I need to stop blogging about houses. Long story short, one of the houses we looked at that was completely rennovated dropped down in price. Therefore, we are making an offer on that house and backing out of the gingerbread house.... more to come :) I know, I know......
This one is a smarter choice now with the new pricing and only 1 block away from the gingerbread house (which we were going to rennovate the kitchen and basement in)- this one is already complete and now affordable for us.
PS- this is totally frowned upon in the real estate world to do. I feel horrible, but at the end of the day, we have to do the smartest thing for us at the time. I never lie, but in this case we might have to lie (ex: I am getting transferred for my job, we couldn't get financing, etc.) yikes!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
We bought a gingerbread house
So after deciding we didn't know of any other houses to look at... Adam took some wise council from his real estate partner and told us which neighborhoods to concentrate on. The "up and coming areas that are starting to attract the young professionals." He ran some searches for us and found a new round of houses for us to look at. Long story short, we looked today and found three we really liked, but one was not only one of the cutest houses I have ever seen... but it was also 30K under budget. SCORE!
There were people looking at it when we were there and when Adam talked to the seller's agent she informed us that there were 4 showings today and another agent has already called and let her know her buyers were making an offer and there are 4 more showings scheduled for tomorrow. Adam and I decided this house was too good to pass up... so we put in an offer, got a counter tonight (a difference of 1500) so are accepting in the morning!!! We are VERY excited. It has the perfect amount of fix up work needed so we can really jazz the house up to our taste. But in no way is it a fixer-upper.. AND it has a huge basement that is calling a large man room/guest suites name as soon as we have the funds to renovate that.
Here is the picture of the front of the house (don't mind the tumor growing out of the left side... they were doing some work and that won't be staying there LOL)... will post more pictures after this is a done deal. Keep in mind we will still have to get through inspection, etc.
There were people looking at it when we were there and when Adam talked to the seller's agent she informed us that there were 4 showings today and another agent has already called and let her know her buyers were making an offer and there are 4 more showings scheduled for tomorrow. Adam and I decided this house was too good to pass up... so we put in an offer, got a counter tonight (a difference of 1500) so are accepting in the morning!!! We are VERY excited. It has the perfect amount of fix up work needed so we can really jazz the house up to our taste. But in no way is it a fixer-upper.. AND it has a huge basement that is calling a large man room/guest suites name as soon as we have the funds to renovate that.
Here is the picture of the front of the house (don't mind the tumor growing out of the left side... they were doing some work and that won't be staying there LOL)... will post more pictures after this is a done deal. Keep in mind we will still have to get through inspection, etc.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
House Update
Ok, I know you all are wondering if we got the house or what? Well, long story short is we ended up not putting an offer on it.
Reasons?
Adam's real estate partner is truly a real estate guru and flips houses all the time. He went over there with Adam this morning and looked at it and said he liked the house, but some of the craftsman ship looked a bit sloppy, you could tell they used cheap siding, etc. Next Reason, there was a contract prior to ours that fell through because of foundation issues. And Lastly, we would need to build a garage and if we did this- I am not sure how much of an investment it would be towards the house because it is already one of the nicest ones on the block and it might not make the house value go up that much because it is an Englewood, CO address and not a Denver, CO address.
So, with this being said.... I am a little bummed (especially because I found out the park it is buy has a par-3, nine hole course that is only $6 to play and an outdoor swimming pool). We are going to look at one more for a second time today - that is in an amazing location, but the house is a piece of work. I am all for a renovation myself, but can't decide if the way this house is built could be what I would want even with a renovation (and it is at the top of the price range) because it is long a narrow.
Toodles!
Reasons?
Adam's real estate partner is truly a real estate guru and flips houses all the time. He went over there with Adam this morning and looked at it and said he liked the house, but some of the craftsman ship looked a bit sloppy, you could tell they used cheap siding, etc. Next Reason, there was a contract prior to ours that fell through because of foundation issues. And Lastly, we would need to build a garage and if we did this- I am not sure how much of an investment it would be towards the house because it is already one of the nicest ones on the block and it might not make the house value go up that much because it is an Englewood, CO address and not a Denver, CO address.
So, with this being said.... I am a little bummed (especially because I found out the park it is buy has a par-3, nine hole course that is only $6 to play and an outdoor swimming pool). We are going to look at one more for a second time today - that is in an amazing location, but the house is a piece of work. I am all for a renovation myself, but can't decide if the way this house is built could be what I would want even with a renovation (and it is at the top of the price range) because it is long a narrow.
Toodles!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
To buy or not to buy.... that is the question
Yes, we are house hunting and it is fun and a little tiring. I know I said we were going to casually look, but we kind of just kept looking and looking and now have seen maybe 30 houses. And this 30 includes EVERY house in our price range in the areas we would consider living in. So pretty much we have exhausted all options.... but one. I think we might have a winner.
Background info: house hunting has been a real struggle for us. 1) we LOVE LOVE LOVE where we live now and know that we will probably never live in another neighborhood as cool as this one 2) to live in this neighborhood- we need a budget of 400K+ (there are million dollar houses in our neighborhood- like a lot of them) 3) Considering point 1 and 2 we have thought about waiting until we could afford here, but then we miss out on the 8K tax credit and interest rates are really good right now and are supposed to go up this year... 4) It might take awhile to afford a 400K+ house 5) There are other cool areas of Denver if we can get over the fact it is not "Washington Park." 6) We have been looking in the surrounding areas and found a 1915 Renovated Farmhouse (that is sooooo cute) that we think is the winner AND it is only a 6-7 minute drive from our house now to there- depending on the lights. 7) This house is the only one we have BOTH agreed on. (I liked one he didn't and he liked one I didn't like)- so this is one that we are equally excited about.
We are putting in an offer tonight and I will keep you posted. More details on this current interest are: 3 bedroom, 2 bath. Fully updated and pretty large considering what we have seen and it is on a pretty big lot. The only downsides are it does not have a garage, so we would build one before next winter and we would need to finish the fence for Tyson.
Buying a house is kinda scary....
Background info: house hunting has been a real struggle for us. 1) we LOVE LOVE LOVE where we live now and know that we will probably never live in another neighborhood as cool as this one 2) to live in this neighborhood- we need a budget of 400K+ (there are million dollar houses in our neighborhood- like a lot of them) 3) Considering point 1 and 2 we have thought about waiting until we could afford here, but then we miss out on the 8K tax credit and interest rates are really good right now and are supposed to go up this year... 4) It might take awhile to afford a 400K+ house 5) There are other cool areas of Denver if we can get over the fact it is not "Washington Park." 6) We have been looking in the surrounding areas and found a 1915 Renovated Farmhouse (that is sooooo cute) that we think is the winner AND it is only a 6-7 minute drive from our house now to there- depending on the lights. 7) This house is the only one we have BOTH agreed on. (I liked one he didn't and he liked one I didn't like)- so this is one that we are equally excited about.
We are putting in an offer tonight and I will keep you posted. More details on this current interest are: 3 bedroom, 2 bath. Fully updated and pretty large considering what we have seen and it is on a pretty big lot. The only downsides are it does not have a garage, so we would build one before next winter and we would need to finish the fence for Tyson.
Buying a house is kinda scary....
Quick Tyson story
So you all know that Tyson will eat anything. Well, last night I was steaming broccoli for dinner..... so I cut the florets off the stock and left it laying on the counter. Tyson grabs it off the counter and I am expecting him to just spit it out because obviously he won't think it tastes good. I mean, it is a 6 inch ling, 2 inch think chunk. So I go about making dinner and didn't really pay attention to Tyson until I turned around and he had eaten the entire stock!!!!!! The only thing left were a few crumbles of green left on the ground.
So it is official, he will eat ANYTHING! I don't even have a picture because there was literally hardly anything left of this.
So it is official, he will eat ANYTHING! I don't even have a picture because there was literally hardly anything left of this.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Giving thanks
Do you ever have those times in your life when you feel like everything is going well, and it seems almost too good to be true? Well, I feel like that now- the problem is I keep thinking that something is bound to go wrong. So what do you think? Do you think your luck runs out at some point in time?
We live in a beautiful, active, laid back city. I have an amazing husband, cute dog, good job, finally a dependable car, cute rental house, we are house hunting, Larry and Becky just moved here this weekend- so our social life is on the rise even more, we have great families and friends... and pretty much there is not a lot I would change right now about my predicament. So with all this being said- I want to thank the Lord for his blessings and here is to a good start of 2010!
We live in a beautiful, active, laid back city. I have an amazing husband, cute dog, good job, finally a dependable car, cute rental house, we are house hunting, Larry and Becky just moved here this weekend- so our social life is on the rise even more, we have great families and friends... and pretty much there is not a lot I would change right now about my predicament. So with all this being said- I want to thank the Lord for his blessings and here is to a good start of 2010!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Worst wife ever!
So we started our house search and the first round of houses we saw was on Tuesday (I think we looked at about 8 houses). Anyways, Adam has his "life" in a notebook he takes with him everywhere. His schedule, notes, random info, banking stuff, etc. So when I say his life is in there... I am not joking around.
Tuesday's house shopping goes something like this: jump in the car- all the notes to the houses are in this notebook. He hands it to me, so I can add our notes about each house on there. I take it around with me all day.... so I think. So today Adam asks me where the notebook is. I have no clue. We look everywhere we can think of in the house- check the car three times. No notebook. Adam has a minor freak out and I assure him that it is not a big deal because I am sure we left it at one of the houses we looked at. Well, we just got back from re-looking through all the houses we looked at yesterday. Still no notebook. I am flabbergasted right now at where it could be.
We even decided on the way home that Tyson my have pulled it under a couch or something. Well, literally we have looked EVERYWHERE and I can't for the life of me remember when/where I had it last. So yes, I am the worst wife ever and I feel awful about it.
I love you Adam- I promise it was an accident :(
Tuesday's house shopping goes something like this: jump in the car- all the notes to the houses are in this notebook. He hands it to me, so I can add our notes about each house on there. I take it around with me all day.... so I think. So today Adam asks me where the notebook is. I have no clue. We look everywhere we can think of in the house- check the car three times. No notebook. Adam has a minor freak out and I assure him that it is not a big deal because I am sure we left it at one of the houses we looked at. Well, we just got back from re-looking through all the houses we looked at yesterday. Still no notebook. I am flabbergasted right now at where it could be.
We even decided on the way home that Tyson my have pulled it under a couch or something. Well, literally we have looked EVERYWHERE and I can't for the life of me remember when/where I had it last. So yes, I am the worst wife ever and I feel awful about it.
I love you Adam- I promise it was an accident :(
Yes, I am a sucker
Sucker for what you might ask? A sucker for thinking the Uggs I ordered from pickyouruggs.com were real.
Red Flags:
1) After I placed the order, my confirmation email was in broken English and the adds on my gmail account were in chinese.
2) Shipping method: EMS. This is the equivalent of the United States Postal Office in China
3) Took 3 weeks to get here and tried to cancel, but then wouldn't let me
4) Finally got them and they are clearly fake, fake, fake!
I am such an idiot sometimes. I will admit it. Luckily I did make sure they had a return policy before ordering them. So now I am trying to figure out where in China I need to send them back to. Oh well, you live and you learn :)
Red Flags:
1) After I placed the order, my confirmation email was in broken English and the adds on my gmail account were in chinese.
2) Shipping method: EMS. This is the equivalent of the United States Postal Office in China
3) Took 3 weeks to get here and tried to cancel, but then wouldn't let me
4) Finally got them and they are clearly fake, fake, fake!
I am such an idiot sometimes. I will admit it. Luckily I did make sure they had a return policy before ordering them. So now I am trying to figure out where in China I need to send them back to. Oh well, you live and you learn :)
My baked potatoe exploded...
Yes! It was soooo weird! I had three of them in the oven. I went to check on them by poking a fork into them and when I got to the third one- I heard this pop sound and mashed potatoes exploded out of the potatoe and all over the oven!!!!!!!!!!! It was amazing, I am not going to lie, I have never seen anything of the sort before and still am baffled as to why that happened?
Random story I know...
Random story I know...
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Quarter Life Crisis!
I turn 25 here in a few weeks and I feel as though I am at a standstill in what I should do with my life. I kinda like my job, I have the ultimate flexibility, I get awesome perks..... BUT it is not something I want to do for the rest of my life and to make matters worse, I don't think I would want to be promoted to the next step up because my life would consist of travelling ALL the time (and therefore it is extremely hard to get motivated in my day to day).
My company is based out of Scottsdale, AZ and there are several other positions I would want if I lived there, but I don't and I don't really want to move there. So with this being said. I need to figure this out semi soon. So any words of advice you all may have.... I am all ears!
On a different note:
Some exciting news is..... we are officially going to start the house-hunt! We are going to start casually looking and I have a feeling it will take awhile because Denver housing prices are INSANE. But with my own, personal real estate guru (Adam)... hopefully we can find a good deal!
My company is based out of Scottsdale, AZ and there are several other positions I would want if I lived there, but I don't and I don't really want to move there. So with this being said. I need to figure this out semi soon. So any words of advice you all may have.... I am all ears!
On a different note:
Some exciting news is..... we are officially going to start the house-hunt! We are going to start casually looking and I have a feeling it will take awhile because Denver housing prices are INSANE. But with my own, personal real estate guru (Adam)... hopefully we can find a good deal!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Some poeple are not worth blogging about
But I am going to waste some of my time to tell you all a quick story I need to vent about.
Last week, I started running outside. Up until now Tyson has only been on walks- not runs... so we are teaching him how to run with us. He constantly has "play" on the mind, so the most annoying thing he does while running is jumping up to grab his own leash. It is a game he likes to play while we are running for some reason. This makes it very hard to run with him. Each time he has gotten better and we have been pretty good about when he starts to do this, stopping looking at him in the face and punishing him quickly.... so slowly, but surely he is getting better and better the more runs we go on.
Washington Park is just over a 3 mile loop. It is filled with bikers, pedestrians, dogs and strollers. They have a line dividing the paved path- one side is for bikers and the other for walkers/runners. Colorado is filled with bikers... professionals and wanna be professionals and several of them come to train at Wash Park. Well, in my opinion, if you are a biker at Washington Park , you better be prepared for the amounts of people. And this brings me to my story about today......
Adam, Tyson and I had just begun our run. Typically, Tyson is the most hyper at the beginning of the run and therefore- he leash game is the hardest to control at the beginning. I had the leash and we were clearly on the "pedestrian" side of the path when a biker zooms by and yells back at me "GET THAT DOG UNDER CONTROL". Ummm....... excuse me????? Adam yells back at the biker "GET YOUR FAT ASS UNDER CONTROL" (yes, he was a fat- wanna be biker... new years resolution guy). I am not sure why, but this really annoyed me. 1) Tyson is a puppy 2) we were nowhere close to in his way- so why does he care 3) He seriously yelled it at me- and there were other people around, which makes it even more embarrassing
Anyways- so here is what I would say to him if I had the chance "We weren't doing anything wrong- and you need to lighten up because apparently you have a stick up your butt.... and PS- your bike has a weight limit... jack ass"
Last week, I started running outside. Up until now Tyson has only been on walks- not runs... so we are teaching him how to run with us. He constantly has "play" on the mind, so the most annoying thing he does while running is jumping up to grab his own leash. It is a game he likes to play while we are running for some reason. This makes it very hard to run with him. Each time he has gotten better and we have been pretty good about when he starts to do this, stopping looking at him in the face and punishing him quickly.... so slowly, but surely he is getting better and better the more runs we go on.
Washington Park is just over a 3 mile loop. It is filled with bikers, pedestrians, dogs and strollers. They have a line dividing the paved path- one side is for bikers and the other for walkers/runners. Colorado is filled with bikers... professionals and wanna be professionals and several of them come to train at Wash Park. Well, in my opinion, if you are a biker at Washington Park , you better be prepared for the amounts of people. And this brings me to my story about today......
Adam, Tyson and I had just begun our run. Typically, Tyson is the most hyper at the beginning of the run and therefore- he leash game is the hardest to control at the beginning. I had the leash and we were clearly on the "pedestrian" side of the path when a biker zooms by and yells back at me "GET THAT DOG UNDER CONTROL". Ummm....... excuse me????? Adam yells back at the biker "GET YOUR FAT ASS UNDER CONTROL" (yes, he was a fat- wanna be biker... new years resolution guy). I am not sure why, but this really annoyed me. 1) Tyson is a puppy 2) we were nowhere close to in his way- so why does he care 3) He seriously yelled it at me- and there were other people around, which makes it even more embarrassing
Anyways- so here is what I would say to him if I had the chance "We weren't doing anything wrong- and you need to lighten up because apparently you have a stick up your butt.... and PS- your bike has a weight limit... jack ass"
MUST WATCH!
This is the 9-11 call from a 5 year old girl that helped save her Dad's life. Everything is fine... so it is an uplifting post/so cute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDARfDJw80s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDARfDJw80s
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
My 15 minutes of fame..... kind of
The day started as any other usual Saturday. Lounging around, and getting ready for the KSU bball game. I checked my email and BOOM there it was- the following email:
Hey Miss Emily-
I hope you and Adam are doing great! I just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know a local wedding magazine is using your images for their cover! It was this shot:
Hey Miss Emily-
I hope you and Adam are doing great! I just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know a local wedding magazine is using your images for their cover! It was this shot:
Classic. Beautiful.
This makes you officially famous, and I thought you should know:) If I can get my hands on one, I'll send it your way. The magazine might use a couple of other images from your wedding as well...we'll see.
Talk to you later- hope all is well!
JessicaRoark
Kind of fun right?! Well, I don't know which publication it is but it is being printed up this week, so all you KC girls- can you keep an eye out and try to grab a copy for me if you happen to see one??
Toodles!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Friday's Random Thoughts/Updates
1) We sold Adam's car yesterday! Yay! Craigslist is our new best friend. Listed his car at about 10:30am and had it sold and out of the garage by 5pm. (sidenote: as I am typing this Adam just put his sweaty shirt over my face because we just got back from the gym). All went smoothly until the Mexican family that didn't really speak English left with the car and Adam realized he had left his other keys on the keychain. Then he had to call them and try to explain to them what happened as he is speaking English and they are Spanish speaking..... he finally met up with them to get them back but it was a struggle to get to that point. Oh Adam.
2) I like yogurt and fruit mixed together... Adam thinks I am disgusting for liking this. Can someone tell them that is is a NORMAL thing to do?
3) Our garage has an electic opener... who knew?! All this time we thought it was broken and have been opening it manually... then our Landlord mentioned that he had gotten us a new one. We looked around and ALAS! Found the opener. This makes our lives much easier.
4) Day #3 of working out! Yay for me.
5) Bummed I have to leave at 6am for Florida on Sunday (for work). This minimizes my weekend to 1 day.
6) I feel clutter is everywhere. We live in a small house with not a lot of storage space and now with all of the Christmas gifts we got.... we need to clean out. Especially my clothes. They are overflowing and I don't wear hardly any of them. Goal is to get this done today/tomorrow.
7) Excited for 2010. I feel good things on the horizon! Happy Friday
2) I like yogurt and fruit mixed together... Adam thinks I am disgusting for liking this. Can someone tell them that is is a NORMAL thing to do?
3) Our garage has an electic opener... who knew?! All this time we thought it was broken and have been opening it manually... then our Landlord mentioned that he had gotten us a new one. We looked around and ALAS! Found the opener. This makes our lives much easier.
4) Day #3 of working out! Yay for me.
5) Bummed I have to leave at 6am for Florida on Sunday (for work). This minimizes my weekend to 1 day.
6) I feel clutter is everywhere. We live in a small house with not a lot of storage space and now with all of the Christmas gifts we got.... we need to clean out. Especially my clothes. They are overflowing and I don't wear hardly any of them. Goal is to get this done today/tomorrow.
7) Excited for 2010. I feel good things on the horizon! Happy Friday
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
This may be common sense- so someone fill me in
Since moving to Denver (Mountain Time Zone) I cannot figure out the TV schedule. Everything is advertised as eastern/central time ex: 8/7c..... well, TV schedule makers- when is the show on MOUNTAIN TIME beeeooottchhhes.
Unless I am missing something, I feel like there is no order to this. Sometime my shows are on the same time as central, sometimes later. So if anybody knows the answer to this question.... PLEASE fill me in.
Unless I am missing something, I feel like there is no order to this. Sometime my shows are on the same time as central, sometimes later. So if anybody knows the answer to this question.... PLEASE fill me in.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
A blog about blogs
With the New Year comes new goals, new optomism..... and new BLOGS! This post is to introduce the newest blog of the year!
Ashley Payson's: www.nohusbandnohousenodog.blogspot.com
In case you all need other great reading material. Many of my fabulous friends have awesome blogs that help the work day just fly by. Please see the right side of my page or click on the names below for stories by:
Vanessa Calcara, Brittany Bruns, Erica Snyder, Lora Yoakum, Courtney Kelly, Molly McCue, Lauren Dawson, Ali Moore, Emily Ossman (Kate Robben's sister who is hilarious) and Jimmy Carter.
Peace out.
Ashley Payson's: www.nohusbandnohousenodog.blogspot.com
In case you all need other great reading material. Many of my fabulous friends have awesome blogs that help the work day just fly by. Please see the right side of my page or click on the names below for stories by:
Vanessa Calcara, Brittany Bruns, Erica Snyder, Lora Yoakum, Courtney Kelly, Molly McCue, Lauren Dawson, Ali Moore, Emily Ossman (Kate Robben's sister who is hilarious) and Jimmy Carter.
Peace out.
It really isn't cold in Denver
If the weather is holding you back from moving out here, then rest assured. Yes, there are cold days but the temp bounces right back up. Currently, it is in the 40's and sunny. Adam and I went running outside yesterday, and I am planning on laying out this afternoon.
Okay... I am not planning in laying out (that was an exaggeration).
I need more friends (no offense Lora- you are my bestie here) :) Ok, thanks. That's all.
Monday, January 4, 2010
We are back and ready for 2010
My new year resolutions:
1) REMEMBER PEOPLES BIRTHDAYS. In 2009 I succeeded to forget Adam's, Kayley's and my Mom's 50th. I absolutely am horrible at dates- so I am going to make an honest effort in 2010 to tell people Happy Birthday on their actual day and not late.
2) Healthy 2010. Physical health (working out and eating right), financial health, spiritual health, etc.
We are very blessed to have all of our friends and family. We loved spending time in KC with everyone. I want to give a special shout out to Brett and Kate Robben!!!! The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a BLAST :) I love you both! 
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