Girl In The City

Before and after: COMING SOON!

Sunday, August 31st, 2008 | Anna, Babbling | No Comments

I know that I keep saying that I’m going to  take some shots of the house and post them but I hate having to take “in progress” shots.  I have the living room probably 80% where I want it to be so I’ll get to taking some shots and getting  them posted.

I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to be getting my hands dirty working on the house every weekend.  I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about things like mesothelioma since the house is only 10 years old. Ben has been up in the attic twice.

So, pictures soon.

Tags: Church, House

Karma hates me. Or wheat. But probably me.

Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

When I was a kid I used to wish that I had a sickness or allergy so that I could wear one of those cool medical id tags. I thought that they were cute. Good lord was a silly.

Now that I’ve found out I’m allergic to wheat and break out in hives on days like today where I had a Subway sandwich for lunch then a chicken sandwich for dinner I think that it might be payback for wishing for that bracelet. That’s kinda been my karma factor lately.

Now I’m going to go soak in a long hot bath then lather myself all up with anti-itch cream and hope to hell that I can get to sleep without having to take something to help with the pain.

Infiniti miles per gallon.

Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

The shifter on my M3 broke the other day causing it to shift weird. When it was in 3rd gear it was where 5th gear should have been and 4th gear was where 6th gear would have been had my M3 HAD a 6th gear. We had to drive from San Jose to Gilroy in 5th gear which isn’t horrible but not that great for the gas milage and since the whole POINT of taking one car is to save gas, it kind of blew that point.

Luckily it was only about $200 to fix because it was just the selector rod that broke but I had this horrible fear that the entire transmission was bad. Now that we have it back I realize that it’s really time to start looking to sell the M3 and get a more fuel efficient car. Not only would it be cheaper to drive but we could shop around for some auto insurance quotes and get cheaper insurance because it wouldn’t be an expensive sports car.

It will break my heart a little to have to get rid of my awesome baby but I sure would love to have move money to spend at the end of the month because we aren’t wasting money on gas.

*cue burning fuse*

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

HEHHE When I see these Zero Halliburton briefcases the Mission Impossible theme starts to run through my head. Maybe it’s because I’ve watched the movie about 10,000 times in the last month on the iPhone while at work. I also have Pride and Prejudice (ALWAYS have this one on the phone because: *swoon*), Serenity and Pitch Black at the moment. I need to get some new stuff on there but I’ve just been too lazy to plug it into my PC and transfer stuff over.

What movies do you think I should get next? Anything good that came out on video recently that are a MUST SEE? I love pretty much all movies. Action, Comedy, Romance… I love all of them as long as the characters can draw me in.

Down home in Atlanta.

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

When I look at housing prices in places like Texas and Georgia it breaks my heart a little. A few of our good friends are moving from the Bay Area to Texas on Friday because she can work from home and they can afford to buy a house twice the size there which will include a massive office for her to use. The other day I was looking at houses in Atlanta and then started scoping out jobs in Atlanta to see what the housing prices looked like compaired to what some comon jobs were offering.

No doubt if we moved to a place like the we could have afforded a much bigger house bit MAN what a complete culture shock. I’d miss being 20 minutes away from the technology hub of the world for sure. Ahh well, I shouldn’t even be looking, I love our house. It’s just a tough pill to swallow sometimes when I see people moving into houses twice the size as our and BRAND NEW for less than what we paid.

Money bags.

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Want to know the quickest way to drain all your Checking Accounts? BUY A HOUSE. Sure, the initial purchase is a big money buster but there are SO MANY things that I didn’t think about at first. Lawn mower, edger, shop vac, paint, door mats, gardening sheers, gas pipe wrench, water shut off, key for gas valve for the fire place… it seems ENDLESS! WHEN WILL IT END?!

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the house, but sheesh I hope that we’ve gotten to the end of this spendig for a bit. Cassidy needs school clothes and supplies and I haven’t purchansed a single personal thing in over three months. I miss shopping!

Macro Monday: Burned out.

Monday, August 18th, 2008 | Anna, Macro Monday, photo | No Comments

This is a shot I took last week but wanted to use it for my Macro Monday shot today. This is the guts of a light bulb from the master bathroom that fell and shattered when Ben was changing them out. I loved how it looked so I snapped some shots of it before throwing it away.

It kinda reminds me of the clean lines of an Oscar de la Renta watch or piece of jewelry. It’s always cool when you see something so simple but can immediately see it as a piece of artwork also. I’m loving Macro Monday for that reason, it’s causing me to look at common household items in a whole new light.

Tags: light bulb, Macro Monday, photography, photos

Five Years Later.

Monday, August 18th, 2008 | Anna, Babbling, Ben | No Comments

Five years ago tomorrow Ben showed up at my house in Bakersfield at 3AM and told me “Move now or we are going to fall apart.”

I moved, we still almost fell apart, and then I got on some good medicine and now, five years later, I’m closer to sane than ever. We still have good days and we still have some bad ones. I’m still a bit crazy and he’s still the rock of stability I cling to when I feel my outer wall start to crumble a bit. He’s SUCH AN AMAZING father to a tween that doesn’t make it easy a lot of the time.

I read blogs from that time and I think, “Who the hell IS that girl!?” I had no clue where I was going or where I needed to be. Now, we’re married, we just bought our first home together, I am in the place I was searching for endlessly back then, HERE is where I was always meant to be.

Also, he’s as hot as ever and he still makes me laugh (at MYSELF) every single day.

Happy Kinda Anniversary, Ben. (k) Maybe treat your awesome wife to a laughlin hotels trip?! *grin*

PS - That’s a picture of us in Pismo about five years ago taken by the awesome Miss Lisa.

Painted and pretty.

Monday, August 18th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

We painted two walls in the garage last weekend and it looks SO GOOD so far.  It looks bigger and much more finished than before.  Whoever did the drywall work did a HORRIBLE job but with a bit of elbow grease and some good music, we managed to hammer out a wall a day.  Next weekend we can get the other two walls done then need to so the ceiling and then the hard one:  the floor.  That’s going to be a whole other monster.  It had to be acid washed, cleaned and cleaned and cleaned then it’s like four coats of paint.  Blargh.  I hope my lungs hold out from all the paint fumes.  After getting the primer on the walls this weekend I considered betting myself a portable oxygen concentrator.

Here is a before and after shot:

Furbabies.

Monday, August 11th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

We went to the pet store today to pick up some cat food and some other miscelaneous stuff and I absolutely fell in love with this adorable little calico kitty they had there. It was really playful and had the most adorable little nose. Ben put his food down because, you know, we already have TWO fur babies to deal with but still, I would put my hand on the glass and it would rub up against the glass where my hand was. It was so freaking cute. AND! It was already litter box trained because he proved it while we were there.

There were also some all black kittens which is my DREAM CAT. But Ben’s right, we really only have enough love for two cats right now plus throwing another cat into the mix right now so soon after the move would probably not be a good idea since they are JUST NOT starting to get used to the new house.

Tags: cat, Hans, KC, pets