The Big 2-7

Today is Dan's birthday! We decided that we aren't going to give gifts this year because we are trying to save up for a house. So instead, we are going to pick a night to go out for dinner for both of our birthdays (mine is in about a week).

I love Dan so much, and I just want him to know how much he means to me. He's always watching out for me and cares about me so much. Especially yesterday and today as I have come down with a head cold that won't go away. Dan is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me and I really appreciate all of the hard work and kindness he shows.

This is one of his favorite pictures. You can probably guess why.

Happy birthday babe!

House Maze

Dan and I have been looking around for a new home lately. We want to buy a home in the NW part of Calgary because we are both familiar with it and miss it very much! Both of our families are close to that area, so it will be nice to not have to travel so far just to visit. We looked at a few show homes and saw one that we liked, but we didn't want to jump on it right away. It's a lot of money to invest so we wanted to put our money in the safest and smartest home investment. And it's a good thing we continued to do our research! We found that if we put up a bit more cash, we could afford a lot bigger and practical house! While we were out with some friends, we made a stop by their place because there was a spec home that I found in my research and I wanted us to take a look at. Right when we walked through the (unlocked) door, I fell in love with it! The flooring, appliances, and toilets weren't installed yet, but I could picture it all perfectly! The colors on the walls and in the Kitchen were the exact ones that I would have chosen anyways! I thought that this was it! I was so excited, I couldn't stop thinking about it! Heck, I still think about it! So on Wednesday night we went to go look at it and talk to the builders about what all we needed to do to make that house ours. But before we could ask, they told us that it was conditionally sold! I almost broke down in tears right then and there. We asked how much it would cost to build that house ourselves and they told us it would be $440,000!! Holy crap! Let's just say that's WAY out of our budget! I had such a great feeling about that house, I thought for sure it was made for us. However, the people who bought it, have a bit of problems with their finances. Great sign! Then we thought: even if their sale did fall through, how could we get the money for a down payment that fast? Our initial plan was to let them know that we were interested in that house, and then wait a couple months for the price to drop because the housing market is really slow and there's not that much competition right now, so we wanted them to get desperate for our sale, and it would give us a bit more time to save more money to put down. Dan will be finished school in April, so with us having a second income it will be a lot more helpful to make mortgage payments and to actually be able to furnish our home. Unfortunately it didn't work out as planned... yet. After we got the sad news, we went to go look through it one last time, but this time the door was actually locked (like it should have been in the first place). So we walked around just looking at the outside, and we noticed the house next door was also a spec home, just built by a different company. We thought we might as well give it a try, and low and behold, the door was unlocked! It had already gotten dark out and the lights weren't yet installed in the house, so we really had to watch our step. This house was pretty big, and well planned out, but we didn't know the price of it so we really didn't want to get our hopes up. We thought for sure it would be close to $500,000. I looked it up the next day and it was a lot less! Not as much as we'd like it to be, but we're hoping to pull a few strings and get a better deal on it. Finding the perfect house sure is a lot of work, so I'm grateful that I don't have any work to do at my job all day. It gives me a lot more time and more focus on finding the best deal on what's out there and to find what builder will give us the best treatment. My emotions will be going up and down through this process, but I know that when it's all over, we won't settle for less, we will be happy with the home that we choose. I just wish it was sooner rather than later!

A Glimpse of Light

Maybe it's because I just came back from a great holiday not too long ago, but being at work really stinks right now. It may be just "one of those days", but whatever it is, I'm not feeling too good about myself. Is there such a thing as taking a break from being bored? By the looks of it, I don't see myself getting anymore work to do at work anytime soon, even though I was promised it on the first day that I came back from holidays. I know that I've brought this up a lot, and I'm sorry if I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but I'm really upset with myself because I feel like I'm wasting my life away, one slow, boring day at a time and I'm not really doing anything to change. It's really starting to effect my own lifestyle.  I'm just not motivated to be active at all. I sit around in an office chair all day just waiting for myself to think of something to do. I feel lazy and useless. But I know that they really like me at work, and I am getting a great amount of income from them, and I know that will help Dan and I get that much closer to buying a house. This is a huge sacrifice for me to make in order to achieve our goals this year. I just wish I could have an end in sight.

This is my workspace at the office. It has recently been changed around to add another desk. I get the dark corner.

To brighten the mood a bit, in my free time (who am I kidding, my whole life is free-time!) I have been looking into getting involved in photography. I think it's something that I would really enjoy, and just before Christmas I got my first photography camera! I really have no idea where to start and what to do, so if anyone reading this has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it! Since we are a bit low on cash this year, I didn't want to spend too much in taking classes, so I found a website where this photographer has free lessons on her own website and it's free to take! Plus she even helps you along the way and gives you advice through the assignments that she gives at the end of each lesson! I thought this would be perfect, since I can do most of this during my work hours! So I read through the first lesson and I loved it! I had already learned so much! But then for the assignment, I haven't been able to accomplish it yet. See, cameras make noise when you take pictures, and there's not much to take pictures of in my quiet office, so the assignments I would have to complete at home. But I still like to think it's something that I can do in my free-time both at work and at home. I was hoping that I could finish all 10 lessons and assignments by the time Dan is finished school in April. I'll have to work really hard at it, but I think it's possible. And it'll keep me occupied and more motivated to do more with myself. After high school I never really had any interest in a specific subject to have it worth going to college or university for, so now I feel like I'm slowly finding my way. And maybe when I'm actively involved with this, I will be able to feel better about myself and not think so much about my situation at work.

Good Ending, Great Start

Happy New Year!! It's been awhile since I've posted so I thought I should recap the last part of 2008. Christmas was great! We stayed the night at our own place on Christmas Eve night after we went to go see the Nativity at Heritage Park with Dan's family. They do this every Christmas Eve and I love it. It's a great way to bring the spirit into the season. On Christmas morning we slept in, opened our gifts from each other, and headed to Dan's parents' house. There we had a wonderful dinner, opened a few more gifts, and enjoyed each other's company. Dan's brother Spencer and his wife Laurie were there with their two kids Ethan and Will, as well as Dan's grandma. We then left for my parent's house in Carstairs. We got there at the same time as my sister Amanda and her boyfriend Randy, and my brother Arlen and sister Kimberly were already waiting inside. My Dad read the Christmas story from the scriptures (which is also a tradition for my side of the family), opened gifts, of course took a million pictures, and relaxed and laughed with each other. I loved seeing my family! I miss them so much as I don't get to see a whole lot of them all the time, even though we all live in Calgary. On Boxing Day is when my family got together for the big Christmas dinner. This year with the economy being the way it's been, we didn't think it would be worth our time to head out shopping. We didn't really need anything anyways. Dan had to work that morning at Banana Republic too. This year we had our family dinner at my sister Kristie's house. The whole family was there except Arlen. The food was great and the company was even better! That night we played games and had a lot of fun!

I know in my last post I mentioned that I was "on call" for work, and thank goodness I never got the call! I was able to spend my whole Holiday away from the office. After Christmas we were pretty busy finishing up planning for the big New Years party that Dan and his friend Andrew put together. Which we had a really good turn out for! I was working at the door taking tickets/money, and helping Andrew out. We charged $10 a ticket to purchase ahead of time and then $15 at the door. The party was open to YSA and Young Married Couples. And honestly, for such an older scene, you would think that they would know how to make a line and let us help them one or two at a time. Instead they all thought it would help us if they all gathered all around the front table shoving tickets and money in our faces waiting for us to help them who just came from the back of the "line". Are you kidding me? I'm sure we had a lot of sneak-ins because of it. All in all though, it was great! People really enjoyed themselves and they really enjoyed the prizes that we were able to give away thanks to a sponsor. The prizes included an iPod, Playstation, Wii, camera, and an Xbox. You should have seen the people's faces when they heard what we were giving away! Then there was the incident that we had with a couple of streakers. I didn't see a thing, because just by chance I was away from the front door when it happened. It makes me sick what people will do at an LDS party. We are still representing the church as individuals and just because it's a party doesn't mean we forget what we stand for. I feel bad for the people who saw everything...SICK! After the party was done at 2:00am, we started cleaning up. Just to let everyone know, don't use balloons at a New Years party!! That's what took the longest to clean up! Every balloon was popped and the broom wouldn't pick up the pieces. All that hard balloon pumping I did before hand, and for what? The half-second loud, popping sound that some people like (I personally hate that sound). Not worth it! My hand was aching afterwards from that balloon pump. Oh, and we didn't get home that night/morning until 6:00am!! After the building was clean and the DJ equipment was packed up, we had to go to Andrew's house to sort out the money, drop off the Van and the equipment, unload it, and then finally go home. The year 2009 started off with a lot of sleep that's for sure!!

On New Years Day, Dan's parents invited us over for an early dinner because Dan's Grandpa  and Aunt Betty were coming over as well. We were supposed to be over there at 1:00pm, but we didn't wake up until then. Even when we finally got there, we were still exhausted. But it was really nice to see everyone there again. After we were finished mingling, Dan and I were invited over to Kristie's house for some more games with the family. It was like Christmas all over again! The holidays were definitely busy, but we had a blast! I just wish it wasn't over yet.

I'm back to "work" now and on my first day (yesterday) I had my 3 month review. The meeting went great! I have to admit, I was really scared for this day to come because I thought for sure that they would get rid of me because the lack of work they have for me to do. But they love me! They couldn't stop telling me how efficient I am and how well I was working. They even apologized for not giving me enough work to do! I didn't even have to bring it up myself because they already know. They told me that they will try to be better to give me more things to do, and I see a very promising future ahead. I love how flexible they are and how they are sympathetic to my needs too, not just theirs. At my last job, I wasn't treated the way that I should have been, I was totally taken advantage of, and I was told that I would never find something like this (pretty much telling me that I would never be satisfied or happy with myself or others), and I proved them wrong. I'm even making more than $10,000 more a year at this job than from my last, and I feel more appreciated than ever. I like to think of it as a small victory because I was so distraught from hearing that being said to me. IN YOUR FACE!

For the year 2009 I see mine and Dan's lives changing for the better. We are hoping to buy a house at the market's lowest peak. We have both wanted this so badly for so long, we are really trying to save our pennies to make it work. Dan is also going to be finished school in April this year!! Finally!! We get to have a normal schedule and see each other way more often! I've been waiting for so long, and we can see the end coming closer and closer. And with that, it will be much easier to afford a house with two incomes... if Dan is lucky enough to find a good career with the economy being not so great. But I know if we just put our trust in Heavenly Father and work really hard towards our goal, things will fall into place. I never really make New Years Resolutions, but this year a house is my goal. That, and maybe get back into shape. I've been saying that for awhile, so maybe I will be more motivated to actually do it with all the other changes happening around me within 2009. We'll see.

I think that's enough blogging for today. Best wishes for 2009!