Click here to listen (13 minutes).
Friday, April 9, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
No House Go
Well the house we were stalking is on the NO list now. Our friends can't rent it. They want to sell, and we can't afford to buy. POOPy! However, it was mentioned to Jon yesterday that the very first one of their properties we looked at about a year and a half ago (or more) may become available for rent with the option to buy. (This is the one that had some need for repairs, but had a very favorable visual, layout and space.) It's probably $1k/mo too.. but no numbers have been shared with us.
We drove around last night looking for desirables in the area we like. We found 2.. one being way out of our price range, I found after calling for info today. The other I suspect to be the same, but am waiting to find out about it on Monday.
It's looking more and more like in order to find something with the space we need, we can only afford dumps.. or nice places in dumpy neighborhoods. *Steam!*
If only I could put up with our current situation for another year or 2, so we can pay off our student loans, then save up for a friggin' down payment for a good house in a good 'hood with the right amount of space for our needs... BUT I CAN'T! It's so frustrating! We could probably cut the wait considerably if we could save more on all the gas I use up for my stupid drive every day. Boy what we could save if I worked from home all the time.. minus what we'd need to spend on internet that works good. At least we're getting a break on rent this month from having a hole in our shower... encouraging?
We drove around last night looking for desirables in the area we like. We found 2.. one being way out of our price range, I found after calling for info today. The other I suspect to be the same, but am waiting to find out about it on Monday.
It's looking more and more like in order to find something with the space we need, we can only afford dumps.. or nice places in dumpy neighborhoods. *Steam!*
If only I could put up with our current situation for another year or 2, so we can pay off our student loans, then save up for a friggin' down payment for a good house in a good 'hood with the right amount of space for our needs... BUT I CAN'T! It's so frustrating! We could probably cut the wait considerably if we could save more on all the gas I use up for my stupid drive every day. Boy what we could save if I worked from home all the time.. minus what we'd need to spend on internet that works good. At least we're getting a break on rent this month from having a hole in our shower... encouraging?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Do Things With Friends - Even If You're Busy or Tired
Depending on your personality, you may or may not feel the need for an often-there, same-sex friend. I used to have a number of these, and it was nice. I don't anymore, and it's not as nice. When I'm busy I don't think about it, but when I'm not and just feeling like it'd be nice to hang with someone I don't see every day, I wish for one. There's a number of people I know that I'd love to hang out with on a regular (weekly, every other week) basis, but people are busy, and other things are priority over their friendships I guess.
Why don't we make more time for our friends? Why do we seclude off when we get married, get older, when we multiply, etc? Not all of us do this, because (from the aid of Facebook allowing us to monitor others' lives without really making an effort to) it's obvious that groups of friends do still get together regularly. But not all of us do. Some of us may desperately want to. Others of us couldn't care less. And others of us do care but are unaware of those looking for them to be around more.
I wish we lived down the street from some of our friends here. It seems like that physical proximity would make a lot of things much easier. Suddenly people become more available when your place is easier to get to. It's true, it seems.
Just some thoughts: Tell people you want to hang with them. Be more open to people telling you they want to hang with you. Realize it'll do you good, even if it's not in your routine. I think as we get older, busier, more tired, what have you.. we come up with reasons not to keep certain human connections with those we're not related to. If you submit yourself to the idea of stepping out, you'll find you were glad you did.. AND it'll give you energy, to cure your "busy" or to cure your "tired".
I'm starting to take action. A girl's night had been started among gals at church, which I took lead of when it started to fizzle about a year or so ago. I'd like to do something every other week with it, but sometimes I just don't have the money to go out that often. I'd love to host my home, but I feel like I can't effectively do that where we are. People who live downtown are less interested in a trip to the boonies I think. So I feel like to really get this going may partially pivot upon our move. I'm looking forward to getting it going more regularly though.
I'm doing something!
Why don't we make more time for our friends? Why do we seclude off when we get married, get older, when we multiply, etc? Not all of us do this, because (from the aid of Facebook allowing us to monitor others' lives without really making an effort to) it's obvious that groups of friends do still get together regularly. But not all of us do. Some of us may desperately want to. Others of us couldn't care less. And others of us do care but are unaware of those looking for them to be around more.
I wish we lived down the street from some of our friends here. It seems like that physical proximity would make a lot of things much easier. Suddenly people become more available when your place is easier to get to. It's true, it seems.
Just some thoughts: Tell people you want to hang with them. Be more open to people telling you they want to hang with you. Realize it'll do you good, even if it's not in your routine. I think as we get older, busier, more tired, what have you.. we come up with reasons not to keep certain human connections with those we're not related to. If you submit yourself to the idea of stepping out, you'll find you were glad you did.. AND it'll give you energy, to cure your "busy" or to cure your "tired".
I'm starting to take action. A girl's night had been started among gals at church, which I took lead of when it started to fizzle about a year or so ago. I'd like to do something every other week with it, but sometimes I just don't have the money to go out that often. I'd love to host my home, but I feel like I can't effectively do that where we are. People who live downtown are less interested in a trip to the boonies I think. So I feel like to really get this going may partially pivot upon our move. I'm looking forward to getting it going more regularly though.
I'm doing something!
Friday, March 5, 2010
My Husband & The Earth's Gravitational Pull
We were driving to McKay last night (so Jon could find a financial read and I could get Invasion of the Body Snatchers, ha).. but the best part of the trip was the conversation he started on the drive there...
"So, supposing you could dig your way from one end of the earth to the other, and supposing you could dig through the center of the earth without being burned alive.. and supposing that, while most likely you'd come out in the ocean on the other side, it wouldn't phase the other hypotheticals of this idea... you would fly out the other side, and fall directly back into your hole. Since gravity is at the center of this scenario, you'd continue to keep falling back through the center of the earth and coming out both sides for a time, with the energy of your fall decreasing slowly as you go. Eventually you'd end up stuck at the center of the earth since that is where gravity is pulling you toward.."
(click image to view larger)
My question was this:
"What would happen to you if you were in the exact center of the force of gravity? Gravity isn't just a downward force there.. it's a coming-from-all-directions force, as shown by the green arrows. How would this not-downward but all-surrounding force affect the human body? I bet you would physically age better if you lived in the center of the earth."
Noted: Conversations of this nature are one of the things I absolutely love about who we are when we're together :•)
"So, supposing you could dig your way from one end of the earth to the other, and supposing you could dig through the center of the earth without being burned alive.. and supposing that, while most likely you'd come out in the ocean on the other side, it wouldn't phase the other hypotheticals of this idea... you would fly out the other side, and fall directly back into your hole. Since gravity is at the center of this scenario, you'd continue to keep falling back through the center of the earth and coming out both sides for a time, with the energy of your fall decreasing slowly as you go. Eventually you'd end up stuck at the center of the earth since that is where gravity is pulling you toward.."
(click image to view larger)My question was this:
"What would happen to you if you were in the exact center of the force of gravity? Gravity isn't just a downward force there.. it's a coming-from-all-directions force, as shown by the green arrows. How would this not-downward but all-surrounding force affect the human body? I bet you would physically age better if you lived in the center of the earth."
Noted: Conversations of this nature are one of the things I absolutely love about who we are when we're together :•)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Holy Moly Ads!
I think I can fit a FEW MORE messages in this crampy email layout, don't you?(Don't worry, they will find a way to do it.)
This file is one of 157 or more that I have to change the messaging on, between February and April. Oh man. For each week during that span, there are 10-15 different versions for different states.. AND some states have Kmart versions too! All I can say is, at least they're not doing all the states every week, sheesh. I'm looking forward to May 1, and the end of this campaign.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Stalking Mr. House
Is it weird that I like to stalk this little house we're interested in? Our friends from church own this quaint 3 bedroom, 1970s era house in a nice quiet neighborhood in East Brainerd with great highway access. They have been renovating it to sell (or hopefully to rent with the option to sell in our case) for the past number of months. I talked to Maureen on Sunday and learned the updated list:
new carpets
new door from the kitchen to the den, with a window-opening between those rooms
repainted cabinetry with an addition
new vinyl flooring
new hard wood flooring
1.5 bath made into 2 full baths
updated tiling in bathrooms
new toilets
new bathroom sinks
new heating/air system
new windows
repainted exterior
repainted gutters
She said it'd be ready to see in about 2 weeks (which means next weekend if possible). I drove by the house yesterday to take a peek. New windows! It's amazing how much nicer an entire place looks just by window updates.
Stalking 101: Find an image to stare at longingly:
I probably could bring my camera and take a better snap, but I feel like that commits my emotions to an uncertainty, so this will do. And now for more emotionally-committing statements:
It's cute! I'm not sure what color they're going to change the outside to, right now it's like a worn-looking peach color. On the right side where it looks like there's a window is actually a windowed door. It used to be a garage but has been turned into a den, which Jon could use as a music studio quite effectively. The front porch is small, but the backyard area looks nice and green with area for a potential small deck or porch.
The front door has been updated to a really nice oval-shaped glass-windowed door. The glass looks like it might have some etching design in it.
One of the unused 3 bedrooms would be my amazing art and sewing studio! Amazing. I long for the day to have room for such a thing.. and to have a master bedroom where I can get into the doorway while holding a laundry basket without running into a guitar stand and a thick pile of art papers and portfolios behind the door. Seriously.
I think if I owned this house I'd have fun doing some landscaping, and eventually to fence in the lot with a nice little wooden fence or something.
Enough emotions. I really hope this place is a definite possibility. It'll come down to how the numbers can work with our current goals to take out student loan debt completely in the next year and a half. I've been praying. Feel free to join me.
new carpets
new door from the kitchen to the den, with a window-opening between those rooms
repainted cabinetry with an addition
new vinyl flooring
new hard wood flooring
1.5 bath made into 2 full baths
updated tiling in bathrooms
new toilets
new bathroom sinks
new heating/air system
new windows
repainted exterior
repainted gutters
She said it'd be ready to see in about 2 weeks (which means next weekend if possible). I drove by the house yesterday to take a peek. New windows! It's amazing how much nicer an entire place looks just by window updates.
Stalking 101: Find an image to stare at longingly:
I probably could bring my camera and take a better snap, but I feel like that commits my emotions to an uncertainty, so this will do. And now for more emotionally-committing statements:It's cute! I'm not sure what color they're going to change the outside to, right now it's like a worn-looking peach color. On the right side where it looks like there's a window is actually a windowed door. It used to be a garage but has been turned into a den, which Jon could use as a music studio quite effectively. The front porch is small, but the backyard area looks nice and green with area for a potential small deck or porch.
The front door has been updated to a really nice oval-shaped glass-windowed door. The glass looks like it might have some etching design in it.
One of the unused 3 bedrooms would be my amazing art and sewing studio! Amazing. I long for the day to have room for such a thing.. and to have a master bedroom where I can get into the doorway while holding a laundry basket without running into a guitar stand and a thick pile of art papers and portfolios behind the door. Seriously.
I think if I owned this house I'd have fun doing some landscaping, and eventually to fence in the lot with a nice little wooden fence or something.
Enough emotions. I really hope this place is a definite possibility. It'll come down to how the numbers can work with our current goals to take out student loan debt completely in the next year and a half. I've been praying. Feel free to join me.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Flying Dreams
I've had a lot of dreams lately about big life change things: finding a house, having children, the fate of starting my own line of work.. And I think it's interesting to note that when my anxieties rest about those things, my dreams revisit the same silly, weird and inspiring nature that they had long ago before all this adult stuff happened. I like that I can still go back there without even trying.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)