That Redheaded Sister

I know I said I was going to shut down, but I have exciting news!!  We closed on the house yesterday!  It is officially ours!  We are officially homeowners!  YIPEE!!  I feel a HUGE weight off my shoulders now.

The timing of it was probably NOT ideal for most people, but this process moved so quickly.  It all happened so fast.  I’d say from day one we met our realtor to the day we put in an offer, a whopping three weeks of searching went by.  That does not seem like that long at all.  It took us about a week of physically looking at houses to throw in two offers.  Sadly, the house we REALLY wanted went for MUCH higher than our budget as we were outbid.  I love our house though and cannot wait to move in.

The part after putting the offer in was a pain in the butt.  We were audited for every.little.thing.  Why did we make this $20 deposit into our account?  Why was this deposit made?  We had to produce cancelled checks for major deposits.  It was such a headache.  When we thought that part was over, more came up.  We were actually supposed to close last week and there was a slight possibility we were going to lose the house because of how Matt’s job has him listed.  He is full time, but they also have the word seasonal in his title.  This means nothing to him or his job status and actually the government translates it differently that you or I would, but once the bank saw this, they worried.  I freaked.  It was such a process, we had to move closing back to Friday.  Them my loan officer made a mad dash to get the packet to the closing attorney.  Closing was moved to yesterday.

I was so stressed out about this.  How many times they had to pull my credit, how careful I was with everything, how much money I put into the house already (good faith $, inspection, appraisal).  I did not want it to be a lost cause.

Then we closed.  It took us about 30 minutes (the whole time signing papers) and we had the key in our hand.  It wasn’t as dramatic as they make it look on tv.  He actually gave us the key before we started signing.

We had a chance to talk to the seller about the before state of the house.  He said squatters lived in the house when he bought it and even before they could work on the house, they had to douse it with bleach to kill the nastiness inside.  EWWW!  They literally knocked the whole house down and started over.  They did leave the foundation, so it is still a 60 year old house.

Here is a quick “tour” of the house.  Sorry about the phone pics.  Once I have my camera, Ill post better pictures.

The house after closing (and all of this rain)

Backyard-a month ago-lots of work back here

The cutest front door

Looking from the kitchen to the dining room and living room

Part of the Master

Guest room

Our office

The hallway-just because

The kitchen-cant believe I didnt get a better pic

Kitchen

Now that we are done with that, it’s time to focus on the wedding!

10 months of planning behind me.  10 months of worrying if everything will come together behind me.  10 months of the LAMEST drama I have ever experienced almost behind me.  Saturday is the big day and I couldnt be more nervous.  Not nervous to get married but nervous that everything won’t flow the right way or that we don’t have enough of something.  I know the day of those feelings will fade because at the end, we will be married.

Not that I have been a frequent blogger with tons of interesting things to say, but I am unplugging (sort of) for the next two weeks!  I am so ready to have “my toes in the water, ass in the sand.”  (Zac Brown Band lyric if you were unsure).  I may try to post things on Instagram, so if you are around, follow.

And we are FINALLY closing on the house this afternoon.  That is a whole nother post for a whole nother day!  Be warned, buying a house is a hassle.

And I cannot wait to stop spending all of this money!  Holy smokes!  (but we may have come in only a LITTLE over budget)

Later Taters!!

Last week I started biting the bullet and waking my sorry butt up at 5am so I can hit the gym before work.  I can definitely say last week was tough.  So very early in the morning, but the rewards are much better.  I dont feel the constant stress throughout the day of “I need to go to the gym”  “I better get to the gym” ” Why am I driving past the gym” “Well, another day of not going to the gym.”  Now its done early in the day.  Today was my furthest and best run for sure.  I did 2.5 miles and that was probably a little too much for my feet after walking ALL day yesterday.  They are in a bit of pain right now.

In my week of being the early bird, I have learned a few things about myself

• I move so slowly in the 5 o’clock hour.  Much slower than the 6 o’clock hour.
• I am SO forgetful this early.  Last week I made it to the gym on two occasions and one day forgot my bra and the next day my keys.  Luckily, I only live a few minutes away.
• Being so slow in the 5am hour, I also drive really slow.  I looked down this morning and was doing under the speed limit.  Geeze grandma!!
• I really enjoy watching the news in the morning.  More than the afternoon.  Weird
• Mondays are the hardest.  It is almost 8am and I have not said a word to anyone.  I am strange like that though.  I dont really like talking in the morning.
• I feel SO motivated once I jump on that treadmill.  Today was pretty empowering even though it was only 2.5 miles.

I am still moving at a pretty slow speed, so I am not sure what I am going to do once I start building mileage.  My feet are thanking me for moving at that slow of a pace though.

In other news, two weeks from thisverysecond we are going to be sitting in the airport on our way to Cancun for our honeymoon.  I have never taken that much time off of work in a long time without checking my emails, so this should be interesting.  Cannot wait though!!  We are still trying to plan our excursions, so any tips would be helpful!!!!

Have a great week everyone!!!!

In just 27 hours I am going to sitting in my fully loaded with people car heading to Nashville for my bachelorette weekend.  I am very excited about going because I havent really been away in a while.  I am hoping this crappy cold Matt gave me goes away in time.  His lasted three days and I am currently on day two.  My eyes have started watering and I cant stop sneezing/blowing my nose.  How much more can one person blow out of their nose?!?!?  (Im sure my coworkers love me right now, sorry).

So, you wanna see something cool?  (This might be something that no one else cares about, but I think its cool)  Before we could actually see houses with a realtor, we were looking through apps like Zillow and Trulia.  The thing is with us, we wanted to see more of the neighborhoods these houses were in before investing the gas mileage to visiting in person, so we also used Google Maps Street View.  I knew Google Maps was out of date, but wow.

This is our soon to be house now:

 This is our house before the investor got hold of it:

 Wild isnt it?  I am going to print both pictures out and frame them next to each other.  I have been doing so much research on the house and its previous state.  Nothing.  All I can find it that it was built in 1947.  Lame.

Hopefully one month from now we will officially be first time homeowners!!

(I hope I am not jinxing myself showing this to you)

A lot has happened since our last meeting.  A lot is yet to happen from now.  We are officially 43 days away from the wedding and…..well let me fill you in BULLET STYLE

• We found a house.  We put an offer on said house.  We are currently under contract.  I cannot believe how fast this whole house hunting process went.  Houses in the area we were looking in moved FAST!!!  One house we both loved had three offers on it by the time we went to see it (after being on the market for a whole 8 hours).  I am really excited about this house and cannot wait to get in.  Provided all goes well with the repairs from the inspection, we will be in after the honeymoon
• 
• There is ZERO work that needs to be done to anything other than making it a home and the landscaping.  The backyard needs a good deal of work and we are going to be doing a lot of painting.  In fact, I am so lost on how to decorate it.  Its very brown inside.  Brown hardwoods, brown cabinets, brown tile, etc.  How to bring in some color (and sadly we BOTH have to agree on the color.  My chances of a navy blue or striped wall have gone down to 0%)
• I was accepted to run the Peachtree Road Race July 4th.  I am pretty excited because I had such a fun time last year.  I am “running” it with a friend, but I am 100% sure I will run alone.
• I am still fighting with my feet and I am going to look into some inserts for my shoes.  I ran some last week (but not this week) and it sucked.  I have fallen way out of shape
• Race adrenaline got me through The Color Run this past weekend though.  I ran about 2.5 of 3.1 miles and I was very happy my feet made that possible.
• On The Color Run.  It was fun.  I can say I did it.  And probably never again.  The cleanup took days.  I was picking pink out of my scalp until Wednesday and blowing purple out of my nose until Tuesday!!

Before

After

• Did I mention we are getting married in 43 DAYS!!!!  There really is not much left to do (work on the altar, work on centerpieces, finish favors, buy alcohol)

What is new with all of you?

Ideas on how to decorate with brown undertones?  Ill show pictures of the inside soon.

How are you with a garden?  We may need to talk!! LOL

If there wasn’t enough on my plate right now (learning a new aspect of my job, planning a wedding), we are looking for a house to buy.  I have watched a MILLION TRILLION shows on tv letting us follow fellow house hunters on their journey and thought I was well versed in the procedure and what we wanted.

WRONG!

Let’s be real….looking for a house to buy is harder than anyone will ever tell you.  Let’s back up a little so I can catch you up to speed on where we are.

Last summer we decided the apartment we are currently in will be our last.  We have had it with throwing money away and I am ready for some awesome house DIYs.  And a garden.  At this point we had no idea where we wanted to live, no idea what we could afford, we just knew what we (sort of) wanted.  It’s funny how much our tastes have changed in this process.

Source

In our beginning search we were dead set on an area just outside of the city.  It was suburb, but close to the city.  It was newer and the houses were bigger.  Since it was still newer and not as developed, it was cheaper.  It was also very close to the interstate making our commutes a little easier (I work around the TL in the ATLANTA above, Matt works northwest of that).  Then for fun, we checked out an area that many young professionals live in the city.

Last month we finally met with our loan officer and we were approved for a loan.  A few weeks ago we were introduced to our realtor and started our search on paper.  We told him the areas we love (6 in total), our budget, and our specs needed (3bed/2 bath min).  We were set up on a listing search and after a week sit down to pick the houses we liked.  We started with a list of almost 40!

From that list we narrowed it down to 20 and submitted it to our agent.  We were pretty excited because there were a few favorites on that list.  Our agent got back to us with about 14 houses we could look at.

Last Sunday we headed out to our first house.  I have seen parts of this city I am actually embarassed of and in it we actually found the PERFECT PERFECT house

It had everything we ever wanted.  Hardwoods throughout, priced well, updated 100%, new deck, great yard with a new fence.  So why didnt we put an offer on it?  The neighborhood was terrible.  Houses around were boarded up.  The neighbors were quite sketchy looking and it was right across the street from a high school.  It is on the side of town that is just now starting to attract the investors to flip, but its not there yet.

We were both bummed out, but we had to keep moving.  The next house was closer to where we want to be, but not quite.  We both LOVE that house as well, but we are unsure of the neighborhood again.  When we drove through, they were building very nice townhomes on one end of the street and flipping the older homes on the same side of the street.  So there COULD be a better possibility its changing over there.

The last three houses were in the neighborhood we want to be in but house 1 was just eh, house 2 was over priced, awkward, and small.  House 3 was everything I personally wanted in a house, but we were so close to the Braves Stadium that we have to rule it out.  Sadly, that area is infested with crime and while the house was teetering the ok part of the neighborhood, I think it was too far over.

I left Sunday feeling….I cant describe how I felt.  None of the houses we really liked on our list made it to showing because houses in the area we like move quick.  I was disappointed but happy to see there are things out there we really like.

The area we looked at over the summer that we felt dead set on moving to?  We are taking it out of our search completely.  That area is going to be harder to resell because there is so much building going on and so much competition.  The houses were beautiful, but just too big for us.

Eventually we may need a house that big when we have kids running around, but right now it would cost us so much to FILL these houses.  So we have narrowed it back to the city.

I feel a little angst about this because houses move faster there and that may leave us with little negotiation room.  There are other areas in the city we would love to be in, but you have to have half a million to get into those neighborhoods.  YIKES!  Or the flip side, you have to stay as far away from that area as you can.

I was sitting in the dentist’s waiting room today reflecting on my old self and how much I miss being the way I was in some aspect.

I was a runner.  I went to the gym.  I was in decent shape and loved being at the gym.  There were times were I actually contemplated becoming certified as a trainer.  I never publically announced that, but it was a thought I tossed around.

To do lists were my thing.  Ever since moving into my current position, I hardly make myself personal to do lists.  I used to have a weekly list of things to do and they were done.

At some point in time I was a very VERY tidy person.  Things were always organized.

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These days running is not much of an option (thanks to my body that plagues me with injury and my mind that kills my motivation mojo).  The gym?  I visit it about 2-3 days a week MAYBE.  I’ve tried to get there before work, but I am just too tired.  Ive tried to go at lunch, but the specific location near my office is really gross and just using the sinks in the bathroom make me want to die.  I couldnt imagine using the shower.

The problem is I have no one to work out with.  Each time I have worked my hardest, I have always had a friend by my side.  Will you train with me?  If not, how do I find someone who will? womp womp

I blame the last thing on living in a tiny space.  I live in 700 square feet right now with one other person and two cats.  You leave a pair of shoes out and the place looks like a disaster.  Its so sad.

In other news……

We got our engagment photos back.  I am pretty happy with them.  I havent shared many on Facebook because Matt asked me not to, but I will share with you what I have shared

What seems like 800 years ago, I offered to review a pair of No nonsense leggings.  I was thrilled to be given the offer because I live on leggings.  I love wearing tights, but leggings offer more comfort to me.

I was sent two products to try out, corduroy leggings and fishnet tights.  Of course these showed up at my door the day before Christmas, a week before we moved, and two weeks before busy season started for me, so this is a huge delay in reviewing.

I first tried out the corduroy leggings.  I received the Aubergine color pair (purple) and was not in love with the color.  I am not much of a fan of purple and how bright they were.  I am very limited on what I have that matches purple leggings, so I threw something together.  Of course I do not have a picture because what I paired with it was sort of silly looking (me, not the leggings).  I must say…they were extremely comfortable.  I felt free to move around or cuddle under the blankets on the couch (I always feel uncomfortable laying on the couch in jeans or tights).  They also kept my legs very warm.  Matt and I decided to head out and practice our golf swing in the misty, cold day.  I felt so warm and comfortable.

Of course being a few days before moving, I was unable to snap a picture paired with a possible outfit and I think they were packed into a box that is sitting in storage with our other clothes.  All I can show is what the website has of these.

As you can see, they offer the corduroy in a few different colors.  I would buy these for sure, but not in purple.  This is just a personal preference because I am not much of a fan of purple.

The second pair I received was a pair of fishnet stockings.  I DO have pictures wearing these.  Fish nets are not something I would wear to work, but I do own a pair sitting in my clothing storage box.  The fit of these was actually pretty nice.  The waist was relaxed and I didnt feel as crunched as I do when I wear tights.  Here they are with the dress I wore to work.  I did not wear the fish nets today because it was a chilly 30 degrees this morning and I needed my thick tights.

(And instead of wearing my cute peep toe shoes today, I am wearing my running shoes.  Trying to cater to my injured feet)

 Not bad.  Their prices are very reasonable as well.  The leggings above are $18.99.  I saw a pair of capri leggings that I am sort of obsessing over for $15.99.  I love capri leggings in the spring time!

We shouldn’t stop at just the leggings, No nonsense also offers yoga attire, underwear, slippers, and shoe liners.  Take a look at their site to see what you need to get your hands on for spring!

Thank you No nonsense for getting me the chance to review two of your products.

Ive been testing my feet.  I am dying to get on the training wagon that I fell hard from.  Last week I hit the gym and ran some intervals at a pretty low speed.  I ended up doing 2:2 with a speed of 5 on my run and a 3 on my “jog.”  My legs were really tired after the first 30 minutes.  And the achiness lasted through the night.  My feet felt fine which was a little reassuring.

The next day I couldnt get onto an elliptical (I work out after work), so I took my achy legs and jumped on the mill for intervals again.  The aches and pains melted away.  My legs knew what to do.

Then I got cocky and decided to jump back into training.  Go hard or go home, right?  Let’s not get crazy, my plan is a 18 week plan for a simple 10k.  I am giving myself enough time to be fully prepared for Peachtree in July so I can rock that crappy hill.  I gave up my July show, so the amount of stress will be greatly reduced around that time and I hope that helps the training plan.

My week this week looks like this:

Monday-Cross train/cardio- I didnt have much time on the elliptical because there was a line, so I was only able to do 20 mins of cardio and worked my back and biceps.

Tuesday-run 15 minutes-I MAY have to turn this into intervals because I am still not 100% sold my feet are going to work with me (I also like doing a minimum of 30 mins cardio, so Ill probably jump on the stair stepper after)

Wednesday-same as Monday-Ill be working the triceps and chesticles

Thursday-Same as Tuesday

Friday-Same as M/W-working the shoulders and legs

Saturday-off

Sunday-run 1 mile-trying to take it as easy as I can

The weeks after arent really changing much other than an increase in time and mileage.  Im glad I am only running 3 days a week.  I am also finding this a VERY ambitious plan.

This week has been brought to you by laziness.  You guys, I am having a tough time getting motivated to do all of the things.

This week will mark week #3 on my little weight loss journey.  I do not have as high of hopes for my weigh in tomorrow as I did at the beginning of the week.  Mainly the reason is because I have not been to the gym in TWO weeks.  A lot of it has to do with the amount of stress I am under, but a lot of it is laziness.  I think my focus needs to change and I need to create a training plan and see how much the feet with work with me if I start running again.  I did see the doctor a few weeks ago to get more injections in my feet, but it looks like I am going to need orthotics.  Hello $$$$$.  I have to wait until after the wedding to consider this.

This week I signed up for Ali’s 2nd Annual virtual race.  I guess that means I REALLY need to start training my feet to run again if I want to have any sort of power to run this.

This week I met Monte Durham from “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta.”  We hugged.  He signed a magazine.  We were at Crate and Barrel registering for the wedding at a private event they were hosting and he was there talking to brides.  We chatted about my crazy dress shopping experience and his trip to London.  We are besties Im sure LOL  But, seriously, he is really nice.

via Google Image Search

This week marks three months until we are married.  It also means in three months we are going to be sitting on the beaches of Cancun relaxing.

This week we were approved for a home loan!  We have to wait until we are married to actually close on a house (that is how our loan works), but we can start looking and go under contract before being married.  This is a bit of an overwhelming process because we have no idea how to start.  I guess being preapproved was the best thing to start with first (thank you HGTV, I learned so much from you).  Now we need to find an agent.  How on earth do you go about doing that?  We have a few close friends/family that are agents, but we are opting not to use them because it is no different than doing business with them.  If something were to go wrong, we dont want it to ruin a relationship.

This week I finished working on the boutinneres for the guys.  I love them but I am worried about them looking too cheesy.  What do you think?  The best part: these cost a whopping $8 to make 7.  I researched and researched and I was going to spend $50 to 7 if I had a florist or grocery store do them.

I think I need to get a picture of it attached to a jacket, but I kind of like how they are wild looking but still incorporate my yellow.

How has your week been so far?