Valentine's Day

 We didn't do anything planned on Valentine's Day, but one of the departments Scott manages sent him home at lunch with goodies for us. They made awesomely decorated brownie bites and heart cookies for me.

Pixie loved them.

She's a strange one. She licks off the frosting, but doesn't like cookies. She actually asked me for a lightly salted rice cake instead. While I'd rather give her the icing and take just the cookie!

Her first self portrait. I let her use the camera the other day. She's been carrying around our old one telling everyone to say cheese. I noticed she was doing it from different angles and heights one stairs, etc. I think it's from the photo shoot with did with Sam! She's going to love her birthday present I got for her on black Friday.

I helped with this one a little.

I included these last two just because she looks so old in them. My baby isn't a baby anymore!

A Good Lookin' Classical Rocker

I first heard of David Garrett through a blog giveaway of his cd, back in 2009. He had his first US tour that year, but that was back when Scott had just graduated and was looking for a second job, with not much luck. So, I missed out. 

Last August tickets came on sale for another tour, this time in Omaha, so this time we got some for February 8th! Unbeknown to us, we were going to decide to move almost two hours farther away a week beforehand for a new job.

With Scott just finishing training and being on his own the day before the concert, needless to say, he didn't think it was a good idea for him to take work off on a Tuesday and Wednesday. 

So.

I.

Got.

This person to go with me.

.

.

.

.

.

Rebecca!

James watched Pixie and their children for us, so we drove up to Omaha and had a blast. 

We even managed to innocently and accidentally park in a restricted access parking garage through the fault of a faulty system. Had it occurred to me that we entered wrongfully? Yes. But I had a splitting headache and it was 2 degrees outside. Did I think how we would be able to get back in? No. I did not. We preyed upon the kindness of the security guard to let us back in, but had it been warmer, I'm sure we could have gotten in another way. Either way, even though we appeared like dumb out-of-towners, we got free close parking!

The show was spectacular. We had 5th row center seats. If you haven't heard of David Garrett before, I urge you to look into it. He is the record holder of being the fastest violinist in the world. He plays classical music, but also arranges rock music into his repertoire. My favorite of the night had to have been Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Amazing. I pocket dialed my parents and Scott, just so they could experience some of it.

He seems so genuine and nice, maybe because he's still new to the world wide fame. 

He seems to be good friends with his band and shares a lot of the spotlight with them.

The stories he told were cute. One was of when he was with his parents vacationing in Italy (he's mostly German). He wanted a toy, but his parents said no, so he decided to become a street performer. He played for an hour and got up enough money to buy what he wanted. It was the first time he had thought about making a career out of playing the violin!

He does a lot of meet and greets, but we didn't stick around as it was about 0 degrees when we left. And I read on Facebook that he had to be in NY the next day. I found out later that he did a very very short meet and greet. Sure it might have been cool to say hello, but that's not the reason I went!

He is pretty easy on the eyes. He modeled for Versace I think it was, while going to Juiliard.

Here's the song I liked. It was amazing live, even though I own the cds. They had a smoke machine that added just the right touch to the whole show. Love, love, loved it!

And also remember, if rock isn't your thing or all your thing, he plays classical music with the same, if not more passion.

Our New House!

I know, I know. I've been asked multiple times when I'm going to post pictures of the new house.

We got word on Friday, January 28th that we were set to close on Monday the 31st. I had planned to just meet Scott down here on Monday, until we found out that a blizzard, yes blizzard, was heading our way. I knew we had to get our little Honda Civic down there early or there wasn't any way it (or I) was going to get down. So, after attending the first hour of church, we booked it home and packed like mad. I thought I was going to get that extra day, so it was pretty crazy. 

We got the only motel room in the small town that allowed pets and spent the night there. I didn't want to touch anything, it was so old and gross. To make matters worse, not only did the next door lodgers have the tv on all night, they decided to get..intimate..at 6am for a long time. I was so ill and horrified that you could hear everything and until Pixie woke up, there wasn't much I could do. Gross. I feel like throwing up.

The day of closing they moved the closing up half an hour, so I had to race to the nearest town that had our bank, to get the closing costs out. It started freezing rain on the way there and Pixie fell asleep just as I pulled into the town. Scott was at work, so I had to haul her out of her seat and gingerly walk across the iced parking lot.

I made it back in time, we went to the closing and everything went well. After we were done, we were supposed to wire transfer the closing funds, but wire transfers don't go out after 2:30pm and our closing wasn't until 3pm. So, even though we technically weren't supposed to stay in the house that night, we did anyway. Our realtor was awesome. She stopped by the house while we were at the bank, to pick up the lock box. She found that the foreclosure company had taken it and left the keys inside, with the door locked. So she found a window that wasn't latched and sent her daughter inside. She even went in and turned up the heat for us.

We camped out that night as the storm started to progress. At about 5am the door bell rang. It was a police officer and it scared the heck out of Scott. His first thought was that he was going to tell us we weren't supposed to be there, but actually, Scott must have left the car door open. It was sitting there open and nothing was stolen from inside.

Here are a bunch of pictures. This one was taken last week, after the snow had melted some.

The dumpster was finally picked up today! Yay!

Living/ Dining rooms and coat closet.

Kitchen (the color is already gone!)

Door to garage and laundry room straight ahead.

Two car garage. The openers aren't working like lots of things in the house. Found out that a troubled young man lived here with at least his mother. They didn't take care of anything and broke lots of stuff.

The garage has lots of storage shelves and even a large bench for tools. 

Laundry room.

Laundry room closet I'm using as a pantry.

 Bathroom off of laundry room

With a shower!

More of the kitchen. This window thing is amazing. It pops out over the house like a little sun room for my herbs!

Double ovens!

Pixie's room. Don't know why it has linoleum in it, but after she played with Play Doh in there, I'm considering just keeping it and getting an area rug I can roll up when she wants to play!

The blue beast of our room. (That color is gone now too!)

Main bathroom.

Another closet in the bathroom. There are also two linen closets on either side before entering the bathroom.

There is a sliding door and a regular door off of the living room, to go to the back deck. If you go right around that corner, it's the stairway to the basement.

 Scary basement!

The view of the back yard when the storm was coming. The deck is covered, so that's really nice.

Front view.

We just hung out. Here is Pixie watching an old Johnny Appleseed cartoon and eating an apple she requested because of it.

We had to wait until Thursday night to load the truck at the old house. After shoveling two feet of snow here and almost that much at the old house (all the way up the hill and on the street for the truck), plus 4 1/2 hours of loading, we were all set. Well, not all. We thought the 22 foot truck would be more than enough, but it wasn't. We ended up getting back down here with the truck at midnight, exhausted, only to realize that we couldn't fit it in the driveway until we did even more shoveling. So, I went in and put Pixie down, then went back out to help Scott shovel until 1:30am. 

The next morning at 6am, we got up and took Scott to work, then Pixie and I headed back up (1 hour 40 min) to the old house to clean and pack up some more. Thankfully Becca watched her for me. We had to be back down here to pick Scott up from work at 3:30, but I had to swing by the house first to empty the passenger seat.

Then we took Scott home and he left straightaway back to the old town to load some more stuff and go to work. He kept his job up there on Fri and Sat nights.

The next morning we had people from our new branch at church help unload us. They did it in an hour! It was awesome. The guy Scott replaced (he retired) at work brought over two crock pots of soup, homemade bread and crackers. 

We took the truck back that afternoon and Scott went back up to the Joe once again for work.

It was quite the hectic week.

Since then we've been trying to unpack simultaneously with painting and fixing things. It's going slowly, but it's going! 

Better Now!

I'm still anxious, waiting for the call to tell us when our closing date is, but I'm better now! 

Scott got to go into the new property with our agent and make sure everything is working. I'm so excited for the new house and all that comes with it...which I will reveal when we actually get in. Our agent has made this whole thing start working. She even reported the listing agent and her bank to whatever realty authorities govern that! They were really mean to her. I guess the listing agent already has a 'record'. Haha. Between them and our loan officer sitting on  it, nothing was being done I guess!

The appraiser came back, checked it all, and it's good to go! Now we have to wait for underwriting. Should be ready Monday or Tuesday. I sure hope the snowstorm that is threatening us those days, will either hold off or go away completely.

There is still a pipe to be fixed in this house, money to scrap up and the logistics of moving around Scott's and the weather's crazy schedules, but I'm done painting and it should be over soon!
Plus today is going to be a gorgeous Spring like day. All I have to do is pack!

I was listening to my YouTube playlist, when this song came up and it completely matched my mood. There are some songs that I just never get sick of, this is one of them.

Enjoy!

Angel in Disguise

I've been hearing about this "Blue Monday" thing going on yesterday, for a while. I didn't believe it, but yesterday was the bluest Monday I have had in..well...since I can remember.

All of you know that we have been preparing for a move. The day (Friday) was coming up and we started to get nervous/excited. Since Scott has been keeping in close contact with the bank, we thought all was fine. Until he called to confirm yesterday that we were all set. Suddenly, this never before seen/heard about list was generated and we were told it's unlikely we'll close Friday. This was so upsetting. Our tenants are taking over on the 1st, they have to be out of their house and we don't want to lose them, so we're looking at being homeless. Not to mention the fees they charge up the nose for not closing in time. 

I cried. I cried a lot. And I haven't gotten much done in the house since then. 

Our real estate agent gave us some hope, and even gave the loan officer an earful. Hurdle after hurdle has come up, just when we thought we were making some progress. It has made me physically ill. 

I had to get out this morning to get information to bring to the loan officer, so after shoveling myself out (and getting a little stuck), I got the Honda out. I dropped Pixie off at her aunt's house, then ran my errands. 

On our way back home, as I turned onto our street, I realized I hadn't shoveled the pile of snow left by the snow plow. It was impossible for me to park on the street and my little Civic will not make it into the driveway. I tried to steer down the street a little and park on the side, so to give me room to shovel and for cars to pass, when the car slid into a large drift of snow. I was stuck. I spent half an hour trying to dig, push, chop and burn my way out, but it was no use. As truck after truck of men passed by, not one stopping to help, I started to think chivalry and kindness were dead at this hour. 

After another round of shoveling and chopping, I saw a man walking down the street. I've seen him walk up and down before, but have never spoken to him. He was older, not well dressed, missing some teeth, with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He told me he had seen me struggling and came to help. After trying to push, then stopping to shovel, he had me drive forward over the embankment as he lifted. Within 5 minutes I was free. I rolled down my window and thanked him as deeply as I could. He just kind of nodded, said some pleasantries, then continued walking down the street. 

I know this man doesn't know what that meant to me, but the Lord does. As I drove around the block to park in my now somewhat shoveled space, tears started streaming down my face. 

In the midst of these dark 'blue' days, 

I found a glimmer of hope,

in the act of kindness from my angel in disguise.

Moving Update

So, we're moving this Saturday! That is, if all goes well at the closing on Friday. I'm pretty nervous about that. It's not over, until it's over. 

Good news is, we found renters! And even better, we found rent-to-owners. They are a middle aged couple, whose children are grown. They have only owned their houses and fixed them up, so they pretty much want to do lots of improvements to the house by themselves! They have their own appliances and are even going to finish some of the projects we started. Such a blessing. We were worried we might not get someone to rent before we moved, let alone someone who would pay rent and take care of the place. We have high hopes for this arrangement and hope it works out splendidly. We've heard so many rental horror stories!

Scott went back to work early this morning and I am snowed in again after the storm on Saturday  night. Church was canceled and I was actually glad. While I did have a few things to do there, I wasn't looking forward to being sad about Pixie's last day in nursery here. Silly I know, but when you've had a child that doesn't feel comfortable anywhere, then finally does, it is heartbreaking to take that away from them!

I have many things to do, and nothing you would want to see pictures of, so here. I haven't really grocery shopped in a while, trying to use up reserve so we don't have to move it. I wanted to make an easy Sunday dessert, so I took puff pastry and Amish peaches, and made glazed turnovers! They were surprisingly really delicious.

The Thrifty Gene

I hate the 'thrifty gene'.

Have you heard of it? Scientists are researching the possibility that some people possess a gene that basically stores fat in the body, to protect against famine. 

I say, if I'm starving, just let me die already!

Now, I don't know if this is for sure fact, but I'm inclined to believe it is.

We all have that friend who can eat whatever junk she/he wants, and never gain a pound. Those are all around. I wouldn't mind at all to be one of them, but I'd settle for this person. I have friends like this...you know who you are! They say "I needed to lose some weight, so I started walking and I lost that last 15 lbs." or "I decided I wanted to get down to my super skinny jeans, so I stopped eating fast food" or "I stopped snacking in between meals/ not eating after 8pm" or "I started doing Zumba a few times a week and lost 30lbs over the summer!".

Now, I would gladly be one of the latter people. I'm not giving myself an excuse to be obese, but currently I am considered overweight, even with these self imposed dietary guidelines for myself.

1. I don't eat fried food. Once in a blue moon I'll have onion rings or fried falafel.
2. I don't cook with oil when it's not needed (soups, saute) and cut it down in recipes
3. I avoid sugar and don't eat artificial sweeteners. When I do bake something sweet, I substitute stevia for half of it, which has no calories.
4. I try to avoid carbs. I eat small portions of rice with stir fry/curry or when I do eat pasta, I add more veggies than pasta. 
5. I avoid cheese (of course I"m already a vegetarian, so calorie laden meats are out too)
6. I don't eat fast food often. Literally once a month maybe I'll eat a burrito at 490 calories.
7. I don't butter things.
8. When I do have carbs, I usually eat whole grains.
9. I don't make creamy dishes.
10. I don't keep any kind of junk food in the house.

You would think a normal person would be at a healthy recommended weight by adhering to these guidelines, yes? Well, these guidelines keep me from being clinically obese, but not overweight!

Maybe higher protein? Tried that. It made me gain weight. Maybe exercise? While it's great and a needed addition to every healthy lifestyle, I did intense cardio classes a lot this past summer. I had a goal of working out at least 3 days a week formally for at least an hour. The result? I gained 5 lbs over the course of a few months. Muscle? No. I have read up on this and it's not possible for me to gain that much in muscle. My clothes also didn't fit better, if you were wondering. I even just did a thyroid blood test to test my TSH and it was very well in range.

So what does work? Vegetables (raw/cooked), fruit, salad (with dressing calorie count under 40 a serving), 1 oz nut, beans, greens, and no more than one serving of whole grains a day. No dairy, no oil, low salt. That's it.

I lost 13lbs in 12 weeks doing this last year (without an exercise regiment), but it crept back when I stopped. Probably need to adopt it as a permanent lifestyle. At least for a while.

Now, I wasn't always this way. I was a slender child, with a pudgy phase from 16-17. After that I was thin again until after I got married at 22...and I married someone who celebrates every tiny thing with food. Greasy pizza type food. If I knew then what I know now, things would be different!

At least I get sympathy from my husband, he's just as baffled as I am, and empathy from some fellow thrifty family members.
Some good news is...I'm forced to eat food that keeps my insides healthy, I should save money on food since I can't eat a lot, and I now know what works!

But seriously, I hate the thrifty gene.