For anyone who is wondering what it is like sleeping with Rachel.... watch this
(For those confused...Rachel's the dog...)
Friday, June 3, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Mackerel for dinnner=Yummy!
Tonight Brian and I had fresh caught Mackerel. How?
1) Smile nicely at guest
2) Give guest directions to a fishing charter
3) Guest gets too much fish and gives you extra's
4) Take out all of your lunch from your cooler and put fishy in there covered with ice and prays it stays good until you get home
Here is the recipe we used:
Spanish Mackerel Fillets, Baked
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
2lbs Florida Spanish Mackerel fillets (any Mackerel fillets will do)
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated Florida onion
1/8 teaspoon Paprika
1) Sprinkle fillets with salt and pepper
2) Place in a single layer on a well-oiled baking pan
3) Combine margarine, lemon juice, paprika and onion
4) Cover fillets with the sauce
5) Bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork
We didn't know what a Florida onion was so we used a Vidalia onion and finely chopped it. I also had a lot more fish then the recipe called for so I doubled the sauce ingredients. I think that was the right choice. We served it with some Uncle Ben's Long Grained Wild Rice.
It was very good :)
1) Smile nicely at guest
2) Give guest directions to a fishing charter
3) Guest gets too much fish and gives you extra's
4) Take out all of your lunch from your cooler and put fishy in there covered with ice and prays it stays good until you get home
Here is the recipe we used:
Spanish Mackerel Fillets, Baked
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
2lbs Florida Spanish Mackerel fillets (any Mackerel fillets will do)
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated Florida onion
1/8 teaspoon Paprika
1) Sprinkle fillets with salt and pepper
2) Place in a single layer on a well-oiled baking pan
3) Combine margarine, lemon juice, paprika and onion
4) Cover fillets with the sauce
5) Bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork
We didn't know what a Florida onion was so we used a Vidalia onion and finely chopped it. I also had a lot more fish then the recipe called for so I doubled the sauce ingredients. I think that was the right choice. We served it with some Uncle Ben's Long Grained Wild Rice.
It was very good :)
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Lets have some fun!
We are still waiting on answers to a couple questions before we move forward but I am tired of having to wait for things. So while we do need to wait and are...I have given myself permission to play interior decorator using the current house as an example.
Master Bedroom:
Brian and I both loved the Porter collection from Ashley Home Furniture (coincidentally where we first heard about the Brighton house). All pictures following are from the Ashley Home Furniture website.
For bedding:
I like having a comforter/quilt having a basic color that matches well so I can just have different colored sheets/pillow cases, etc and create a new look without having to buy multiple comforters, etc. Each bedroom would have their own set, etc. I am not sure about the wall color yet but it will be a white/pale yellow color so that should match well with a lot of designs. I can't really find any examples but I know what I am looking for is out there :)
Guest Bedroom #1:
Guest Room #3:
Both these guest rooms will hopefully be, in reality, children's rooms in the relatively near future so I really like this for a child. It is gender neutral...I just either need pink or blue sheets!
But you want to know what I have heard is great for kids?
Cribs that convert into beds!
I have heard amazing things about these beds so they are definitely on my baby shower list!
Master Bedroom:
Brian and I both loved the Porter collection from Ashley Home Furniture (coincidentally where we first heard about the Brighton house). All pictures following are from the Ashley Home Furniture website.
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| Queen sized sleigh bed with storage under neath |
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| The chest that I would probably use as my dresser |
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| The dresser- we wouldn't get the mirror, Brian would use this |
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| Two nightstands |
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| Media Chest...not sure if we actually get this portion |
I like having a comforter/quilt having a basic color that matches well so I can just have different colored sheets/pillow cases, etc and create a new look without having to buy multiple comforters, etc. Each bedroom would have their own set, etc. I am not sure about the wall color yet but it will be a white/pale yellow color so that should match well with a lot of designs. I can't really find any examples but I know what I am looking for is out there :)
Guest Bedroom #1:
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| Gabriela Poster Bedroom Set |
Guest Room #3:
Both these guest rooms will hopefully be, in reality, children's rooms in the relatively near future so I really like this for a child. It is gender neutral...I just either need pink or blue sheets!
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| Their bed and a bed for their friends |
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| Dresser |
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| Bookcase |
Cribs that convert into beds!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Happy Memorial Day!
Brian's and my weekend was uneventful. He had a 3 day weekend and I had a regular work week.
Wednesday was a roller coaster because of two things.
1) I had a form to fill out that asked one question and then a computer transfers that answer to a similar question on another form. Except the answer to the first form was No and the second forms answer was supposed to be Yes. So I had a bit of a panic attack and if I am honest I threw a temper tantrum out of panic with my Mom on the phone. Sorry Mommy :( I can't/won't tell you that was the most appropriate response but I did feel better after. I just think it was all the stress leading up to this and making sure everything was correct and there were no errors and that this discrepancy would/could ruin everything.
2) Brian's student loans came through A LOT higher then what we thought. If we did nothing our current lives would be too extravagant which is odd as we don't live extravagantly at all. At the time, we couldn't find any legitimate information on consolidation and Brian had just finished venting and got me all panicked about being poor for the rest of our lives and not knowing what we did wrong. So of course there was another crying session with Mom about how we had worked so hard to do everything the right way and yet we were in worse spots then some people I know who haven't done things (for whatever reason) in the traditional/right way. The next day Brian had found out that he could legitimately consolidate his loans so we have put through the paperwork for that. It will take 60-90 days for that to go through.
So about the house.... we are thinking about doing a provisional contract that basically says that we get the lot and the house and will buy it as long as his student loans and the change goes through the way we need them to. If for whatever reason they don't or we change our minds we can get out and get our earnest money back, otherwise we move forward. Brian is liking the house more and more which is surprising to me. I knew he liked the house but I would have thought I would be the one who would want it more after a week or two, not him. So in his eyes we are doing it. My only real hesitation is that we aren't married.
I don't know what Brian is waiting for and he wont talk to me about it seriously for the most part other then asking me if I am planning on going somewhere. He keeps saying it's my fault that I wont agree to the wedding (him being dressed as the joker and me as Harley Quinn and the groomsmen Batman, Robin, etc and bridesmaids Poison Ivy, Catwoman, etc) and that he doesn't make the rules he just enforces them. *head desk* We are basically married anyway, nothing would change other then I get my white dress and a party. Real life wouldn't change except for taxes....
Other then that, nothing has changed.
Wednesday was a roller coaster because of two things.
1) I had a form to fill out that asked one question and then a computer transfers that answer to a similar question on another form. Except the answer to the first form was No and the second forms answer was supposed to be Yes. So I had a bit of a panic attack and if I am honest I threw a temper tantrum out of panic with my Mom on the phone. Sorry Mommy :( I can't/won't tell you that was the most appropriate response but I did feel better after. I just think it was all the stress leading up to this and making sure everything was correct and there were no errors and that this discrepancy would/could ruin everything.
2) Brian's student loans came through A LOT higher then what we thought. If we did nothing our current lives would be too extravagant which is odd as we don't live extravagantly at all. At the time, we couldn't find any legitimate information on consolidation and Brian had just finished venting and got me all panicked about being poor for the rest of our lives and not knowing what we did wrong. So of course there was another crying session with Mom about how we had worked so hard to do everything the right way and yet we were in worse spots then some people I know who haven't done things (for whatever reason) in the traditional/right way. The next day Brian had found out that he could legitimately consolidate his loans so we have put through the paperwork for that. It will take 60-90 days for that to go through.
So about the house.... we are thinking about doing a provisional contract that basically says that we get the lot and the house and will buy it as long as his student loans and the change goes through the way we need them to. If for whatever reason they don't or we change our minds we can get out and get our earnest money back, otherwise we move forward. Brian is liking the house more and more which is surprising to me. I knew he liked the house but I would have thought I would be the one who would want it more after a week or two, not him. So in his eyes we are doing it. My only real hesitation is that we aren't married.
I don't know what Brian is waiting for and he wont talk to me about it seriously for the most part other then asking me if I am planning on going somewhere. He keeps saying it's my fault that I wont agree to the wedding (him being dressed as the joker and me as Harley Quinn and the groomsmen Batman, Robin, etc and bridesmaids Poison Ivy, Catwoman, etc) and that he doesn't make the rules he just enforces them. *head desk* We are basically married anyway, nothing would change other then I get my white dress and a party. Real life wouldn't change except for taxes....
Other then that, nothing has changed.
Friday, May 27, 2011
This little lady can always make my day :)
Wednesday was my day off and it was a roller coaster! The roller coaster hasn't come to a complete stop so I will not go into detail but I will share with you what cheered me up.
She is almost 9 months! I also want to show you something very cool!
Carley is IDENTICAL to her father! SO cute! I wish I took more pictures because I swear she makes the same faces he does!
She is almost 9 months! I also want to show you something very cool!
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| Baby Chris |
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| Baby Carley |
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| Baby Chris :) |
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| Baby Carley |
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| Baby Chris! |
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| Baby Carley! |
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
The meeting on Tuesday night
The meeting went well. Brian and I are more confused then ever. I wrote an email to my mom so I will copy that here. I think I wrote it out the best I can. We are still waiting on one thing to fall in place but that should be soon so I dont know.
"We still don't know what to do about the house. We have less then we thought extra (meaning after we pay all our bills and mortgage we do have some money extra just not as much) but we do have some extra. We have also guessed high in some categories like groceries, his cell phone, car insurance, etc so we will have more extra then what is showing. We have estimated $100 a month for water/natural gas and $100 a month of electric. Our heat and stove will be from natural gas and electric for the appliances and AC. We figure those two things will flip. In the summer our gas/water bill will be lower but our electric higher, in the winter electric will be lower but gas/water will be higher. We are also getting a tankless water heater (I think 2 technically) with this house so that should save on electric as well. We won't be able to buy any new furniture which is okay. We don't really need anything new at the moment and I have all the furniture that you guys are bringing down for me. There are some bits and pieces that we would like sooner like a kitchen table for the bay window (our current table would go into the dining room) but we would have time to save up and there is always xmas presents :). Brian predicts if we do it, it might be a bit tough for the first 2 years but it would only get easier after that. We still need to definitively figure out how much exactly we are paying for student loans but that is on Brian and we need to wait on one more thing. We also may not be able to do as much work around the house as early as we would like but that is okay too...Brian and I know nothing about home decorating and we will want help figuring out what to do and what to pick. That will give you time to come down (or up from Charleston) and help pick things out. Also we should probably live in a house for awhile before we start making changes.
We are still debating what the smartest thing to do with the extra money we save between now and then, if we do this. Brian is leaning towards using it to get the appliances that we want. The washer/dryer would be the cheap ones as that is less important (and replace that possibly later) but getting the fridge and dishwasher we want and maybe get my kitchen table, etc. His thinking is: If we spend 700 on a fridge now and then X on the fridge we want later we will have wasted $700 and same thing for the dishwasher. I am leaning toward either paying off some of the student loans so we have that $50 a month extra or putting it with my 10k and making us get that much closer to an accurate emergency fund. The interest on the house is tax deductible where his student loans aren't. I don't know. Though we have time to figure that out if we decide to do this.
We would definitely would have to change our lifestyle but I don't think we would have to cut out so much that we would not have fun anymore. My fun road trips would not happen as frequently but aren't out of the picture thanks to xmas/bday. Our taxes we figure go towards tiling the floors, finishing the garage, etc. We could definitely be better with food but that will be easier when we actually get a schedule and can stick to it which will happen with the upcoming change. I also can let Brian play his game more rather then watching tv or both of us looking at each other because we want to do something but we cant. I say we cant because there really isnt much we would want to do even if we had all the money in the world and the few things that we could do/want to do cost a lot due to tourists and we are cheap. Buying a home and getting the home we want is worth some sacrifice and Brian and I are willing and wanting to sacrifice for it.
We also love the house and like the lot out of our choices and don't really want to lose it if we can actually do this. We just cant decide if we can do it or not. We can...so I guess the real question is should we do this. And no one is able to tell me that and it is driving me nuts. I am still shocked putting more down hurts us and Brian is shocked they approved us. In his eyes, he thought BofA would run numbers happily but then say a quick and easy "NO" when they looked at everything in terms of approving it. Now it does have to go through an actual underwriter but Bankerman isnt concerned about that. So when they said yes he started to think that maybe we could do it. The Bankerman we have been talking to seems to be really conservative in who he recommends to buy and who he tries to steer clear from it. He kept referring to us like we would make this work easy that we weren't in the situation he sees lots of people are in where $100 will make or break the sale. It was almost as if we were making 100k a year and were concerned about making a $500 dollar a month mortgage work. Though at the same time he wasn't pushy at all. Our conversation last night was him just explaining what everything meant so we could then see if we felt we could do it.
ARG! I don't know why people chose to do this more then once!"
Basically the bank that we are looking at approved us which has shocked Brian. I kind of thought they would. What has shocked me was that putting twice the down payment than what was originally quoted hurts us. The numbers were originally worked up with 7k as a down payment. If we put 14k we would lose a lot of the lenders payments and have to pay 6k more in closing costs. So we will have "extra money" on top of what we are paying for the closing costs and we are stuck on what the smartest thing to do with it as you can see.
I just wish someone would/could tell us whether we should do this or not. We technically can but sometimes just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. If everyone did what they should do and not just what they could do we wouldn't be in this economical mess.
We don't want to miss out on this opportunity if this is what we should do. And I don't think this is a situation where if you should do it the answer is an easy "yes" and if you are having difficulty deciding then the answer is "no". I think buying a house is a hard decision where one never really knows and one only hopes and that any responsible home buyer would have doubts and worries.
And I can't stop looking at the model home pictures....
"We still don't know what to do about the house. We have less then we thought extra (meaning after we pay all our bills and mortgage we do have some money extra just not as much) but we do have some extra. We have also guessed high in some categories like groceries, his cell phone, car insurance, etc so we will have more extra then what is showing. We have estimated $100 a month for water/natural gas and $100 a month of electric. Our heat and stove will be from natural gas and electric for the appliances and AC. We figure those two things will flip. In the summer our gas/water bill will be lower but our electric higher, in the winter electric will be lower but gas/water will be higher. We are also getting a tankless water heater (I think 2 technically) with this house so that should save on electric as well. We won't be able to buy any new furniture which is okay. We don't really need anything new at the moment and I have all the furniture that you guys are bringing down for me. There are some bits and pieces that we would like sooner like a kitchen table for the bay window (our current table would go into the dining room) but we would have time to save up and there is always xmas presents :). Brian predicts if we do it, it might be a bit tough for the first 2 years but it would only get easier after that. We still need to definitively figure out how much exactly we are paying for student loans but that is on Brian and we need to wait on one more thing. We also may not be able to do as much work around the house as early as we would like but that is okay too...Brian and I know nothing about home decorating and we will want help figuring out what to do and what to pick. That will give you time to come down (or up from Charleston) and help pick things out. Also we should probably live in a house for awhile before we start making changes.
We are still debating what the smartest thing to do with the extra money we save between now and then, if we do this. Brian is leaning towards using it to get the appliances that we want. The washer/dryer would be the cheap ones as that is less important (and replace that possibly later) but getting the fridge and dishwasher we want and maybe get my kitchen table, etc. His thinking is: If we spend 700 on a fridge now and then X on the fridge we want later we will have wasted $700 and same thing for the dishwasher. I am leaning toward either paying off some of the student loans so we have that $50 a month extra or putting it with my 10k and making us get that much closer to an accurate emergency fund. The interest on the house is tax deductible where his student loans aren't. I don't know. Though we have time to figure that out if we decide to do this.
We would definitely would have to change our lifestyle but I don't think we would have to cut out so much that we would not have fun anymore. My fun road trips would not happen as frequently but aren't out of the picture thanks to xmas/bday. Our taxes we figure go towards tiling the floors, finishing the garage, etc. We could definitely be better with food but that will be easier when we actually get a schedule and can stick to it which will happen with the upcoming change. I also can let Brian play his game more rather then watching tv or both of us looking at each other because we want to do something but we cant. I say we cant because there really isnt much we would want to do even if we had all the money in the world and the few things that we could do/want to do cost a lot due to tourists and we are cheap. Buying a home and getting the home we want is worth some sacrifice and Brian and I are willing and wanting to sacrifice for it.
We also love the house and like the lot out of our choices and don't really want to lose it if we can actually do this. We just cant decide if we can do it or not. We can...so I guess the real question is should we do this. And no one is able to tell me that and it is driving me nuts. I am still shocked putting more down hurts us and Brian is shocked they approved us. In his eyes, he thought BofA would run numbers happily but then say a quick and easy "NO" when they looked at everything in terms of approving it. Now it does have to go through an actual underwriter but Bankerman isnt concerned about that. So when they said yes he started to think that maybe we could do it. The Bankerman we have been talking to seems to be really conservative in who he recommends to buy and who he tries to steer clear from it. He kept referring to us like we would make this work easy that we weren't in the situation he sees lots of people are in where $100 will make or break the sale. It was almost as if we were making 100k a year and were concerned about making a $500 dollar a month mortgage work. Though at the same time he wasn't pushy at all. Our conversation last night was him just explaining what everything meant so we could then see if we felt we could do it.
ARG! I don't know why people chose to do this more then once!"
Basically the bank that we are looking at approved us which has shocked Brian. I kind of thought they would. What has shocked me was that putting twice the down payment than what was originally quoted hurts us. The numbers were originally worked up with 7k as a down payment. If we put 14k we would lose a lot of the lenders payments and have to pay 6k more in closing costs. So we will have "extra money" on top of what we are paying for the closing costs and we are stuck on what the smartest thing to do with it as you can see.
I just wish someone would/could tell us whether we should do this or not. We technically can but sometimes just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. If everyone did what they should do and not just what they could do we wouldn't be in this economical mess.
We don't want to miss out on this opportunity if this is what we should do. And I don't think this is a situation where if you should do it the answer is an easy "yes" and if you are having difficulty deciding then the answer is "no". I think buying a house is a hard decision where one never really knows and one only hopes and that any responsible home buyer would have doubts and worries.
And I can't stop looking at the model home pictures....
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Our stance at the moment...
Several things have changed since I last posted.
On Saturday we did go see Summerlyn and that got quickly wiped off the list. Brighton may have empty lots but they are all sold. Summerlyn is so new that their model home isn't even finished yet. We don't mind it being new...we just don't want it that new. What happened if that development failed? Plus the lots in phase 1 we did not like at all.
The salesman we met with did re-introduce Glenmoor which is another one of their properties. We had originally ruled them out saying that it was too far. We priced it out and it had the best price for the same thing out of three areas. Plus the lot was HUGE! Our favorite choice so far. So Brian and I went out there. It is far! It is still half way closer to Brian's job but I am driving farther. Not only that, it is no where near anything else either. After some thought, that is out of the question too. We aren't just buying a house to buy a house. And we are not just buying a house because we can afford it. We are buying our home. Our home where we will be bringing future babies home to. We don't want that home to be in the middle of no where even though we will miss that lot.
We are still meeting with BofA, our potential mortgage lender, on Tuesday. He has been very helpful and ran our numbers. We would be doing an FHA loan and he played with 3.5% down so the numbers are high. We have at least 7% down and we have some questions on reading the paperwork so on Tuesday we are going to get more accurate numbers. So far the only one that is still in the running is Brighton. Best location in terms of activities and work and the first house we fell in love with. (Mom, we will not need flood insurance because we are in designation X but we should get it but it should only be about $356 for a year). Who knows if the numbers will work in our favor. We will find out on Tuesday. If not, we continue to save save save until next year where hopefully they will be in phase 4 and we have a better choice of lots then we do now. We have already found lots we would like in phase 4. Or maybe Summerlynn has actually been built up. And we hope the price hasn't risen a lot.
On Saturday we did go see Summerlyn and that got quickly wiped off the list. Brighton may have empty lots but they are all sold. Summerlyn is so new that their model home isn't even finished yet. We don't mind it being new...we just don't want it that new. What happened if that development failed? Plus the lots in phase 1 we did not like at all.
The salesman we met with did re-introduce Glenmoor which is another one of their properties. We had originally ruled them out saying that it was too far. We priced it out and it had the best price for the same thing out of three areas. Plus the lot was HUGE! Our favorite choice so far. So Brian and I went out there. It is far! It is still half way closer to Brian's job but I am driving farther. Not only that, it is no where near anything else either. After some thought, that is out of the question too. We aren't just buying a house to buy a house. And we are not just buying a house because we can afford it. We are buying our home. Our home where we will be bringing future babies home to. We don't want that home to be in the middle of no where even though we will miss that lot.
We are still meeting with BofA, our potential mortgage lender, on Tuesday. He has been very helpful and ran our numbers. We would be doing an FHA loan and he played with 3.5% down so the numbers are high. We have at least 7% down and we have some questions on reading the paperwork so on Tuesday we are going to get more accurate numbers. So far the only one that is still in the running is Brighton. Best location in terms of activities and work and the first house we fell in love with. (Mom, we will not need flood insurance because we are in designation X but we should get it but it should only be about $356 for a year). Who knows if the numbers will work in our favor. We will find out on Tuesday. If not, we continue to save save save until next year where hopefully they will be in phase 4 and we have a better choice of lots then we do now. We have already found lots we would like in phase 4. Or maybe Summerlynn has actually been built up. And we hope the price hasn't risen a lot.
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