Tuesday, July 21, 2009

the real estate game


It's been a little quiet around the blog, and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. We will find out today or tomorrow if our offer we put in on a house has been accepted. I suppose it should be nerve wracking, but it hasn't been.

It's a little crazy and shocking how it all transpired that we would be putting an offer on a house. About 3 weeks ago, my hubby and I had actually decided to not purchase a house anytime soon and were about to pull ours off the market. We were feeling conflicted about buying a house to fit our future needs that would really stretch us financially for a few years. We weren't impressed with any school or district we had scoped out. Between Moo's allergy issues and so much time and energy being devoted to teaching to tests, we had decided to home school for at least a few years. We still wanted a safe neighborhood even if the schools themselves were no longer a consideration. They kinda don't exist here, so we were just going to stay put and enjoy our little house for another year or two and continue to save for a bigger house in a better area. We decided we were not seeking God and allowing him to provide for our family. So we just let it go....

And a week ago, I got an email from a local realty group for a 4 bedroom, 2 bath , 2500 sq ft house listed for LESS than our current 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 1350 sq. ft house. We had actually looked at the house a couple months ago when it was 50K more.

So we put an offer on it.

Now we wait.

***offer accepted, now getting estimates from roofers and setting up a structural inspector.

nebraska loves casseroles corn casserole


My husband comes from a very cool family. A cool family from Nebraska that happens to be able to make virtually anything into a casserole. From appetizers to dessert, it all goes in a 9 x 13 pan. :) There is one casserole that stands above the rest and this past Easter I though there was going to be a throw down between my niece and sister in law because they LOVE this dish so much. In fact, dear Aunt Bev made a quadruple batch and it was gone in an hour. Aunt Bev also gets props for being a loyal blog reader and just a really neat lady :) Hi Aunt Bev! She got this recipe from an old Lutheran cookbook from a small town in Nebraska.

super duper totally amazing corn casserole

1 16oz can cream corn
1 16oz can whole kernel corn
1 cup dry elbow spaghetti or salad macaroni (I used 7 oz mexican wagon wheels pasta and that worked just fine too)
1 cup diced velveeta cheese
1/4 cup butter
2 T chopped diced onion

Melt butter over low heat. Stir together with remaining ingredients. Drain the corn, leaving a little bit of the liquid in the can. Bake @ 370 for 1 hour. For the first 30 minutes covered with foil, second half with dish uncovered.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

hot hot HOT


Proof that it's hot hot HOT. My car was even in the SHADE. Also proof that my car is getting OLD! 161,360 miles!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

14 months


My baby girl is less a baby everyday and more a teenager. I think she is going to skip toddlerhood, preschool, and grade school and move straight to the drama of being a teenager. Hubs is very, very scared of what lies ahead raising Ella Bella. This past month or so has brought tantrums, defiance, biting, yelling, screaming, and flirting with boys.

Milestones this month:
-She stands all by herself! She learned to stand by just standing up in the middle of an empty room and doing it. She also likes to clap for herself when she performs this amazing act.
-she has taken one step, just one, several times. She could do more but nah...
-Ella Bella discovered watermelon and she can go to town eating it. It's crazy! Hubs was pretty sure she had some horrible ulcer or something because her diapers were bright red after she went on a binge watermelon eating streak.
-Drama, drama, drama. The girl can throw a fit! She has flipped over her high chair in a fit of rage and goes straight to biting if something displeases her. She has also been know to speed crawl across a room and give a good chomp on an unsuspecting Moo.
- She speaks! dress, yes, ashes-ashes, hi, mom, mama, dada, me (see, teenager), more, bear-bear, and brand new today... night-night.
-she loves to accessorize. Anything she finds on the floor is game for trying on. Everything must be put on her head or around her neck. Underwear, blankets, fabric, ribbon, pants, whatever...
-she has a daredevil streak, she climbs or attempts to climb everything and thinks nothing of flinging herself backwards at any given moment.
-she loves drinking water out of hoses, the bath tub spout, and any other way that splashes obscene amounts of water on her face.
-she loves playing with her baby dolls, giving them bottles, pushing them in the stroller, comforting them by patting them on the back. It's pretty darn cute!
-she adores Moo, she follows him around and loves to play with him on his bed.
-she gives kisses, moth closed and complete with a smooch sound.

trash the dress: california dreaming Keary

Lain brought along 2 friends to our trash the dress shoot, Betsy Lackey and Keary Dee Warner. Hubs and I instantly felt OLD. All 3 of these very young ladies have talent beyond their years. Keary had flown in to do a wedding here and had some extra time, which is why we pretty spontaneously decided to do the trash the dress shoot.

Keary is a sweet california girl with a heart for the country with all it's wildflowers and open space. Needless to say, I think she really like shooting here... we have wide open space and then some! She just moved and is based out of San Jose, California now. Her images have an almost dream like feeling to them. She also does some really cool things to honor the memory of her sister, check out her work and her story out on her blog and website!




Tuesday, July 7, 2009

trash the dress: the amazing Lain!

Last fall, one of my friends had her family photos posted on facebook, I liked them so I added the photographer as a friend. We occasionally wrote on each others walls or photos, but that was it. In May, I just happened to be facebookin' when she posted wanting to swap sessions with a local photographer, Lain Eubank. I sent her an email along the lines of "I am not even close to worthy, but I will take your photos if you want. And I also have this COOL idea for a photographer practice shoot for this cool group she was putting together." Anywho, to make a simple story really simple, we ended up swapping sessions. I was going to take her pictures for her blog and website and she would take family photos for me. I was so excited!

So a couple days later, when she emailed me and said, "Hey... about that idea for a shoot you had, how about next week when my photographer friend for California is here? And I'll still do your family photos."

UMM, SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

So, we trashed my wedding dress. And we trashed my husbands suit too! It was so fun! I highly recommend it for anyone who was way to tense on their actual wedding day to get any decent photos. We were game for anything and the 3 photographers had us running, laying in streams, in fields of stickers, jumping, twirling, and for the grand finale.... getting hosed down by a bunch of firefighters.

Before I show some of the rad images she took of the dress trashin', I want to brag on Lain. Not only is she a cool photographer, she is just a cool girl. She has been so patient with my lack of knowledge, offered to let me borrow gear (I was terrified to touch it), willingly shared advice, and has some cool stories to boot. Hubs and I had an absolute BLAST doing photos, it was so calm and just relaxing!

Her website went LIVE just TODAY, so go and check it out: http://www.laineubank.net/




trash the dress: the lovely betsy!

Lain also brought along Betsy Lackey, whom she had just met days prior to our shoot. Upon meeting Betsy I instantly knew why Lain had asked her to come along.... because Betsy is just that much fun. Instantly likeable and her eyes are brimming with excitement and joy. And, to top it off, she has some really fun ideas and got some wonderful images!

Check out her blog . I especially like her shoot of a senior who is also a diver. Very, very fun.