You Get What You Pay For...

I swear I have officially learned my lesson when it comes to hairdressers... You pay for what you get! With all this talk of buying a house I was trying my best to not over pay for getting my hair trimmed and colored.  3 hours later I walked out of the hair salon with 1 highlight, a trim and a soaking wet t-shirt.  I am not going to bad mouth the place I went to, but I am so glad that for one of the first times in my life I stood up for myself and demanded the price be changed for the services that were not done correctly.

It is as if getting ready to buy a house (which may be happening sooner than we originally thought, so stay tuned!) has made me more financially bad ass.  "That's my money and I want what I deserve for it!"  This may not be a bad attitude to have when buying a house.  We are giving up a lot of hard saved cash, we should get what we want for it.

As of right now our list has not changed.  We have gotten more information on our favorite house that makes us a little more hesitant, but I think at this point we just need to see it.  Even though it is a lot of money we've worked very hard to save, short of building our own house, we will never find the perfect house for us.  We just have to make sure we're getting what we pay for.  My hair will grow back, I have lots of headbands and t-shirts for that matter.  Once you're in a house though, that's it.  No getting money back before leaving the store.

First Home: The want, the need, the this is what you'll getBe

As mentioned yesterday, at the end of March Jarrod and I will be going to the bank so that we can get pre-approved for our very first home loan so that we may begin looking at houses. Of course we have been scoping out homes online, but some houses only have a few pictures and they're usually of the front door, the bathroom and maybe the living room.  I need details people!

A lot of what will most likely end up in these blogs posts about us buying a house will be old news to people.  For me, I looking forward to seeing what we thought we knew about buying a house, versus what really ends up happening.  Jarrod and I have watch so many episodes of Property Virgins we feel as if perhaps we're less of one but none the less it's never going to be the same as on TV I am sure...

So let's begin with what we want/what we need... and based on online research, what we'll most likely end up with:

What We Want/Need:

• A small patch of grass(need).  It could be 3 feet by 3 feet, but if the dogs can pee on it, that's good enough for me.  Honestly for me (and I am sure Jarrod too) nothing will be more wonderful than simply opening a door and letting our furkids run out to use the restroom.  No more leashes, no more elevators, no more picking up poop in little bags(don't worry, we'll still pick it up!) 
• 3 bedrooms(want)/2 bedrooms(need). Ideally we'd like to have 3 bedrooms so that once our family expands by 2 legs there is still a place for guests (cough cough come visit cough cough).  Jarrod has recounted "fond" childhood memories of getting kicked to the couch when aunts and uncles came over, so it's doable, but to make the house last longer, 3 would be better.
• Hardwood floors(want). I really dislike carpet in a house.  Maybe it's the dogs, maybe it's wanting what we never really had, but either way I love me some wooden floors.  The wider the planks the better!  Wooden floors are cool in the summer, which is good here in Houston. In the winter when they're also cool, that's what awesome, brightly colored area rugs are for.  The only downside to wooden floors for me is the clicking of the dogs' nails on the floors.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
• Open floor plan(want). It seems this is on a lot of people's wish list and in a city it makes perfect sense.  If you're going to be restricted by how much space you can own in an urban area, wouldn't it be nice for all that space to be open and flowing and feeling like you have more than you do?  Jarrod and I only really use our living room and kitchen, so having them all in one space would be ideal.  Plus we love to have people over, and based on all the shows we've watched, an open floor plan is ideal for that.
• Projects(wants). Again with all the HGTV we've been watching, Jarrod and I are biting at the bit to get our hands on some ugly cabinets or some worn out tiles and make each room truly our own.  What we are not eager to do is a major renovation, or structural fix so the projects need to be small... but awesome.
• Bedrooms on the same floor(need). We would feel most comfortable if the bedrooms were all on the same level so that the family was near by.  In the future we don't want to have to go down or up flights of stairs for upset children or in the far future mischievous children.  

What We Will Most Likely Get: (based on research and homes we have visited of friends in the area):

• A yard that has no grass and only a small concrete patio.  While there are many homes with grass, the fact of the matter is there are way more homes that are inside units and so have no grassed side yard. We'd have to pull up the concrete so that the dogs had some place to pee because pee on concrete is noooooo good!
• 2 bedrooms is probably the most likely situation.  Because our area caters to young professionals there tends to not be a need for 3+ bedrooms.  Builders have capitalized on this and usually offer large master bedroom suites and while these are awesome, for Jarrod and I they seem like more wasted space than anything else.
• Hardwood floors may actually happen!  Based on what we've seen online many of the available homes have hardwood floors at least in the living areas.  We may need to eventually add it to the bedrooms, but that's a project we're confident we could do ourselves... or with Jarrod's cousin Ben's help :)
• Open floor plan is again another good possibility.  See the reason for the large master bedroom above and that would explain good areas to entertain.
• Projects may or may not happen.  We are nervous about any house in our area that is old enough to have projects because they are also old enough to need major work.  Most housing in our area is either VERY old or fairly new.  We'd feel silly pulling up counter tops that were fine and new, just not our favorite.  That seems like a waste of money.
• Bedrooms on the same floor. This may be the most difficult thing to find.  Our area is mostly townhouses and to make so many fit on one block they have made them very tall and very skinny.  What is typical is a bedroom on the first floor, living on the 2nd and the master on the 3rd.  There is no way we would be comfortable with future kids on the entry level floor, 2 flights down from us.  This may be the deal breaker for most places we look at.

Next up... How do we go about buying a house?! And other serious questions...

Time to Keep Track

Yesterday before Jarrod went off to work for hopefully one of the last night shifts of his life (I'll get there, give me a second) we took a look at the calendar and realized that though March has yet to begin we have basically filled every moment of it.  You name it, we've got it going on.  Not all bad things, just every moment being used to the max.  At the end of all of it Jarrod and I hope to take a huge, HUGE, step in our lives... but again, I'll get to that.

Allow me to explain about Jarrod's new job since that's probably all you've been thinking about since I mentioned it above.  About 2 months ago Jarrod got word that there was a job opportunity within his company that would fit him quite perfectly.  Jarrod had been working on becoming a green belt (the GE company thinking kind, not a ninja) and his mentor saw that this new job was available and suggested he apply to it.  It is project management and the way I understand it is that any time a project of any sort needs to happen at one of the MANY plants his company runs, he and his group makes it happen.  They don't complete the project, but rather find the people, resources, and time to do it.  Especially for big projects, this becomes a huge undertaking to make sure that an entire plant full of people are on board and have the time to get things done.  The best part of the job I have noticed is the fire proof jeans... No I kid.. I kid... No the best part about the job other than the promotion potential and exciting work is the normal schedule.  That's right ladies and gentlemen, my husband will be coming home every night! I am so proud that he worked so hard to move on from his initial position with Praxair and I am so glad that he was able to find something within his company so that he had a smooth transition.  Way to go Jarrod :)

Now about that crazy month of March.  This is where the keeping of track needs to begin.  Oddly enough one of the reasons March is so busy is because it is our first full month of Track.  So far we have had 1 track meet and it was absolutely freezing.  We also have a very young team who is used to being the super stars of their middle school and are only slowly adapting to second place.  Yeah, as if second place was so bad.  Last weekend's meet was canceled due to major rain and this weekend's meet is 2 days long.  Woo who doesn't love track season?!  All but one of the weekends in March is filled with either a 1, 2 or sometimes even a 3 day track meet.

Ok so that's only 5 days in the month, not that much to keep track of.  As I mentioned, the month is super busy, but not all worked related.  March in Texas means several things.  Spring break for schools, warmer weather inching in and the Rodeo! This year Jarrod and I have been told, I mean highly suggested to, that we need to go to the Rodeo since we "missed" it last year.  So during Spring Break we will be attending 1 day of the Rodeo...yeeehaw!  The rest of Spring Break will be filled with wine tasting, birthday celebrations, packing (patience still...) and most likely prepping for the last push of the school year. That's right, this year it's back to even digits for me(which I prefer much more than odd years).  I already know it will be filled with all kinds of wonderful events including another 1/2 marathon.  Yup, that's in March too... Woo!

If you're still paying attention, 1 I applaud and appreciate you, and 2 I bet you're wondering what I'll be packing for during Spring Break.  Obviously if it's happening during Spring Break it's not for Spring Break.  Nope, this year we're not going anywhere fancy.  The main reason we're not going anywhere is because we wanted to save a lot of money for when we get ready for our next HUGE step and that is to BUY A HOUSE!!! A more detailed post about our up coming search is on it's way for sure, but for now know that I am going to use Spring Break to begin packing and purging things we don't use currently.  I figure if we can be semi packed by the time a decision is made it will make for a more smooth move.  I am so excited for this event to happen, I am not however, excited to pack again.  Hopefully this will be the last time for many years.

I am planning to keep track of much of our home buying process. From what we want, to how we get it and what's it's like once we're in.  I want to "write" it all down so Jarrod and I can look back this fall and realize how (hopefully) successful we were in our 3rd major adult life decision(marriage and move being the first 2 if you were wondering).

Next up... Dream House!

Happy 28 Years Jarrod!

What a great birthday weekend for Jarrod. It started with an awesome couples massage at Massage Envy. It was the first time for both of us and after all our running man did it hurt! But in an oh so good kind of way :)

Then it was off to several stores to make sure we were set for the nights dinner. I think we cleaned up pretty good....

Mmmmm dinner. I surprised Jarrod with reservations to Americas in River Oaks which is a place he's been dying to try. The setting is soooo cool and the food is amazing and boy did we eat! To end the amazing meal Jarrod had a flaming creme brûlée that tasted like the best campfire ever :)

On Jarrod's actual birthday (today) he just wanted to go to brunch and have a relaxing day. Of course this wouldn't do for such a great guy so I asked a
bunch of friends to show up and surprise Jarrod for brunch. He had absolutely NO idea they were going to be there and didn't even see them until we were at the table haha :)

As we grow up we keep trying to focus on the time together rather than the gifts we give. We've started planning days rather than moments and we've made sure to share some amazing meals together. As corny as it sounds it's been wonderful to grow older with Jarrod. Every year we grow closer and grow as a wonderful family. It's never been easy, but it's been so worth while and I can't wait for next year already :)

Enjoy the photos from the weekend!
Happy Birthday Jarrod!!

And now it's Jarrod's Turn...

I was looking forward to writing this post to tell you all about Jarrod's half marathon.  Was... being the key phrase there.  I was certain (why Im not 100% sure) that my half marathon time would be equal or faster than Jarrod's.  Alas, on Sunday, during Houston's huge half marathon Jarrod beat my time by about 5 mins! Yay for him... grrrr for me haha.  Ok time to get over myself and congratulate Jarrod on such an awesome job!

He really did great! Especially for the work schedule he has and just coming off the holidays he definitely did not have as good of a training period as I did.  He had to get to the race at 5:30AM for a 7:00AM race! So many people... not to mention all the marathon runners as well.  This marathon is one that people can use to qualify for Boston and Chicago so it draws a lot of people to Houston.  Of course 2 Ethiopian runners won both the marathon and 1/2 marathon...such is the case in the running world.  This was such a huge race they even had the technology to text me to tell me when Jarrod was at various parts of his run. Super appreciated when I was running around Houston trying to cheer him on in various places.  I was able to see him around mile 7 and then with a sprint downtown I got to see him finish!  His official time was 1:46... so great!!!

The whole atmosphere of the race was awesome and so many people come out to support the runners.  I love the feel of people supporting road races its such an awesome energy and even a bit emotional to see moms and dads running past their kids, or various other love ones.  Makes you want to just cheer everyone on and tell them they're great!

Here are the photos I took from that day.  I tried to get Jarrod of course and also the sense of how big the race was.  Of course there were a few costumes along the way :)

First... Meet Jarrod's new bud, Charlie! He belongs to Crystal and Ed and was quite taken with Jarrod when we went there to watch football one weekend.  It was quite the cute encounter :)

Lots of marathon runners!

 

Look at all those people!!

Blowing a kiss to the camera!

So awesome!

Teehee

 

Finished!!!

The texts I got during the race :)

So proud!!!

Now on to our next 1/2 marathon...Together! We'll be running the Sugarland 1/2 in March.  I'm glad we did our first ones separate, but now it's time to kick his butt!!!! :)

It's the End of the World as We Know It...

Thank you thank you... As if you didn't see that blog title coming.
Moving on... 2012 is upon us and Jarrod and ushered it in with some great Mexican food and a party in the city park.  While it turned out to be more family fun, the last 15mins were really awesome and 2012 arrived with great music and fireworks!

 

 

 

Clearly we had to include the pups in on the fun...

2012 is looking to be a pretty awesome year.  Jarrod assures me we will see 2013 and seeing as he's been right from time to time (it's taken a lot for me to admit that clearly) I guess I have to believe him.  If he turns out to be wrong, then at least it sounds like we're gonna have a pretty great last year on earth!
Hopefully this spring will be the last we ever spend in an apartment.  Jarrod and I plan to start looking for a house sometime in April and if all goes well we'll have the summer to move, paint and enjoy our first home.  It's both scary and exciting to think about buying a house.  It's so... well, permanent.  Can't go where the wind blows you (that did not work out well for that witch in Wizard of Oz, clearly).  At some point I guess it was bound to happen, putting down roots and all and I think Houston is going to allow us to be pretty successful at doing so.  Don't worry, I'll blog about the search and what not as much as possible... Or you know, you could just come see it after we move in :)
This year will hopefully bring a better work schedule for Jarrod too.  Crazy to think that ever since we said I Do we've either lived apart or he's had shift schedules.  If he get's a regular schedule at some point we'll be a couple of regular old Jones's... and I don't think I'll mind that a bit.
Hopefully this year my sisters will get to travel to Texas for the first time and just in time before they both are in college.  UGH They make me feel sooooo old! I tell you what though, as they have grown up I can't tell you how awesome they have become.  Each year they become more and more awesome and it's so great to spend time with them.  It's nice to hit that age when our age differences don't really matter and we can all have fun and hang out together.  Of course I'm not looking forward to going out with them and having to show my ID when they'll just slide on through.  Let's not pretend that's not going to happen....

Of course 2012 (being the possible end and all) will bring about a lot of other exciting times as well.  I can only imagine what owning a house will have in store for us or what crazy times we'll have with friends here... and only someone somewhere knows what my job will have in store for me!  If the world is going to end, at least I'll be in my own house with my husband and my pups and know that at this point Im pretty content with how things have turned out.  You know if the Mayans end up being wrong though... that'd be cool too.

Let's Back Up A Bit... Christmas 2011

Please allow me to back up a bit and write a few posts about past events.  While I don't blog as often as I had always hoped I do think it important for future me to be able to look back.

Christmas 2011: Hampton NH

While last year's Christmas in Texas was fun, there is nothing like being home with family for the holidays.  We were very lucky to have the time to drive home (yes drive) with the two pups and still have enough time off to spend a whole week in New Hampshire.  We spent the first part of the week in Maine having our family photos taken, visiting with great friends and adding to my every growing collection of body artwork.  We were very lucky to have a friend who was very flexible in her photography career to make a photo session work for not only our wallets but the short time we had up north.

Here is a look at just a few she took, and dare I say we have some pretty good looking fur kids :)

And once again I was able to visit my favorite tattoo artist Matt in Portland.  This time it was to add to my left arm where there is already 603.  My left arm is quickly becoming the story of my life and so with last year marking the 10th anniversary of September 11th, I felt it only fitting to add that to the story.  Above that is the phrase La Mia Famiglia.  With losing post paternal grandparents in the past year and a half and adjusting to being so far from my own immediate family I wanted a permanent reminder of where I have come from.  I have plans to honor both grandparents in a separate piece and I am working with my sisters to come up with something we can all get together.  Here is my latest and certainly one of the greatest: 

And as if all of that wasn't enough... it was the holidays!!! It was so awesome to see my family and spend time with everyone.  The dogs couldn't believe that houses existed with multiple floors... Smokey (my parent's dog) couldn't believe that his parents could like any other dogs.  This photo would prove otherwise, sorry Smokey:

As one can imagine there was lots of holiday fun to be had. Cookies, J-Dawgs birthday party, Christmas Eve Chinese food and of course... Christmas.  I think you'll get the gist of how great our time north was with the following photos:

Time with family was the best gift... All corniness intended...

Until June when we celebrate Mariana's graduation (What the ??!!!) Thanks Family :)