431 for a Stress Score

I was talking to a colleague at work today about the stress I'm under right now... of stuff that has all occurred within the past week and a half!! She mentioned that there is a theory out there that adds up your stress score. So I googled it. It's called the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. They say a score above 300 indicates you are prone to illness. Woo hoo! That usually does happen to me when I'm feeling stressed. It usually comes out in TMJ symptoms... I've never been officially diagnosed... I've only experienced the symptoms.

So here is my list of stress causing events that have occurred in the last month with most of them occurring in the last week and a half. Whoa. But you know what is pretty cool... I think I'm doing okay. I think I usually handle stress pretty well.

• Relationship ended (2 times) - enough said
  
• Relationship reconciliation - enough said
  
• Change in financial state - really! Buying this house is really stretching my dollar after I've been living the high life for a while.
  
• Major mortgage - enough said
  
• Change in responsibilities at work - my new job as an instructional designer wannabe
  
• Change in living conditions - new condo, no garage, no roommates - for the first time ever! I've always had someone in my house with me.
  
• Revision of personal habits - my gym routine! Ugh! And my commute is a bit longer.
  
• Change in working hours or conditions - mostly change in the building I work in... away from my closest colleagues
  
• Change in residence - enough said
  
• Change in recreation - I think so cuz I'm further away from all my favorite friends, movie theaters, restaurants, etc.
  
• Change in church activities - new ward, no calling, probably a new calling now
  
• Change in social activities - new friends, new neighbors, no roommates, new ward...
  
• Christmas - I just had to tack that one on there since Christmas is coming up. :)
  

I Am Now a Homeowner

Well, folks. The deed is done. The 20 million signatures have been signed and the ink dried now for 10 hours. I don't have the keys yet... good ole Fannie Mae needs 3 business days to process and record the closing before I can get the keys. But I'll have them by Friday so I can move in on Saturday as hoped for and desired. I CANNOT BELIEVE I AM A HOMEOWNER!!! So wild!

The place is absolutely beautiful.... I studied it in detail this afternoon and evening... during my extremely long and thorough last walk-through (in which I also cleaned as I checked out everything). I was really hoping to get the keys today so I could spread out the cleaning and last of the packing over the next few nights, but since I don't have them yet... I did my cleaning all this afternoon and well into the evening - all under the guise of a last walk-through. :) And then I hid my cleaning supplies so nothing would look suspicious.

Tomorrow they will change the locks on everything. And I'm really glad I exercised self-control and did not buy the remaining big ticket items yet because my money to bring to closing ended up being $600 more than expected. I had a feeling something like that would happen. And most of that extra money had to do with my HOA - the transfer fee, the prorated fee for the rest of this month and the 2 months paid in advance. Good gravy! But it's done. I'm home. And I'm going to bed. (Yes. Yes. Pictures will come... but give me some time to get moved in and unpack... ;))

Random "Lately" Thoughts

We got our first real snowfall yesterday. I usually take a picture out in it... but ... meh. What's wrong with me?! That is a tradition of mine. Guh! We've seen snow fly before but it didn't stick like this one did. Yay for snow! And Yay for my favorite season.


So BYU is still in a hiring freeze... and we just received notice from a woman in my department that she is leaving. The work she is doing happens to be our vice president's pet project... so needless to say it is my big boss's pet project as well and he doesn't want to see it fall by the wayside. So guess who they asked to take over her job? A job I know nothing about!?! Yeah. Me. She is an On-line Training and Development Consultant in our Human Resource Development department. So yeah... nothing to do with my current job. But I guess my big boss discussed it with all the directors in HRS and they all decided that I would be the best one to replace her since I'm a quick-learner, have a really good technical aptitude, good influencing skills and good organization skills - those were all adjectives that they used to describe me apparently. I'm kind of excited about it... but I'm also really nervous. I'm only going to get 6 days of training with her. But I was thinking about it Friday morning, and you know what? I'm getting the best aspects of moving to Seattle ... a new place to live which happens to be my own place and a new job! And none of the scary aspects... the stress of making new friends, the rainy weather (which I don't think I would have really minded), the stress of dealing with a vastly different work environment, etc.


I got my season pass to Sundance in the mail this last week... the picture is horrible! It is orange. Good grief.


I'm set to close on my condo on Tuesday. Yay! Exciting. I'll get the keys then but I won't be able to take possession until Saturday so I'm planning on taking this week to get the carpets cleaned and clean the whole place thoroughly while it is empty. So I went to Wally-world (Wal-mart) yesterday to buy the cleaning supplies I needed... holy cow. It was so fun to pick out the cleaning supplies! I know. I'm a nerd.


I bought a couple books that I've really enjoyed flipping through - Pottery Barn's "Home" which is all about planning living spaces throughout your home and of course it has beautiful pictures and ideas for decorating. And Martha Stewart's "Homekeeping Handbook" which has everything in it that you can imagine - from setting the table for a fancy dinner to maintaining your furnace. Very cool - I stayed up until 3 am looking through all 700 pages of that last one.


And if you are still reading this... then I can tell you an update on my time-occupier, John. We're not together anymore. It wasn't really a quick relationship, even though I just barely mentioned him on my blog. In fact it was a roller-coaster for 7 months... maybe 8 months. I just have a policy of not mentioning boyfriends on my blog until it seems like it might be a long enough or stable enough relationship to broadcast on the internet. :) We dated back in April, broke up, couldn't get over each other all summer, and then we got back together late October... now we've broken up again and hopefully it is for good this time. It's probably for good since he de-friended me on Facebook... which that little action bugs/hurts me more than being broken up. Weird. Don't worry about me... the Lord is carrying me right now and I actually feel pretty good considering the circumstances.


Happy quiet, snowy Sabbath everyone!

Occupying my Time Lately

So life has been pretty busy. It's amazing how much time buying a place can suck up. I'm burning through my vacation time pretty bad - what with taking time to meet with my lender and sign his documents, going to retail stores to pick out my appliances and being there to help get them delivered to my new place. Good gravy!

I'm also burning through my money pretty quick too... earnest money, inspection, appraisal, vacuum, couch, TV, 16 quart stockpot (since I'm going to miss my roommate's too much to not buy one of my own), knives, and now my down payment... yikes!

And yes - I did discover a couch that I love and I bought it! I didn't think I'd get leather, but... eh... I liked it and the more I looked at and sat on it the more I loved it. I've tried to see if I can put a pic of it here on the entry... but I guess you'll have to wait until the tour of my new place.... which won't be too much longer now since we're shooting for a November 17th close date. Woo hoo! It cannot come any faster... I wish it were here today! I'm so excited that I'm going to start packing this weekend. :)

And then, yes, there is another time occupier... John. :)

May I Introduce You to....

My brand-spanking-new appliances that I only paid $250 out of pocket for (the sellers paid the remaining cost!). I am utterly in love with them. And I haven't even used them yet!!

The LG front-loader washer and dryer. Not the biggest ever - in fact they are the smallest LG makes, but hey! I'm only living there by myself and the most important part: I can wash my sleeping bags in them, my down coats, and my quilts that I make. Supposedly I can wash my queen-size comforter in it too. Oh! And the washer is Energy Star - it has its own water heater so my local gas company will give me a rebate!! And the drum moves by way of magnets (or something rather) rather than a belt. :)

And then my refrigerator! It's a GE ... "Stainless Clean" - I think that's what they call it. It's not real stainless steel, but it won't show the fingerprints that stainless steel does and it will hold magnets, and it was $100 cheaper than the stainless steel version. It's an Energy Star too!!
Whoever would have thought I'd be so excited about appliances.... but I think I am because the sellers are paying for them!

Big News on a Fun Day!!

Woo hoo! I haven't had a blog entry like this in a long time!! I have three posts in one to write tonight.

#1
I made an offer on a condo in Springville yesterday... and today they accepted it!! They didn't even counter my offer - and we asked for them to pay my closing costs and give me an appliance allowance. Can you believe that?! I'm so stoked. And it will be perfect timing because we're due to close by November 20th - which is the very day my roommate gets married. And that's in time for the $8,000 credit. It's beautiful. I'll post pictures later - probably in December - when I'm all moved in.

#2
I bought my first ever season pass to a ski resort today... and to all places... Sundance! Can you believe it? I never would have thought. I never liked Sundance in the past because they got so little snow and they have so few runs and lifts. But... when I discovered that the pass also got me access to free mountain biking in the summer and free moon-lit lift rides... I was sold. So I took the dive today!

#3
I played hooky from work with Lindsey today and we went antique shop hopping (in addition to buying our season passes). Since we were up at Sundance and headed to American Fork to the next antique shop we decided to drive around the Alpine Loop and enjoy the fall colors. They were gorgeous!! It was a such a fun day. And I even bought a few pieces for my new place at the antique shop in American Fork - an end table, small dresser, antique hand-crank sewing machine and cool old frame.

I cannot wait to start decorating my house!! And organizing where I will put stuff in the kitchen and laundry room and guest rooms. Oh man. I am so ecstatic!

And Pemberley Goes to Caroline Bingley

Well, my beloved condo at Pemberley has slipped out of my hands. It has gone to the other buyer. :( This is not at all how Jane Austen intended! (And a bitter side note: the buyer was getting a VA loan... for veterans... so the odds are likely that he will not appreciate the ties back to Pride & Prejudice in his new residence.)

I am now back to the drawing board.