Officially an ABA wife

**I forgot to blog about this last week. I also forgot to take my camera to the ceremony, so there are no pictures with this post**
Since we've been married, I've been a law wife and an ABA candidate wife... and now I am officially an ABA wife! That's right, Jason was officially admitted to the Bar last Thursday. I took the girls to the ceremony (luckily his parents were there to help me with them) and we were all so proud of him after he took the oath! Tempe raised her right hand when she saw all the new attorneys do it--it was pretty cute!
Afterwards we went to Rodizio's, which was absolutely amazing. If you haven't been, you should go!

Ahh, the good old days!

Jason and I just spent a few minutes with an old friend of ours: Homestar Runner! We used to go there all the time when we were dating and engaged, but I don't think I've seen any Homestar Runner since then. That means it's been four years (because tomorrow is our four-year-engagement anniversary!)

That silly marshmallow guy just made me feel really happy and nostalgic.

House #18--My dream house!

We saw my dream house tonight. As an added bonus for everyone, I made the picture into a link so you can go see the virtual tour and interior pictures. But they don't do it justice. It was so fabulous inside, with wonderful details that really turn a house into a home--windowseats, built in bookshelves, two gorgeous fireplaces, a distressed wood floor, slate panels in the dining room floor...
Here are the specifics: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1750 square feet, wonderful location in a family neighborhood in Centerville, short sale listed at $209,000. This house, believe it or not, has been listed for 393 days. 393!!! We can't pay what they are asking, but are hoping that since it is a short sale and it's been on the market for so long, the bank will just cut their losses, and take a lower offer. Our realtor is going to talk to the listing agent and see if he is anticipating a price cut, since it hasn't gone down in price for 2 1/2 months. And after we hear back from her, I think we will make a low offer and just cross our fingers.
I'm overwhelmed. It was so perfect.

House #17

We saw house #17 last night: 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2,110 square feet, listed just this week at $195,000. It's in Woods Cross, and what we could see of the neighborhood looked nice, but it was dark when we saw it, so who knows?

The house is a great value (only $92/square foot) and it's all in liveable condition, but it's pretty outdated. There was wallpaper in almost every room. And not just wallpaper, which I would prime and paint over easily, but textured wallpaper. There was new carpet in several rooms, and the old carpet was still in good condition. The kitchen cabinets were nice, but a bit outdated, and the countertop was pretty old. The basement was awesome, with a large family room, two big bedrooms, a storage room, a 3/4 bathroom, and a wet bar. The backyard also looked pretty nice: big, grassy, shady, and fully fenced.

Overall, it was a nice house.

My bad habit

I have a bad habit. It's getting out of control,and it makes me feel sick to my stomach.
I look at houses that are out of our price range--not so much out of our price range that I know it's impossible, but enough that it's improbable, which makes it worse. I found one tonight that I am in love with, even without going to see it in person. It's $20,000 more than we would like to spend and $10,000 more than we can afford to spend. But it's been on the market for over a year, so maybe they will take $15,000 less than the asking price...
I wish I hadn't seen it. I'm afraid to go to a showing because I know I will love it so much....
For those of you who knew that we made an offer on a house last night: the seller countered, but only went down $2,000. The house is not worth even that, so we are crossing it off our list.

Grateful Kate

I sometimes find myself thinking so much about what I want or feel like I deserve or need that I am not grateful for all of the things that I have. Or, as Conor Oberst says, "My mind races with all my longings, but can't keep up with what I've got." So I have decided to focus more on my blessings and being appreciative of what I have by keeping a daily blog of what I am grateful for: www.grateful-kate.blogspot.com.

"Pam, I have ideas on a daily basis, I know I do..."

Just like Michael Scott, I, too, have great ideas (maybe not on a daily basis, but pretty often). If I had any idea of how to manufacture things or run a business, I could probably make a lot of money. Unfortunately, I don't know what to do with my ideas other than have them. So here are some of my brilliant ideas:

• Triangular crayons. Who else is tired of crayons rolling off tables all the time?
• A washing machine/dryer combination. Wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to wait for your laundry to finish so you could switch it? You would just put it in one machine, and several hours later come back to washed AND dried clothes. Edited to add: Found this listing on Craigslist... darn.
• The Re-Gifting Store. I put this in bold because it is the best idea yet. Anyone who has gotten married would appreciate this. All couples get a dozen blenders, but no toasters, or nine knife sets, but no cutlery, or whatever. For us, it was Foreman grills. We got about five. But food processors? None! Some of the excess gifts are returnable, but some of them you get stuck with. So, you take them to The Re-Gifting Store where you are paid 30% of the value in cash, or get 40% of the value in store credit. Then the new, unused gifts are sold for 75% of their value. So if you have a dozen blenders but no toasters, you can sell your blenders to the store and then buy a new toaster. Everyone wins!!!! The more I think about it, the more I think it's an absolutely brilliant idea.

Well, I know I have had other great ideas, but I can't remember them. I guess that's another way I'm like Michael Scott.

Edited to add: I remembered another one. This is something that you don't have to actually buy or make, you can just do. If I wash something that isn't supposed to go in the dryer, I have a hard time remembering NOT to put it in the dryer, so I use a dry erase marker to write on the washing machine "Black dress" or "Sweater" or whatever to remind myself when I am changing the laundry.

October 13-17: Pumpkins

This week we have been learning about pumpkins. We couldn't find a single book about pumpkins at the library, so we haven't read anything about them, but we've still done some fun things. We made pumpkin pudding (which Tempe didn't like) and we played "Ring around the Pumpkin". We also took two "field trips" to see pumpkins: to the Farmers' Market and to a garden store that is having a giant pumpkin contest. Tempe and Helena really liked seeing the giant pumpkins, especially because there was a perfect little spot to sit on one of them. Today is a beautiful day, so we are going to go outside and make a fingerprint pumpkin patch, and tomorrow night we are going to go to a pumpkin festival with Daddy.

Thrifty

I am really trying to find ways to cut down on our spending and free up some money to save each month--especially after we buy a house. So here is what I've come up with so far:

• Got the girls on CHIP and bought private insurance for myself instead of going with the company plan--saves us $600-1200/year.
• Switched auto insurance to AAA. We save around $10/month AND we got a AAA membership.
• Make my own baby food. I haven't started this yet, so I'm not sure exactly how much it will save, but I'm guessing it will save $20/month (maybe more!)
• If I get really desperate I can either potty train Tempe or switch to cloth diapers.... yuck :(
• Pay more attention to store ads and plan my menus according to what is on sale.
• Start couponing. Yikes. This is so complicated. I don't know where to start! If anyone has any tips, please let me know.
• Buy clothes secondhand (I've been doing this for years).
• Shop for Christmas/birthdays throughout the year when things are on sale.
• Use Coinstar machines to get Amazon giftcards to use for gifts (something else I've done for years).

That's all I can think of now. It doesn't seem like much... What I really need is ideas on how to save on our grocery bill when we move out. Everyone, add your ideas/tips as a comment!

Houses #13, 14, 15, and 16

House #13 was yet another "yucky house", as Tempe says. I figured there was something wrong with it, because it is on the east hill in Bountiful (a very desirable area) and it was actually in our price range. It had gross carpet, old linoleum, holes and cracks in the walls (and ceiling), and other gross things. We didn't even look at the backyard.

House #14. Isn't it cute? We really liked this one--both of us!! It is in North Salt Lake and it has 4 bedroom and 1 1/2 baths. The living room has nice laminate flooring (if I hadn't told you that, you would have thought it was hardwood!) and the entire upstairs is very nice and would only need some paint. The basement needs a little more work, but has great potential and is very livable until we are able to do some of the projects. The best part about the house is that in the basement, there are 2 unfinished rooms that are fairly large--large enough for an office or craft room. The biggest downside of this house is that there is no garage or carport, but since we have never had a garage or carport, we think we could live with that. The backyard is very big, even with the huge gravel driveway that someone put in. There is plenty of grass and shade and there is a storage shed. We would probably want to either take the gravel out or pave it and add a garage, but that's all down the road. House #14 is one we will definitely think about and maybe make an offer on.

House #15. Nothing special. Needed more work than we want to do. Giant tree. 'Nuff said.

House #16 is in Foxboro, which is a new planned community west of I-15 and near Legacy Highway. The house itself was very nice, except for the hole in the living room floor that a previous owner had cut to make a laundry chute (why would you do that?). The backyard was huge, but unfenced and very blah with nary a tree in sight. But the biggest reason I didn't like this one was location. I just don't see us living in a cookie-cutter planned community. I can't picture it. I don't like Foxboro.

I feel very encouraged!!

BFFU reunion 2008!!!!

On Saturday Jason and I went down to Provo so we could go to my "BFFU Reunion". It was a reunion of most of my very good friends from my freshman year at BYU--Josh and his wife Jessica, James, Spencer, Kyle, Katie, and Carly and her husband Jared. I haven't seen most of them in several years and it was so fun to catch up! We all had so much fun together when we were freshman in Helaman Halls and we reminisced by watching a horrible movie we made one evening in the fall of 2004. It was pretty embarrassing, but it got us all laughing. The only thing that could have made our reunion better is if Amanda, Cari, and Jaida could have been there :(
The very best thing about living in Utah is that we often get to see friends who have scattered across the country--most Mormons have ties to Utah, and so they all come back eventually! Just since May, when we moved back, we have been able to see Rachel Whitchurch from Laramie, the Cheneys from Laramie, Dan and Jess Hardy from San Fransisco, Christina and her husband from Idaho, the Blacks from Arizona, and now my big reunion. It's been really fun to catch up with people, some of whom we haven't seen for several years. So if anyone is planning a trip to Utah, be sure to look us up!

Houses #11 and 12

House #11 was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in Woods Cross. I can't say much about this one, because we didn't even look at the whole house... I never thought we would find another as bad as the first house we saw but this one was. The owner was like the crazy cat lady on The Simpsons, but he was a man. We counted 8 cat food bowls in the kitchen + a bird. The carpet was filthy and it smelled so bad! The basement wasn't even finished. Not only was the house a mess (a $200,000 mess), but it also backed up to a municipal airport. We didn't think that would be a huge issue, but the realtor said that a lady down the street is selling her house because the airport is so loud. I guess we got the only honest realtor in the world.


Ahhhhh, house #12. So far, this house is the only house we have seen that does not need major work or back up to an airport, refinery, freeway, or traintracks. I really liked it. The shutters and doors are kind of a strange color that clashes with the house, but they are brand new and just need to be stripped and restained. Inside, there is a nice living room with a gorgeous fireplace and a bay window, a large dining area, a decent kitchen, 3 bedrooms (painted!), 2 bathrooms (one with a jetted tub!), and a large family room downstairs. The backyard is fenced in with a covered patio, and it backs up to a huge park. The street is a nice street with nicely maintained houses and "Slow down--children at play" signs. The problem? It's priced about $20,000 higher than what we can spend. But it's been on the market without a price change for 5 months and it's vacant, so maybe the seller is getting desperate (and if they are holding out for prices to go back up, they are stupid).
There were some things we would need to change: I didn't like the color of the shutters, door, or mantel over the fireplace--the fireplace would really clash with our cherry furniture. The family room had hardwood floors, and the living room had carpet, which I thought was weird and would someday want to change. The refrigerator was not included. The yard needed seed.
But overall, it had a lot of potential, and I really liked it.

October 6-10: Leaves

{I really feel like structure is important for children--and for me! I do much better when I have a specific plan and my time is structured. That, with my background as a preschool teacher and my belief that children learn through play, has led me to start doing a home-based "play school" with Tempe (and Helena, too). We don't do much, but it gives us a little something every day that is planned and it really helps me get through these long weeks without a car or much to do}

This week we have been studying leaves. We went to the library and checked out as many books about leaves and trees as we could find--Tempe has enjoyed reading them all week! Some of our activities have included going for a walk and looking at the different colors (especially at the cabin over the weekend) and collecting leaves, acorns, pine needles, and different seeds. We used the leaves and other things we collected in two projects: first, Tempe made a collage by sticking everything to clear contact paper (which I then closed with another piece of clear contact paper and masking tape) and then we did leaf rubbings. We also baked leaf shaped sugar cookies with cousins Maddy and Libby, and have eaten leaf shaped foods at lunch every day: toast, sandwiches, and tortillas.

I found quite a few songs about leaves online, and made a few up on my own. Our favorite is sung to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell" and is really easy to make up new verses:

The leaves are turning brown,

the leaves are turning brown.

The leaves are turning red and brown,

the leaves are turning brown.

The leaves are falling down,

the leaves are falling down.

The leaves are falling to the ground!

The leaves are falling down.

We rake them in a pile,

we rake them in a pile.

We rake the leaves into a pile!

We rake them in a pile.

We jump into the leaves,

we jump into the leaves.

We jump into the pile of leaves!

We jump into the leaves.

And so on and so forth.

So that was this week's "lesson plan"! Next week: pumpkins.

This is why I am undecided...

Scary Anthony Cooper of LOST...

Republican nominee John McCain...

Does anyone else think that John McCain and Kevin Tighe (Anthony Cooper/Mr. Sawyer of LOST) have a striking resemblance? I always knew that John McCain gave me the jibblies, but it took me until tonight to figure out why.

The many faces of Tempe

My talents

26%

Ohhh... darn.

But....

I Scored a 93%!

So I wouldn't survive a zombie attack, but my spelling is 93% perfect.

My hope chest is lacking

I know I just posted, but... well... I'm posting again.
Today I was perusing Craigslist, looking for things that might be useful when we buy a house, because there is quite a bit that we either gave away when we moved or didn't have in the first place... anyway, I found this ad for a twin mattress and I thought it was funny. Enjoy!

8 Things

Yay!!!! I've been tagged again! I loooooove being tagged. So here goes:

8 tv shows that I love to watch

1. LOST (#1 by far)
2. The Office
3. The Soup
4. Jon and Kate Plus 8 (I like watching it on days when my two kids are driving me crazy, because it really makes me feel better about what I have to deal with...)
5. A Baby Story/Bringing Home Baby/pretty much anything on TLC
6. My Super Sweet 16/Exiled
7. Best Week Ever
8. I Love the 80s/90s

8 favorite restaurants

1. Zupas
2. IHOP (How could you not love pancakes?)
3. The Gateway Grille (In Kamas... ok, so I've only been there once. But I had a phenomenal salad when I went.)
4. TGIFridays
5. Catered wedding food (especially the Joseph Smith Memorial Building)
6. The MOA Cafe/The Pendulum Court at BYU
7. Ummm..... The Cougar Club tent at BYU games?? (I'm running out of ideas...)
8. Anywhere with good salads and sandwiches (and desserts)

8 things that happened yesterday

1. I rode my bike (towing my trailer and Tempe and Helena and an umbrella stroller) to our storage unit and then to Walmart.
2. I ate a Twix bar because I felt a little dizzy after riding my bike (towing my trailer and Tempe and Helena and an umbrella stroller) to our storage unit and then to Walmart.
3. I contemplated buying a Halloween onesie for Helena, and decided against it.
4. I spent all of naptime (2 hours!) coming up with themed activities to do with Tempe for the next 3 months.
5. Jason and I took the kiddos (+ Corinne) to the park.
6. I spent way too long watching tv after the kids were in bed.
7. I ran around the sport court after watching way too much tv to try and shake the stiff tv feeling I had, but I just felt sick instead.
8. I woke Helena up to make sure she was still breathing at 11 pm and she didn't go back to sleep for an hour :(

8 things I'm looking forward to

1. Buying a house!
2. Buying a second car!
3. Jason's Bar admission ceremony!
4. Helena learning to crawl!
5. Graduating from college (in like 6 years)!
6. Taking our family to Disneyland (probably in like 6 years as well)!
7. Halloween!
8. My BYU get together next weekend!

8 things on my wish list

1. A second car.
2. A house with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, an updated kitchen, a living room AND a family room, a shady, fenced in backyard, and a location that is NOT next to a refinery, airport, train tracks, or interstate.
3. A Pell Grant.
4. Affordable health insurance.
5. Baby #3 (in at least 2 years).
6. Baby #4 (in at least 4 years).
7. Enough money to not have to worry about money (that's probably more than I think it is...)
8. My family living in Utah.

8 people I tag

1. Cari P.
2. Amanda D.
3. Janice H.
4. Jen C.
5. Jeanne S.
6. Kristy S.
7. Mary H.
8. Denise F.