Snow!

Here is a cute picture of Buster sticking his head out of the window:

It's been snowing! Finally! I've had to shovel four times, and it's still snowing, so I'll probably shovel again tomorrow! I know it's work, but I just love shoveling!

Buster

Buster is getting used to our routine here. We're making progress training him and he's just a really sweet dog.

New Puppy!

We got a dog! His name is Buster, and he's a Briard mix. See?

Winter Backyard

We had the first snow a while ago, and it hasn't snowed since. Just rain. I hate it when it's like, "I'm going to snow" and then it doesn't, or it just melts. Hopefully soon. It makes driving dreadful, not because driving in snow is hard or anything, but because nobody in Utah knows how to drive to begin with, let alone with snow. Here is our yard the day it snowed though:

Boring, small backyard, but snow makes it magical!

So one of my projects lately has been to start food storage. We finally have room and with the way the economy is going right now it wouldn't hurt to have non-perishable food around just in case. So, I figure so far I have about 2 months of food if we tighten our belts a bit, and I add to it every time we go grocery shopping. Here it is so far, but since I took this picture I've added even more to it.

New House

We got a house, and we're moving this coming Saturday, so we've been pretty busy packing and planning, etc. As soon as we have our house full of stuff and organized, I'll post some pictures. It really is a beautiful house! We have a ton of people who are going to help us move.

New House!

So this weekend was busy, fun, and interesting. We have been looking at this house a few blocks from here. It's a rent-to-own, which is pretty much what we're looking for. We don't want to take out a home loan yet, but we want to start building equity. Anyway, this house is a perfect first flip.

The house is in a good neighborhood, just off the main road we live near. It's close enough that we're still super close to the stores and restaurants and such, but far enough that you can't hear the traffic on that road. It's grayish blue with stony-looking brick accents on the outside and has a reddish-brown fence for the backyard. It has three bedrooms and one bathroom, but hookups in the unfinished basement for another bathroom. It is in really good shape, too. We talked to the owner today and filled out an application and made him an offer, which he took. We talked him down $100 from what he wanted for rent, and we talked him into cutting the security deposit in half! It will basically be a lease for a year with a portion of the rent going toward a down payment on the house, and at the end of the year we have the option to buy, and we are pretty sure we are going to buy it, assuming we can get the loan in a year.

Upstairs there is a wall between the living room and the kitchen that we want to knock out and build a nice island there instead. The way into the backyard is on the side of the house, with this little deck that really looks kinda silly, and doesn't flow. So we're thinking we'd like to put a double door in the dining room leading out to a deck we want to build. Also, we want to finish the basement and add that second bathroom. We figure we'll live in the house for about three years total, doing one project at a time to update and renovate, and sell for a profit. Then we can move to another home and do the same thing. Eventually, we would like to build up enough profit that we could buy a house to live in and buy another to flip, so we could stop moving. We'll see.

I can't believe we're getting a house.

Stupid Flat Tire

We went through our shed and some of our closets today and got rid of a lot of things. I feel less cluttered...so relaxing. I still have odds and ends around the house that I need to find places for, or put them where they're supposed to be.

Scott has been trying to sell some old games and paintball gear, and of course the Jetta, and people keep calling, saying they're interested and that they will come at x o'clock, and they never show up. This has happened like ten times. It's getting old. But what can you do? We have it on KSL, and we bought window paint so we can put a note on the window that it's for sale.


Yesterday we went to get groceries and when we came out to the car, the tire was flat! It had a big hole in it that looked like we had run over a nail. So, we went to the only tire place that was open (Wal-Mart) and spent a few hours wandering around while we waited for our car to be better. Our other front tire was close to bare, so we had that one replaced while we were at it. This car is turning out to be more expensive than we thought...one of the headlights is out and the dealer said it would be $400 to fix it...and we tried to get another mechanic to do it, but he said it was beyond him, so we HAVE to go to the dealer. Snakes, the lot of them.

New Car

We went to pick up the new car this morning and when we got there we found out that the mechanic had not actually done the alignment like he told us he did, so we had to wait the rest of the day. I think Scott is on the way home from picking up the car as we speak.

Later: I just got back from the hospital. It looked like Scott's dad had a heart attack, but he didn't. It was just pain. So, they're keeping him overnight just to keep an eye on him. Good idea.

Car Shopping

We had a wonderful experience at a car dealership. After months of financial planning and research and fighting with dealers, we settled on what car we wanted and got approved for a loan. Dealers have tried to sell us vastly overpriced cars, and when we tried to negotiate, they pushed and lied and made us feel like we were stupid, which we're not. So today, when we had given up all hope of getting someone to treat us like people, we saw the light at the end of the tunnel. We found the car we wanted on KSL and called to set up an appointment with the dealer. We were surprised when we got there to find a small dealership with only one employee, the nicest car salesperson we had ever met. No hassle. This is the price. Take it or leave it. The price was perfect, it was the perfect car for us, and it was in fabulous shape. So, we bought it. All in under an hour, with no arguing whatsoever. HAPPY DAY!

So, we have a bright, beautiful new car. We will drive it with the utmost paranoia in order to keep it pristine.