Winter Wonderland

Jackson Hole, Wyoming
I have spent the last week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, just above the Teton Village and right at the base of the Teton Mountain range. I have never been farther west than Texas and the farthest north that I have ever ventured is Maryland. The NW, in the winter was a completely new experience. When I landed, the first thing I noticed was that there were dogs in the airport. You know, just chilling. I saw bird dogs, a shepard and little yappy things. I soon discovered that Jaskson Hole is a cowboy town. Although, what did I expect...I am in Wyoming.
Beyond that, it was beautiful beyond belief. I spent eight days here and I still felt like I was in a fairy tale...or more accurately, as though I was intruding on a movie set. I have tons of breath taking pictures, and I intend to share an album's worth, you will not be visually unsatisfied with this post.

Winter Wonderland right?

So the setting was serene and perfect. My time here was not. Any Tadlocks who read this, please do not be offended, I mean no harm.

I really did not enjoy my time in Wyoming. It had fun parts, but mostly I felt trapped. It was pretty terrible. I love the girls and I love the Tadlock family but if I could take my week back, I would. I missed Valentine's with Brian and I spent most of my time inside.

But onto the good stuff.

I did build my first snowman.

I also pulled the girls in a sled...uphill...in high altitude, but they had fun.

I also got to explore the town some with my best friend.

I have missed Courtney so much, I really have not seen much of her at ALL since I stopped working for her family. I think I am going through withdrawals. I am used to seeing her and talking to her everyday. She is an amazing friend. There are many things that I can thank the Tadlocks for during my employment with them, just knowing their family and their story is one of them...I have made friends with Jena and Mike, Meme and Granddadddy, and Pam and Dale and I treasure that, but for sure, I am most thankful for gaining a friend who truly knows how to be the verb and not just the noun.

Annnd I made my first "snow fort" aka, we dug a big hole and sat in it.

It was a pretty big hole and this was actually a lot of fun. The area we decided to build it was mostly powder...it was in an area where no one had walked since it started snowing, however long ago.  I sunk in the snow up to my thigh...lots of effort to get over to our intended site of demolition. Bella, sweet thing that she is, was a helpful director with instructions like "Work harder Kiki", and "make the walls" and "build it better". She is going to be a great girlfriend to someone someday.

I also got the *chance* to try and ski but the equipment was not mine and it did not end up going as planned.
So instead, I went up in the lift and was witness to an amazing view.

 It was pretty fantastic.

Valentine's Day
This was not a good day for me. Not because it was Valentine's Day persay, but because I just did not want to be in Wyoming. Valentine's Day has never particularly special to me... Lemur and I only ever spent one Valentine's Day together in the entire five years that we dated ...The 4th of July was always our Valentine's. So I was not particularly upset about missing that. I was upset about the eight days, Valentine's included. I miss Brian so much. I really cannot wait to be home with him. He sat on skype with me and chatted with me whenever I wanted. I know it seems silly, but I am so used to being able to talk to and kiss and lay next to Brian whenever I want. So being away sucked, but he proved once again, what an amazing boyfriend he is, he doesn't get annoyed at me for texting or wanting to skype or calling him. Yes, it was only eight days, but he was very indulgent of my neediness. He has never once told me that I am too needy or been annoyed at me wanting to be close to him, he genuinely enjoys my company, and for that quality alone, I would not trade him for anything. Not even my own Buffalo Wild Wings Franchise.

My handsome Valentine.

Always and Forever.

One last view of Wyoming:

A perfect setting. I don't think I could ever get tired of looking at Wyoming, I didn't even mind the bone-chilling temperatures because they were sans humidity, and having the right kind of coat helps.

I really hope that Brian and I can take a winter vacation to somewhere like this in the next couple of years and attempt to hit the slopes in our own right. I also look forward to this because I know that we would be able to take in the scenery in true fashion, as my baby is always up for an adventure. =)


Pontiac
I had hoped that the next time that I updated, it would be to inform everyone that Brian and I are homeowners, alas, it has not happened yet. We have received multiple unfulfilled promises and vague e-mails saying things like "The file is up for marketing review".... Entirely unhelpful. The 15th of February marked two months since we put in our initial offer. Maybe the NEXT post will be about our journey garnering some closure.

Subway
I have had a week and a half as a manager...and then eight days off. My first week was a flurry of crazy. I worked over 60 hours and a lot of it was office type stuff.... Trying to organize the store and talk to employees and whatnot. It was also that start of "$5 Footlongs". Let me tell you how excited I was to under-order on my first truck. This is definitely going to be a learning experience but I am happy so far. It was just really hard to start, implement new rules and then try to enforce them from 1500 miles away. Actually...next to impossible. I am still getting into the swing of things, however, overall, I would much prefer it to late nights at the store I was at before. Plus, come on, I like being the boss. I am good at it. =)

Off to pack. Florida, I have missed you. 

The Waiting Game

House Update
The 15th of this month marked a month from our offer date on our house. We have had some positive news in the realms of FHA possibilities. The roof was put on the house just 6 years ago, it has a new water heater and is getting a new HVAC system before we move in.

We were supposed to know something last week, the bank was having the house reappraised. Timelines like these I do not give a generous amount of weight to. Today we received an e-mail saying that the file was "up for review" and that we should know soon.

In other news, life is just chugging along. Brian and I have been dating for 7 months now, and I couldn't be happier. We have been through a couple of weeks of school now. While I can think of better ways to spend my morning, I guess in the long run, a degree will be better than sleeping in.

Job News
I have worked for Subway for 4 years as of February 17th. I have had a couple of breaks and I have griped about it forever. On Thursday I got a phone call from Bruce, our owner. He FINALLY offered me a General Manager position at a small, easy store. I am thrilled. I have had several people say "don't do it!!" but to me, I am working 50 hours as it is,  if I am going to continue working 50 hours anyway, I may as well make more money. Tomorrow is my first day. We will see how much I prefer or dislike it comparative to where I have been the last few months.

One last update, many people know that Brian and I are managing our own little side business in the retail community. At first I was really embarrassed by this, but now, I just feel successful. We have around $1300 dollars in sales, and have put over $600 in the bank towards our down payment. It is always rewarding to know that you know your market. It is a comparatively small income, we could not quit our jobs or anything like that, but in the future, if we could use the income towards renovations in our house and say a recreation budget without it ever affecting our salaries, that would be nice.

Not a long update, but I felt like I had not updated in a while. Look for an ecstatic update when I hear about the house. *fingers crossed*

Labor of Love

Today was my first day off in what felt like forever.

Brian and I were busy pretty much all day, but it was one of those days where you feel that you didn't get much done even though you were busy all day.

However, this week was a big week for finishing projects and clearing our inventory a little bit.

Jovanna
Jovanna is the name of the little girl for whom my most recent crocheting project was dedicated. A mom in Tampa called me and asked me to create a pattern for her daughter, she said she was not sure what she wanted exactly, but that fairies or butterflies or flowers would be nice; something feminine and pretty. I took that and drew my own fairy based on some internet images.

This was the pattern I came up with:

This is the final project:

And a close up:

I am quite proud of my blossoming little business.

The person who ordered this blanket got it in the mail today and said:

"Can I just tell you that I love the blanket! Pictures did it no justice... I will write my comments on etsy! I will be contacting you soon to make more stuff!!"

I cannot even begin to express how much that meant to me and how proud it makes me that I am able to translate ideas into a product that someone else can cherish. I opened up my shop on Etsy in July and have sold three to people that I did not know. I currently have a request for a fourth from a new person and I cannot wait to hammer out the details. I definitely got my share of laughs for crocheting when in middle and high school, but it has paid me back in spades, both in self pride and monetarily.

Wino
A couple of months ago, Brian and I were making our rounds at the Flea Market and we came across a wine cabinet. It was actually his idea to get it, it was only $20. I love wine, and wine paraphernalia, so I was all for this. It was not the prettiest thing to look at, but it had potential.

My poor boyfriend and I spent hours on this. Hours. And HOURS. We painted the entire thing and replaced all of the hardware. That took a lot of time, however, we scoured during our garage sales for glass, from picture frames. We were determined to replace that terrible wicker with glass. We tried cutting glass ourselves...that was a pretty abysmal fail:

We mostly just broke a lot of glass and became frustrated. Next we tried calling around to find out who could cut glass for us. The only place was Lowes, they charged $26 AND you had to buy the glass from them. That was a no go. We considered just painting the wicker, but we had this image of glass in our minds. Finally, I called around to some local framing places and was referred to Glass Service Center of Tallahassee. They are awesome. Not only did they cut the glass for FREE, but they helped us with hardware to install the glass, also free of charge. They were very helpful and actually ended up trimming our glass down a second time for us. 

Our Final Result.

What a difference. I am so very proud of this project. 

The House

Before moving onto regularly scheduled blogging, I forgot an event of utmost importance, Davey-poo's birthday was on the 3rd. We celebrated with cookie cake and fried chicken, cooked in the deep fryer that Brian and I got him for Christmas.

Yum.

The frosting was supposed to be purple. I clearly need to work on my primary color coordination. 

Okay. Onward.

The House

On Friday morning, Brian and I went and re-toured our *hopefully* to be home. We also looked at another town home on the same street, exact same layout as ours, that is not a short sale and is currently on the market. We did this to get a gauge of what these people have put into the house and what they were trying to sell it for. It is currently at a reduced price of $80,000. The only upgrades were ceramic tiles in the foyer and kitchen and laminate flooring in the living room. Also, they had put in french doors instead of a sliding glass door. These are all upgrades that we intend to put into the house. In addition to those, we want to redo the counter tops, refinish the cabinets and update the hardware, and possibly eventually add a deck outside. 

Onto pictures. =)

I adore this house and see it for its potential. I have already painted  it and refloored it and updated things in my head. I will be sorely disappointed if our offer is not accepted. 

This is the Front of our little town home

We would need to repaint and replace some of the boards and probably change the front door and the overhang, as well as some landscaping. But, it is an end unit and I am glad.

This is the kitchen area, to the left when you walk in. It has a cute little breakfast nook, and ample cabinet space. I like that it has a bar into the living room, both for the social aspect and to keep it a little more open. I would like a newer refrigerator and we intend to change the look of the cabinets and the counters. The boys like the "woodsy" feel of the cabinets, I think that they just look outdated. 

This is the living room area. I love that we have a fireplace, it gives the room a real focal point. I am sure at some point the HGTV in me will want to change the facing of the fireplace, but for now, I just like that it has one. As for that nook on the side, my intention is to put a full length built in desk and storage in the form of bookshelves. This is something that I would love to do, it would give an office space, as the house is lacking a third bedroom that would have been nice. After seeing the French doors in the other town home like ours, we would also like to replace the sliding glass doors. I think that it would give us more security and also a much cleaner look. It is not pictured, but to the right of this nook is a downstairs half bath. 

This is a view of the master, both bedrooms are en suites and have their own full baths. Ours has a walk in closet with built in shelves, which is a nice feature. It is slightly larger than the other room, although both rooms are pretty large in size.

This is the second bedroom. No walk in, but still ample closet space. I hate the blinds though, but I welcome the need for cosmetic changes, it makes it personal. 

Outside of the sliding glass doors in the living room is a screened in porch. and from where this picture was taken, there is a utility room with washer and dryer and some room for storage. The screening is torn and would need to be replaced or changed. Brian and I think that a possibility for a future project would be to take down the screening and making this into a back porch instead with a deck. I think he just wants less landscaping. 

This is view from the back of the yard. It is not a HUGE yard, but we don't need one. We intend to put a storage shed back here for all of our projects. Whether we build or buy has yet to be determined. A nice feature of having an end unit is that we also have a 6 ft gate into our  backyard. I am sure we will need to redo the privacy fence, but that is a worthwhile investment. 

Brian and I have probably spent several hours talking about all the things we would like to do. As I have a tendency to do, my mind is wild with ideas and projects. However, I want to be realistic. While we WILL be living here, the goal of buying this house is for it to be an investment, we want to be able to put in money and see a return on it. The housing market is in a slum right now, which is great for us as buyers, but we hope that it will have picked  up by the time we are looking to sell so that we can see a true return on this investment. I feel that most of the changes that we want to make will be worthwhile. It is amazing what a coat of paint and new floors does for the image in a room. If we get this house, we will need to come up with a realistic budget on what we want to actually put into the house. However, you have to spend money to make money. On the other hand, breaking even is definitely a no-go in this arrangement. I personally want to shoot for a 15,000 to 20,000 profit on this venture, after renovation costs. 

I think I watch too much HGTV.

Hopefully it will help me in my ideas. 

Anyways, enough for now, I could go on for megabytes more about this house. Fingers crossed that the bank accepts our offer. And then fingers, toes, eyes, and legs crossed that we are approved for FHA funding rather than a traditional loan. 

One Hundred Eighty Degrees

I have so much to post about.

December 23, 2011
This was the Friday before Christmas. I was at work, a normal day. The father of the children that I babysit was home most of the morning, which is very unusual.It was a tense morning because he jokes around a bit more than I do, weird, I know. We got into a huge fight.

All of a sudden... I am no longer a nanny.

I have worked for this family for over a year, and they are more like family than anything else. It pretty much broke my heart. Christmas Eve was incredibly hard, because I spend it with them... the kids, the siblings, the grandparents, the whole shebang. Instead, I sat on the couch, drank half a beer and waited for my boyfriend to come home and then leave for St. Pete to see his family.

I decided to drive down to Daytona, I spent almost three days with my family, and it was pretty wonderful.

Christmas at the beach with my siblings. You cannot beat that. Unfortunately, I only got about half an hour of sun before the clouds moved in and brought the wind with it.

I took the time with my family to relax and try to just have fun. I never spend that much time away from Brian, so that was strange, but I was glad that I was able to still enjoy my mini vacation.

While I was in Daytona, the mom of the children called me. We talked for a long time. She asked me if I still wanted to work for them. I had to tell her that I did not know. I did a lot of soul searching those couple of days in Daytona. In the end, I decided that I was not going to continue working for them. I told them this face to face when I came home. It was an incredibly hard thing to do, because I love them. However... I think that it is what is best for me. Several people have asked me..."you would rather work at Subway?"... and that is not the issue. It is not a matter of preference for a smelly fast--food chain, it is a matter of emotional stress vs dumb stress. I would rather take the dumb stress. I have been filling the gap until their new nanny starts this week, and have been assured that I am still family and still welcome in their lives. It makes it easier. Tomorrow is my last day, and even though I know it is not a permanent good-bye, it will be hard to walk away from my kids.

December 26th, 2011

I met my beautiful half sisters this day. My dad adopted me when I was five years old. He and I did NOT have a good relationship growing up, but we have grown a lot closer since I have been in college, and I treasure that relationship. However, no matter how dear this new-found bond may be, I still wanted to find and get to know my biological father, Ron Moore. We started talking in September and it has been a rewarding experience. I had only met him once, briefly, in a waffle house, for like ten minutes, in October, before the 26th. 

I have three half sisters, Brittany, Amberli and Bethani. Brittany has a son named Tylan. I met them at Cracker Barrel for Tylan's birthday. I have talked to Brittany and Amberli some since I started talking to Ron, and I love them for how accepting of me they have been. It was a great experience, if a little stressful. I did not get to meet Amberli, but I hope I will in the future. My little 11 year old sister Bethani reminds me so much of my sister Allison, she is a little diva and a ball of energy and I love it. This new found family is a gift that I never expected.

Speaking of long, lost family.... I was also finally able to see Bryan and Jessica for the first time in two years. It was so amazing to see and talk with Jess, she has always been such a wonderful friend and I love her very dearly. Seeing Alayna so grown up made me want to cry, and meeting Anthony was great. 

They are ridiculously adorable in the monkey hats I made, per Jessica's request. I am sad that I only got a couple of hours with them, maybe a trip to Arizona will be in my future.

December 28th, 2011

This was our 6 month mark. The last six months has been awesome. I really cannot put that timeline to it though because our friendship has melded so seamlessly into our relationship. We have our challenges, but overall, we are a very cohesive unit. Not to go all "The Notebook", but Brian shows me how much he loves me every single day and I know he would drop everything to be with me... And I love that. Being with him is an incredibly rewarding experience. We had a pretty low key day and enjoyed dinner at Outback.

December 29, 2011

This was a day that I was not looking forward to in the least. For two reasons. 

The primary one was that I was having a stupid, dumb surgery and I hate doctors, hospitals and all of their affiliates. The second was that it would have been Lemur's and my 6 year anniversary, a pretty hard pill to swallow, no matter how happy I am. 

I spent approximately 7 hours at the hospital on Thursday. Four of them were me sitting in a room, with an IV stuck in my hand, waiting for a doctor. I was pretty irate. They said they had "fallen behind". So why did they stick me in a room with a dumb needle in my hand??? Poor Brian.. I was not a nice person that day. The procedure took all of twenty minutes, and I was in recovery for about twenty minutes before I woke up. I don't remember falling asleep and I was kind of out of it, but I was on a mission. They told me before hand that I would probably have to stay for 45 minutes. They said once I could use the bathroom, and felt okay, I could leave. I asked to use the bathroom as soon as I got back and then asked to leave. Probably the quickest discharge ever, it was great. I then proceeded to sleep for hours and hours. Stupid, dumb, hospital...for the record, I am fine.

December 31st, 2011

This was the day that I told the family that I worked for that I was no longer going to be their nanny. So I guess, technically, it was the day I started working for Subway full time again. I had to close on New Year's Eve, it was not my favorite thing in the world. Until about 10 or so my tip jar looked like this:

Which means I was 47 cents closer to a house I guess. Brian came up and mopped the lobby for me so I could leave, it was sweet. We actually kissed at 12:01 am because we were distracted and busy. 

Not my favorite end to the year, but I think it was pretty symbolic, I both ended and began my year by working. And I will need to work my butt off if I ever want to get this house. 

Now, January 4th, 2012 11:00pm,

We are four days into the new year, and my year is drastically different than I would have imagined at the beginning of December, mostly because of the job thing. Nevertheless, I have high hopes for this year, and loosely bound resolutions. I decided not to streamline and overly dedicate my resolutions, because I did not want to set myself up to be disappointed at my inability to keep them. So here goes:

> Drink more water

>Read at least one book a month

>Be more self motivated and proactive

>Keep up with Blog

>Do not shop at Wal-Mart, at all.

This last resolution is one that I feel relieved to have made. Why? I NEVER have good shopping experiences at Walmart, the staff is always rude and unhelpful and they never have enough cashiers on the line. Anyone who knows me, knows how impatient I am with lines. Not only that, Walmart is not a company that I admire, I do not get the best deals there, because I use coupons, AND I prefer to support local business when possible. While Publix and Target are not local businesses, I would much rather give them my business. Some of my absolute best coupon successes have been at Publix. I would rather be a little inconvenienced and have to go somewhere farther away to get something than deal with Walmart... Four days in and I am sure that this is a resolution that will hold. 

White Elephant Party

Saturday. 6:45 am

Brian and I started this past Saturday morning a 6:45 am, in the quest of great deals while garage saling. The pickings were slim and while we went to a lot, we only found one item of particular interest.
Dragging myself out of bed that early on a Saturday rivals with impossible, but it is always worth it and I enjoy the time with my boyfriend.

Noon Thirty-ish

Home from our garage saling adventures, I made lunch and then we went into party-prep mode. We must have gone to walmart two or three times for all of the "last minute" things.
I am so glad that David's girlfriend, Jenny was there. I needed an artistic female perspective and help. I love Brian, but I have seen him wrap presents, I didn't think he was quite up for my wrapping ideas:

Apt. 906

Beer Pong Ready. With covert beer pong ball recovery
 in the form of wrapping paper

We were ready, complete with beer cooler and wrapping paper in an attempt to keep the ping pong balls on the patio.

We also wanted to keep our guests in line, so we put up some signs.

Courtesy of Jenny

We had a strict "no puking" rule in our house. Not in the bathroom, not on the patio. Fortunately, this was one thing that stayed intact.

I made a noxious hunch punch of 153 grain alcohol, Hawaiian Punch and orange juice. There was approximately 2 gallons and every drop was gone by the end of the night. I am not sure that everyone heeded my warning sign:

Overall, I think the night was a great success. We were most definitely at capacity for my poor little apartment, however, no cops were called, nothing was broken and no one got seriously ill. Hosting a party is definitely a lot more... taxing... than just attending, and by 3 in the morning, I was partied out, but fun was had by all.

In other news, Saturday was exciting for another reason... My ring came! Brian ordered me this amazing handmade ring from Etsy. I had shown it to him months ago, and he remembered and got it for me for Christmas =] He also got me some beautiful gold swallow earrings, I will post pictures of the earrings later.

I love my ring so much. And my boyfriend for really listening to me <3
 All my friends chastised me for my investigative work in figuring out my present, they claim I "ruined" Christmas, but Christmas should not be solely based on the presents anyways.

The next week is going to be less than enjoyable. I am not working that much, however, Brian will be working every night until he leaves for St. Pete on Saturday night. So the pickings will be slim when it comes to seeing him. He is missing Christmas, our 6 month and New Year's Eve. And then I am missing Valentine's Day. I guess we will need a weekend away soon to make up for it. =]

I am stressing about tuition and down payment stuff, but I am looking forward to the Spring semester, and I am hoping that it will not be a terribly painful 15 weeks.

Nap time for the kiddos and cleaning time for me.

Signatures

We did it.

We officially put in a bid on the house. Today. I am stoked. We went in at $55,000. Now it is just a game of sit and wait. We will know somewhere between 30 and 90 days before we know whether or not our offer is accepted. Fingers crossed.


In other news:
Brian, David and I are hosting a White Elephant Party on Saturday. We spent a lot of the evening cleaning and getting ready for it. This included acquiring a table for beer pong.

Oh the things we try to fit in my car

We definitely put a seven foot by three foot board in my Ford Focus Hatchback. Ain't got no room restriction stopping us.

The theme of the party is "As Seen on T.V.", so it should be a lot of fun. I am not anticipating getting much sleep, but as long as we can manage to keep from having things broken, I will be happy. I am doing some baking for it tomorrow and last minute decorating type things and then we should be good to go.

Last note of the night:
Our house has officially launched our Christmas spirit. We put up the tree tonight. Everyone except for David has either gotten or knows about their gifts, and actually, he received his gift from his girlfriend already. Brian says I "ruined" Christmas, but I am thrilled with my present, now it just needs to get here.

Brian complains about everything

The cat is intrigued about our new addition to the living room

Brian diligently working on the tree

The boys get excited about decorating

David in his festive (toe) socks and new Rays hat

The tree has now been up for a grand total of fifteen minutes and we have had to get Athena out of the tree, and many of the ornaments scatter the ground. Woohoo! Holidays!