Things I've learned through this...

We just bought a home. The experience overall has been a good one. I have learned a lot and we have been blessed along the way with a good Realtor and with good representation from our mortgage loan person at Wells Fargo. We also have had many blessings when it comes to the payment for that home. We don't think we will live in this place for the rest of our lives. It is a starter home. So at some point we will be doing it again. And I don't shudder at that thought. Unfortunately one thing that was out of our control was the realtor that the sellers chose to use in selling the house. I'm trying to take the advice that you all gave me when I posted this over a year ago. But even with over a years worth of growing and maturing, holding grudges is still something I struggle with constantly. So instead of going on and on about how much I dislike this realtor and how much I really would advise all of you to never use Century 21 just because of this one idiot.... I am not going to. Instead I'm going to offer you all some advice for when you buy a home or are selling a home and so that I will remember it when it is time for us to purchase another home.


#1: Pick a Realtor that you are comfortable with and that you are comfortable complaining to. If something isn't just how you want it to be you don't want to be intimidated by your Realtor and just let it go. Tell them.

#2: Ask any question you can think of. Some important questions you may not think of but that you will want to ask BEFORE you sign the papers for the house include: Where are the rest of the keys to the house? Where is the key to the mailbox? Why is there a giant cat house/tree thing in the garage and when are you getting rid of it?

#3: If you are selling a house CLEAN IT. If you are buying a house and it isn't cleaned as well as you want it to be, don't assume it will be done and don't be worried about asking for it to be done. (If the carpet not being cleaned was the only thing this realtor hadn't taken care of I wouldn't be so upset, it's just getting lumped in with everything else because he's made me that upset.)

#4: Don't assume that just because you consider yourself a good decent person that everyone else is. Some people will do the very minimum amount of work possible and will still be happy to take your money.

#5: Don't ever let someone talk down to you or belittle you. Stick to your guns and don't be apologetic if someone doesn't do what they say they will, insist that other people do their jobs.

#6: Don't think about the fact that 30 years is a really long time and that you have just entered into the most debt you will ever enter (that is until you upgrade to a bigger house when your family size demands it). Instead focus on the fact that you have just purchased a place where you and your best friend can really begin the next phase of your lives together.



p.s. I know that in proper English the word Realtor is capitalized because it is a proper noun. However, my elementary teacher told me you capitalize the nouns because people are important. In my own mind by not capitalizing it every time it has to do with the realtor who sold us our house I am showing that he is not important and I don't need to let his actions continue to make me feel so down. This is how nerds get revenge.

Still Renting...

Amy: "We own our own home!"
Brad: "Actually the bank owns it, so really we're just renting it from the bank."
Amy: "Yeah but the bank will let us paint the walls!"
Brad: "This is the most expensive paint I've ever heard of."

Despite the completely overwhelming feeling of being in serious debt (our first debt of any kind really....) We are the proud new owners of a townhouse. More pictures will come but if you can't wait for them to show up here I already put most of them on facebook.

Killer 'Stache dude

I teach ninth graders during my actual "teacher" hours at the school I work at, but the rest of the day I work with the resource teacher and I work with students from all three grades. It's amazing the difference between the 7th grade and the 9th grade. One thing that they all have in common is the hilarious things that they say and do.

When learning about Stalin I had a student raise his hand and ask "Mrs. Dimick, do all dictators have to have a mustache?"

This question got me thinking about mustaches and it reminded me of a funny story that I forgot to share with everyone.

One day while I was working with a study skills class with both 7th and 9th graders in it and a small (smaller than me even) 7th grade boy came to the desk and asked me if I had any lotion. I gave him a little dab of lotion and he began to rub it on his upper lip. I asked him what was going on and he said "well last night my brother and I tried to dye our mustaches black and now my lip burns."

I can't talk so I will type instead

I may or may not be sick. I don't feel terrible, I just can't breathe. This causes problems when I'm trying to do things such as sleeping, talking, eating, or other day to day tasks. Breathing is something people do quite often it turns out. I take pills to help me breathe but then it makes it so I can't talk. That would be fine because that was only one of those things on the list, but it turns out it's one I do a lot. Especially during parent teacher conferences. When it first started I would wake up coughing. I was worried it would keep Brad up so I would move to the couch. One night I woke up in the middle of the night to find that Brad wasn't to be found. I figured he was still playing computer games so I came to find him and tell him it was way past his bedtime. Instead I found him in a makeshift bed on the couch. You see, he felt bad that I was sleeping on the couch because I might wake him up so he just slept on the couch so that I would sleep better.

So I may or may not be sick, but I definitely have an awesome husband.

Finding what I'm looking for

Last night we went to dinner for my Grandma's birthday. We went to an Asian restaurant and ate way too much. At the end of the meal we all got our fortune cookies. Mine told me that "You will find what you are looking for tomorrow". Well I've been looking for a house. Every day the Realtor's site emails me with new listings for the day. I was really excited to receive that email this morning. Unfortunately there was only one house on the list and it was out of our price range. Now I have to figure out it was that I was looking for if it wasn't a house....

my dreams

Sometimes I have weird dreams. I had one last night that I still remember and it was weird enough that I thought I would post it here and let anyone who wanted to, try to interpret it.

Brad and I are driving down the street and lining the street is some sort of rally. The rally (as far as I remember it) was a Utah State rally where they were announcing that any BYU student who wanted to could just have their diploma say Utah State instead. We slowed down as we drove past and I was pointing out all the people that I knew from both USU and BYU. BYU's mens chorus was even there promoting the rally. (Along with a 75 year old version of a boy I know who once sang in the choir....?) As we drove past someone ran out to our car and offered me a USU water bottle because I am USU alumni.

All I can figure out from the dream is I need a new water bottle. And it's true cause my current water bottle leaks. Any other suggestions?

Too upset to blog

I can't think of happy things to blog because I'm a little bit distraught by all the Late Night tv problems on NBC. You see, I love Conan. It's ok with Brad because Brad loves Conan too. We planned our honeymoon to NYC so that we could see Wicked and a taping of Conan. Then the writers strike had the gall to happen at the same time so we weren't able to see a taping. Then he was moved to Cali so we thought that we would be able to go to a taping down there sometime. Now the word on the street is that he's done. I don't really like Letterman but I am going to become a fan just so that Leno will not only not get my ratings but his opponent will. I can't beleive I wont ever get to see a taping of Conan.

In other news.... Stay tuned for house hunting updates!