.... Oh my!
I can't believe it has almost been a year since I bought my first house! Well, I'll be clear, it's not like I threw down a couple G's and bought the house outright, I put down my down payment and signed the papers on November 28, 2012. Let me tell you, sitting in a room with my real estate lawyer and real estate agents was a big "grown up" moment for me. I didn't even ask my parents to come along!
Like I mentioned in my update post, I probably dragged my parents to about 25 properties over the span of a month. I pretty much required their presence at every house. I needed to have both of their opinions, no matter what!
I actually felt in love with a different house. I was head over heals for the open layout and fire place and location. After a day of thinking about it, I contacted my agent to get the process started of making an offer. Just as I went to gaze at the pictures one last time, I noticed that there was already an offer on the table. I would be lying if I say I didn't cry about losing that house. I actually sent my agent an email with a bunch of sad faces. Real grown up, Amy!
Luckily, he understood my disappointment and urged me to keep looking. There were plenty of properties in the area with my requirements. Which by the way, was a garage... and a garage. I didn't really have many more amenities that I NEEDED to have. Outside of the price, I was pretty darn flexible.
The next time the four of us trekked out, I ended up stumbling across a house that was similar to the one that I lost. And the situation was very unique. The house was in a short sale and the seller had an offer for the house, but a few days prior, they found out the buyer was planning on renting the unit instead of living in it. Unforutnately for him, the Association doesn't allow renters so the buyer dropped his offer. The seller was days away from being foreclosed and the previous buyer's offer would be valid with the bank for another 30 days.
From there, time was on fast forward. I found a broker who helped me find a mortgage company, my credit was checked, and an offer was placed. Then a home inspector, a radon test, and furniture was purchased. The entire process went very smoothly, there were no problems and in literally 30 days I had my first house!!!
Well, to be clear, I'm not in a stand alone house, I live in a quad, classified as a townhome. But it's perfect for me and Leia. It's 2 levels with 2 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. And it has a fireplace, which turns out to be my absolute favorite part of the house. It also has a fenced in porch and balcony... perfect for enjoying the weather when you don't have your own lawn! There's laundry in my house and an attached single garage. Perfect little bachelorette pad!
Even thought it's almost been year, I just hung curtains with the help of my parents, just a few weeks ago. Did you know how expensive those things are?? I am still missing a lot of things I'd like to have in the house, but every day Leia and I keep making it more and more a home.
It's currently dark and close to bed time, so I think a future post will have some before and after pictures. Oh, and brace yourselves for the holidays... the place will be DRIPPING in Christmas. I am so excited! :D
November 17, 2013
November 3, 2013
Puppy Love
Besides moving out and buying my first house, one of my biggest desires was to adopt a puppy. Well, this desire has been strong since I was about 10 years old. I remember Doug and I begging our parents for a dog throughout our entire childhood. Both my parents answered with a resounding "no." I think some of it had to do with how terrible Doug and I took care of our hamsters.....
But anyway. To settle us down, my dad promised that as soon as we owned or lived in our own place, he would buy us our first dog. So you can imagine my excitement when I closed on my house. I could barely contain myself as I prepared the house for moving in.
I think it was about 4 weeks after living in my house when I decided I couldn't wait any longer and dragged my family to 3 adoption shows one Saturday. I remember it was really cold and snowy but I was determined to start my search for a furry friend. It was actually at the first show we stopped at where I met my purrrrfect little puppy! Her foster name was Maroma and I couldn't stop thinking about her all day! I was so excited and her foster mom was super nice. She gave me her number and helped with the entire process.
After filling out an application, doing a home check, and buying all the supplies, Leia came to live with me. I was SO EXCITED! Except... it was definitely not a joyous first month. In fact, a few times I thought maybe I couldn't handle being a dog owner! Leia was about 8 months old and VERY rambunctious. I didn't have any experience with young dogs and had no clue what to do. She was very mouthy and wanted to play with her teeth. She also had this little game where she would lunge at my feet and bark. Non stop barking. I spent a few nights crying because I felt like such a failure. Thankfully, my friend Gina asked one of her friends for some suggestions on raising a young pitbull.
They worked! I needed to establish who the boss was and I really never thought of that. She was rescued from an abandoned building downtown and brought to a kill shelter in Chicago. Then from there, she was brought to a foster where she stayed for a few months. And then was moved to my house. I didn't really think about all she had been through in her first 8 months of life. After we established that I was indeed the boss of the house, things started to go wonderfully! The barking stopped, too!! :)
Outside of all the accidents in the house for the first few months (and all the paper towels I went through), she has been a wonderfully little lady. We went to 2 training courses through Petsmart and she can sit, down, short stay, heel, come, return, off (still need some work on that one), and shake. We have a lot of work to do.... we need to work on a long stay, a better off, and a better drop it. She is a horrible puller on walks and that has been a struggle. But I am using walking aids to help with that.
My parents were surprised and my choice of a mid sized pitbull. They both assumed that I was going to go for a small cuddly dog. But I told everyone during the entire process that I was just looking for the perfect fit. Anyway, it didn't take long for Leia to fall in love with my mom. SERIOUS love with my mom. When she sees her, she is ridiculously excited. Most of the time she cant contain it, it's really cute. My dad, on the other hand... she has always played very rough with him. Well, it turns out it wasn't just my dad, she plays rough with all men. Not sure what that's about... but she has gotten much better and now they even sit nicely together!!!
One thing I do is take a TON of pictures of her. I'm pretty sure that's all my instagram is... haha. Here are a few of my favorites from my phone.
Leia's picture on the adoption agency's website Leia's first night with me chewing a bone
Her goofy smile is basically my favoritest thing Her first experience in snow!
Her silly personality slowly started to snow I mean, come on. This cracks me up
In winter we went to a tennis court to play She loves squeaky toys more than anything
This is how she sits when I eat dinner ha So comfy in my bed
Aww lookit that smile! Playing outside is our favorite thing to do!
My little pumpkin Cuddling up on Halloween
She is basically the best roommate.... except she never makes dinner, cleans up, or scoops up her poops. I can easily overlook all that just so have her happy smile around all the time! I need to start planning our anniversary! :)
But anyway. To settle us down, my dad promised that as soon as we owned or lived in our own place, he would buy us our first dog. So you can imagine my excitement when I closed on my house. I could barely contain myself as I prepared the house for moving in.
I think it was about 4 weeks after living in my house when I decided I couldn't wait any longer and dragged my family to 3 adoption shows one Saturday. I remember it was really cold and snowy but I was determined to start my search for a furry friend. It was actually at the first show we stopped at where I met my purrrrfect little puppy! Her foster name was Maroma and I couldn't stop thinking about her all day! I was so excited and her foster mom was super nice. She gave me her number and helped with the entire process.
After filling out an application, doing a home check, and buying all the supplies, Leia came to live with me. I was SO EXCITED! Except... it was definitely not a joyous first month. In fact, a few times I thought maybe I couldn't handle being a dog owner! Leia was about 8 months old and VERY rambunctious. I didn't have any experience with young dogs and had no clue what to do. She was very mouthy and wanted to play with her teeth. She also had this little game where she would lunge at my feet and bark. Non stop barking. I spent a few nights crying because I felt like such a failure. Thankfully, my friend Gina asked one of her friends for some suggestions on raising a young pitbull.
They worked! I needed to establish who the boss was and I really never thought of that. She was rescued from an abandoned building downtown and brought to a kill shelter in Chicago. Then from there, she was brought to a foster where she stayed for a few months. And then was moved to my house. I didn't really think about all she had been through in her first 8 months of life. After we established that I was indeed the boss of the house, things started to go wonderfully! The barking stopped, too!! :)
Outside of all the accidents in the house for the first few months (and all the paper towels I went through), she has been a wonderfully little lady. We went to 2 training courses through Petsmart and she can sit, down, short stay, heel, come, return, off (still need some work on that one), and shake. We have a lot of work to do.... we need to work on a long stay, a better off, and a better drop it. She is a horrible puller on walks and that has been a struggle. But I am using walking aids to help with that.
My parents were surprised and my choice of a mid sized pitbull. They both assumed that I was going to go for a small cuddly dog. But I told everyone during the entire process that I was just looking for the perfect fit. Anyway, it didn't take long for Leia to fall in love with my mom. SERIOUS love with my mom. When she sees her, she is ridiculously excited. Most of the time she cant contain it, it's really cute. My dad, on the other hand... she has always played very rough with him. Well, it turns out it wasn't just my dad, she plays rough with all men. Not sure what that's about... but she has gotten much better and now they even sit nicely together!!!
This is a pretty rare moment, where the two of them sit nicely together! :P
One thing I do is take a TON of pictures of her. I'm pretty sure that's all my instagram is... haha. Here are a few of my favorites from my phone.
Haha I love her face so much She really does sleep like this!
Another squeaky toy!!! "Hy mom, this couch is so comfy"
She loves a good car ride! And hanging out at my parent's house
She is basically the best roommate.... except she never makes dinner, cleans up, or scoops up her poops. I can easily overlook all that just so have her happy smile around all the time! I need to start planning our anniversary! :)
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