Okay, so Mr. Soup and I were really close to closing on May 3rd (almost check on that goal)....it's been pushed back. It's not a big deal, just an annoyance. We have everything set, but they need a month's worth of Mr. Soup's new pay stubs in his new position, so we have to wait on that. I just don't want to extend the closing date any longer....grrr....I hate not being in control and I feel like I'm losing control right now, you know? I just want the keys, damnit. Everything is going to be okay though. I have to have faith. God would not lead us this far and then close the door on it and if He did, there is good reason for it. I will not lie though...I'd be bummed. I absolutely love our new home.
So, Friday was my student-teacher's last day. It was always a goal of mine to have a student-teacher. I loved my student-teaching experience and I wanted to share that with someone. check on that goal. I don't pretend to know everything about teaching (especially not in the days of high-stakes testing), but I feel I do a pretty good job day in and day out. I think most students will say that my classroom is a lot of fun. However, I am pretty firm in my expecations. I expect my students to work hard and to treat each other with respect. Kids know that in Mrs. Soup's class if you act up, I will call you out or call your mama! In fact, I sometimes reference my students' moms in class. Here's an example: Little Joey is talking to his neighbor and drawing instead of working on an assignment. "Joey, I wonder what Tammy would think of these drawings and the fact that you have done none of your assignment, but talked to JEsse the entire time." Yeah, I know. I'm mean, but it works. Having a student-teacher reaffirmed for me that I do have good classroom management and that I strive to be fair.
One goal that I will have to put an uncheck next to is buying a new car. I planned to buy one in May 2011, but after Mr. Soup and I crunched numbers, it's just not possible. I don't have enough saved for a new car and I want to keep my payments under $300 a month. Since we desperately need a seven-seater SUV or crossover, we're looking at payments $350 and up. Even with a car two or three years old, we'd spend a pretty penny. So, i'm going to continue to save. I have a good amount saved now, but I plan to double it and maybe buy a new car in 2012 or 2013. It will be nice not to have a car payment for three years. With the extra money we're saving, we can afford to splurge and have the dogs stay at the Pet Lodge (they love it there! they are the most popular dogs there) when we take trips to Kansas.
Goals...Mr. Soup and I are back on track for eating healthy and losing weight the healthy way. We both increased our work-outs, cut our calorie intake. We've been making lots of smoothies for breakfast. I feel a lot better about how my body is changing. Even in the past week, I've noticed subtle, yet inspiring changes. I hope that after TAKS, I can devote even more time to the gym.
Showing posts with label home buying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home buying. Show all posts
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
life with the campbells
okay, so I'm procrastinating. I don't wanna help Mr. Soup with his paper and I don't want to pack.....
Okay, so a lot has happened since I last updated our family blog. We are no longer newlyweds as we hit the one year mark on March 21st, 2010. It really feels good to have hit that mark. Our first year of marriage was unbelievable. I think if you asked me a year ago what I knew about my husband it would differ drastically from what I know about him now. We have been so blessed to have found each other and to spend our first year of marriage together successfully. That doesn't mean we haven't gone through our share of problems this year. I think we both did not realize how much of a toll his graduate school would take on both of us. I think this semester will be the most difficult semester because of his research class. But he'll be done with his master's in December 2010!
And being happy in marriage is great....until you start gaining the love-weight. Yep. I've packed on ten pounds....eek. Mr. Soup has gained some weight too! So today I started back on my calorie counting. This is what I did three years ago and I lost 20 pounds. I hope to lose the same amount. I did really good today and stayed under 1200 calories. I just need to maintain that at all times. I ate horribly at Easter and this past weekend, but I put it all behind me and I'm moving on to a new me!
Abby had her tonsillectomy. The surgery went well and so did her recovery. We're hopeful that the surgery will prevent her from getting sick as often and missing as much school as she has in the past. We are looking forward to her visiting us again this summer!
Okay, so the big news is that we are under contract for our first home! A month ago we started looking for homes and after visitng 8 homes we found the one. Well actually we found two, but one turned out to be the one. I am really proud to say that we stayed under our pre-approval price and we found a house that one of us could afford on our own, so that if one of us lost our jobs or decided to stay home we could. We also recieved some help with the down payment from a Texas teacher bond program and some generous family members. So, our out of pocket contribution has been minimal which is nice. We will also qualify for the first-time home-buyer tax credit since we went under contract before April 30th. That being said, homebuying has been somewhat stressful. Mr. Soup and I are learning so much about homebuying and about each other. some good...some bad....but overall it renewed my faith in us as a team. I feel like we work so well together and even though it's scary at times, I know I can lean on him for support.
okay, so back to the house....We really wanted to live near my school, but we actually found a home near where we live now, but in a different city. The city still has good schools (and even if I want, I can send the kiddos to my school district) and our home is near a dog park. Our house is around the corner from my gynocologist and a hospital...a sign? Our home was built in 1973, but the woman who owned it (a former teacher) kept it in really good condition. We have four decent sized bedrooms, two car garage, a fenced backyard, a fenced sideyard, two living areas and two dining areas. Our kitchen has been updated nicely and our master bedroom is very spacious! So, it is definitely a home in which we can stay for a while. We really lucked out on it. After seeing some duds and some nice ones out of our price range, I figured we were doomed. I love our new home. I'll post some pics once we are closer to closing. I do not want to jinx anything yet....
Okay, so a lot has happened since I last updated our family blog. We are no longer newlyweds as we hit the one year mark on March 21st, 2010. It really feels good to have hit that mark. Our first year of marriage was unbelievable. I think if you asked me a year ago what I knew about my husband it would differ drastically from what I know about him now. We have been so blessed to have found each other and to spend our first year of marriage together successfully. That doesn't mean we haven't gone through our share of problems this year. I think we both did not realize how much of a toll his graduate school would take on both of us. I think this semester will be the most difficult semester because of his research class. But he'll be done with his master's in December 2010!
And being happy in marriage is great....until you start gaining the love-weight. Yep. I've packed on ten pounds....eek. Mr. Soup has gained some weight too! So today I started back on my calorie counting. This is what I did three years ago and I lost 20 pounds. I hope to lose the same amount. I did really good today and stayed under 1200 calories. I just need to maintain that at all times. I ate horribly at Easter and this past weekend, but I put it all behind me and I'm moving on to a new me!
Abby had her tonsillectomy. The surgery went well and so did her recovery. We're hopeful that the surgery will prevent her from getting sick as often and missing as much school as she has in the past. We are looking forward to her visiting us again this summer!
Okay, so the big news is that we are under contract for our first home! A month ago we started looking for homes and after visitng 8 homes we found the one. Well actually we found two, but one turned out to be the one. I am really proud to say that we stayed under our pre-approval price and we found a house that one of us could afford on our own, so that if one of us lost our jobs or decided to stay home we could. We also recieved some help with the down payment from a Texas teacher bond program and some generous family members. So, our out of pocket contribution has been minimal which is nice. We will also qualify for the first-time home-buyer tax credit since we went under contract before April 30th. That being said, homebuying has been somewhat stressful. Mr. Soup and I are learning so much about homebuying and about each other. some good...some bad....but overall it renewed my faith in us as a team. I feel like we work so well together and even though it's scary at times, I know I can lean on him for support.
okay, so back to the house....We really wanted to live near my school, but we actually found a home near where we live now, but in a different city. The city still has good schools (and even if I want, I can send the kiddos to my school district) and our home is near a dog park. Our house is around the corner from my gynocologist and a hospital...a sign? Our home was built in 1973, but the woman who owned it (a former teacher) kept it in really good condition. We have four decent sized bedrooms, two car garage, a fenced backyard, a fenced sideyard, two living areas and two dining areas. Our kitchen has been updated nicely and our master bedroom is very spacious! So, it is definitely a home in which we can stay for a while. We really lucked out on it. After seeing some duds and some nice ones out of our price range, I figured we were doomed. I love our new home. I'll post some pics once we are closer to closing. I do not want to jinx anything yet....
Friday, March 19, 2010
March Craftness
I thought I'd add some of the paperie stuff I worked on while watching basketball today. One is an anniversary card for Mr. Soup. I had some cool Mexican themed paper for his card, but since we didn't get to go to Mexico I opted for the orange and blue fish (his favorite colors). I like the lone orange fish because I feel like he picked me out of a sea of blue fish! I put the star on the back because it was kind of a running theme in our wedding, plus we have stars all over our apartment as decorations. The card I made Abby is a get well card. She had her tonsillectomy on Wednesday and since there is snow in KS, we won't get to see her this weekend =(
Last night Mr. Soup and I met with the realtor. We narrowed down an area and we are going to start looking at houses next weekend. I have a favorite and Mr. Soup has a favorite. My favorite is a little small, but it is completely update. Brand new carpet, floors, new cabinets and brand new bathrooms. Mr. Soup's is a little dated, but it's huge and has a pool. Both homes have 4 bedrooms and a tall fence (those are our two must haves), so we'll see what happens.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
MARCH MADNESS
This is my favorite time of year! I absolutely love college basketball. One of the reasons why we had our wedding in March last year was not only because we met in the spring, but because of my love of basketball. I love that each year we'll wedding anniversary and basketball season during the same time. I filled out my bracket today and entered in a few pools! Mr. Soup was really excited that UNT made it, but I have a feeling that K-State will pound them. Nevertheless, I'm sharing in his excitement.
March Madness extends a little bit further than just basketball in our household. Last year we were preparing to marry. We had the craziness of tying up last minute details, getting our marriage license and hosting friends and family in our city. This year we will spend our one year anniversary on the road. We still plan to eat our cake and drink some wine when we return. Abby will have a tonsilectomy tomorrow, so Mr. Soup and I are going to drive to Kansas this weekend to see her. I wish we could've been there for the actual surgery or that she could've had it done here, but it was all very last minute. I know she'll be fine, but surgeries are a big deal, especially for a little girl. I'm glad we'll be able to spend some time with her afterwards.
I paid off my car! I mailed in a big ole' check (I paid it off a few months early) a few weeks ago!
Mr. Soup and I finally got preapproved. We were really lagging on getting all the paperwork ready, but we finally did and got preapproved a week later. We got $10,000 more than we pre-qualified for and we meet with our realtor this week. We've already found some homes that we'd like to see. It all seems surreal, but I know it will feel very real, very soon.
So the madness in our house started very early in March, but we are very excited about it!
March Madness extends a little bit further than just basketball in our household. Last year we were preparing to marry. We had the craziness of tying up last minute details, getting our marriage license and hosting friends and family in our city. This year we will spend our one year anniversary on the road. We still plan to eat our cake and drink some wine when we return. Abby will have a tonsilectomy tomorrow, so Mr. Soup and I are going to drive to Kansas this weekend to see her. I wish we could've been there for the actual surgery or that she could've had it done here, but it was all very last minute. I know she'll be fine, but surgeries are a big deal, especially for a little girl. I'm glad we'll be able to spend some time with her afterwards.
I paid off my car! I mailed in a big ole' check (I paid it off a few months early) a few weeks ago!
Mr. Soup and I finally got preapproved. We were really lagging on getting all the paperwork ready, but we finally did and got preapproved a week later. We got $10,000 more than we pre-qualified for and we meet with our realtor this week. We've already found some homes that we'd like to see. It all seems surreal, but I know it will feel very real, very soon.
So the madness in our house started very early in March, but we are very excited about it!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
28 is great!
28 is great! I guess I'm partial because everyone has been telling me how young I look. I just feel good about 28. I'm probably the happiest I've been in a while. I'm married to the man of my dreams. I have two beautiful dogs. I have a wonderful life! I feel like everything is coming together as well. Mr. Soup is in grad school, so only one more year of being poor. He just got promoted to case manager at his job, so things are really looking up. I have an awesome student teacher and I love my students! I've just been enjoying life a lot lately. I'm really proud of myself for working out consistently. I don't go out much anymore, so it's not tempting to drink as much, but I've really cut down drinking wine. Mr. Soup and I have become Justin.tv addicts. I think we could watch The Office reruns on Justin.tv non-stop!
It's been an awesome birthday week! It's also been a very busy week. On Sunday I went to church and went out to lunch with the twenties n' thirties group (TNT). It was really fun to meet new people and feel more a part of my church. On Monday night, I attended my first ladies' Bible study. Again, another awesome experience. I'm really excited to be part of this amazing group of women. We have some exciting events coming up. Tuesday was my birthday. Mr. Soup had grad school, so I spent most of the evening opening gifts by myself (lame) and then I went to spin class with my friends Kristin and Melanie. Mr. Soup called me when spin ended because he got out of class early, so we went out to eat as we planned. So good to have time just to be out and enjoy each other's company.
Yesterday I went to dinner with some friends from work and my good friend Christina. There were supposed to be more people, but with the cold weather lots of people ended up sick. It was still awesome especially since KU beat K-State!!!!!
Okay, so I felt like Mr. Soup and I had talked the home-buying conversation to death. However, we have officially decided to start looking for homes and we *hope* to buy a house by May. We recently learned of some new homebuyer programs that we qualify for since I'm a teacher and he's in graduate school. We have been generously blessed with financial help for our down payment from family, so we hope to get everything worked out this week and start looking. Plus, our dream starter house was lowered by $5,000. so that's a sign, right? So, please keep us in your thoughts. This is all new to us, but so exciting.
This upcoming week will be busy as well. I am going out to eat with some friends on Tuesday night in Uptown, hopefully meeting with a realtor, and on Sunday we will root on the Saints (well I will root for the Saints and Mr. Soup will root for the Colts) in the superbowl! WHO DAT!
It's been an awesome birthday week! It's also been a very busy week. On Sunday I went to church and went out to lunch with the twenties n' thirties group (TNT). It was really fun to meet new people and feel more a part of my church. On Monday night, I attended my first ladies' Bible study. Again, another awesome experience. I'm really excited to be part of this amazing group of women. We have some exciting events coming up. Tuesday was my birthday. Mr. Soup had grad school, so I spent most of the evening opening gifts by myself (lame) and then I went to spin class with my friends Kristin and Melanie. Mr. Soup called me when spin ended because he got out of class early, so we went out to eat as we planned. So good to have time just to be out and enjoy each other's company.
Yesterday I went to dinner with some friends from work and my good friend Christina. There were supposed to be more people, but with the cold weather lots of people ended up sick. It was still awesome especially since KU beat K-State!!!!!
Okay, so I felt like Mr. Soup and I had talked the home-buying conversation to death. However, we have officially decided to start looking for homes and we *hope* to buy a house by May. We recently learned of some new homebuyer programs that we qualify for since I'm a teacher and he's in graduate school. We have been generously blessed with financial help for our down payment from family, so we hope to get everything worked out this week and start looking. Plus, our dream starter house was lowered by $5,000. so that's a sign, right? So, please keep us in your thoughts. This is all new to us, but so exciting.
This upcoming week will be busy as well. I am going out to eat with some friends on Tuesday night in Uptown, hopefully meeting with a realtor, and on Sunday we will root on the Saints (well I will root for the Saints and Mr. Soup will root for the Colts) in the superbowl! WHO DAT!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Brad & Angelina break up and other world events....
Personal Updates first:
Murad has dropped 20 lbs. I went to the doctor on Monday and I've lost two pounds. Despite my crying about my weight gain, my doctor said my weight isn't a problem at all, but still. We all want to look better, right?
We found a really cute home for rent. It's perfect....4 bedrooms, 2 bath, 2 car garage, 2 living rooms. However, I'm thinking we shouldn't rent. I just think we'd be throwing away a ton of money when we could save for a house. Nevertheless, I won't hide my eagerness to get out of this apartment. I know next year is a better time to buy since Mr. Soup will be done with grad school and earning a full salary. Also, Mr. Soup is going to look for jobs in Kansas City and Dallas. Either one would be an ideal choice. We have friends and family in Kansas/Missouri and we've built a great life here in Dallas. So it's better to wait to know exactly where we'll be.
I know I have to be patient and continue to save $$$. One thing we have decided to do is expand our search in Dallas. Homes in Richardson are nice, but really small; some less than 2000 sq. feet. I worry that we'd outgrow it in a couple of years, especially since we want to have children soon. We decided to look north. McKinney is too far. Plano: hell no. We're considering Allen. It's far north, but it wouldn't be a bad commute. The homes are larger and compare in price to Richardson. So for now we have a couple of neighborhoods in Richardson/N. Dallas narrowed down and we'll add some in Allen to our list as well.
okay, so I chopped off inches yesterday. My hair had just gotten so long and unhealthy. I never really had a hair style and as a result my hair had no shape. I like the new hair cut, it's just hard to get used to right away. I'm used to running my fingers through long hair that falls past my shoulders. Now it's at my chin. I'm sure no one will mistake me for a sixteen year old anymore! That is okay. I'm learning to embrace getting older. I'm actually excited to turn 28 on Tuesday. My life is wonderful and I only have good things to look forward to as we grow older.
World Events:
Brad & Angelina? This doesn't really affect my life except for the fact that now Murad and I are America's cutest couple. We're eager for the paparazzi to start invading our lives, star in movies, earn millions, vacation all over the world, etc.
Conan? I can't believe all the drama that went along with that. I didn't watch his last episode (I wish I would've), but I'm sad to see him go.
Haiti- I watched part of the concert for charity on Friday. I am overwhelmed by the way Americans are pouring out support. I've even heard that some people are looking to adopt some of the orphaned children. What a blessing!! I urge everyone to lend their support in any way.
The Scott Roeder trial began this past week. It was very surreal watching members of my home congregation in Wichita, KS testify as witnesses. It was hard to watch them relive the day that evil man walked into our church and killed one of our parishoners. I saw glimpses of Dr. Tiller's family on television as well. The were crying and looking down as they replayed images of Dr. Tiller's body being taken from our church. I can only hope that God gives them the strength to get through the trial and that justice is served in this matter.
Murad has dropped 20 lbs. I went to the doctor on Monday and I've lost two pounds. Despite my crying about my weight gain, my doctor said my weight isn't a problem at all, but still. We all want to look better, right?
We found a really cute home for rent. It's perfect....4 bedrooms, 2 bath, 2 car garage, 2 living rooms. However, I'm thinking we shouldn't rent. I just think we'd be throwing away a ton of money when we could save for a house. Nevertheless, I won't hide my eagerness to get out of this apartment. I know next year is a better time to buy since Mr. Soup will be done with grad school and earning a full salary. Also, Mr. Soup is going to look for jobs in Kansas City and Dallas. Either one would be an ideal choice. We have friends and family in Kansas/Missouri and we've built a great life here in Dallas. So it's better to wait to know exactly where we'll be.
I know I have to be patient and continue to save $$$. One thing we have decided to do is expand our search in Dallas. Homes in Richardson are nice, but really small; some less than 2000 sq. feet. I worry that we'd outgrow it in a couple of years, especially since we want to have children soon. We decided to look north. McKinney is too far. Plano: hell no. We're considering Allen. It's far north, but it wouldn't be a bad commute. The homes are larger and compare in price to Richardson. So for now we have a couple of neighborhoods in Richardson/N. Dallas narrowed down and we'll add some in Allen to our list as well.
okay, so I chopped off inches yesterday. My hair had just gotten so long and unhealthy. I never really had a hair style and as a result my hair had no shape. I like the new hair cut, it's just hard to get used to right away. I'm used to running my fingers through long hair that falls past my shoulders. Now it's at my chin. I'm sure no one will mistake me for a sixteen year old anymore! That is okay. I'm learning to embrace getting older. I'm actually excited to turn 28 on Tuesday. My life is wonderful and I only have good things to look forward to as we grow older.
World Events:
Brad & Angelina? This doesn't really affect my life except for the fact that now Murad and I are America's cutest couple. We're eager for the paparazzi to start invading our lives, star in movies, earn millions, vacation all over the world, etc.
Conan? I can't believe all the drama that went along with that. I didn't watch his last episode (I wish I would've), but I'm sad to see him go.
Haiti- I watched part of the concert for charity on Friday. I am overwhelmed by the way Americans are pouring out support. I've even heard that some people are looking to adopt some of the orphaned children. What a blessing!! I urge everyone to lend their support in any way.
The Scott Roeder trial began this past week. It was very surreal watching members of my home congregation in Wichita, KS testify as witnesses. It was hard to watch them relive the day that evil man walked into our church and killed one of our parishoners. I saw glimpses of Dr. Tiller's family on television as well. The were crying and looking down as they replayed images of Dr. Tiller's body being taken from our church. I can only hope that God gives them the strength to get through the trial and that justice is served in this matter.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
i'm not as mad, but I still hate you...
so, I'm still a little pissed about the credit card company lowering my limit. I also saw that Obama extended the first time home buyer tax credit, so I wanted to see if despite this I could qualify for a home loan. I aimed rather high with how much I wanted to be approved (because let's face it, why not?). I wanted to get approved alone because Mr. Soup is in grad school and his income is not steady. The loan officer was very helpful and said that if I pay off that credit card and if Mr. Soup is making at least $15,000, I would qualify. I qualified for a smaller loan, but I decided to hold off. Even though it seemed like a deterrent, it really wasn't. It gave me a good idea of what we need to do. Hopefully we can buy by May 2011, so in the next year in a half, I plan to:
1. raise my credit score. my credit score is good. really good. it improved quite a bit since the last time I checked, but I really want to get it to excellent or near excellent.
2. pay off that credit card and pay down all other debts. Mr. Soup will start working a real full time job in January 2011, so we'll be able to do that pretty effortlessly, but before that, I want to pay down as much as I can on my own. Since he'll be making well over $15,000 a year then, maybe we can see if we could qualify for a larger loan or just be able to pay more on the existing one!
3. enter a down-payment assistance program/first time homebuyer's class
I'm so excited because all of the things seem to be falling in place.
1. Mr. Soup graduated and improved his GPA
2. He got his first choice for internship
3. We are setting the wheels in motion to start our little family!
1. raise my credit score. my credit score is good. really good. it improved quite a bit since the last time I checked, but I really want to get it to excellent or near excellent.
2. pay off that credit card and pay down all other debts. Mr. Soup will start working a real full time job in January 2011, so we'll be able to do that pretty effortlessly, but before that, I want to pay down as much as I can on my own. Since he'll be making well over $15,000 a year then, maybe we can see if we could qualify for a larger loan or just be able to pay more on the existing one!
3. enter a down-payment assistance program/first time homebuyer's class
I'm so excited because all of the things seem to be falling in place.
1. Mr. Soup graduated and improved his GPA
2. He got his first choice for internship
3. We are setting the wheels in motion to start our little family!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
uggh....
the cost of moving to a rental house is so not worth it....
I priced it out
$1100 -$1300 security deposit
$350 pet deposit
$270 moving costs
plus if we can't find a place that has yard work included, we'd have to buy a mower and do it ourselves.
So that's almost $2000 without yard care. That's $2000 we could put towards a down payment on a house. After Murad and I discussed that, we decided to stay another year. With that $2000 plus other savings we should have a down payment by 2011. not bad, eh? plus a rental home will cost us $1100 (at least...most of the good ones are $1300 and up) and with good credit and down payment we could get a bigger house for $1100.
Okay, so back to saving for a down payment. Now to strategize....
I priced it out
$1100 -$1300 security deposit
$350 pet deposit
$270 moving costs
plus if we can't find a place that has yard work included, we'd have to buy a mower and do it ourselves.
So that's almost $2000 without yard care. That's $2000 we could put towards a down payment on a house. After Murad and I discussed that, we decided to stay another year. With that $2000 plus other savings we should have a down payment by 2011. not bad, eh? plus a rental home will cost us $1100 (at least...most of the good ones are $1300 and up) and with good credit and down payment we could get a bigger house for $1100.
Okay, so back to saving for a down payment. Now to strategize....
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
New Additions to our family
Well my brother-in-law has been here for a week now. Already he's fixed our desktop! yay! In addition, he's getting sworn in tomorrow, will attend training for the guard, then start working. He's hoping to get a degree at Richland (part of DCCC) and then transfer to UTD for a degree in Mathematics. Luckily for him they have a fast-track bachelor/master program, so that would be awesome.
We got a Wii and a brand new Mac Notebook! It's like freakin' Christmas around here. We planned to get a new notebook, but the Wii was a surprise. Murad was on the waiting list for a used Wii at the local Game Stop. However, he was able to get a never-been-used one from them for half the cost! Big savings for us! I can't wait to start playing some bowling! That is one of my favorite memories about NJ. Last Thanksgiving we played the Wii everyday with Murad's brother. Now that he's here, we can recreate it the moment.
It looks like we may have a full house this summer, so we're thinking renting a house in May. Abby will definitely be here and one or both of Murad's bros may be here. I found some cute houses in our area and right down the street from us are some huge duplexes for rent (think almost 2,000 sq feet) . I have half a mind to see if we can get pre-approved for a home loan, but to be honest I'm terrified of being a home owner. I still feel like a little kid. Plus, I want us to have more in savings before we buy a home and I want my car to be paid off before then. I just can't afford to pay it off yet. I've found some cute little houses in the area that are around the same price that we pay for our tiny apartment, so maybe it's a possibility to rent for a while we save. Plus, having a house would be great in case Abby comes to stay with us more permanently. We'll see! Ugghh! Decisions, decisions. I guess the Lord will let us know what decision to make.
We got a Wii and a brand new Mac Notebook! It's like freakin' Christmas around here. We planned to get a new notebook, but the Wii was a surprise. Murad was on the waiting list for a used Wii at the local Game Stop. However, he was able to get a never-been-used one from them for half the cost! Big savings for us! I can't wait to start playing some bowling! That is one of my favorite memories about NJ. Last Thanksgiving we played the Wii everyday with Murad's brother. Now that he's here, we can recreate it the moment.
It looks like we may have a full house this summer, so we're thinking renting a house in May. Abby will definitely be here and one or both of Murad's bros may be here. I found some cute houses in our area and right down the street from us are some huge duplexes for rent (think almost 2,000 sq feet) . I have half a mind to see if we can get pre-approved for a home loan, but to be honest I'm terrified of being a home owner. I still feel like a little kid. Plus, I want us to have more in savings before we buy a home and I want my car to be paid off before then. I just can't afford to pay it off yet. I've found some cute little houses in the area that are around the same price that we pay for our tiny apartment, so maybe it's a possibility to rent for a while we save. Plus, having a house would be great in case Abby comes to stay with us more permanently. We'll see! Ugghh! Decisions, decisions. I guess the Lord will let us know what decision to make.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
the house talk and ode to a cozy apartment
so, mr. soup and I finally had "the house talk." we've had many house talks, but this one we actually discussed exactly where we both want to live, what type of house we want and how much we want to spend. Afterwards, we drove around the perspective neighborhoods to look at houses (so much fun by the way). However, the houses we want are way out of our price range, so any hope of moving at the end of this school year was shot. We are shooting for Spring '11. Our goal for this year is to aggressively save and pay off debts (credit cards and my car loan), so that we can get an affordable rate. We're still going to look at foreclosures too, but we want to prepare to pay the market-value for a good house.
Some things we both agreed on were that we do not want to move to the suburbs and by suburbs I mean far north like McKinney, Allen, etc. That's just not us. We do want to stay near the Richardson suburb area (I know Richardson is a suburb, but it's not a true suburb). We want to stay in the area in which we live now. Not the exact area, because the homes surrounding us are listed at half a million dollars (no joke), but there are some nearby that are less than half that price that we could afford. We live in an area that has excellent schools (for when/if Abby comes to live with us), great shopping (for me), and great restaurants (for all of us!). The homes are larger and older (most built in the 1960's) than most areas, so they have lots of character. Surprisingly, most of the homes have four bedrooms which is what we need if we're going to start a family in a few years.
So, since we're stuck here for a year and a half, I want to focus on the good things about our little apartment. I know I focus on how small and cramped we are, but it is pretty spacious considering what you get in apartments these days. Our apartment has more square feet than some homes. Our complex was built in the 1980's, so there aren't any cool architecture features. However, the bedrooms are large and we have tons of closets, cabinets and other storage features. We have so much storage, that when I moved stuff to prepare for my brother-in-law to move in, I didn't have to part with too many items; just a couple of shoes and a few shirts! We have wonderful vaulted ceilings and our apartment feels like a little cottage. It's so cozy! We live in an area that is safe! I never feel scared walking my dogs at night. Like I mentioned before we live near good shopping, restaraunts and schools.
Okay so other good news:
My hubby recieved a very generous stipend from his school! Woo-hoo! We're going to use part of it to buy a new laptop! Yay! So, now we just need to research what type of laptop we want to get! There are just too many out there and it's hard to decide what is best. Ugghh. We want a mac notebook and we found one for $929, so it's a little over what we wanted to spend, but I read it's a better investment in the long run!
I'm so proud of him for earning the stipend! He worked so hard last year and this summer and it really paid off!
I got my 2nd master's degree! This is my first degree with my maiden name and my married name on it (and probably my last degree!) Yes, that's right all four of my names are on my degree. In my heart I knew I couldn't leave one off because I started the degree with my maiden name and finished with my new name. I'm so glad to be done with the program. The 18 months went by fast, but they were definitely tough!
My brother-in-law is here! He flew in today! Yay!
Murad begins his internship tomorrow! We're getting so close to the light at the end of the tunnel! Yeah!
That's it for the Campbells!
Some things we both agreed on were that we do not want to move to the suburbs and by suburbs I mean far north like McKinney, Allen, etc. That's just not us. We do want to stay near the Richardson suburb area (I know Richardson is a suburb, but it's not a true suburb). We want to stay in the area in which we live now. Not the exact area, because the homes surrounding us are listed at half a million dollars (no joke), but there are some nearby that are less than half that price that we could afford. We live in an area that has excellent schools (for when/if Abby comes to live with us), great shopping (for me), and great restaurants (for all of us!). The homes are larger and older (most built in the 1960's) than most areas, so they have lots of character. Surprisingly, most of the homes have four bedrooms which is what we need if we're going to start a family in a few years.
So, since we're stuck here for a year and a half, I want to focus on the good things about our little apartment. I know I focus on how small and cramped we are, but it is pretty spacious considering what you get in apartments these days. Our apartment has more square feet than some homes. Our complex was built in the 1980's, so there aren't any cool architecture features. However, the bedrooms are large and we have tons of closets, cabinets and other storage features. We have so much storage, that when I moved stuff to prepare for my brother-in-law to move in, I didn't have to part with too many items; just a couple of shoes and a few shirts! We have wonderful vaulted ceilings and our apartment feels like a little cottage. It's so cozy! We live in an area that is safe! I never feel scared walking my dogs at night. Like I mentioned before we live near good shopping, restaraunts and schools.
Okay so other good news:
My hubby recieved a very generous stipend from his school! Woo-hoo! We're going to use part of it to buy a new laptop! Yay! So, now we just need to research what type of laptop we want to get! There are just too many out there and it's hard to decide what is best. Ugghh. We want a mac notebook and we found one for $929, so it's a little over what we wanted to spend, but I read it's a better investment in the long run!
I'm so proud of him for earning the stipend! He worked so hard last year and this summer and it really paid off!
I got my 2nd master's degree! This is my first degree with my maiden name and my married name on it (and probably my last degree!) Yes, that's right all four of my names are on my degree. In my heart I knew I couldn't leave one off because I started the degree with my maiden name and finished with my new name. I'm so glad to be done with the program. The 18 months went by fast, but they were definitely tough!
My brother-in-law is here! He flew in today! Yay!
Murad begins his internship tomorrow! We're getting so close to the light at the end of the tunnel! Yeah!
That's it for the Campbells!
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