Good luck streak with movies

By the time that Friday hits each week, I am usually pretty exhausted. Between working a 40 hour week and going to class for 16 hours, I definitely could not win an award for the life of the party. Since I also have class early on Saturdays, I don't even have the luxury of sleeping in the next day. So, I am thrilled to have found the perfect activity for the "end of the work week exhaustion". Going to the movie theater. The new trend began Friday over a week ago. Nik and I had been dying to see The Hangover, we just hadn't had any time to actually go. So, after I finished with class, I hurried home to pick him up and then race over to the cinema just as the previews were finishing. We both almost peed our pants from laughing so hard. As long as you aren't easily offended, I would highly recommend the movie to anyone who needs a good laugh.

This last Friday, we stuck with the theme and went to another Friday evening movie. This time, Nik's buddies and their significant others were with us. I was raised in a very non-gender-stereotyped home, but I cannot recall playing with Transformers much as a child. However, I have seen the first movie and enjoyed it enough to give the second movie a try. I LOVED it! The movie was actually extremely entertaining and captivating, even for two and a half hours. Needless to say, I am pretty excited about my streak of good luck with movies.

Here are some other movies that I am looking forward to seeing:

Harry Potter 6- only 17 more days!
The Proposal
The Ugly Truth
My Sister's Keeper (loved the book)
Public Enenies
Funny People
Holmes
New Moon

The evil game of house buying

For those of you who have never had to go through the stress of purchasing your first home, you probably shouldn't read this blog. You may decide to never purchase a first home, especially a short sale. Little lesson, there is absolutely nothing short about a short sale. In fact, short is the antithesis of a short sale. It is a long, grueling and horrid process. To bring everyone up-to-date, Nik and I first started looking at homes shortly after we moved to Fresno back in October of 2008. After only one day of house hunting, we fell in love with a beautiful home located in an up-and-coming young family neighborhood. We thought the house would be the perfect first home for a young married couple who desires to have children someday.

For all the property virgins out there, let me break down the process of house buying. First off, purchasing a home falls into one of three categories; regular sale, short sale and foreclosure (REO). With a regular sale, the buyer and the seller come to an agreement together on what the final selling price will be. Foreclosures require an agreement between the buyer and the bank because the bank in this case owns the home. In the case of short sale, the price of the house is "upside down" meaning that the cost of the house when the seller purchased the home is more expensive then what the current appraisal is on the home. Therefore, the buyer and seller come to an agreed purchase price, but then the bank has to approve the price as well and determine that the seller is financially incapable of paying their mortgage. This the situation that Nik and I fall into. Sounds awesome, doesn't it.

So, after falling in love with this house, putting in an offer, putting in a counter-offer, finally coming to an agreement with the seller and signing an obscene amount of paperwork, we thought we were set to go. This all took place last November. We are still not in our home. From what our realtor has told us, we are definitely not one of the lucky one's. In fact, we are one of the most unlucky one's she has dealt with. Thanks Bank of America, for making our lives so stressful.

We thought that once word came in that the last BPO (appraisal) was submitted to the lender, we would be about 15 days out from moving. The appraisal was turned in last week, so we were desperately hoping to move in before Nik leaves. I doubt that will happen.

Here is a picture back at Christmas time, we thought we were a mere month away from moving then...

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there, a day late unfortunately. I want to wish a special Happy Father's Day to the new daddy's out there, as well as my own, who is one of the two most incredible men in my life. I love you very much, Da!

Childhood Favorites

When I was a little girl, my parents took my sister and I to Sea World during summer vacations. This beautiful tradition ended when I was 9 and I had not been back to Sea World since that magical third grade summer. Until two weeks ago. Nik, being the most incredible husband that he is, decided it was time for us to make a trip down to San Diego together. So we purchased tickets online for Sea World, found a hotel and packed our bags!

I have to admit, I was a little worried about visiting Sea World in particular. I had hyped up the memories from my childhood to the point that I was worried I may end up disappointed as an adult. I should have known it would be just as fabulous, if not better, than what I remembered.

The first day Nik and I took in the sights of La Jolla, a small beach side community near Mission Bay. My parents honeymooned at La Jolla 27 years ago after their wedding and as a result, the town holds a special place in my family's heart.

Here are some pictures we took during our stroll around the town...

On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to get an early start. We arrived at Sea World just after the doors had opened, anxious to get started. The day was absolutely fabulous. Sea World has incorporated some fantastic pre-show entertainment (for those of you have been recently, I LOVE the Sea Lion and Otter pre-show!).








Our excitement is hard to miss =)


Essentially, the day was perfect and we hated to leave, but we were so grateful for the chance to take a mini-honeymoon vacation. I am crossing my fingers that it won't be the last time for another 16 years!

Joining the world of online blogging

Last May I turned 25 and for the first time, seriously considered deleting my facebook account. Ever since my good friend Arleen set up my facebook profile, and somehow managed to have created an uncontrollable addiction to procrastinating the world of college, I have been a die-hard fan. I toyed with MySpace for a couple of years and in fact, can contribute mine and Nik's relationship to the overly used and abused website. This was the first attempt of contact after our initial meeting on the evening of our mutual friend, Emily's, birthday. The rest is now history.

The thought of getting rid of facebook, I found, was difficult in large part because I desperately want to stay connected with my friends and family. Clovis has provided me with incredible in-laws and a variety of new friends, thanks of course to my husband. But with the exception of my roommate from college, Kristin, who lives approximately 20 minutes away, I no longer find myself surrounded by the plethora of relationships that I had established between college volleyball, people from my major and crazy Crandall gatherings. Even my hero, Diana, is a 45 minute drive to the south. My incredible family is a not-so-short 10 hour drive away and my girlfriends on the east coast require a five hour plane ride if I hope to steal a weekend with them and their enchanting daughters.

I realized after mine and Nik's second wedding, back in April, just how hard it is to have distance from the one's you love. My post-wedding blues were a result of no longer having my favorite people surrounding me, rather than feeling a sense of loss once I no longer had a gigantic event to plan. It is because of this desire to keep my relationships in tact that I made the choice to start a blog. I don't have the time and I know that my friends and family do not have the time to catch up on a daily basis, at times even a monthly basis. As a result, I want to use this blog as a way of keeping in touch as much as possible. My friend Laura first introduced me to this concept, both she and her friends have successfully utilized the blog for its purpose. It is my hope that some of my loved ones will choose to start a blog of their own, so that I can also keep better in touch with the events taking place in their lives.

So... here is my first attempt at staying better connected. Between buying a home, Nik taking off for his academy, surviving two ridiculously active dogs, going back to school for alcohol and drug counseling and dealing with the everyday little events that take place, I am sure I can find something to write about every-so-often.