Wordless Wednesday - Still Waiting to Hear on my Dream-Condo

Pursuing Some Progression

Well, I think I may have found the avenue of progression that is fitting just right! Buying a place here in Utah.

I know, I know... what happened to Seattle? Well.... the economy happened. And it's not off my radar entirely... if an excellent job crops up then awesome! I'll move up there and I'll sell my place and have a little money to take with me so I can buy another place.

So back to the news: I found myself a real estate agent and we looked at some properties here in Provo... but .... no. They were not for me. And then we went to Pleasant Grove and Springville on this last Thursday. The Springville places were not great either. But Pleasant Grove, oh Pleasant Grove! Actually, I spied a condo WITH A GARAGE in a development in Pleasant Grove on the internet before I ever contacted my agent. I just had a feeling about that place... that'd I love it and that it would be just right! There was another place in Pleasant Grove (PG) that was really nice, but it just seemed so big.... so not "me-sized". Plus, it didn't have a garage - only a car port. But I will say it is my second-choice.

So anyways... my first choice: It's in a development called... and get how appropriate this is: Pemberley!! (The pictures in this post are of Pemberley.) Pemberley is from Pride & Prejudice!! It is Mr. Darcy's mansion!! And guess who owns 3 different versions of Pride & Prejudice (movies)? ME!! And to take it a step further, the floor plans are even named "Bennett", "Wickham", "Collins" and "Meryton" from the book and movies!! Just by the name of development it is soooo appropriate that I live there. :)

The more time passes since I walked through the condo, the more I know this is where I am supposed to be. Everything seems to be falling into my lap and into place... and all in perfect timing! So I called my agent on Friday and said - let's make an offer. And we did. I signed the offer yesterday.

So let me give you a little context and you'll see how this seems to all be falling into place:

• The condo is a short sale which makes it within my price range... and which makes it such that I am walking into a ton of equity right off the bat. Others in the development have sold for a lot more than I will be paying for this one and thus a lot more above my price range.
• It has been on the market since February of this year and has not sold ... I guess because it is a short sale and that really discourages people from pursuing them because they take so long to get approved by the bank(s).
  
• There is actually an offer on it right now - so this guy has gone through all the hoops to get a price (within my range) approved by the banks... but unfortunately, his agent told the listing agent that his loan is probably going to fall through... and that we'd know by tomorrow, Monday, October 5th.
• It is everything I have been dreaming about: garage, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, no one above me and a nice, safe-feeling neighborhood.
  
• If this poor guy's loan falls through and they accept my offer for their pre-approved price then I could feasibly close by the middle of November which would put me in time for the $8,000 credit from the government for first-time home buyers.
  
• Which the middle of November would be perfect timing because my roommate that owns the house I live in right now just dropped the bomb on me that she is getting married!!! They are shooting for November 20th of this year too.... 4 days after this place could feasibly be mine to move into.
  
• My new roommate, Tracy, that was going to move in with me and Jen, decided not to move in ... and if she had... I would have felt guilty leaving her so soon after she moved in and needed me to help her acclimate to a new ward and neighborhood... but she decided to not move in and thus removing my possible guilt and saving Jen (the roommate getting married) from needing to kick us both out!
• And the most trivial of all things to fall into place, but one that still means a lot to me... is that I can keep my morning work-out routine!!! The Gold's Gym in American Fork is only 4 minutes away from Pemberley and their spin classes start 15 minutes earlier than the ones I go to right now which will help me accommodate my longer commute to work!! (I would only have to be better about getting up a little earlier.)
  
• And then last but not least... I think I've decided to apply for the executive MPA (Master of Public Administration) program at BYU for next fall. That program doesn't require you to take a graduate admission exam and it's only one night a week of classes and I'd have summer term off so I could get some vacation time in then... whereas the eMBA program is 2 nights per week and 2 years nonstop of school with your only break during Christmas - plus I'd have to take the GMAT for it (which the studying for that is going horribly) and it would cost more money out of pocket for me.

So can you believe all of that?! That is way too many coincidences and too many perfect timings for this to be mere coincidence... this is being orchestrated by the Master Orchestrator!! I can feel it... the rightness of it.... the peaceful feeling... I'm scared to say it because I know I am suppose to keep my hopes down since it might not work out, this guy's loan could still go through, or they could counter my offer even though it is for their pre-approved price.... BUT I'M DANG EXCITED AND I THINK IT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO WORK OUT!!!

I've already been internet shopping for my needed stuff - washer, dryer, silverware, knives, couch, TV, bathroom rugs and another shower curtain... etc. Plus I've been dreaming of other stuff too... painting.... how I'm going to decorate and all that fun stuff! I know... bad Jessika. But I can dream!!

And you know what? I'll have my own place... one I can decorate without feeling like I'm overstepping my bounds ... one where I can organize the kitchen the way I want to... one where I can have a guest stay with me and they can have their own bedroom and bathroom ... one where I can get out all of my pretty stuff that I've been collecting over the years and have been too afraid to get it out for fear roommates would ruin it or break it or because there just wasn't room for it. I can start being a homemaker.... instead of just dreaming about doing it some day.

Sigh. (Imagine a smile of contentment on my face.)

Cross your fingers for me! Or pray for me! ... cuz I really dread the idea of needing to get new roommates again and it is now inevitable since Jen is getting married.

The Bane of My Gardening

It must know it is gonna get tossed soon.... of course it would pull out all the stops and actually bloom now that it is the end of September and I'm sick of watering it. Good grief! I swear, I have not gotten 20 blooms from this pot and it decides to bloom with gusto this week.

I've already tossed my pot that was out front. The Fuchsia never grew so it withered and died - I guess the Bacopa choked it out, but did a good job hiding the dead Fuchsia so I never bothered to pull it out of the pot. But Bacopa is a spring plant and likes cooler temperatures so it has hardly bloomed this summer too... so when I forgot to water it this week and it dried up, I did a little "Whoop!" and tossed it.

The Cala Lilly is the only thing that has brought me joy this spring/summer. And it is left over from last year! Last year I just tossed it in the garage and didn't water it all winter and then when it started to warm up I brought it out to the sunshine and forgot to water it for 2 weeks. But you know what? That little Cala Lilly survived! In fact, better than survived - it actually grew! So after that I remembered to water it.

As for my garden? Well, I've enjoyed a few strawberries from it, and a few peas, and some fresh parsley. But the slugs and the pill bugs enjoyed more of the fruits of my labor than I did! I waged a serious genocide on the slugs - even resorting to salt! - but I never bothered to learn how to get rid of the pill bugs. The dill I tried to grow never took root so I yanked it. The peas produced a little considering how late I planted them, but as soon as they were infested with pill bugs and looking bad, I yanked them too. My parsley has been amazing!! That's the only thing that has flourished in my garden. Other than the slugs and pill bugs, of course.

The lack of sunlight and the daily lawn sprinklers that water my garden are apparently the bane of my gardening.... but this year's wet spring and summer is what brought the slugs on.

But I also liked seeing the Praying Mantis. Kinda cool. :)

Wordless Wednesday - The Most Beautiful Mtn Biking Ride EVER!!

A Little Heart to Heart

Okay... more like a heart to a decently-wide audience reading this entry on the internet .... so ... for nearly all to see! No pressure. Two things:

#1
I cried at work today. It was pitiful. And not nearly as dramatic as the first sentence makes it out to be... I just do that for effect. To keep you reading - you know! This week our wellness program at work is conducting what they call triple screenings - they take blood (from those that want to participate) to check the levels of triglycerides, cholesterol and glucose. This is just for our information - they don't use it to fire us or anything... of course! This is BYU after all. But we can submit it to our benefits company and do the wellness program's health challenges and then get a $200 check at the beginning of the new year! Yay! That is the main reason why I do it... other than I'm obsessed with knowing what my cholesterol levels are... since high cholesterol runs in my family... on both sides! Aah! Anyways. I had to fast 12 hours for it and then I went to the big conference room where they were set up. First there was a 25 minute wait. I chatted with the guy just in front of me in line and he said, just conversationally, "Luckily, we haven't seen anyone crying yet." Ha! Well, maybe I doomed myself, but I thought to myself... "Speak for yourself." Because I do not always have good experiences with these screenings. Maybe it all stems from my freshman year when I naively signed up to give blood and nearly fainted doing so after 3 different nurses took turns digging in my arms for a vein. Just about nearly the same thing happens every time I go in for these triple screenings.

So I was debating for the whole 25 minutes whether or not I should tell the nurse ahead of time about my super small veins and freak her out so she's doomed from the beginning ... or let her give it a go in all confidence. Other times, I've told the nurse ahead of time and she/he will try one arm but then call for an expert before sticking me again. So this time, I decided to let her do it in confidence and not tell her. Well, she started with the regular needle. No success with that needle in that arm. Then she went and got a small butterfly needle (whatever that means) and tried my other arm. The longer she kept that butterfly needle in there and the more I could tell it was not going to be successful the more light-headed I got! And then I began to get frustrated... and we all know what happens when I get frustrated. I CRY!!! Which then begins the vicious cycle of making me frustrated because I think I'm a weenie for crying and that only stokes the crying fire. Good grief.

At that point the original nurse says she's going to go look for some one with more experience. That makes me feel better but not by much since they're going to stick me again. But this more experienced person is very calming and VERY good at drawing my blood. She got it on the first try. And she brought me juice. And she told me that next time, I can come directly to the health center for a more private location rather than in this conference room where I had to get myself pulled together before walking past all my colleagues with red, puffy, cry-baby eyes! Ugh.

So there's my first heart to heart story.

#2
I feel like I've plateaued and therefore I am restless for some big change in my life and that has been for two years now. I'm craving some big life change in some fashion. There seem to be three things that have been taking turns being my obsession of the moment....

• Move to Seattle
• Buy a place
• Get my MBA

Seriously! All three have cycled through numerous times being the focus of my attention. There was a fourth there for a short while, but that one has fizzled out. Anyways.

Last fall, I was going nuts thinking I could apply for the MBA program for this fall so I wanted to hurry and enroll myself in a GMAT prep course and get my application in.... but then that seemed far-fetched and fizzled.

Then I visited my friend, Mike, in Seattle at the end of January of this year - with the intent of talking to an HR person at his work, Microsoft. Try some skiing there to see just how different it is from Utah's. Look for some neighborhoods that I could live in. Etc. I got really excited after I talked to the HR person at Microsoft because it seems like their HR Business Partner job is perfectly what I want! But they were in a hiring freeze right then. And I've cold applied to a couple jobs in the Seattle area, but I know cold applying is the worst possible way to find a job. I'd have to go up there for a week or more and actually hit the pavement. But for some reason... I've been dragging my feet to actually do that. And with the economy the way it is right now... I've kind of lost hope for finding a good job up there... one that would be worth leaving BYU for.... So that one has fizzled too.

And now... I'm obsessed with buying a place here in Utah. And especially since the $8,000 credit from the government for first-time home buyers is good through the end of November. $8,000!! I could do that! I've been shopping a little on the internet and I even met with a mortgage officer at my credit union today. And now I have to admit... I'm a little discouraged - discouraged at how little I feel like I can afford. I really, repeat REALLY, want to try living on my own. I'd really like to decorate my place the way I want to, keep it clean the way I want to and organize my kitchen the way I want to! I have been living with roommates for 11 years now. And so... I need to be able to afford the mortgage, taxes, various interests, HOA fees and utilities by myself... and still keep some semblance of my lifestyle. I DO NOT want to be house poor. I might end up getting a roommate... but I don't want to always have to have one just to make my payments. That would be bad news.

I also feel like I need either a garage (which would be my first preference since I've really grown accustomed to my current garage parking privilege) or else an unfinished basement - to store all of my stuff!! I mean - I have 2 bikes, 3 pair of skis, 2 sleeping bags, several backpacks, and various other outdoor equipment.... not to mention all my baby stuff that my mom sent home with me when she moved into a smaller place and didn't have room to store them for me. So.... for now.... I guess I'm pursuing buying a place... and then maybe I'll look at the executive MBA or MPA program that BYU offers ... since after all, being a full-time employee I get a pretty sweet tuition benefit for myself (and any spouse! Wanna free graduate degree? Give me a call.) where I could get my masters for free or else for a deep, deep discounted cost in the case of the eMBA.

So... I guess I'll see how long this latest obsession lasts. It seems like the stars have aligned for it to really work:

• Low interest rates
• Low prices
• I'm ready to quit the singles ward scene and attend a family ward which really opens up the possibility for a bunch of locations
• My desire to have my own place
• And my freedom from all other distractions right now

Am I crazy? I sure think so. And I'm sure my sister, Jill, thinks so... she gets the brunt of my obsessions and tries diligently to talk some sense into me but not dash my hopes and dreams. I just feel like I bend every which way the wind blows and can't make up my mind which I want to actually pursue. And a major problem with all of it... all three options take money... and a hefty chunk of it.... but who can't stop living the high life? Yeah ... me. It just seems so far in the future to save for and I see this nice little collection of savings and then I see some new fan-dangled outdoor equipment I want.... or an awesome airfare to Europe and I'm so EASILY side-tracked. Ugh. Double ugh.

How does one focus? How does one decide what one wants to do? How does one be disciplined?

Okay. I'm done. This post is already so long... and without pictures! Sorry. Wasn't about to take any pics of me crying at work and no pictures for the other one too.

Fall Blog Design

Last night I finished my Fall blog design. I like it! I think Ashlee, my designer friend, had created a new monster out of me... one that wants to change her blog mast every few months! :)

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day some friends and I drove down to the Escalante area of Utah - down to Grand Staircase and backpacked into Coyote Gulch. Lindsey had tried to go down there earlier in the summer over Memorial Day weekend, but there had been so much rain the week leading up to the weekend that the river was swollen and completely impassable - and you spend much of your time hiking through the river. Coyote Gulch is the canyon that the Escalante River winds through and this time around the river was practically only a trickle. We hiked in 5 miles to Jacob Hamblin Arch. It literally took us all day to hike in since we kept coming up on really cool stuff - like waterfalls and towering canyon walls and even an outhouse caused us to stop and enjoy it's convenience!

We originally set up camp on a sandy beach just a couple feet above the riverbed. But later than evening a pretty good thunderstorm rolled in and dumped on us. We were kind of under a outcropping so we all jumped back under it so didn't have to get into our tents, but even then that outcropping didn't provide much protection since the water began to run down the wall. After the storm let up, the river started getting louder so I went over there and watched the river rise by about a foot. I started getting really nervous about flooding since Coyote Gulch is known for it's flash floods. But we tried to go to bed anyways. But just as I was getting in my sleeping bag, the river began to get even louder, so Lindsey and I went out and watched the river rise another foot - which brought it within a foot of our sandy beach. Both times the river rose, it only took a couple minutes and on the second time were were seeing debris floating down in the river. So that's when we decided to move camp to higher ground. In the morning we found out that the water stopped rising after that, but you know what....? I slept better because of it and better safe than sorry.

So we hiked out 6 miles, ate a yummy sandwich lunch at the cars and then drove the 40-mile dirt road back out to Escalante. We did have a couple exciting mud-spots in the dirt road though. That storm the night before sent little rivers over the low parts of the road and created some fairly long mud holes to drive through. Thankfully we had 4WD. Oh! And one other side note - as we hiked out we saw a construction cone in the riverbed not a mile or two from our campsite and I swear I saw that cone on the side of the dirt road marking a spot where the road was beginning to wash away! We also took a detour to Devil's Garden along the dirt road - that was pretty cool - it's the last picture in this entry.

Then we headed to Zion National Park to go canyoneering. We had a yummy dutch oven lasagna dinner with salad and dutch oven peach cobbler for dinner that night. We were all starved because there was only 7 of us and we ate both dutch ovens full of food. Tim scored big points when he finished off the lasagna which made for 3 big helpings for him. But that lasagna turned out surprisingly well!

So Monday we headed out to go find Spry Canyon to go canyoneering through it... and we hiked and hiked and scrambled up rocky mountain-sides and scaled down them and .... all to no avail. We could night find the entrance to the canyon. We hiked around for 4 hours or so. It was beautiful country though so no one was too disappointed, but the later it got the less likely we were going to get out of the canyon and on the drive home until late that evening. So I think that was bearing on everyone's mind as well. So, in stead, we hiked back out and went into town to enjoy a meal at a Mexican restaurant and then hit the road, getting home around 10 pm.

It was a fabulous weekend! It's always great to have friends to play with and ones that are so flexible and fun!