C-H-A-N-G-E

Change has always been something I have avoided. Most of the time I like things the way they are, or even if I don’t like things the way they are my fear of change would take over and cripple me to move forward. My fear kept me at a job I disliked and hated more and more everyday. It kept me from going to school to get my degree. It kept me from taking the leap to sell the house. It kept me from 100% agreeing to move to NC… you get the idea! This was nothing new to me. I have always been afraid of change, but as an adult I found it to be more and more crippling and it started to effect the way I felt about myself and life in general.

But the thing is that, every time I take a chance and take the leap I am always shocked at the end results and the AWESOME feelings that come with it. Like letting my old boss know that I was leaving… as scared as I was, man it felt so good. Of course I had to deal with the freak out moments of not having a job and the fact that after being somewhere for 7 years I was now in the looking for a job field and interviews scare the crap out of me (we will talk about my social issues at another time). But in the end I DID IT! I am now at a job like a like and could possibly see a future within the company if I wanted to.

Now let’s talk about selling the house and moving to NC. That was about 4+ years in the making. I had many many deep issues related to selling the house and moving somewhere where I felt I would be very vulnerable because I did not know anyone. But after a lot work with therapy and support from SRR I was ready to take the jump and move. Once I felt comfortable in my own skin and I felt strong as a person the whole process came very easy. I mean leaving my friends and what I have known as life for 10+ years was very hard, but I was now looking forward to our new life and was truly excited (without the fear taking over) for the first time since the NC conversation first came up. I know that my SRR will always be there for me and he knows that I will always be there for him no matter what. And as scary and lonely the process could have been, we had each other (and of course Ollie & Sugar). Once we were ready things just fell in the place like it was all meant to be… and one thing after another, things worked them self’s out and September 2008 we hit the road. And to this day I am so happy that we made the change in our lives and moved. I love being closer to extended family and everything else about NC (the cost of living kind of sucks), but everything else makes up for it.

I am a much different person then I was just 2 years ago and it’s OK. Change is not always going to come easy and I know that, but the more I trust my self the easier each step will be.

Now for another huge change in my life – I need to submit my application for Nursing School.  

Taking a look back at 2008

Even though I would have liked to have completed more goals this year – I am going to cut my self some slack. 2008 has been a crazy busy year with plenty of ups and downs. But overall it was a decent year. Here is what I have managed to knock off my list in the year of 2-0-0-8

Goal# 3 – Buy a Coach Purse

Goal# 26 – Finish Sugar’s Bed

Goal# 30 – Get back on the dirt bike

Goal# 39 – Start and keep up with an Address Book

Goal# 40 – Learn to knit

Goal# 44 – Get in touch with an old friend

Goal# 46 – Finish the garden area in our backyard

Goal# 53 – Keep a potted plant alive

Goal# 58 – Get a promotion/new job

Goal# 63 – Get to work on-time for a week

Goal# 65 – Tell the ladies in my group, how much I appreciate them

Goal# 66 – Visit the Blue Bell Factory

Goal# 81 – Put new recipes in my recipe book

Goal# 83 – Try 5 new restaurants (5/5)

Goal# 87 – Take a Wilton Cake decorating class

Goal# 91 – Carve a pumpkin for the first time

Goal# 92- Make a new Friend

Goal# 93 – Go kayaking/canoeing

Goal# 95 – No TV for a week

Goal# 100 – Wear PJ’s to work

Goal # 101 – Get the house painted

I Love Fall

Here are a few pictures I took from around our apartment complex. Enjoy!

The story of the six chairs…

The journey started about 7 years ago.

See we bought this house and had an actual dining room sort of thing going on in it and we decided that we should probably go and get a table and chairs. Well we had really liked this AWESOME table from World Market and of course the chairs that go with it, only one problem the whole thing would have costs us a fortune to purchase at one time. So we decide no biggie! We will take our AWESOME table home and just purchase a chair or two from lets say every paycheck. Well apparently that idea flew out the window and we never purchased the chairs that went with the table. Fast forward about 2 years and we are having family over for Christmas at our house and we have no where to sit (for those who are wondering, I did pitch the idea of standing and eating but it did not fly). 

Any who, so we decide OK OK we will go and get the chairs and just get it over with… well surprise surprise, they no longer carry the chairs that go with our table.  So we decide, well we are not going to just settle with any chair, but we needed something to sit on. So we purchased 6 folding chairs that looked something like the ones you see on the right and figure we will survive the holidays and once in for all get the chairs for the table. Well we love to procrastinate and never got around to it (hey we now had somewhere to sit, so who needs to rush right?). Fast Forward some more and about 7 years later we are now in our new apartment in Cary, NC and once again we have our lovely family coming over for Thanksgiving (oh and we sold the chairs before moving) so here we are again, square 1 and no chairs. *Banging head on the wall*

We ran into World Market when we were in Virginia for Halloween to check out their chairs and to see if we could find anything that resembled our table and to our very happy surprise we did (Lugano Dining Chair ) and we came back with a mission – must buy chairs before Thanksgiving, must buy chairs before Thanksgiving. Of course we were thinking… hmmm we could wait till the weekend before and just get them then (do not ask why we both do this – we just do)…But to my AWESOME surprise, someone on the Nest posted about a coupon and I went on my trusty google to find it. And there it was, in all its glory 25% off your entire purchase, but the kicker was that the coupon expired today. So I call Rob and tell him about my awesome discovery and suggest that we go and save our selves $150 (as an extra bonus, they were already on sale at $30 off). So, we walked away with six beautiful chairs and $300 plus in savings. 

They are still being assembled, but once they are all up and running I will make sure to update this post with our full dining set (he he). I think my butt is going to SUPER happy to have something comfortable to sit on during Thanksgiving dinner.

And this concludes the story of the 6 chairs!!!

PS: I am completely surprised that I did not add this as one of my 101 goals. It for sure should have made the list.

It’s Done…

and the papers are signed. We are no longer Home Owners (aka 125K in debt). We met with the Title Company this morning to sign all papers and conclude the closing process. We turned in our keys and a HUGE check and walked out no longer home owners. I find it bitter sweet, but I did not cry (I know I know I was surprised as well), but that does not mean that the tears may not come later. Even though we disliked a lot about the house since the moment we moved in, it was still our Home.

I will miss you 1215 Garden Path.. be good to your new owners…

Love
Your Happy to be out past owners!

It’s Done…

and the papers are signed. We are no longer Home Owners (aka 125K in debt). We met with the Title Company this morning to sign all papers and conclude the closing process. We turned in our keys and a HUGE check and walked out no longer home owners. I find it bitter sweet, but I did not cry (I know I know I was surprised as well), but that does not mean that the tears may not come later. Even though we disliked a lot about the house since the moment we moved in, it was still our Home.

I will miss you 1215 Garden Path.. be good to your new owners…

Love
Your Happy to be out past owners!

Are we done yet?

We have moved in to our temporary home as of yesterday, but still have some little moving to do from the house and lots of cleaning to complete. The final walk through of the house is on Monday and the closing should be taking place on Tuesday.

How am I doing in the middle of all this… well not as good as I would like to be doing. I feel physically and emotionally exhausted. I feel like I just want to put my head down on a pillow and sleep for 2 days, no dreams and no interruptions.

SOLD…

Look what I came home to today!

We still have a few more steps to complete before we officially close on July 22nd, but it was still very exciting to see the sign.

Moving up…and about…

We have been lucky enough to have received two offers since we posted the house on the market (06/11). The offer offer was OK, but I just really didn’t want to do business with the potential buyer. I mean I know that everyone tries to one up you when you are selling, but I felt like this guy was going above and beyond the norm. 

1215 Garden Path

is now available for your purchase (buy me). Yup that is right, yesterday was the day that we listed the house for sale on realtor.com and we were lucky enough to have 4 showings already today. Tomorrow the picture people will be coming by to take all the pictures needed for the websites/brochures and also will be filming for the virtual tour. At this point it is just sit and wait… Wish us luck!!!