Accepted an Offer on Our House

 

We put our house up for sale on Friday, March 7, 2014.  On Tuesday, March 18, 2014 we accepted an almost full price offer.  11 days.  That’s pretty fast in the real estate market, especially when it has been swinging back toward a buyer’s market.  So why am I not as excited as I should be?  Because I’m giving my only home to someone else.  The home that we built.  The home that we came home from the wedding to.  The home that we brought our puppies home to.  The home where we had and lost our baby boy.  This home has all our memories.

We were able to get an offer for only $2000 below our asking price within 11 days.  I’m very excited, and to be honest, I expected it. Our house looks amazing.  Once we cleaned it all up and got a lot of the clutter out, I loved walking through our house.  Our backyard is beautiful.  It’s on a prime lot in the neighborhood.  It’s a great location to Westgate (football and hockey) and across the street from Spring Training.  When I try to sell it this way, I ask myself why we are selling it?  Then I remember it’s because we don’t quite have enough space to grow a family in it.  And right now, housing prices are still low, but our house had gained value.  So it seemed like the optimal time for us to move so we can get more house and land in a location closer to family, and also still make money on our house.  Interest rates are still low as well.  But I do love our house.

After being very excited about the strong offer, and knowing how much this young couple liked it also, we accepted the offer and now just wait for the inspection and appraisal.  We shouldn’t really see any issues here since the house is only 4.5 years old.  But now I’m getting very sentimental.  We have so many memories there and it was such a good house to us.  I wish we could move a wall for a little more space and pick it up and place it closer to family.  But I can’t.  I know people move all the time, and I know I probably have more attachment than most people do…but it’s really hard for me to think about leaving our home and having someone else living there.

So last time I started putting together a Shutterfly book to record all the memories we had in our first home.  I want to remember what it looked like, but also everything that we accomplished while we were there.  Starting with buying the house and getting the keys, to getting married, bringing our puppies home, all our trips, the Tough Mudder, and the loss of our baby.  This way, we can always look back and see all that happened during those 4 years.

But I also know that as we start our family, we’ll create so many new memories in a new home.  And it would have been that much harder to leave this house if we had brought our baby home to it.  We should be able to have new memories pretty quickly at the new house.  And maybe we’ll be able to get a pool so Cinder can swim all day long.  A grassy area big enough for a swing set and the dogs to run around. A kitchen where we aren’t bumping in to each other when we’re both cooking.  Enough bedrooms to have 2 kids and an office.  And close enough to our parents so that they can babysit.  It’s a tall order, but I think we can find something that will be just as good to us now with these new needs, as our house was with our needs 4.5 years ago.

If all goes well, we’ll be closing just after Easter.  We’ll have to pack up our home and put it all in storage the weekend before that.  April 22 sounds so far away right now, but when I think about it (we have so much going on the next few weekends!) it really doesn’t give us very much time to pack up and say goodbye.  I’m going to miss our home so much, but I think it will take just as good of care of the new couple as it did us.  And a new home will fit our needs now and take care of us.

Book Review: Tiger Lily

Tiger Lily (audiobook)
by  Jodi Lynn Anderson
Date Read: 3/14/14
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 

This story ended up being different than I expected.  I didn’t expect such a deep story, especially in a book that was relatively short.  Tiger Lily takes place in the world of Neverland that we all know from the Disney movie.  We are given some brief history to Neverland and the reasoning behind no one growing up – though everyone stops aging at different times in their lives.  I thought this was most unique, and I really enjoyed how it all came back together at the end of the story.

This story is told from Tinkerbell’s POV.  It allowed us to see the story from multiple angles so it wasn’t all one sided.  I think that is what made this story so interesting.  Though, I did keep wondering that if she can’t communicate, how is she telling us a story??  But nevertheless, I really enjoyed that the author chose to write the story this way.  The reader is able to connect to all the characters a lot better with an unbiased (sort of) character telling the story.

This is a love story that may not have the happy ending you’re expecting.  I never in my wildest dreams thought of a relationship between Tiger Lily and Peter, but once it was there, it was quite sweet.  They were very different from each other, and seemed to not quite be able to be to each other what they needed.  One thing that I didn’t like about this story is that they were supposed to be 15 and 16, and yet, at times, they sounded much younger.  Their romance was neat to watch unfold, and how she had to keep it a secret from her village and the man she was betrothed to.

I didn’t expect to see the theme of the Englander coming and trying to force new beliefs upon the tribe.  As everyone else has said, it actually sounds a lot like when the English came to America and took over the Native Americans, forcing their beliefs, etc on them.  Tiger Lily’s tribe was fearful so they followed him, and a terrible sacrifice was made by a character we love.  I was shocked by it.

I didn’t expect Wendy to actually show up so early in this book. But I thought it added a great depth to the story.  It creates a jealousy in Tiger Lily – and Tink.  Though I still don’t think Tinkerbell was nearly as jealous as she is supposed to be.  And it shows us that jealousy can lead us down dark path.  And once you’re there, what do you do?  How do you come back from it?

There was a lot of wrap up to this story, which I enjoyed.  It spans 80 years after the events of the book.  Apparently the author is not planning a sequel.  But that is refreshing actually.  This story is a great standalone book, and those just don’t really exist anymore.  I’m happy about where all the characters ended up, and the letter at the end was very sweet.

Overall I really enjoyed this book.  Anyone who enjoys the Neverland world and Peter Pan’s story should pick this up.  And now I think I’m going to pick up the original Peter Pan books.

Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Rift, Part 1

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Rift, Part 1
by  Gene Luen Yang (Writer), Michael Dante DiMartino (Writer), Bryan Konietzko (Writer), Gurihiru (Illustrator)
Date Read: 3/12/14
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
 

I had heard this series was going to be about Toph.  When the book started, it didn’t seem to be about Toph at all!  But don’t worry, by the end, it switches to her, and I have a feeling most of the remainder of the series will be about her.

All the kids are starting to get older now.  I’m happy about this because there are still a lot of questions I want answered – specifically what happens to Sokka? From watching Korra, we know that he ends up on the council, but does he ever marry anyone (Suki)? Does he have kids?  How does Toph have a kid?

These questions are not answered in this book, but the kids are growing up, so it’s nice.  Although they still act like they did in the series.  I feel that the illustrator did a great job with all of them, except Iroh.  I had no idea that was supposed to be him until someone called him by name!

The story was pretty good.  I wasn’t sure where it was going.  It kept me guessing.  I enjoy watching the world move forward from the show and start evolving in to what we see in Korra.  Does anyone else think we’ll be seeing more of this new character that was introduced??

The characters still seemed true to themselves…but the “Sweetie” thing is still weird.  There’s still the humor we love and the tense plot.  I really enjoy these.  I think fans of the show will still continue to enjoy these graphic novels.  And I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Toph.  We should definitely get some character development in this series for her.  Can’t wait.

Book Review: Firefly Lane

Firefly Lane (audiobook)
by  Kristin Hannah
Date Read:  3/7/14
Rating: ★ ★ ★ 

Firefly Lane was not quite what I expected.  I had read a few reviews a while back about this book being about a friendship, but for some reason, I didn’t know it spanned a 30 year time period.  Nevertheless the book was pretty good.

I liked the concept of this book.  Girls will make lifelong friends, and there are ups and downs throughout all friendships. Heck, I have had a friend since 7^th grade, but we’ve become estranged for the past 4 years. But we’re now getting back in touch. Our lives went different directions, and as we get older, it’s hard to keep in touch when you don’t have as many things in common any more.  But if it’s a real friendship, you’ll usually find your way back at some point.

This book was about two girls who met when they were 14.  They became friends after one of the girls has a heartbreaking experience.  I liked the part the best when they were younger.  They hadn’t quite gotten annoying yet.  The background information on Tully was very interesting and it left me being very curious where she would end up.

Kate was more similar to me (of course I’m about the age of their kids…) but her personality was more like mine so I could relate to her more.  But eventually she started to get annoying to me as well because she never stood up for herself.  She would always let Tully talk her in to doing things she didn’t want to do, and she let Tully run her life for years.

Their high school years were the most entertaining though.  Once they got to college it started to drag for me a bit.  I feel like this story was dragged out a bit much.  It was on 15 discs for crying out loud!  That was roughly 15 hours of audio!    And I didn’t feel like their voices changed from middle school, to high school, to college.  They seemed to be changing schools, but not actually growing up.

The story picked up for me once Kate was married. But again, all her insecurities started to really frustrate me.  She was so insecure in herself and seemed to have such low self-esteem. I think that’s why she couldn’t stand up for herself with Tully either.  But the story itself started to get really good again.

Once they graduated college the girls really start drifting and their priorities changing.  I liked watching it because it was very similar to real life.  But it also meant it got boring.  I don’t usually read books for reality.  I read them to get AWAY from reality.

But the book got good again once kids started showing up.  I’m now at this point in my life so I was able to relate to it as well, which might be why it started to get interesting to me again. I can really related to Kate’s miscarriage.  It made me sob.  It brought back so many memories – I wish I knew that so I wasn’t listening to it in the car, while driving on the freeway!  But it gives me hope that Kate went on to have healthy kids.  But Kate’s exhaustion seemed a little over the top.  I know having kids will be tiring.  But she was a stay at home mom (which I’m not by any means saying is easy – I know that it is difficult being with your kids all day), but it also means she had more time to get house work done, etc which working parents don’t have.  I know a lot of moms – especially new moms – who are not nearly as exhausted as Kate was.

Once Kate was a mom I felt she seemed to grow up though.  Tully got successful and seemed to mostly grow up. I got bored once it focused on how much Kate and her daughter fought and I hated it when Tully got in the middle of it.  I just wanted to slap her for Kate.

 

I tried to guess what the big betrayal was going to be, but I was way off.  I didn’t really expect that at all – and frankly, I don’t think I would have ever gotten back in touch with her if she had done that to me.  It was awful.

So the best part of the story is what happens when your lifelong friendship falls apart?  What do you do?  How do you mend the pieces together? Do you suck it up and be the bigger person?  When something awful happens in your life, who do you want to talk to and be there with you?

The final part of the story is really very sad.  It definitely had me tearing up.  I think it focused on this a little too much, but it really got across the point.  And it also teaches the readers some important lessons.

Overall I think the concept was really good and mostly achieved.  The characters could have been a little more lovable though.  And the story probably could have been about 5 chapters shorter.  Some neat things were tied back together at the end which was both sad and neat.  I think if you have a really good friend, you should read this book.  But beware that there are some slow parts.  Just look for the overall arcs and be prepared to cry!

Just announced: Tiger's Promise - prequel to Tiger Saga by Colleen Houck

Just announced yesterday, Colleen Houck stated that her secret project she has been working on is a prequel to the Tiger’s Curse saga!

Tiger’s Promise (Tiger Saga 0.5) will focus on the story of Ren and Kishan before Kelsey, specifically their love for Yesubai.  From the description of the story, it sounds like it will be from Yesubai’s POV mostly. 

While we know how this story ends, it will be very interesting to get to know this character.  I’m excited to see how it all goes down, since we’ve only heard it from Ren and Kishan’s POVs.  So what really happened, and what is Lokesh like as a father – since he’s super creepy when he wants to have a kid with Kelsey - totally grossed out by that BTW.  I’m interested to see how she deals with being stuck between Lokesh and her love.

Though I’m still anxiously awaiting Tiger’s Dream, I know that it is not coming any time soon.  See my previous post.  But this is something exciting to look forward to in the world we’ve come to love so much.

The book is set to release on June 1, 2014.  Keep your eyes out for the cover reveal as well – which with the book releasing in 3 months, should happen relatively soon!  Who else is as excited as I am about this secret project?

 

PS: I will post a picture of the cover once it's revealed!!

You can read her post on her blog.

Why I don't like Soup...reflection on parenting

 

My husband has always been frustrated with the fact that I do not really like soups or stews.  There are only a few exceptions, but on the whole, I don’t like them. Well, I think we discovered the cause:

My husband and I were talking to my parents last night about raising kids in general.  We were speculating whether our kids are going to be chill, rule followers like me, or more rambunctious like him.  The conversation led to what parents have to sacrifice to discipline their children (this may have started due to a crying baby that the parents let just cry the entire time we were in the restaurant – side note: People, if you have a crying baby, PLEASE take the baby outside until it calms down.  Some of us are trying to enjoy our meal out – and may have paid for a babysitter to have a quiet night.  Be respectful of others).

That being said, our conversation went to how my parents used to have to tag team eating dinner if either my brother or I were getting out of control.  My dad said that if we were being obnoxious in the car, he would turn the car around and then we’d have to eat dinner at home instead.  To this, my mom stated that because she loved soup and we didn’t, if we ended up coming back home, she would make soup for dinner and that was what we were stuck with.

It all became very clear why I do not like soup then!  It was punishment!  My husband always makes fun of me for my strong associations.  So I completely believe that in my young, impressionable mind, soup was a punishment and my subconscious decided that for the rest of my life I will not enjoy soup.

Of course my parents felt bad when we pointed it out.  But it’s what we do as parents, right?  In order to make your kids be behaving, contributors to society, some things end up as side effects.  So what is the harm in me not liking soup, when I’ve been raised well?  I’ve never done drugs or smoked.  I never got drunk.  I’ve never been arrested.  I work hard.  I married a wonderful man.  I consider myself raised really well, and hope to raise our kids to be the same. 

As parents, we just have to decide if we’re willing to make sacrifices to make our kids better.  And we have to accept we will “scar them for life” (as I told my parents about not getting an Easter basket one year), but that it is worth it in the end to raise good kids.

4 Year Anniversary!

 

Today my husband and I celebrate our 4 year anniversary.  I cannot believe that is has been 4 years since we said “I do”.  So much has changed in these years we’ve been together and we’ve grown so much, as individuals and a couple.

Four years ago we had just bought our first house and were just starting out in our careers.  Today, we’ve been homeowners for over 4 years and are getting ready to move to a new chapter in our lives to start our family.  We have also both been promoted to supervisors at our jobs.  We adopted 2 adorable, mischief-making dogs who we love with all our hearts.  And most importantly, we tried to start our family last year. 

Though we all know the heartbreak we went through when we lost our baby at 13.5 weeks, we have grown and learned so much from the experience.  Though I never wish this on anyone, I’m trying to look at the good that has brought us, instead of the bad.  It was amazing to watch how we both dealt with it – we both had our own battle.  Sure, we both lost the baby we had always dreamed of, which was our number one problem we had to deal with.  But I was dealing with having surgery for the first time, recovering from surgery, and trying to understand why I couldn’t keep my baby, and so many other women who don’t even want their children don’t have any problems in their pregnancies.  Brandon was dealing with helping me recover, not wanting me to feel like it was my fault that this happened, and what lessons we were supposed to learn from this.  It really brought us closer as we supported each other through it.  And not only that, it also really helped us with our communication.  This let us open the flood gates and we really learned how to lean on the other and take the lead when necessary.

Brandon has really set his goal for getting his book completed and published by the end of this year.  It’s been a long process that he’s been working on for several years.  And he has also taken his fitness and mud runs very seriously.  He’s found something he’s passionate it about, and I’m trying to support him in this.

I’ve found that I enjoy using my DSLR camera and can’t wait until we have a baby that I can go photo crazy with.  I love taking pictures on our vacation, and they’re so much better with this camera.  I also love my embroidering machine.  I made a special onesie for my niece that was personalized with her name.  I can’t wait to make little clothes for our kids.  My scrapbooking has declined, but I love putting together photobooks on shutterfly.  It’s my new form of scrapbooking and I love having all these memory books.

We have traveled to so many places in our 4 years.  Many trips to San Diego and Disneyland.  But we've also traveled to Cancun, New York, Greece & Italy, and Florida (one major trip each year we've been married).  This year we also have a trip planned to Virginia.  Our bucket list has many more places we want to travel and can't wait to see when we are able to get there.  These vacations have made amazing memories for us, and I love looking back at the pictures.

As we look to what our 5^th year has in store, I think it’s going to be great.  We have so many more memories that we are going to make.  And I think we’ll celebrate our 5 year anniversary with a party for friends and family at Cocomo Joe’s (for those of you who know how we got engaged!). 

I am so thankful that God brought Brandon in to my life.  He’s my rock and we compliment each other perfectly.  We are a great team and we’re only going to get stronger.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.  Whether it is amazing or heartbreaking, I know we’ll get through it and be even stronger, “till death do us part”.