We Got It!!!

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!



Well.... Sort of.

The sellers picked us! Out of three people! Woot Woot!


The problem is, its a short sale so now it has to go through the bank, which means we have to wait... and wait.. and wait to find out if they will accept it. In the mean time, I am going to be packing and praying!




I am so excited!



*Update*

The bank approved us. In 5 days! That seriously NEVER happens with a short sale. I am pretty sure it is meant to be. :) At least I hope so. We had to sign an addendum so it went back to the bank, so once again, we have to wait...

I'm in Love!

Yesterday was a big day for us. We can now check off another 'first.' This weekend Greg and I felt like going house hunting. We found a nice realtor, told her all the things that we wanted in our new home, got pre-approved for a loan, and looked at all these beautiful homes. We told her we wanted nothing older than 10 years with at least 3 bedrooms, a large beautiful kitchen, 2 bathrooms, curb appeal, and everything else that makes a home magical. I am a picky person and I love nice things, I also have to have the best. I can't help it. I was made that way.

We got on the internet pulled up all these beautiful homes that were in our price range and that met all of our specifics. We emailed our realtor the list and she made appointments to see them. The night before our walkthroughs I was browsing and happened across this:
a 1920's house with a small kitchen, 1 bath, a handicap ramp, and in desperate need of some yard work.
But I fell in love.
I have to have it.
It needs me.
And no one can believe it.
Its everything I never wanted!! But its charming and old and rundown and fabulous!! It has so much potential and I want to make it perfect! (which by the way, is proof that I am not so high maintenance after all, ha!)

After we looked at it a couple of times I knew... it was meant for me.
We decided to think about it over the weekend to see if it felt right.
Monday morning came and we found that 2 people had put an offer on the house over the weekend! TWO!!!! I couldn't believe it! My house?? Two offers were on my house?!? I went into panic mode (not really, but it makes the story better don't you think?) We got all of our papers ready and we put in an offer! For the first time! We put an offer on a HOUSE!! I feel so grown up. It was exciting and kind of exhilarating. It all happened so fast. We looked at the house on Saturday and put in an offer on Monday.

We should know by tomorrow whether they accepted our offer or not. It is not very likely that they will, but there is a chance.... And even if they don't it was all very exciting and I can't wait to do it again!!
Did I mention that my heart drops every time my phone rings?
Oh boy...

More fun than sitting at home!!

I love vacations! Who doesn't? No matter what goes wrong or what kind of weather you have, it is always great! I live for vacations, more specifically, traveling. Someday, when I grow up, I am going to be a world traveler. But until then I will enjoy the sites and attractions of our fabulous country.

This post is about our trip to California. Where the weather is always perfect, the sun always shining and.. where you can't help but smile

This is Brandon and Jenny. Aren't they cute? They are awesome and more fun than watching the office. Jenny and I met in China and have since been great friends and have had many extreme adventures together. We went to california together too.

Warning: this post contains lots of pictures!

The day after we finally made it to San Diego we went to the zoo.

I do love the zoo!!

Here we are at the sea lion/animal show.

I have always enjoyed the different shows at both the zoo and sea world. I don't know if it is just me getting older or things are really changing, but this show was not as exciting as I remember. But it was still enjoyable. After the show we went and saw the animals.

We...

Saw Elephants.

Took pictures with gigantic mammoths and sloths.

Kissed on the sky lift.

Met this creature of beauty.

Rode escelators.

And looked at all the kazillion animals that they have there. I won't bore you with pictures of countless animals. We even went on a bus tour around the zoo which was probably my favorite. I could see the animals much better. After a fun filled day at the zoo, we drove up to Anaheim and checked into our most adorable hotel. It was called the Lemon Tree and it was beautiful! It was so quaint and romantic! And I LoVeD it!!

We spent the next day at Universal Studios. It was the first time for both of us, and we had a BLAST!!

We...

Took pictures with this classic.

Walked the red carpet.

Were frightened by Chucky.

Got attacked by a penguin.

Found our future car.

Reconnected with childhood heros.
Were overpowered by mummies.

Rested by a fountain.

Kicked it with Homer and Marge.Shopped at Kwik-E-Mart....And bought these Lard Lads.

We also watched a murder, found a plane crash, ran from T-Rex, were in an earthquake, survived a flood, and so much much more! It was a blast. If any of you have never been, I recommend giving it a shot. The worst that could happen is coming home and doing something like this:

Mmm Mmm! These were delish! It was so big I got to enjoy for the next 4 days.

The next three days we spent at Disneyland. Oh how I love Disneyland! It really is a magical place. It makes me so happy!

We had an early morning pass which got us into the park an hour before most people. It was great, although we only made it for the first half hour. The park was open from 8 in the morning until midnight each day. I was so excited! and I was determined to spend all 16 hours there each day. And we almost made it... except for the first day... we lasted only until 5. But we were only going to go back to the hotel for a little nap and be back by 9 to watch the fireworks. That didn't happen. I was asleep by 6 and didn't wake up until 7 the next morning. I know you're thinking 'Wow!' but remember all our adventures before we made it to Cali? We were pooped! I was a little disappointed that we didn't make it back, but we did spend the next two days at the park from open to close! While we were there we...

Discoverd a dead pirate and his treasure.

Got caught in a net.

Chowed on a turkey leg.

Watched them set up for the World of Color.

(the big premier was the day after we left :( I was sad)

Nearly got speared.

And of course screamed our heads off on our favorite rides.

(picture of a picture. I'm cheap.)

The best part about our trip to Disneyland this year was Victoria, an employee of Disneyland. We were waiting in line for Indiana Jones and were chatting it up with the girl who maned the line (Victoria). She liked us I guess, so she gave us a handfull of Fast Passes to the ride. We used them and stopped to talk to her each time. After she got off her shift she somehow found us in the park and pulled out a huge wad of Front of Line passes. Not FastPasses, but front of line passes... to any ride!!! I didn't even know they had those! Each one was for 6 people so on our way up we would grab random people from the line to join us. It was fantastic! We never waited in line for more than 10 minutes! It really changed our experience. haha. So moral is... be nice to the workers... they have the good stuff.

After three long days at Disneyland we drove back to San Diego where we stayed with Brandon's dad in his gorgeous place! While in San Diego, we went to Sea World where we...

Watched the shows.

Fed the sea lions.

(This ones my favorite! :> )

Got soaked by Shamu.

Pet and fed some stingrays.

We also walked under a shark tank, rode their faboulous rides, and watched a man get pushed into the ocean in a giant hamster ball. It was a blast.

Also while we were in San Diego we went to the...

Beach!! How I love the beach!

We played some Botchi ball.

Tried out the Baywatch run.

And caught some waves.

We had such a great time in Cali! And had a blast with our pals Brandon and Jenny! We can't wait to do it again!

California Baby!

Yup. We went to Cali again. It seems to be becoming a summer tradition. Not that I am complaining. I love the perfect weather, endless palm trees, exciting attractions, and of course, the beautiful beach. If it were up to me, San Diego would be the place where we attend Grad School. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

This year we had 10 days of non stop fun and adventure in SoCal (and a couple other places) with our good friends Jenny and Brandon. We met up with them in Provo and the next day started our journey. We drove separately so that Greg and I could have our own car for the two days we were to spend in Anaheim by ourselves. Driving together, and then renting a car made more sense, but since we are not yet twenty-five, the $25 young driver fee tacked on to each day of a car rental actually made driving our own car cheaper, if you can believe that. Since we decided to drive our own car, my dad and sister insisted that we steer away from my rattly Kia and take Taylor's sturdy Honda. We gave in. And I have to admit, it was a much smoother ride than my poor car. Well it was until we were thirty miles south of Mesquite and 50 from Vegas. If any of you are unaware of this area, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, between Mesquite and Vegas and it is HOT!! If you haven't guessed it by now, we broke down. At the Carp Eglin Exit. In case you are interested, the picture to the right is what it looks like. Gorgeous isn't it? I thought so. And I got to look at it for the next 10 hours. :) Naturally we had the a/c on, I mean it was only 108, when simultaneously, the air conditioning went out and the engine over heated. Fantastic right? But the part I think that makes it even better was that it was here, on the Carp exit. :) So we pulled over, called Greg's dad (who by the way knows everything about everything! Seriously, it's astounding, he can literally fix anything!) and followed all his instructions. We had to let the engine cool for a while, at least 20 mins he said, before we could do anything. So while we waited, we played Botchi ball, one of our favorite games, in the middle of the desert. It was actually a lot of fun, and I got to work on my tan. The pic to the left is us getting ready to play. The large rock mound spiced the game up a bit. After the game we got serious and focused on the car. Covering the car and the engine was anitfreeze, so we knew right then that it was the radiator. It kind of looked like one of the hoses came loose and leaked everywhere. So we filled up the radiator with water and prayed that was the problem and were on our way again. It seemed to work, for about 3 minutes. Luckily there was a truck pullout gravel pit thing where trucks could rest or something. Since it was out in the middle of nowhere, there wasn't a building, just simply gravel and dirt. We popped the hood one more time to check it out, and discovered steam coming from a large crack on the head. Boo! We were stuck. So I hopped in Jenny and Brandon's car, left Greg with the Honda and we drove in search of some kind of civilization. Several miles up the highway was sign, with a gas station logo on it! It seemed to be a miricale and that it was meant to be! We took the exit and drove for about a half hour before we finally came across this dinky town with a slightly rundown gas station. But they had what we were looking for so I loved them. We brought it back to the car, tried it all out and it was a failure. Luckily my dad gave me my sisters AAA card to use in case of an emergency. Aparently they dont check to make sure it belongs to you (I know this because I have done it before.) We called them. It took another half hour to explain to them where we were and to get a tow truck sent out. Unfortunatly they would only tow us 7 miles for free. After that it was like 25 bucks a mile. Lame. That's when my dad called. He had been talking to his 'friend' who has a brother-in-law that lives in Vegas who happens to be good with cars and has towing equipment. We cancelled AAA and waited for Lee to pick us up. By this time we sent our friends on. They had stayed with us for the last 4-5 hours and since we had someone coming for us there was nothing they could do. A little while later AAA shows up. The guy was really nice and just wanted to make sure we were OK and then preceeded to tell us that if we were just 13 miles further he could have towed us to Vegas. Bummer. He leaves. An hour later a guy shows up with his truck. Figuring it was Lee (my dads girlfriends, sisters, husband) we introduced ourselves and started chatting it up. As our car was being pulled up on the bed, we get a phone call from guess who.. Lee, asking us where we were at. Uhh...... 'we thought you were already here.' Awkward. Turns out the guy helping us was not Lee, it was AAA, again. I even asked him if he was Lee and he said yes! He must have not understood or something, perhaps his name was actually ironically Lee? I will never know. It was about 10:30 when the real Lee showed up and we were on our way again. About 20 minutes in guess what... I doubt you can guess... well, maybe you can... His huge nice truck pulling our car breaks down... Seriously, so here we are again in the middle of nowhere, but this time, in the middle of the night. (might I add it doesn't cool down there at night... it was still in the 90's.) We sat and waited as they tried to figure out why it had died, and for his brother to come out to help fix it. By the time we finally got going again it was one in the morning. Two our time. But after a long day of sitting in the hot sun, sweating out every ounce of water in our body, being completely dehydrated and exhausted, we had a place to sleep. Lee and his family are probably some of the nicest people I have met. They were complete strangers and he came out and picked us up, a 45 min drive from his house at 10at night, then let us stay in their super nice RV, and the next morning Greg and two of their sons worked on the car. Awesome people huh? I want to be more like them. Since it was Saturday, there was not a radiator shop open, but this guy had a friend. He opened his shop for us, replaced the radiator head, and did it all for free!! Although we had a case of unfortunate events, I'd say we were pretty lucky. Once the boys got the radiator back in Greg and I were on our way again. Well... sort of. For some reason, the a/c not working was not related to the radiator. So we found the only repair shop that was open that worked on a/cs and took the car in. Two hours later we found out that the compressor was shot and that it would cost 1200 buckaroos to fix. Whatever.. we would rather sweat our faces off than pay them that. By this time, my dad was a little nervous to let us continue on our trip in this car he talked us into taking. So he booked us a rental car, we picked it up, dropped the other car off at Greg's aunts in Henderson and were on our way again.. this time for real, at nine o'clock at night. We finally did make it to San Diego, three days after we left from home, and had a fabulous and relaxing vacation!! (I will be posting about it later.)

I've been inspired...

Well sort of. I really like the new design of blogspot and it has inspired me to post more often... or at least think about posting more. We shall see. Wish us luck.

I also like this flower :)

Tomorrow!

Moe will be home tomorrow!! Woot Woot!!!

Ahh.. :)

As a woman, I have learned how to work a man. Not in a conniving way, but in a subtle, gentle way, and I have learned this from the many women in my life. For example: The other day some kitty litter spilt on the carpet, (don't worry, it was clean, there was just a hole in the bag) so knowing this was the perfect opportunity, I asked Greg to vacuum it up. After about 40 minutes of repeated vacuuming, dissembling all the parts and putting it back together again, he gave up, grabbed his keys, and told me we were leaving to buy a new vacuum. Yes! FINALLY!


So we purchased our first 'real' vacuum.

And it is amazing!

Oh my goodness! I have so much catch up to do!

I hope this post finds everyone well and that you all enjoyed the holidays. We sure did! Having a few weeks off from school makes all the difference in the world. We start again on Tuesday, and although I am not quite ready to go back to the endless homework and late nights, the break was incredibly rejuvenating.

I thought that I would do a quick update from the last couple of months. :)

Thanksgiving:

BSU thankfully gives its students an entire week break from school during the week of Thanksgiving. I call it 'fall break' and it is my most favorite part of the fall semester! :) I got to spend the whole week in Utah. Both our families were gathering there. I flew down early with my grandma and we helped my aunt get ready for the great feast. We also planned a surprise birthday party for my father... He turned 50!!!!! On Wednesday, Greg drove down with my dad, grandpa, and Tay. When all the aunts and uncles arrived we sent dad out to fetch some food we had 'forgotten.' Whil he was out we decked the house in old fart decor, dressed down in black, and pulled out the party favors. He walked in and was completely surprised.

Dad with his cake.

The cake I made. It started out fun but took too freaking long and I decided I will NEVER make a cake again. haha. I thought it turned out pretty good, and my dad loved it.

All the Clifford cousins except for Myles, plus grandma and grandpa.

Thursday was spent juggling both of our families. We were lucky that they did dinner at different times, but we were both sick by the end of the day. On Friday Greg and I did some shopping. We went for specific things, but came away with none of them and instead with about 10 movies. Saturday was spent at Temple Square with Greg's family. His aunt has a choir that performs at the old conference center every year so we went and watched them. We had a great trip. It was a lot of fun getting to spend time with both sides of the family, especially those that live far away and that we don't get to see very often.

Christmas:

I love Christmas! The spirit of the season is so exciting! I love the lights, the colors, the charity, the hussel and bussel! I love it all! But most of all, I love the family gatherings! We spent the night on Chirstmas Eve at my dads house. We were up by 6:30 thanks to Tay. She insists every year that we open gifts before dawn breaks because 'it's tradition.' We then headed over to Greg's parents, where we once again arrived before the kids woke up. We came away with some pretty great gifts, including a new grill! We are excited to bbq!! We also received, thanks to my well known love of Costa Vida, $60 in gift certificates! We will never starve! I also got a new I-pod... I have been dying without mine ever since I dropped it in a cup of water. (I have no idea how I managed that.) Myles called that afternoon and we had a nice long chat with him. We are all excited for him to come home in a few months. To top off the day we had a lovely Christmas dinner at the Jensens. Yum!

*****Above is a post that I have had sitting here forever, but never got around to posting. I'll get better...someday.*****

If only I ran the world...

It's that time of the year again and what a nightmare it has been! Registering for classes is one of the most aggravating, and most definitely, my least favorite thing to do!! Why do they have to make it so difficult to get the classes you need? For example. . I need to take Cell Biology. It is offered only during the spring and there is only one class which only allows 60 students. Now this class is the key that unlocks every single one of my upper division biology classes. But don't worry! I am only number 107 on the waiting list!!! To the apparently uneducated class schedulers, I thank you, because I just absolutely love college and want to stay here forever! And to those who are wondering, my graduation date will be pushed back... only a year.

Gross!

Why do dead things have to smell so bad? The other day my living room started to get this off smell. I brushed it off thinking that it was coming from upstairs, because let's face it, they stink. After a couple of days it started getting worse and worse. I began worrying that it was my housekeeping skills. I hadn't been that neglectful to my cute little living room, but I guessed it was possible. Then one night I came home, plopped down on my couch, pulled out my homework, took a breath in and started gagging! The smell was overwhelming and revolting. I tried thinking of what could be causing it, but a smell that awful could only come from something dead. That's when I thought of how we live in the middle of nowhere and how we have this cat who loves to bring field mice inside to chase around the house. Well, that is exactly what I found. A dead, stinky mouse under my couch! Ugh!