Welcome home Crosby family, welcome home.

9 days. We have been in our new home for 9 days and we haven't wasted anytime getting projects started. Its been quite a whirlwind. Exactly a month from our closing date was the first day we had even looked at any homes. I don't think that we planned to find one that day, but we did and our impulsive natures kicked in. 30 days later, we were closing on our very first home. The process went smoothly and I had great experience working with our lending agent and realtor.

We moved in Saturday, March 23rd with the help of Brian's family and we were basically unpacked by Sunday. The house is 3.4 miles from my work, so my commute is a breaze. For Brian, on the other hand, it added 25-30 minutes to his already long commute into Glendale. The area we live in is still a bit rural with a small attempt at being a town. The convenience we were so used to when living at our apartment having everything we ever needed within 2 miles, is gone gone gone. The closest Target/Walmart is a good 15 minutes away and the closest mall is closer to 25 minutes. Sacrifices. :) But we are beyond happy. I'm glad to be in a new area where we have an opportunity to plant our roots and really grow with the new community. Its close enough to family and familiarity that I'm not too panicked, but its been fun driving around to get the lay of the land.

As I mentioned before, we didn't waste anytime getting started on home projects. We have made numerous trips to Home Depot, which is also not conveniently located. But who new I could love HD so much?

So here is a list of all of the projects we have started, some of which are still pending completion.

-Ceiling fans. We have great looking ones in all of the rooms, however they are brown and that aint our style. So we purchased some Rustoleum spray paint in black and satin nickel to refinish them. Not a high priority project, so we haven't even taken the ceiling fans down yet.

-A/C check up. One bonus of being married to Brian is that we get free a/c inspections. He couldn't wait to get in the attic and inspect our unit and he took his time removing the blower motor and cleaning it until it was spotless. But he wasn't so enthusiastic after he tried to put it back in and couldn't. I came home to find my husband in the attic yelling and banging things out of frustration. Luckily we haven't needed to turn the a/c on yet, because it was unplugged for 4+ days.

-Dryer tube thingy. We bought brand new sheets for our brand new King bed and I wanted to wash them up for our first night in the house. We were lucky enough to have appliances that came with the home, although the washer and dryer are probably 10-15 years old. I put the sheets in the dryer, shut the laundry room door and went about my business. About ten minutes later, I walked back in to the laundry room, only to be hit with a wall of hot, moist air. Turns out the tube, exhaust thingy on the back of the dryer wasn't connected to the wall. That was another fun filled day of me holding a flash light, while listening to Brian yell and throw things because "This laundry room is such a poor design! Do they think midgets are the only people that plan to replace this tube?! I can't fit possibly fit behind the dryer and repair this without being a Cirq Du Solei acrobat! %#*@)%!" After making another trip to HD, the dryer tubey thingy was replaced.

-Paint walls. When we bought the house, one of the first things we talked about doing was repainting the walls. The walls are currently beige and some are brown, which again, aint our style. So this task went to the top of the to-do list. Mostly because its the least expensive home improvement project we have planned and because it will immediatly transform the look of our home. So this past Saturday, we headed over to HD, yet again to get the paint and supplies. We had already agreed on a light gray color from Behr called 'silver gray'. I decided to start in the kitchen. I figured it has less wall space than the living room, so it won't be as time consuming. Boy was I wrong. I took me 5 1/2 hours to paint the kitchen. I decided not to tape of the edges because 1. I couldn't get the stupid blue tape to stick to anything and 2. I'm the most impatient person known to man and I just wanted to get going. I quickly realized, although time consuming, painting the edges or 'cutting in' as the professionals call it, really wasn't too hard. Once I had finished the first coat and was covered in paint, Brian looks at the kitchen and brought to my attention the one thing I had been trying to ignore. The paint looked blue. BLUE! I wanted to cry. I don't know if ts because the warmer colors in the rest of the room were playing tricks on our eyes, but the gray looked light blue. Just to be sure, Brian convinced me to paint one of our living room walls. It still looks blue.

So yesterday, I headed back to HD to grab all the gray, beige and greige paint chips I could find so we could decide which color we were going to use that didn't look blue. I'm picking the paint up today. Wish me luck that the color turns out, otherwise I may just take a sledgehammer to the walls.

-Dog door. We are trying to train Griffyn to pee outside instead of on her puppy pads. So far its going pretty well, but we wanted to get a dog door installed asap, so she can go in and out whenever she wants. Lets just say that I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick than relive that experience. More than once, Brian (bless is heart) cut the hole in the wrong spot. At first it was too low and the base board was in the way, so he adjusted it up a little bit, only to find out that there was an outlet receptical on the outside wall that was in the way. For 24 hours, we had this huge mess of a hole in our wall. The hole was too big for the dog door, so we had to patch it up a little bit with dry wall, which required another freaking trip to HD. We discovered that, surprisingly, we aren't dry wall repair experts. The amount of yelling and cursing the stupid dog door was beyond me. At least Griffyn knew what it was supposed to be. Before the door was installed, she would go in and out of the hole, getting pink insulation and dry wall dust all over her fur. Griffyn is skinny little 10 lber, so we got the smallest dog door. Well lets just say that we better keep her on a strick diet or she won't be able to fit through. Ugh.

After many stressful hours, I'm happy to report the dog door is installed. Griffyn loves going in and out every 5 seconds and I can't wait to patch up the stucco outside. Joy.

Its only been 9 days and even though I want to pull my hair out sometimes, I'm having the time of my life!

Home Sweet Home

It’s been quite a while since my last post, but life has been running at the same rate as Speedy Gonzales. It has been crazy to say the least. I wish I had the patience to sit and write every mundane detail of my life, but let’s be real, I’d be bored to tears and so would you. So I’m skipping ahead to the exciting stuff. Less than a month ago, we went snowboarding with our besties up at Sunrise and had a blast. Renee hurt her knee the first day, but she was a trooper and even tried skiing again the second day. We went to a restaurant called Charlie Clarks for a steak dinner, which led me to write my first review on yelp.com, as we had the worst service known to man! Our motto and favorite thing to yell randomly for the rest of the trip was “F-YOU, Charlie Clarks!” We’re classy folks, no need to remind us.

Despite our exhaustion after skiing/snowboarding all day Saturday and Sunday and me being forced to go down a ridiculously steep green run, only to cry my eyes out once I got to the bottom (I can thank my loving husband for that), we were planning to look at 10 houses with our realtor on Monday. We hadn’t looked at any other houses at that point and really just wanted to get an idea of what was available. I don’t know if we should attribute it to our impulsive behavior, but we found the house of our dreams and put an offer on it that night. I justified the fast response by repeating to Brian and anyone who would listen over and over, that we looked at the best options in our price range that fit all of our criteria and we found our favorite. It’s not like looking for a wedding dress, where you can look forever because there are a million options out there. Our options were more limited based on our expectations and cost. Maybe I was just trying to convince myself, but I digress.

Luckily, we have the greatest realtor ever. His name is Jim Carlisto and works for Remax. He sold my parents home last year and has worked with quite a few of our close family friends. I also know his son, James because we used to cheer together back in the day. James is the one who actually showed us the homes and he has been really helpful with the whole process. We have been totally clueless since this is our first time purchasing a home, but it’s been a relatively easy process. I’ve determined that when I act like a helpless damsel in distress, people take pity on me and start talking to me like I’m 5. I should probably take offense, but let’s be real, if that’s what it takes to get me on the right page, we gotta do what we gotta do.

We are finally on the home stretch and it’s only been 3 weeks since we started the process. The inspection revealed only a couple minor issues and the appraisal went great. Now it’s just a matter of getting all of the underwriting done (whatever that means) and some other paperwork stuff, then we are scheduled to close March 20th.

Excited isn’t the right word to describe how we’re feeling about getting the heck out of our apartment and finally having a place of our own. We’re absolutely elated! We have packed up the majority of our apartment already and we spent all weekend looking at furniture stores, making a list of all of the improvements we want to do, then prioritizing them and listing the costs. More than once I’ve had to sit down and put my head between my legs because the thought of all we want to do is a bit overwhelming. At that point, Brian pats me on the back and reminds me that we don’t have to do it all at once.

On another note, I made another attempt to be a good, domestic wife by baking my first meat loaf. Let’s just say I touched the gross raw ground beef with my bare hands for no reason. Our oven apparently sucks, at least that’s what I’m blaming it on because I cooked it 30 minutes longer than the recipe called for and the freaking thing was still pink inside. Thanks goodness there is a Wendy’s across the street. If there was an award for most kitchen dinner screw ups, I’d have a whole shelf filled with the trophies. It’s a good thing my husband loves me for more than my ability to make a home cooked meal. It’s my Halo playing skills that sealed the deal. Infinity Slayer!

Ok, so I realize this comes a few days too late, but I wanted to recap 2012 and list my top 10

highlights (in no particular order)!

1. The Hunger Games

I’m basically obsessed with the books and movie. This is one of those rare times where I feel like

the movie did the book justice. I loved the outfits and the characters. My favorite part is when the

countdown for the games has finished and all of the tributes are sprinting in different directions,

picking up supplies and killing each other. It sounds chaotic and gruesome, but I felt a certain

amount of calmness because the whole scene is muted. It feels real, while shielding the viewers.

It’s a great movie and I suggest starting with the books, but at the very least, rent it on Redbox.

PLEASE. It will change your life. 

2. New Job

My dad worked for Salt River Project, a power utility in our area, for a huge chunk of his

professional career, but in October of 2011 he took an amazing job in Rochester, MN with another

utility. This past January, I decided to carry on the Mitchell tradition and started in the customer

service department. It is an amazing company to work for and I’m blessed to have a great job with

good benefits. I feel like a grown up! 

3. Minnesota

      

In August I decided to head out to Rochester, MN to visit my parents for the first time. The

weather was amazing, but my favorite part (other than spending time with my parents) was seeing

the difference in the style of homes. There aren’t cookie cutter homes like I’m used to seeing in

the East Valley. The land is hilly and some people’s backyards are the woods. It’s a different pace

of life and it was neat to experience something so different. My parents picked a really neat 

location to live. 

Then in November, Brian and I took our first plane ride together to visit them for Thanksgiving.

The high at one point was 17 degrees and I kind of wanted to cry, but we had a fun time bundling

up and standing outside of Target for the black Friday sales. Also, the Mall of America is amazing. 

4. Shooting a gun

When visiting my parents in MN, my dad took us to a shooting range and I was able to shoot a

gun for the first time in my life. Don’t ask me what kind it was, because I have no idea. All I know

is that I was a terrible shot when I had to stand and hold the gun. Apparently I don’t quite have

the muscles necessary to hold the gun up, let alone keep it steady. But I still managed to hit the

target, so I think that makes me a pro, right?  

5. Griffyn

In May, we adopted the most adorable Brussels Griffon puppy, whom we named, Griffyn Leigh

Crosby. She is a pistol and can run like Speedy Gonzales, but she is a sweet little cuddle bug and I

love her to pieces. 

6. New place

Since my parents moved to MN, I was forced to grow up and find a place of my own. Brian and I

found a cute little apartment in Chandler and although it is small and feeling smaller by the

minute (boy, I can’t wait to move into a house), it has been a great 1^st place. 

7. Buying a car

I had to make another grown up decision because my junky Volkswagen kept breaking down. So

after a lot of research and dealing with more than one scumbag dealership salesman, I bought a

cute, white Saturn Vue. 

8. Paying bills (I know, I’m a weirdo)

Since my parents kicked me out onto the streets when they moved, not only did I have to find a

place of my own, but I had to start paying bills on my own. Sucky, right? WRONG! The first of

every month is the best day because I get to pay bills. I know it seems crazy and of course I don’t

like to see my bank account decrease, but I get some weird satisfaction when I pay bills. I

genuinely enjoy it. 

9. Six flags honeymoon

One of my favorite things to do on this earth is ride roller coasters! The rush that comes from the

fear of possibly flying off the ride and falling to my death really can’t be duplicated. My husband

doesn’t share the same enthusiasm. We went to Magic Mountain on our honeymoon (it was

romantic, I swear) and I made him go on Lex Luther’s Drop of Doom (I’m not sure that’s the exact

name, but you get the point) which is essentially a ride that takes you ridiculously high, makes

you sit there above the park for what seems like 3 ½ hours, then drops you straight down toward

the ground. I laughed until I cried and I’m pretty sure my husband wet his pants. Ok, I’m kidding,

but he hated every second of it. ;)

10. Wedding

Last but not least, the most incredible and memorable day of my life! I finally married the love of

my life on 10/10/12, which was our 2 year anniversary. The highlight of the day was seeing my

husband cry for the first time when I walked down the aisle toward him. I’ve never experienced a

more special moment. What a blessing to know I’ll get to spend the rest of my life with my best

friend and the man of my dreams!

2012 was good to me and I sure can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for my new little family. :) 

Cheers!