Happy Halloween!

We aren't much into dressing up, except when it means you get $2 Burritos from Chipotle. 

P.S. Max has worn this wig every year since we first met (5 years!)
He loves it SOOO much. No exaggeration. 

Lucky for me, doing crafty projects like this is allowed since I nanny the cutest little 2 year old. 

Speee-i-derrrrs!!! (Anyone know that movie?)

$26 desk, and 10+ hours of Getz labor later...we finished Max's desk. Finally! We are just going to replace the hardware with something a little more suited to his tastes. So happy it's done though. And lucky for us, we will actually have a place to put it in (it's kinda huge for our apartment), which leads me to....

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The bank met the appraisal! Didn't really think, or expect them, to come down. So we were pleasantly surprised when we got this email :) So maybe, Heavenly Father's plan was theory 2 of my interpretation of our experience in pursuing this house... (basically all the little flaws leading up to the lower appraisal was enough to bring the bank back down, ultimately giving us lower monthly payments, who doesn't love that?!)

The deal isn't closed until the papers are signed and the keys in our hands! But I'm excited to get workin' on it. I'll be sure to take lots of before/after photos as we go :) Mm, projects... 

Let's get to the nitty gritty.

The appraisal on the house came in today. And it came in under the bank's asking price.

I've told Max that it almost feels like Heavenly Father is letting me down slowly on the bad news.

One thing after another, it feels more and more like this house thing isn't on our side. And because Heavenly Father knows how much I want it, he is slowly warming me up to accept an outcome I didn't want.

At least, that's my theory for now.

So, we're just a couple of sitting ducks. Waiting to hear the banks response to this Appraisal. We kind of feel like the bank won't budge because that seems to have been their pattern since not offering any assistance to fix the Termites... Yah, thanks a lot for that one Bank of America.

But, I feel more prepared to walk away and know that we gave everything we could give and did all that we could to get this house. If it isn't enough, that's ok. We'll get our deposit back and be "rich" again until we do find the house. In the meantime, we will be able to save more money for a bigger down payment on a house that we may love even MORE than this one.

You see? Heavenly Father is helping me see the good in what may seem like a disappointing experience. Hidden blessings...

And maybe...

Just maybe...

All the bad leading up to the lower appraisal price on the home will be enough for the bank to reconsider their purchase price, and they will bring it down to match the appraisal value. Which means less money from us, and a lower monthly rate. An even bigger blessing in the making? 

Hey, a girl can dream right?

"Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck"
-Dalai Lama

a first

Tonight I photographed a wedding. 

My first ever (being on the sidelines doesn't count!). 

I stressed and stressed. And studied photographs. And prayed. And studied more.

Let's not forget the constant worry I conveyed to my sweet husband who continued to give me words of encouragement. 

Man, I love him.

I rented my first lens just for this occasion. I was worried I hadn't used it enough to know how to get sharper images. 

So... I prayed more (this happens A LOT, especially in my car).

The couple was beautiful. Full of love, and kindness, and a little spunk! They made my job easier :)

I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to gain more experience as a creative photographer. It reminds me of how much I have yet to learn. I almost felt a little incompetent due to my lack of equipment for sundown, but... can't expect much from someone who is just dipping her toes in the field! (Or so I tell myself...)

I was pleased when I came home and found that I did get some great shots of the evening. I want so badly to please the families! You can't just re-do a wedding! :)

i'm so bad

I re-formatted my blog. You like? Halloween-y, but not so in-your-face obvious (on second thought, maybe I should...) 

This is what I do instead of studying. 

GRRR. 

One Word

Termites

TO BE CONTINUED...

Tomorrow can't come sooner

INSPECTIONS tomorrow afternoon. EEK. 

This will really determine if we've got the house in the bag or... 

if we'll be renters the rest. of. our. lives. 

Love a little drama, right? ;)

oh. side note. half way through the semester! 

BOO-YA GRANDMA!

Not so bad, not so bad. Only 6 more exams left, sprinkled with a million quizzes and homework assignments. No biggie. 

I really do love school.

Really.

some sort of school-itis.

I graduated BYU in 2010. Bitter sweet. I thought, "I HAVE A DEGREE! Can you say grown-up?!"

Well, turns out a degree in Psychology wouldn't mean very much to me AT ALL, except for the fact that it came from BYU. Oh how I miss that campus...

So I spent about a year, working jobs that started out great and kept me busy, while diving into my ever amounting pile of projects, but a void began to develop. I wanted more. I wasn't feeling as fulfilled as I thought I'd be at this point in my life. I had a degree that didn't give me a career. What will I do when my children outgrow their home and move on to their adult lives? What? Am I just going to stay home all day long while my husband continues to work? I got pretty down about it and had a pity-me party until we decided I should go back to school and pursue what I had always wanted to pursue... Nursing.

So here, I am. At school. Homework, and quizzes, and reading assignments, and exams oh my! How invigorating it felt to have homework again. Seriously.

But today I caught myself thinking, while driving my dad to pick up a tire, how nice life would be if I didn't have to worry about homework. If I wasn't in school and that stress was eliminated from my life. I even think how getting pregnant would take the stress off of having to perform well at school because... well... I'd be a mom and that would be my duty for the next 18+ years of my life (a wonderful role at that!) And then I remembered, I will make myself miserable in a matter of months if I didn't have school and if I wasn't working towards something that meant something to me. And I can't use having a baby as an excuse to not finish my goals. Max always says,

"it wouldn't be worth it if it were easy."

or

"any job worth having is going to take a lot of work"

True, babe.

Here's to keeping my goal in sight and realizing this IS what I really want. Even if in the end all I can do is qualify myself to apply to Nursing schools (since we all know getting into a program these days can take up to years and years and who knows where I will be at that point in my life.) It's just a small time frame in the grand scheme of things. I can make it! If not... fake it 'til I make it, right? :)

Beautiful weekend

I love these pleasant days... the seasonally transitional days. You know, saying goodbye to Summer while saying hello to Fall days. The warm sun rays streaming through the sky to warm your insides, and at the same time feeling a cool breeze brush across your face is the best.

I also love Conference weekends. I anticipate it and I love sitting down and hearing the warmth of the Lord's servants' voices echo throughout my tiny apartment. Throw a little Mo Tab in there and I'm completely content.

I also love making special breakfasts for Conference weekend. I'm pretty sure every Mormon household does something special for their families, whether it's Saturday or Sunday mornings. This weekend, we had waffles topped with fresh fruit... and my own personal touch of powdered sugar. Yum.

I'm so bad about uploading pictures... so this is my only one! But it sure is pretty isn't it ;)

I also love spending the time with my husband. In every way you can show that... love... ;) Hey, we're young! But in all seriousness, I love having him around. Our weekdays get so consumed in our individual tasks, that it's nice to catch a break on the weekends.

So, as you can see, there was a lot of loving this weekend. P.S. wasn't the Mormon Tab amazing when they sang that last song, God Be With You Till We Meet Again? I was dozing off on our bed towards the end of Conference, but I distinctly remember hearing the choir begin. If a soul can smile, mine definitely was. A warmth and comfort came over me. A great love for my faith and for the opportunity I have to listen to living Prophets speak swelled up in me as my ears listened to that sweet melody. At the same time, I felt sad that this wonderful Conference was coming to an end.

I am a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it.

Heaven is Here

Buy it. Borrow it. Just read it. I laughed, cried, sorrowed, rejoiced, and felt inspired by this one woman's words. I love Nie!

An end is in sight!

The bank called.

Well... technically, our realtor called.

She let us know that the bank wants to close on November 28th! Woohoo! They finally got back to us and this couldn't be more perfect timing. We were going to renew our contract at the apartment complex for another month-- aka our "security" month to help us determine whether or not this was going to happen. And I realllllllly didn't want it to go for longer than that...

November 28th. Perfect.

If the inspections go well, we could be welcoming the Christmas season in our first. home. ever. (eek!)

Let's not get ahead of ourselves now...