Whirlwind trip!

We went to Michigan this Thanksgiving...the day we found out we were under contract on our first home, we left the state.  Here has been our last couple of days.  They were great.  Family filled.  Fun.  Entertaining... but I am not going to lie, we aren't in any rush to relive how hectic they were.  I feel like I am going to collapse... in the good, satisfied kind of way :]

Tuesday: Work all day, complete leg one of the trip and stay in a hotel West Virginia, dog cries all night because people are walking by the door.
Wednesday:  Drive the rest of the way to MI.  Visited Susanna, Chris and baby Sam upon arrival.  Went bowling with Charlie's family.

Thursday:  Thanksgiving.  Walking in the park with my sister and cousin in law during the morning.  Thanksgiving with entire family + mom and brother.

Me, Laura, and Jenny!

Friday: Haircut, 10:30 am, drive 3 hours to Grand Rapids.  Rehearsal dinner for Nick and Annie.

Saturday:  Thesis all morning.  Nick and Annie's wedding and reception...arrived home at 12:00 am.
Sunday:  Brunch at Nick and Annie's parent, drive 3 hours back to Northville.  Buy super discounted appliances at Lowe's.  Visit Grandma and Grandpa.  Dinner with mom.  Dexter with the Snearly's.
Monday:  Wake up at 6:45, drive to NC, arrive at 7:30 pm.
Tuesday:  Teach!?!?!??!

AHHHHHHHH!  Crazy times, good times.  We are very blessed!

Our Casa

I always wondered where our first place would be.  Charlie and I would always say: "Somewhere, right now, our perfect house is out their waiting.  It just doesn't know yet, and neither do we."

 Turns out, that perfect house was built in 1986.  The year after were born.  :)  How cute.  It waited almost 25 years for us.

 So without further ado...the story of la Casa.  We are under contract to be proud home owners.

 It all began in a time long ago...

Charlie and I began seriously house hunting--em--like 2.5 weeks ago.  Hehe.  Actually, we have been looking and researching for several years, but never officially started the process of "Okay, now it it time."  When we did, we figured it would take us months to find a great place.  I am picky and so is Char.  We wanted a yard with lots of privacy, tall trees, a mature neighborhood, but not old, in a great, convenient location, close to work, close to uptown, near good schools, 4 bedrooms + a bonus room, lots of storage, walk-in closets, a fence, hardwood floors, crown molding, an updated kitchen, stainless steel appliances, etc. etc.... all for under $200,000.  With a list like that I got a lot of polite "fat chance" remarks... but didn't let it stop us. 

But I figured we would start our search early.  We could take our time getting approved, see what we could really afford and go from there.  We had a plan... a month-to-month, week-to-week plan.  But life is what happens when you are busy making plans, right?

We looked at houses and our goal was to spend under $190,000.  Unfortunately, what $190,000 buys you where we were looking was a 3 bedroom house and backyard with a highway view.  Or, a really run-down, fixer-upper.  Could we get approved for a more expensive home?  Yes.  Do we want to be house poor?  Absolutely, positively NOT!!!  So, $190,000 quickly became our ceiling. 

The other houses we liked with all the upgrades and the location were at least $250,000.  Double yuck. 

Then, on thenest.com...I happened to be browsing and came across the now dubbed "La Casa"  It was cute, updated interior, and FABULOUS LOCATION.  5 short minutes from downtown Matthews, around the corner from Harris Teeter and a Target.  Wooded lots, tall tress, immaculate yards, beautiful homes...and this little guy listed for $184,900.

WHAT!?!?!?

Charlie and I drove out there at 8:00 pm on a Sunday, the day I saw it online, in pitch black darkness, to walk around the neighborhood.  (Yes, we are mildly crazy).  We feel in love with the yard, and without even seeing the inside, I said to Char, "this is the one."

 So, the next day while I was at work, he went to see the house.  And here she is!!!  (Sorry there aren't many photos...these were the listing photos!)

 That day after school, we made the offer.  Charlie called work directly, which he never does, and I ran up to the office to here him say, "Kathryn, you've got to see this place."  Immediately following a long day of teaching, I made it so.

Here's what we saw....

• Hardwoods throughout the kitchen and downstairs
• Lots of light
• Crown molding
• Fresh paint

• almost .4 acres
• A wooded lot
• A completely fenced backyard

• 4 bedrooms
• A bonus room
• A den with a fireplace and built-ins!

• A GREAT LOCATION...5 minutes from downtown Matthews, around the corner from a Target.  YUS!
• Mature neighborhood
• Tons of storage and a walk-in attic
• Walk-in closets in the master
• Huge closets in other bathrooms
• A great deck with French doors leading out

Too good to be true, right?  This home was originally listed on the market at $220,00 or so in May.  The market was down, the sellers moved, and it sat and sat.  They dropped their price to $198,000, then to $189,00, then to $184,500...and 3 days after the last price drop, we saw it.  We put in an offer at $177,000 that day because we couldn't pass it up.

But, so did another family.  BIDDING WAR!

 This was crazy.  We had to list our highest offer without knowing what the other people were bidding.  After agonizing contemplation, we came in at $182,000.  If we had to walk, we would.

And, about 6 agonizing hours later...

we got her!  It was meant to be!!!  The price is amazing, especially compared to the comps in the neighborhood, and we are geeked.

 We can't wait to move in, make it home, and make it ours.  There are a few things we want to change, but at the price we got it at, they are in our budget to fix over time.

 Here are some of the cons...

• There is one sink in the master bath
• The master does not have a separate bath and shower (but does have a jacuzzi style tub with a shower)
• The appliances are older, and we need a fridge... so we are updating these when we move in!  The rest of the kitchen is great, though!

• The laundry room is HUGE with tons of storage, but not connected to central air.  It has a mini-heater.

So, that's the story  :)  More to come... more pictures, more projects, as we transform our baby...who happens to be as old as we are.  I'm sure it will slowly take over the blog.  Yay house!

Blogaversary and Thesis update...

So, I got to thinking, "It's been about a year since this whole blogging thing started."...and what do you know?  It has been exactly a year as of yesterday!  My gut intuition is never wrong.  November 11, 2009 was my first virtual entry...and I'm proud of myself for keeping it going!  There have been breaks in between due to travels abroad, visits home, and busy months, but I still find time between the joys, triumphs, frustrations, laughs, and craziness to keep you updated on the happening in Snearlydom.  If you are seeing this, or my other ramblings, thank you for reading and putting up with my virtual blabbering. ;)

Here were some of my highlight posts and some of my favorites from the past year!

The one where Susanna came to visit! (June, 2010)
The one where we dressed Luna up like a bunny and laughed about it! (February, 2010)
The one where I got accepted into my Master's program in SPAIN!  (February, 2010)
The one where we updated our bathroom on a budget! (January, 2010)
The one where I made my first Flip video! (December, 2010)
The one where we spent Thanksgiving on the beach! (November, 2010)
The one where we went on a hot air balloon ride! (November, 2010)

As an update...I am also half way done with my thesis.  Yup, that's 25 pages (not counting the cover, dedication, index, bibliography, or annexes as per the University's request!).  Yay.  I'm proud of myself.  There were difficult writing times, much chocolate consumed, many-a-night spent on word reference.com looking up obscure terms like "scaffolding"...but it has all been worth it.

Happy Veteran's Day everyone!!!  Thank you to those who have served our country. :)

 

Fatty!

It seems I find myself biting my tongue...a lot.  I have this awkward way of saying the wrong thing in a conversation, even when I don't mean anything by it or when it's supposed to be a compliment.

I grew up verbally abusing dogs.  Not in the cruel sense of the term; rather, in the "I love you so much" way.  When you love your dog, you say things like, "Hey, fatty!"  "Hi stupid."  "Come here, Bozo.  You dummy.  Get over here!  She can't come over because she's too fat to walk!"

This may seem like senseless talk to you, but I grew up in a house where my father called my childhood dog a "sausage on toothpicks" pretty much daily.  

So, when I talk about the weight of your dog, it's because I think it's cute.

Case in point: 

At the car-rider line in school, a sweet old lab (reminiscent of my childhood dog, Brianna) was in the back seat.  I pet him kindly, a student I teach and her mom were beaming.

I turn around and say to my friend:  "I love fat, old dogs."

My friend's face was a look of shock as the window was still down, and she didn't reply.  Oops.

He was so cute, though!

Serendipity: n. a chance happening

On Thursday night I was reading facebook updates when serendipitously, a girl I went to high school with posted a new photo album of her life in Ecuador.  I happened to click the link.  She showed pictures of where she's living, her Ecuadorian friends, her school (she is a missionary and moved there last year to be a teacher).  I really enjoyed the pictures, and I laughed out loud at some of them.  There was a link to her blog, which I began reading immediately. 

I saw pictures of smiling faces of her students, her view of the Andes mountains from breezeway inside her school, and pictures of her traveling the country.

She writes in her blog,

[The people here] are extremely generous. Smiles, hugs, stickers, pictures, food. They'll give them all away. If one of my students bought food during lunch they will inevitably share it with me and their classmates. I mean, today four of my fifth graders gave me candy, a seventh grader gave me shrimp, and a third grader gave me a pear. Like many Haitians I've seen, they will take whatever they have and share it with the five people around them -- without thinking otherwise! I've not yet heard a kid ask another for something (like food) and received, "No!" for an answer. Really? Does this happen in the States too?

My Ecuadorian friend, Mika, expressed that one difficult aspect of adapting to life in the States was their independence. It's something we value, right? If we can have our own car, job, house, and dog we've reached the height of success. We're proud that we did it on our own and only used people if we needed something from them. And so we sit back in our houses, turn on the tv, and enjoy being independent of those around us... 

I am learning here that community is essential. There's no way I'd survive here in Shell without others. Hearing their stories of struggles, hurts, breakthroughs, and healing strengthens me and reminds me that I'm not alone in this battle. Maria, my house mom, cries at least once a week. Actually, many of the women I've met here in Shell cry. . .often. Their hearts break for others and themselves and they're not afraid to show their emotions. They're not afraid to call out to God for help. They're not afraid to share their short-comings and their walk towards redemption.

Okay...I'm crying now! :)  This is growing in another culture and learning to grow in your walk with God.  This is what I wish I could share with my students, this is what you can't see in a textbook.

I tell you this because this little class in Shell, Ecuador will be pen pels with my students in Weddington, North Carolina.  These students will share who they are, their language, and there culture with us...and we will return the favor. Yay for an exciting end to the week.  I look very forward to this!

Investments

We invest in everything in life, and investments nearly always yield a return.

When I think back to a few years ago, and the students that I have now that decided to stay in Spanish, the ones who came back--because they don't HAVE to--were the ones I invested in.   Not the ones I taught the best or the smartest (although that would be nice, wouldn't it?).  In fact, I have had kids fail Spanish and sign up for it again the next year.  This always blows my mind!  I'm beginning to realize that the majority of students come back because I click with them, I get to get to know them, I laugh with them, and I talk to them.  It has very little to do with acutally learning Spanish.  They come back because I know their cat's name and that they only eat peanut butter and jelly for lunch.  (Spanish discussions can always go in fun places). 

This year I'm having a hard time making that investment in one class in particular.  I KNOW I'm not investing, so everything feels forced.  I'm stressed to cram everything in because of the new standardized test.  To top it off, they are a low group of kids.  I feel rushed, and I'm not allowing the time for a natural discussion because somewhere in the back of my mind a little voice is reminding me of "how far behind" we are.  I hate that voice.

But I really need that investment and I need to take the time to make it.  I need to move slower, I need to look them in the eyes more, and I need to mean it.  It's not going to happen over night, but I'm working on it.  :)

Wedding!!!

Katy got married in Chicago this past weekend!  I skipped school on Friday (yay, skipping, lol).  Charlie and I made our way by plane to Chi-town in the a.m.  I was honored to be Katy's Matron of Honor and stand next to her on such an important day.  Wouldn't have missed it for the world.

The day was effortless... because the couple was so happy, how could it be anything but?. :)  Strong wind gusts, ominous clouds, and sprinkles of rain couldn't wipe the smile off the bride's--or the groom's--face.  The bridal party even took pictures outside and turned to popsicles.  All for the sake of love!  I'm so happy for Katy.

Katy lived in the same dorm room for 4 years and only 20 minutes apart in N.C....but now 700 miles separate us.  That's hard.  It's difficult to be away from the people that you love.  Katy and I always said, though... "BFF, maid of honor, and godmother of the firstborn."...and that's not even something  700 miles can separate!

 Life is so seasonal and changes so fast.  When I think about how much has changed since we moved to Charlotte, it makes my jaw drop.  Not every day has been perfect, but we are still so honored and humbled by what the Lord has provided us with.  We have more blessings than we can count and friends--like Katy--we treasure are among those.  I hope all of you have a friend that you'd freeze like a pospicle for.  Those are the best kind. :)