'm with them that much more special.  It will be the same for Kate & Kyle. 

I think I will wrap it up here.  Best wishes to the bride & groom... we all love you!

P.S.  When the video is ready, hopefully my friend Alex will let me post it here for you all to enjoy!

P.S.S.  Since I spent most of my time either a) in pictures, b) fanning a bride or c) holding an umbrella for the bride, I don't have many pictures to post.  The photos will be ready for us in about six weeks, so until then, you'll have to live with what I have found on facebook or took myself!

One of the best pictures that I think we have ever taken together.  The three strands really don't break when you have an awesome mom holding all the ends!!

My own shout-out.  I designed program-turned-fan!!  And Kate & Kirstie printed it, cut it out and glued it. Mom did all of the ribbons, too.  What teamwork. 

No Title-- The Blog Of Everything.

Yes, I know. I'm way behind. This has been the most hectic quarter, ever. We moved, been on a week long vacation back home, been to Corpus and stayed at the beach, watched my sister get engaged, paint and update a bathroom, lead an XBRL project at work, file a 10-Q and see a Tim McGraw & Kenny Chesney concert. Am I missing anything? Probably. But I'm here now. I took a day off work to run errands and get caught up on my personal life. So my mission. Update my blog. (FINALLY, I know).

Sorry for being so lazy when it comes to keeping you update. I can promise you I have some amazing stories.

For one... WE MOVED! We bought our first house. But, let me take you the day before closing day. Rob and I are doing our final walkthrough of the house. We knew we needed to buy a fridge and a washer/dryer, of which we had. But, Rob was the only one present at the home inspection where he wrote down what the brand names were of their kitchen appliances (Whirlpool) and we went from there when choosing our refrigerator. So, on the final walkthrough.. I'm looking at the kitchen and I notice suddenly... the appliances are GE Profile.. NOT Whirlpool. So yeah, we don't have matching appliances. Luckily, they are all stainless steel, so you can't really tell. But... that was moment number 1. Lesson learned: Do not trust a man with the sole job of remembering appliance names.

Moving Day. Our apartment was on the 5th floor about as far away from the freight elevator as you could get. To be exact (my dad measured) it was a quarter mile trip ONE WAY to the moving truck. Lots of walking. I will say this... my movers were AWESOME!! It was amazing how hard they worked... who cares if they wanted cash only? I tipped them mega. It only took from 9:30 to 2:30 and they wouldn't break for lunch. So they walked the miles (for the record it took them 3 hours to load us all up and then only 2 hours unload all of it) and lifted stuff up at least one flight of stairs and then some things all the way up 2 flights of stairs. Boys, you earned it.

No major bumps or bruises came moving day. My family was down and everyone helped unpack boxes and set up the kitchen, mount the tv and install a ceiling fan on the balcony. Robert's family was even able to stop by and we got to have dinner with them. So, it was a great weekend. Now, everyone just needs to come back to see it put mostly together!! Okay, well... we still need a kitchen table, living room accent chair, and loads of patio furniture. Our rooftop terrace feels lonely because we don't have anything up there! And our balcony needs furniture too (our camping chairs don't count).

We've even updated the powder room that is on the 2nd floor. We have painted it blue and installed a chandelier. It only took me 9 paint samples to find the paint color. Don't judge. This powder room is about 6x6x10. So, it was a tight squeeze with a ladder because the ceiling had to be painted. The previous owner had previously painted it "Barely Peach" which translates to "Light Pink" and it just had to go. So, it was me & Rob and a ladder in this small space. Somehow we managed to keep all of the paint on the walls and none anywhere else in the house. It took us a full three days. Friday night we primed, Saturday we painted one coat, and Sunday we painted the second coat. And to really jazz up the bathroom, decided to test Rob's electrical engineering skills and convert a can light into a light for a chandelier. It took us two days to actually get the chandelier hanging. (You never want to be the person who's job it is to hold the chandelier up.. that was mine. It was hard) And then two weeks to get it hanging at the right height and location. It hung in the sink for two weeks because we were super busy and gone over the weekend. But, no worries. It's up! I still want to replace the sink and frame the mirror... but it's getting close! PS. No electrical fires were started and Rob did not electrocute himself. And the chandelier is still hanging to date. I consider this all success.

What else? Oh yeah... the 4th of July week was my family vacation. We went out on the lake where my dad broke a rib attempting to wakeboard, of which he had never done in his life. He forgets he's on the lower side of 55. (He is okay and now recovered). Kate stunned us all because she was the wakeboarding pro.. and she's never the pro at anything athletic. I was kind like, "who are you?" But, it's no joke. She was the pro and taught the rest of us. Well, Rob already knew how but it took him a bit to get it going. We also rented a pontoon boat for one day on the lake where we the boys went cliff jumping (me too!) and just drove around the lake while the ladies sunbathed. ;-) That is what a pontoon boat is for, right??

Mom's still got it.

Kate being the wakeboard pro.

Kirstie not being the wakeboard pro.

I'll not post my wakeboard pics. It's best if you think of me as a skier. ;-)

 

We also got to visit with Robert's family and see Stacy & Ryan. Rob also got to go to Boingo Bounce with Lori and her kids! :-) It was a great week filled with tons of fun and sun.

What else? Oh, we have been to Corpus Christi and stayed with my Aunt & Uncle and their family at a house on the bay that had spot for a boat. My mom and dad happened to be there, too for a high school reunion so we all got to hang out with good cooking and fresh fish. The boys all got to do fishing out on the ocean and us ladies just picked our own things to do. (Mom and I visited with the grandparents).

So another major highlight was getting to watch my sister get engaged in Dallas at the Denton Country Club. It was a total surprise for her and her ring is GORGEOUS! She is one lucky lady and Kyle is one lucky man. They are going to be very happy together. They will get marred in about a year and then head out to Chicago where Kyle is going to work once he graduates Harvard Law. I've got a video and some pictures.

Priceless.

Young love.

 

There's so much that has happened this summer that I can't even put it all on paper. It went incredibly fast. I can't believe Labor Day is around the corner. I've officially been at my "new" job a year. How time flies when you're having fun. Just a reminder to leave every day to its fullest because when looking back, you wonder where it has all gone.

Coming up, Rob and I are going on a cruise that will be just the two of us (first ever vacation since we got married where it is just us two!). We have more major home improvement projects, too. Once the cruise is over, I think we'll pretty much be around here every weekend, so hopefully we can get some stuff accomplished.

 

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DIY Project #2

First, let me preface this story by saying.. I still have my pinky toe.

So, now... on Saturday we began our Antique-ing journey. We were on the hunt for either an old mantle for the house or old window panes for some cool ideas I found on Pinterest. We probably went to about 7 different antique/flea-market places Saturday morning and ta da... we found old window panes.... well, they aren't window panes they are old cabinet doors. Here is what they looked like when we bought them:

Yes, I know. Not in wonderful condition. Paint was peeling off in a big time way. But they are just the right size for a future project. So, I bought them for $40 bucks. $20 bucks a door. The guy originally quoted us $45 for the pair... but our great (not really) negotiating skills saved us $5 bucks. I hope that we paid a fair price. So... that was my first cost... $40.

Well, we thought we can just peel slash sand this paint right off. And yes, a good majority was just falling off with every step we took or minor touch. We set up shop with me in a little stadium seat and Rob in a lawn chair out in our empty parking garage and began peeling and sanding away with me in Rob's work gloves and Rob in his mountain biking gloves. Yeah I know.. we aren't pros. Bad news: the paint that was really on there was not going to just come off. We only had 100 grit sandpaper on us and we were getting nowhere fast on the paint that was really on there still. Rob was just really sanding away... but I'm like, I think we need some paint thinner/stripper. At first, he wasn't for it... but I'm all about efficiency and not having to work harder than I have to. And I could see that even if we sanded for the next 4 days we wouldn't be done.

So, we headed off to Home Depot. Which meant that we bought Paint Stripper and then we had to buy two paint scrapers. So that was another $20 bucks. Why do my DIY projects that aren't supposed to cost very much end up costing me at least $50 dollars? So unfair.

So we get back. Again, we set up shop in the parking garage. Between a BMW & Mercedes. HAHAHAHA. Thank goodness the owners didn't see us spraying that paint stripper near their cars, they would have freaked. And no.. this story does not end up with us spraying this stuff their cars. They are intack. Just how we left them. So, we sprayed my doors in our usual clothes and sandals. And then we started scraping. It tooks us about 2 to 3 hours hours to get all of the paint off of these suckers.

It was also way harder thanI thought it would be. Not to mention that we used this little table that I have and the paint stripper also burned a hole through my table and got black paint on my doors that I then had to also scrape off. This also makes a big gooey mess. I had never worked with the stuff before.. how was I supposed to know??? At one point... I realized that my pinky toe was on fire. Apparently, a piece of stripped paint landed on my bare toe. I had to keep checking that it didn't burn off. So yes... the professionals that we are stripped paint in a parking garage in sandals and in between two $70,000 cars. No big deal.  With a burning toe.

Towards the end, I realized that we were probably going to need to sweep up this mess because it was a big mess. Well, do we have a broom? No. So.. this sparks a trip to Walgreens. So, I pick up the keys and drive across the street to pick up a broom and dust pan. One would think the dust pan would come with the broom.. but no. This required two purchases... plus a bottle of water because I knew Rob was thirsty.... tho why we didn't just get some from the apartment I don't know..but I thought it seemed like a nice wifely thing to do when I got to go to the store while Rob was paint stripping away. That was another $20 purchase. Note to self: Walgreens is not the place to buy ANY cleaning supplies.

Buy the time I got back, Rob had finished up a couple of trouble spots that had needed to be sprayed with the paint stripper a second time. So, I began sweeping up my big mess with this stupid broom whose head kept coming loose, but cost me $10 and I didn't even get a dust pan!!

Then, we finished sanding them down. You can really smell their real wood smell... if I was my dad I would be able to tell you what wood they are made from, but I am not and I have no idea. But they smell good. So, all we accomplished was stripping and sanding them down. Next, I'm either going to stain them or paint them.... but I won't decide that until we move and I know exactly where I'm going to put them.

So, I'm another $80 down and one more DIY project experienced. Luckily, I still have all 10 toes, too. So does Rob for that matter. Here's the cabinet doors after we finished stripping them back to their natural state.

Happy Coasters!

So, this weekend, I decided to become a DIY'er. Wait, don't get too excited. It's just coasters. But, don't they look fabulous?! Rob and I are on a tight budget until we close on our house, so I can't do my usual thing which is shopping. AND, I have like two weddings that are coming up plus Mother's Day. So... that makes sticking to a budget pretty hard because I really, really love buying gifts.

But first, let me tell you how I found the idea. I've joined Pinterest. Finally. I've seen it, I've heard about it... but I never made the jump. That thing is AMAZING. It has given me so many ideas on things I want to try. It is there that I found this fabulous idea. Here is the link to the blog that I found. I won't regurgitate all the steps or anything as this lovely lady did a great job of explaining how it goes down... and she didn't miss a beat. I followed her instructions to the T.

Click Here for How-To Make Fabulous Coasters

Let me just say, my plan was to spend about $20 on this project. That kind of didn't work. Nothing is ever as cheap as I think its going to be. It was mainly because I didn't have ANY of the right equipment. Here's what I had to buy:

I needed Mod Podge, Waterproof Acrylic Spray, Waterproof Glue, a Foam Brush, Tiles, Cork and last but not least... paper to decorate those pretty little tiles with. I started off at Lowe's to get the tile and the waterproof acrylic spray. I decided I was going to make 3 sets of coasters with 6 in a set. For three different weddings that are occurring beginning in June. I bought 20 for two messups (because lets face it... I rarely do anything right the first time... especially when it comes to glue). I also bought some acrlyic spray under the Rustoleum brand. And then, we went to Michaels to get the rest of the supplies.

The cork and the acrylic spray is what kind of crushed my $20 budget. Each of those were about $7.99. So, I think hit about $30-$35 after I had bought everything plus an X-acto knife (how else was I going to cut all those squares for the tile plus the cork that goes on the bottom??)

And on Saturday night the festivities began. It was me and a side table on the floor. But, Rob definitely helped too. The hardest part was the letter that I decided to put on the coaster of the couple's last name. I had to get it sized correctly and then make it a stencil. Let's be real here.... I cannot free-hand 18 letters and them all come out looking the same. So, I traced them. And then colored them in. I'm a huge fan of tracing. Best thing ever. It's like pretending you can draw and the end result makes it look like you can draw. I cannot draw, however.

At first, I was going to cut out the black ones that I had printed out on the computer, but I didn't like how that created a "raised" surface on the coaster. Didn't figure that'd be a stable surface for a cup holding liquid in it to rest on. So, I traced the letters and then used a permanent marker to make it bold. That took forever.

Actually, by Saturday night I had only made it through one letter! Eeek! It was 1 AM before Rob was helping me spray the waterproof acrylic spray. That's where things went wrong. The spray turned all my work yellow. BOO!!!

So, come Sunday, I returned the Rustoleum and bought another brand, Miniwax. And I had to start all over. Well, my two extra weren't enough so I only made 12 because my previous 6 had to be trashed plus the one tester I made. And that took me ALL of Sunday. It was quite the long project for coasters. Seems a little insane when you really think about. It was all due to that stupid letter. It was so time consuming to cut the letter, trace it, and then color it in. Plus you got to add in the dry time for the mod podge and acrylic spray But, never fear... I sprayed my THIRD coat of the waterproof spray at 9 PM on Sunday with absolute NO yellowness.

P.S. I was a virgin mod-podger, but this stuff is pretty darn cool. Gives stuff a nice little texture.

So, here they are. If you're reading this and your last name starts with an F or a W and are getting married, you might be getting some coasters in the mail. Just know.. I made them out of love. I can't guarantee their life span. And, I took them to work to get my co-workers approval... so I think they are legit.

So, here's to my first DIY experience. Happy Coasters Everyone!

 

 

We Found a Home!

Ahh yes. We did it. We found a place, successfully navigated and multiple bid offer and came out on top. Can you believe it? Sometimes I can't either. I will say, the whole process was not quite what I thought it would be. It's pretty crazy. Let me tell ya how it went down...

First off, we went to Dave Ramsey's website to use his ELP's that he has listed on his site. He recommended three of them that were in our general area and then they all contacted us. Literally, almost as soon as I clicked "submit" I had 5 different phone calls. It was a tad bit overwhelming and I didn't answer any of them. Then, when I got home I listened to my 5 voicemails and read my e-mails and figured out who was who.

Then, Rob and I downloaded a Real Estate Agent Interview Questionnaire form from this book that I bought called "Buying Your First Home." We conducted our phone interviews with this questionnaire... I did two and Robert did one. Then, we compared notes. Can I just say that Robert was a WAY better note taker than me?? I kind of just write like "keywords" and write all over the page.... not necessarily by the question I'm asking. The one thing about these "keywords" are... I can't actually remember what they are supposed to mean. They all sounded very friendly though and we kind of went with our "gut feeling" based on their answers and our conversations.

We slept on it for three nights before ultimately deciding, but we decided on Creston from IndyQuest. We set up a personal meeting with him at a coffee shop we really discussed our needs and wants. He gave us tips on some of the developments and areas we were looking at and what a "reasonable" price range was for what we were looking for. Basically, he verified everything we already knew based on just driving around every weekend. Additionally, the Houston Heights has been the number one selling area in Houston since like 2007. With the market crash. So, we knew buying there would be a relatively smart choice.

He set up a list for us to choose our houses from and then we selected 14 for our first round through. But let me stop here for a sec... here's is my one and only beef about this realtor thing. And I think its like this when working with realtors in our budget.. but I could be wrong. But, my realtor didn't really suggest any particular houses for me. I guess from watching HGTV, I expected him to call me up and say, "hey... this house just came on the market" or "I think this house fits your needs, let's schedule a meeting." But, I did all of the real searching for a house. Ironically, the house we ended up putting an offer on wasn't even on his list for me even thought it was in the criteria. So, that's my only beef. But, from talking to other people this seems to be rather normal. What do you think?

So.. our very first house we went to see was 783 Waverly. I pretty much fell in love right away with the area and the fact that it was close to the bike trail. Really, from all the driving Rob and I had done, I felt like this area was AMAZING. No industrial in the direct vicinity and the surrounding area had, for the most part, been completely developed. The house we were looking at was still under construction.

I knew after seeing it that this would likely be "the house," but we made it through all of the others with our agent and then went to see my grandparents and such for Easter. On the following Tuesday we met up with our realtor to look at a few more and then ultimately decide to go with Waverly. Well, on Tuesday... Waverly went off the market. It had been on the market for 7 days. Also, on Tuesday.. we went to see another one (been on the market for three days) and decided we really liked it and wanted to sleep on it. That night it went off the market. So, we missed out on two that we really liked.

Then came 708 8th Street. It was like a sign. It was in the same neighborhood as 783 Waverly, just on the other side. Pretty much the same floor plan, too. Oh yeah.. I forgot to mention... these have rooftop decks!!! AMAZING!! We knew getting one with a rooftop deck would be lucky b/c those are usually outside of our price range. We kept waiting on it though until my parents could come down on that Friday to take a peek.

So, we peeked at 708 8th Street with parents and also took them to another house with the agent. Before we met up with the agent, I took my parents to the areas we were looking in to get them "accustomed" to what a house costs in the city and where we can afford to buy. They were a little taken aback at first. You really got to see it to believe it. It's just not the same as back home, and that's not an over exaggeration either.

That very Friday my parents came down Rob and I decided to put in an offer. By Friday night around 5 our offer had been submitted... and so had one other offer. Rob and I didn't have high hopes. In fact, on Saturday we spent the entire day with parents in the car driving around and looking at houses. We drove all over the place and went into an open houses. Late Saturday afternoon we found out they hadn't accepted anyone's offer and countered back to both of us asking for a full-price offer. We gave it to them but left in our condition that they contribute $5,500 to closing costs..... but there was still doubt in my mind. We were competing against an all-cash offer. Nothing I could do that. Our realtor had also told us that the seller wanted a late closing date and they liked that about us. Well, that we can help with it! We don't have to be out of our apartment until July and we made sure our sellers knew that.

Amazingly, come Monday morning.. the seller had accepted our offer!! Pretty amazing. There were definitely a lot of people out there praying for us, because I just really didn't think it was going to happen. So, yeah!!! That was quite the feeling!!!!

And then, we scheduled our home inspection. I didn't get to go to the inspection because the inspection was on a filing day for me, so no way out of that one. But, Rob took care of things. No major issues other than there had been some leaking on the rooftop deck that had been repaired but the roof still had some sloping issues, but the seller had just replaced the roof and it was under warranty... so that isn't going to cost anyone any money. The rest of things were rather minor... but we asked for the seller to either fix these things or contribute an additional $2,000. They are going to give us an additional $2,000.

And so now... we're mostly set. Our closing date is set for Wednesday, June 13. And my family is coming down that weekend to help us move. Plus, the Meier's are going to be driving in to town to go on a cruise so they will get to see our new digs, too. Including Rob's grandma!! I wouldn't allow a closing date any later than that because I figure it's pretty priceless that Rob's grandma gets a chance to see where we live.

I do want to say one thing though. My husband has been AMAZING. I have been working until 9-10 o'clock at night for the past two weeks. He has stood strong and done all of the phone calls to the realtor and to the mortgage lenders. While we were pre-approved, we wanted to still shop around for the best rate and lowest fees once we had an address. Rob took care of all of that for me. It well paid off. We ended up with the best interest rate we knew were capable of getting and fees that would keep us around our $5,500 that we want the sellers to pay. He took care of everything. I love him. He didn't complain either. He just got things done and kept me well-informed. Everyone needs a Rob. I'm just sayin'.

So, now we're just out finalizing some of the things we need to still get (homeowners insurance) and working with the bank for anything they need. We also have to get a washer/dryer for the house and a fridge. The seller doesn't want to part for those and I'm not willing to pay very much for their used appliances. I also want to get new carpet...but after talking to some carpet people this weekend, I don't think I can afford to pay cash for all my appliances and carpet (and you know me and debt... that's a no-no!) so the carpet is likely going to have to wait until later. Such is life. We have been to three different scratch & dent appliance places as well as all of your major big box stores. Haven't decided where to buy our appliances yet.. but on the look out for a good deal.

There are a lot of things we want to do to the house too to make it our own. For example, it really needs a fireplace mantle. Badly. So, I'm pretty sure I've found a way to build one on our own on pinterest. That's likely going to be Rob and I's first project. Not to mention the house will need drapes, etc ... and I've found some cool things on pinterest for those, too. Ever heard of painted drapes? Me either... but now I have and I'm pretty sure I'm going to try it out. Never been much of a DIYer, but I'm determined to become one! There's also this painted rug thing I want to try, too.

So, anyways, we did it. We're on our way to buying our first home. I'm sure you'll keep hearing about. :-)

The Amazing Houston Home Race

I know, I know... that was one heck of a load of laundry that it took me a whole week to talk about the Amazing Home Race. I got a little bit sidetracked......So, two weekends ago now, Robert and I entered into the Houston Amazing Home Race. We found out about this from interviewing a real estate agent who just so happened to be one of the main sponsors of the event. The game is similar to the Amazing Race TV show. Only it's done in Houston and the destinations are open houses or houses to be built. Once you arrive at the house, you have to go on a scavenger hunt to find the answer to your clue.

So, let me fill you in on our day. We arrived at the Barry Center which is in Northwest Houston off of Highway 290 and Barker Cypress at about 9 AM to get all of our registration done. We woke up at about 7 AM that Satruday morning after not getting home until midnight on Friday night because of the Winter Jam concert. We made sure to where comfortable clothes, running shoes and eat a well-balanced breakfast. Okay, I don't know about well-balanced, I had a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Rob had some Chocolate Fudge Poptarts. And people tease me about Breakfast of Champions.... little do they know!

Anyways, we drove the 30 miles or so it took to get to the Barry Center and waited in line with the rest of the competitors. Clearly, they didn't know that Rob and I are ALWAYS in the top 1% of everything we do. I just hated to break it to them... haha! You had until 10:00 to get registered and ready. We got some lovely red t-shirts and set out to wait the hour and scope out our competition. The people who brought small children we eliminated as any threat. Seriously, people! You cannot win a race if you everytime you get in the car you have to strap your child in a car seat and vice versa when you get out of the car. Why waste your precious $3.80/gallon gas?! So, that eliminated quite a few. Same for people who brought a dog. Seriously, people!

There were a couple of guy teams that seemed rather threatening...or well, their matching sweat headbands intimated me. And then you had people that stood behind us in line who hadn't even bothered to fill up their gas tank before coming to the race (which they specifically told you to do when you signed up online) and whose phone batteries weren't even full. Losers. Okay... tad bit harsh, but as mom says... "Nice people finish last."

We just waited around until it was race time. At that point they huddled us up all together to do like a team chant and explain the rules. Let me fill you in some more on the race. It was all done via text messaging. The people who hosted the race would send you a system-generated text message with an address and a clue and then you would drive to that address and text back your answer. You had three tries to get it right. The further you had to drive, the more points you got for that answer. The system also knew how many people were at a house and was supposed to direct you to an "unpopulated" house to avoid bottlenecks and such.

So, while they are doing the team huddle Rob and I are making sure to stand towards the back so we can make a clean get away. We had already made sure to park close to the exit and facing forwards so we wouldn't have to put it in reverse. However, during the team huddle, we noticed several people had already pulled up their cars to pick up their other team player (required to play in teams of two). I got slightly worried there and thought we had for sure missed the boat.

Never fear, you had to text "Houston" to the number and that took a little bit to get going so even if you had your car already to pull out, you wouldn't have known which way to turn (left or right) at the exit because it took a solid 3 minutes after the team huddle to receive your first address. Even with the small delay of getting to our car, we were probably the 10th car out and we still had to wait to receive our address.

Oh, I should also say that you had the option of passing a house and getting another address. You might have thought that the distance was too far and would be better to stay somewhere closer to waste less time. Our first clue was in Spring, TX which took us a solid 35 minutes to drive to. Robert really wanted to skip it, but I'm super glad that we didn't. It was a solid 5 point clue. We spent most of the time driving anywhere from 2-10 miles around in Spring and then about the last 30 minutes we had to go to Tomball.

Let me talk about Rob now. He was on his A-game. He was the driver and I was the GPS. Tho, I was on my A-game too because I had to get us there while watching the traffic map and quickly deciding the best route. Luckily, all of our navigating through Houston looking at neighborhoods for our own house hunt paid off because I'm not afraid to veer off the main road if traffic is too bad and head down some neighborhoods. Watch out children!

Rob was a crazy driver. Looking back, I think we only hit one small child. Okay, just kidding!!! But we were flying around Houston. And looking for the clues... my Rob was calm and never got flustered whereas my brain kind of stops working when I'm under pressure. This is why I was always a horrible test taker in school. It's like when I'm under a tense deadline, my brain just goes blank.

We honestly couldn't have done anything any better... other than Rob having to go the bathroom! I could have killed him. I told him to go before we left. We had a whole hour of just waiting around, but about 15 minutes into the drive to the first house, Rob's like I gotta go. He held it until the house, but I told him you can just go by a tree. I don't care what you do... I'm not making an extra stop. He went in an open house bathroom. Is that even allowed?? But, it probably only required an extra 1 minute of time. So, I'll let him off the hook.

We battled traffic and some challenging clues that's for sure. Rob's out on a patio laying his hands across it to determine how many hand widths the patio is. He didn't think twice when he doesn't normally like to get dirty. He counted 39 wine bottles in a house and didn't miss one! Helped me spell the word SMOKING when Z=A, Y=B, etc. He never let me down.

It was an awesome bonding experience, that's for sure. We can work pretty well as a team. He never second guessed my directions (like he could.. he had no idea where we were!) and kept calm as we were running around like crazy people. We had a little pen and notepad to help us (which came in super duper handy!!!).

We were a little sore the next day from getting in and out of the car and running up and down stairs in homes. We were on our way back to Spring from Tomball when the race ended and we had to head back to the Barry Center. We had 55 points. Of course, you have no idea if that's good or bad because you aren't anywhere near a competitor in your own car. So, we just had to wait and see.

We got back and waited a little bit as they said they would give you plenty of time to get back because you had to be present to win the awards. 1st place was $10,000 and 2nd place was a Washer/Dryer combo from Lowe's. I'd say there were about 300 people who were there in the morning but only about 150 that finished the day. Oh.. you weren't supposed to tell your score when you got back so that it could remain a surprise. Of course, Rob felt the need to share when asked and we burst a few people's bubbles. But I told him I didn't want mine burst, so he needed to keep those lips sealed.

Well, they announced 2nd place first obviously.... and I started waving my arms and let out a couple of screams. Rob didn't do much of anything because he apparently was thinking "well darn, we didn't win." But, I mean... 2nd place! Out of 300! My view....In the words of a Bring It On movie "2nd place, Hell Yeah!" We drover over 150 miles to get second place. Pretty awesome to me. The guy was giving my certificate and telling me who to contact, etc and people were taking our pictures. They shook our hands and as we walked back people were telling us congrats. I'll take it.

They announced the winners via a phone call so whoever got the phone call started screaming. Lovel to know that they beat us by only 2 points. We were SOO close to winning. We were one house away from taking it away from them. Of course, I kept hoping that no one would answer and that 1st place didn't show up to claim their prize because you know what that means... 2nd place would become first place. No such luck.

We're pretty sad that we were SO CLOSE to winning $10 grand in cold, hard cash but our washer and dryer were worth $1,200 at Lowe's. That's a heck of a prize. Unfortunately, we had no where to put said washer and dryer except as end tables to our sofa that we never managed to purchase.. so we sold them! We sold them for cash to a co-worker and Rob's work and are putting it towards our down payment. Ca-ching!

So, yes... that was our Amazing Race Adventure. Pretty awesome, right?! It was a heck of a lot of fun and a good "team building" event for me and Rob. Great way to spend a Saturday. If only we had the $10 grand... but I think I still have bragging rights.

 

March Madness

No, not the basketball March Madness. I'm talking the Meier March Madness. We have been super busy (in a totally fun way) and we haven't even made it through the last weekend of March yet. So let me get you up to date.

Two weekends ago we went to the Houston Livestock show to see my cousins and their heifers. I know, I know... not our usual style, but we always like to step out of comfort zone every once in a while. Plus, always good to see family. We had a great time catching up with them. This will be the last time my cousins Ann and Julia will be showing since they are graduating high school this May. Can't believe it. Only one young cousin left. Boy how time flies.

I can remember always looking forward to visit the Atzenhoffer's when we would visit Nana & Pop. Lots of swimming dates and playing around in the yard. Nana & Pop used to have this zip line that went from tree to tree and we would spend forever playing outside zipping from tree to tree and swinging on the wooden swings Pop hung on the trees. Lots of Easters together for sure. Anyways, I'm just reminiscing here on old times. We've almost all grown up and are finding our ways in our lives. Amazing how life has a way of doing that.

The next weekend, we actually went to the Houston rodeo! It was Rob and I's first big rodeo. Rob claims he's been to one in Springdale, but thats just not the same thing! I know I went to a rather big one as a kid in Texas but it would have been Abilene or somewhere thereabouts. So anyways, kind of a big deal for us as its one of the largest events in Houston. This event lasts a solid three weeks and there are about 5 concerts a week. And big names come to town. Rob and I bought the tix's to see Brad Paisley. But, before I share about Brad Paisley... lets talk about the rodeo.

The rodeo was great fun! Sorry Rob... but ladies, there's nothing much better than watching a man in a cowboy hat ride a bull. It'll just keep you up on your seat. It was all extremely entertaining.. I didn't feel bored whatsoever watching all the bull riding, horse riding, rope 'em contests and calf wrestling. I certainly couldn't do those events. You couldn't pay me to wrestle a calf, don't care how small. And these men take out of the gate on their horse, lasso 'em (is that the right word??), get off of their horse and then wrestle the calf to the ground and tie three of its legs together. I feel a tad bit bad for the calf, really. It looks so poor and hopeless with its feet tied up on the ground. But, it sure was entertaining. Makes me wonder what PETA thinks of a rodeo??

We then got to watch Brad Paisley. Slightly disappointing that he only played for an hour... but then again, our tickets were only $20 bucks a pop. So probably really can't complain. He put on a good stage and was all over the arena. Check out the pics below.

Really cool stage that spins around too so that everyone can see him. I think I'll definitely be going again to the rodeo. We had a really good time.

So, now for THIS weekend. We have been super busy. On Friday night we went to Winter Jam which was a concert made up of 10 Christian bands. The big artists were NewSong, Building 429 and Skillet. There were loads of other bands clearly (7 to be exact, haha) but we went mainly for those three. Okay well, Rob went mainly for Skillet. It was first come, first serve and the tickets were $10 dollars. We left work at about 4:30 to meet up at the apartment and then head downtown to get some dinner and then go to the concert which started at 7 at the Toyota Center (where the Houston Rockets play).

You know, I just really love Christian concerts. It never ceases to amaze me to watch everyone worship the same God. It's different than going to church. Generally, people who pay to go to a Christian concert genuinely want to be there (not always, of course... but generally). I love to watch the crowd and see how God speaks to everyone through a band's music. Really takes my breath way. Here's a great video of Building 429 for ya. Scratch that... can't figure out how to upload it on my ipad to Blogsy. So.. maybe I'll figure it out on Facebook or something. Instead, here are some pictures!

This one above and below is of Skillet. They like to "scream" just a little too much for me, but they definitely are quite the entertainers.

So, that's what we did Friday night until midnight. Then we got up on Saturday morning at 7 to compete in the Houston Amazing Home Race. I'm going to write a whole separate blog about this later, so I won't go into detail here. Because, it was quite the day. In short, we got 2nd place!!! We were two points behind the first place winner who won $10,000. But, we did win a free washer and dryer... retail of over $1,000. So, we are pretty stoked. It was a great Saturday. We had TONS of fun. Like I said, more details here in a bit.

We went to a celebratory dinner because well.. we just beat about 300 people in a competition!! And then we went to see the Hunger Games. I wasn't too impressed with the Hunger Games as a movie. The book is SO MUCH better. The movie really misses the whole point of the book which is what happens when you left the government or someone have too much power. People are supposed to be starving and barely making it, but you wouldn't really guess that by the movie. I think it probably needed to be R rated to really get the point across... or well, that might not needed to happen. It was just such a detailed book without the movie being very detailed.

Today we have been lounging out by the pool. High of 93 today, but it felt good to just sit outside and relax. We haven't been house hunting this entire weekend! (okay, minus the Home Race... but that doesn't really count).

Speaking of houses, here is where we are on that process, too. We had selected three real estate agents based on recommendations from Dave Ramsey's ELP program and have interviewed all three. We have finally made our decision, we just need to let that person know. We have also begun the process of applying for our pre approval of our home loan. Hopefully all of that will be ironed out this week and then we can begin the true, bona fide process finding our first home! I'm so excited. We even have a new washer and dryer to go in our new home. ;-)

Okay.. more coming in the Amazing Home Race blog, next! First... I must fold some laundry.