Wishing and dreaming

I ran in the Trolley Run today.  Invigorating 4 mile run in the rain :)  My time was 41:35, which is a bit disappointing.  Next year I am going to be in the 30-36 min heat if it kills me!

As we ran through the city, I was taking note of houses for sale along the route (obviously I was not pushing myself hard enough if I had time to take note of signs and streets, lol!).  I saw this beauty:

And noticed that they had an open house today. So I made a note of the address, and we went back this afternoon.  It was gorgeous!  We walked through the house, commenting on all of the features that we liked.  Then we ran across the info sheet in the kitchen.  Yeah.  There's a reason why we liked it.  Because its WAY out of our price range!  Only $500,000.  Actually a great price for the area, but outside of our reach.  I wonder if they would consider half of that?  :P

As we drove around the neighborhood, we did find some houses that were more within our price range.  Each had something a bit weird about it (one bathroom, horrible decor, no garage, etc).  But this little beauty could be a viable option:

I can't wait until our house sells so that we can actually start looking for real.  For now, I will just spend time on Zillow and drive through the neighborhoods on the weekends :)

Where we are at in regards to the $$

Hmmm, well, last time I posted about finances, things were a mess.  Not that they are exactly stellar now, but its improved considerably :)  Last year, even with all of our ups & downs, we ended up the year with $2,375 less in debt that we started the year with.  I say that counts as a win!  And this year, we are already almost down $6,000!!

We didn't list the house last year, but its looking like this spring will be a much better time anyway.  Zillow upped the estimate on our house by $30k in the last year, and local sales have backed that up.  Really, its due to the rush of foreclosures falling off and the private sales starting to pick up again.  Since we dont need to move, we can wait until an offer comes that will get us out of the house without owing anything.

DH is FINALLY bringing home a consistent salary.  He no longer has to pay to work and he is bringing home money :)  If things keep going like this, he may match my salary this year!!  That will be a HUGE change from the past three years when his income was actually negative once everything was accounted for.  I really feel like we finally turned the corner.

My new job is going really well.  I LOVE my new team, and the job is a great fit for me too.

Take Your Kids To Work Day

Every year I get to help out with the kids that come to work.  Its fun, but boy do they wear me out!  I think there's a reason why most people get one kid at a time (no offense to my SIL).  Several kids all the same age are exhausting!  I remember why I never finished getting that teaching license...

But I was thinking today, only 8 more years until Aly is eligible to come to work with me.  It sounds like forever right now, but looking at how fast time has gone, I bet it will seem like I blinked and it all went by. 

So to catch up on Aly, she's grown considerably since the last pic I posted!   Here's her Halloween costume (she went as a sock monkey with her cousins):

Merry Christmas!

And we found out that she does NOT like avocados:

But she does LOVE sweet potatoes!

She's busy and happy and getting into EVERYTHING

And my heart absolutely melts every morning when I am greeted with this gummy smile:

Where has the time gone?

It seems like FOREVER since I have posted here.  I am betting most people that used to read no longer do.  That's ok.  Maybe I can find a new audience (or maybe my old friends will find me again).

DD is now 9 months old.  Nine months.  It seems completely unreal.  Nine months ago was my due date.  I was HUGE and preggo, and feeling like I was going to be that way forever.  And I wanted to punch everyone that said she would come "soon" or "in her own time".  Seriously.  Never say those things to the pregnant lady.  But she did come, one day later :)

Now she's cruising and pulling up, and trying to walk!!  She's so busy.  And into everything.  And she's changed my world in ways I never thought possible.  I can't even describe how in love I am with the little girl that calls me "Mama!!" and comes crawling with a HUGE smile on her face as soon as I get home from work every day.  Or the sweet little girl that happily babbles for "Daddy" and looks at him like he is the most special person in the universe.  And how she will cry for "MamaDaddyNana!!" when she gets put into bed, but she feels that she is far too busy playing to consider falling asleep just yet.

And I love how she's the weirdo that coughs instead of laughing.  And how she thinks the pertussis PSA is just a baby that is cracking up (so she crawls to the TV, laughs, and dances along until its over).  She crawls with her bum straight up in the air.  And she has to sleep with her two baby dolls (one for each hand). 

I LOVE this little person, and I am really enjoying getting to know her.  I am really thankful that God has blessed my husband and I with the opportunity to know and raise this person.  (And I will be honest and admit - I am enjoying these days more than the newborn days.  While sweet, those were some dark & trying days for me.  Life is much more freeing and happy now.)