Ohhhh, Nine, where have you gone?

{January:} We traveled to Disneyland for a little weekend getaway. We celebrated Brendan's 23rd birthday! We also put an offer on a townhouse; later we found out that was NOT the place for us to live. I started this crazy, little blog!

{February:}We continued to look for our first house...

{March:} We put an offer on a condo by the lake; we soon found out that there were pending lawsuits and big problems that would cost a lot of $$$! Needless to say we retracted our offer. At the end of the month we spent eight days in Cabo San Lucas; it was the perfect time to think about our next house decision...

{April:} We decided to move out of my parent's house and rent a townhouse. We were frustrated with our housing search and decided we would rent for the next year.

{May:} We finally felt settled in our townhouse, but the thought of buying a house still lingered in our minds.

{June:} We celebrated my 23rd birthday!

{July:} We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary in California. We enjoyed Newport Beach, LA, Disneyland and visited friends too!

{August:} Brendan went to California again to visit friends! We decided that it was a waste of money to rent for the next year and that we would be dumb to not take advantage of the $8000 first time home buyer incentive! We called up our real estate agent (Cousin Tami!) and we started looking again! We found our little abode shortly after looking and felt like we couldn't live without the house! We signed the paperwork and were able to close shortly after...

{September:} We closed on our first house, 30 days after we put our offer in! We felt so blessed to be buying our first home at the age of 23! We closed on the 11th and started renovations on the 12th and I went on a business trip to Las Vegas on the 14th!

{October:} Our lives revolved around the new house. At this point our neighborhood Home Depot employees knew us by name!

{November:} I decide to apply back to school. After receiving my acceptance letter, I decided that I would quit my job of 2.5 years and I would focus on my studies come January. We also bought a new car.

{December:} We celebrate our nephew's first birthday! We celebrate our first Christmas in our first home and continue to feel blessed with our house! December 31st will be my last day of work!

Overall, 2009 was another great year!

Here's to a great 2010 too!

Life realizations at Toys R Us

While leaving Toys R Us last night, with Talan's last Birthday gift in hand, Brendan and I had the following conversation:

Me: Wow, that store is so dirty and icky!

Bren: I know! A toy store should not be that dirty and messy!

Bren: Also, I remember the store being a lot bigger!

Me: I know! Oh, how I wish I was a kid again...

Bren: Me too!

Me: Maybe we should stick to Target.

Bren: Good idea!

This and that and a Little Turkey

Another busy weekend is in store for us! Tonight we will be busy installing crown molding in our kitchen, dining room and hallways. I also need to finish organizing my office and start wrapping presents. Tomorrow morning I have an appointment to get my hair foiled and cut before the holidays (I'm starting to look like I came from a trailer park). Then tomorrow evening we will be hosting a little shindig at our house! Then on Sunday Brendan, Bella and I are going to Seattle to finish up our Christmas shopping. I hope we get everything done!

P.S. I forgot to post this cute picture from Thanksgiving!

Spoiled Sweet

Since Brendan and I don't have our own kids to spoil, we've decided that we would spoil our nephew, Talan. Since the little monkey's birthday is December 22 and Christmas is just a few days later, we started stocking up early! I seriously can't stop myself from going into Nordstrom, Gymboree, Baby Gap, Pumpkin Patch and Janie & Jack! Those stores have a strong magnetic force that always seems to grab me! Our latest purchase is a darling pair of True Religion Jeans! They are so cute, I just couldn't resist! I also couldn't resist the mini Ed Hardy shirt and mini black converse shoes! Talan is going to be the stud of the neighborhood! :)

Dearest Visa Bank Card,

You have been dearly missed! I feel so bad that my irresponsible husband lost you and we had to cancel you! We went a full SEVEN days without the ability to swipe! Man oh man, our bank statement will probably be slimmed down from the usual five pages to three or four! I didn't realize how much I counted on you until you weren't there for me during my daily Starbucks run! I'm sorry that I cheated on you with real money, although, it really wasn't that great! I had to run to the bank every few days to grab my cash for life's necessities (target, coffee, lunch, etc).

Don't worry, this little mishap will not happen again (I threatened the husband)!

Sincerely,

Alison

Holy Moly, life has been busy! We have had one million things going on at once! We are still trying to finish up our remodel! Our goal is to be fully living in the house before school starts. Yes, school! I have officially quit my job and will be attending school full-time to finish up my bachelor's degree! I am so thankful for a supportive husband who is behind me with my goal to be a full-time student and part-time domestic goddess. His only request is that I attempt to cook dinner a few nights a week! :)

On the home front things are coming right along. Last week our new fridge was delivered, which now means we have all necessary appliances to cook a meal! We also had our new hot-water tank installed last week! Brendan also installed new shelving in my office. I've been organizing all of my craft supplies, holiday gift wrap and ribbon and just enjoying organizing another aspect of my life! :)

This week we are installing crown molding in our kitchen, hallways, dining room and possibly one of our home offices. I think this will pull everything together and won't require us to pull out the paint brushes to touch-up the horrible trim work that we did months ago! We also still need to decided on our kitchen shelving! We are having a very hard time determining the right storage solution for our bright Fiesta dinnerware!

Still no pictures...