October's over

I've decided that each month I'm going to do a review of highlights or notable happenings in our life, big and small. We're starting with October, and we've got some doozies...

Ah, October. It was a good month for us, though it started out relatively uneventful. It's so hard for us to even believe that we're into November now, because our weather is still in the eighties. And it's heavenly (dry heat makes a world of difference). We're so happy about having nice, sunny days and cool, breezy nights. And it felt even better when we found out in the middle of October that it was snowing in Iowa. Ha! ...is that rude? Maybe a little. But I warned people that I was going to gloat about our lovely weather when it was freezing every else, and so I quite enjoyed the news of Iowa's first snow, as I looked out my open windows and gazed at the palm trees outside.

Earlier this month, Travis had his White Coat Ceremony. It was a pretty cool event. All first-year students at the university were participating, which meant it wasn't just students in the D.O. program, it was also students in the dental, pharmacy, psychology, physician's assistant, and optometry programs (there were actually even more programs than that, but I can't remember them)...

...I didn't realize until I got there how big of a deal this was...it was more like a graduation! I got there forty-five minutes early and still could barely find just one seat. Each college dean spoke, and then everyone was coated. After that, all the students stood and took an oath. It was fun to see Travis in his white coat and know that in less than four years he'll be a doctor! Wow!

We've also spent each of our Saturdays either watching or listening to the BYU Cougars play some football! Unfortunately, the October games weren't quite as satisfying as some of the September ones (aka the Oklahoma game)...but we're still Cougar fans!  *Rise and shout*

This month we decided to get another puppy too! I dedicated an entire entry to this topic not long ago, so  scroll down for that one if you want all the details about our decision. We're super excited to be getting her in a week and half! Above and below are updated pictures. Her name is Trixi, and she's super cute!

The biggest news of the month is that we decided to start looking for a house again after a long hiatus, and immediately found and secured the right one! That has been a whirlwind of an experience, and I posted a couple of blog entries about that, so check those out for stories and pictures!

Finally, it was Halloween last weekend, and we watched lots of scary movies and ate yummy Halloween-y treats. This one is soooo good. It's an oreo-jello concoction, and is super addicting. I'm warning you. So once I made that up, we settled down for a marathon of the Scream Movies, and we watched Rose Red (a Stephen King-based show). I know, long night! But it was super fun. Yay for having reasons to celebrate! Hopefully November will bring us even more of them!


Xoxo

Um...we have a house...???

No, really!

I think I'm just saying it that way because I'm still in a bit of disbelief about the whole thing. After eight months of searching, to actually have an accepted offer (and for it to happen so quickly too), just seems surreal.

But yes! It's official! We have a house!

And not just any house. A beautiful, new, updated, move-in ready house. We love it. Love love LOVE it. And it has all these features that we had previously been looking for, but were never able to find. It's got cathedral ceilings in the front room...

...tons of decorative nooks, a huge kitchen, a sunken family room, a great yard for the puppies, and of course, room for my piano!  =]

It's 1700 square feet, three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, and was built in 1999. It was recently professionally painted and re-carpeted and had new fixtures put in.

We love that there's not one thing we need to do before we move in, but that there's room for us to do some upgrades later on if we so choose, like landscaping and such.

The contracts are in, I gave up the earnest money yesterday, and the home inspection is happening this morning. And we're closing by the end of the month. Meaning that, in less than four weeks, we'll be homeowners!

We can't believe the turn this has taken, but we're so excited! The house feels so comfy and just right for us, and we can't wait to move in!

Are we seriously doing this again?

Apparently.

But I really think it might work this time (they always say third time's a charm, right?).

Yes, we're house hunting again.

Yes, we tried this before. Twice. And it was not pleasant. It was stressful and confusing and hectic and it did not work. At all.

Yes, we love it here at our apartment. But when we got our paperwork about renewing our lease (which runs out next month - we signed a short-term lease to start with because we weren't expecting to stay), all of the prices were way higher than we anticipated. Which had me concerned. And who knows how high the prices will have risen a year from now when we'd have to renew again?

We talked, and we felt like, yes, there was a reason we felt so comfortable here...if we hadn't, we would've kept looking at houses that were 30 minutes from the school and way bigger than we actually needed (or even would want). Living in this apartment has taught us what we really need in a house, and given us time to 'sort out our priorities,' if you will.

So we did a little online looking over the weekend, found several houses we were interested in, and found a realtor. We went looking on Tuesday, found a house that was completely perfect for us, and decided we wanted to make an offer.

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(This break is to inform you that there was an actual break while I was writing this entry)
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Our realtor just called. Like, JUST called. We've got the offer in and, thanks to some research into the comps, we're at an even lower price than we were expecting. And the listing agent has said that he should be able to let us know by tomorrow afternoon.

WHAT?!

This is so crazy. We started housing hunting originally way back in March. That was almost eight months ago!

When we were in Iowa over the summer we would watch all of these house hunting shows and be jealous that people would seem to get their houses so quickly...why didn't it work that way for us?? We came down to Arizona and searched in April. We did more searching online over the summer when that didn't work out. When we were still getting nowhere, we moved to Phoenix early so we could do more hunting. Half of the houses we were interested in disappeared before we could even go look at them, and then the ones we did get to see and wanted to pursue took months to, eventually, just blow us off.

And now, it looks like in less than a week's time, we're going from finding a house online to having an accepted offer.

I don't know for sure what's going to happen. But I do know this feels really good. And exciting. And if, after all this, we really do get our offer accepted tomorrow, this is without a doubt how things are really supposed to be.

We're getting another (four-legged) baby!

Doesn't Chloe look like she'll be a great big sister? =]

Yes, it's true! We're getting another puppy! And it's happening pretty soon (I'm going to make you read my long story first, but there's a picture of the new little baby at the end. And yes, I know you're scrolling now anyway.)!

Ever since we first decided to get Chloe, we'd always been talking about eventually having two pups. I grew up with two dogs in the house, and I just thinks it's so nice for them. They have a playmate and they also have company around when we have to leave them (which, of course, makes me feel less guilty for leaving, too).

The difference, though, was that when I was young and we got our second dog (April), our first family pet (Cricket) was already about 8 years old. So even though they kept each other company, 8-year-old Cricket wasn't all that interested in playing with little miss April.

So Travis and I had always said we wanted to get our second pup when Chloe was still pretty young and active. We were originally thinking about when Chloe would be about 2 (which would still be another year or so from now). But the more we talked about it, and the more we saw Chloe get so excited over getting to play with other puppies, we decided to go ahead and start looking. We realized that, to us, it didn't really matter whether we got a puppy now or a year from now, but Chloe would be ready for and excited about a new little sister any time.

So we started talking about breeds and whatnot and did some exploring in stores around the area and online. We did our research, and we had it narrowed down to a few different mixes, and then we finally settled on a puggle (for those who don't know, that's a beagle-pug mix). Now mind you, I've never thought that pugs were that cute...well, they're cute in an ugly way, but I'm not really into that. Puggles, though...well, some of them still look an awful lot like a pug, but some are just super cute. So we decided we'd just have to find the right little girl. We know that puggles are great family dogs, very loving and sweet, but also super playful, and she'll be just about Chloe's size when she's full-grown, too, which is perfect.

So after exhausting all of our options in the area, we started looking online for breeders (that is, after all, how we found Chloe, and we ended up with the best puppy ever). Very quickly, we found a breeder with a litter of puggle pups that's actually on our route to Iowa (we're coming home in mid-November during Travis' break between quarters). We found the one we liked, and she's the cutest little thing, and she'll be ready to go right when we're coming through the area, so we're going to pick her up on the way, just like we did with Chloe when we visited Arizona in February. So we'll have her in less than a month!

We're so excited for Chloe to have a little sister, and to watch them get to know each other. We're actually glad that they'll be adjusting to each other in Iowa, not in our home first. We think it'll make the transition a little easier, and Chloe's less likely to be territorial (not that she's usually territorial anyway, but you never know).

We've been working on names for this little girl, and I think we've basically decided, but I'm not going to share until we're 100%. It shouldn't be too long. I'll be sure to post with updates on the newest little member of our family! =]

Isn't she a doll? We love that she's got the beagle coloring! Most puggles don't.

Casa de Katy!

I've finally got photos! Sorry it took me sooo long. I could give you lots of excuses, but I'll just give you pictures instead!

Our living room!

You'll find out very quickly that I don't like white walls. Everything has been painted!

I realized after I took all the photos that my camera lens was a little spotty...sorry! You still get some good pics though! =]

Another view of the front room!

Can you tell we like movies? We made those shelves ourselves. Fun!

Our dining nook!

It's a perfect fit for our table! The little french door to the left goes out to our balcony (which we get to use nightly now that the weather is getting nicer!), and the open door to the right goes into our bedroom.

A look into our kitchen!

For those who are trying to figure out angles, I was standing in front of the black futon (in the living room) to take this photo. The mirrors to the left caused some funny glares in the photo...sorry!

Our kitchen!

I like to think of the colors as sort of 'chili pepper,' but Travis wants them to be 'Jamba Juice.' We'd have to add some citrus-y oranges to make that work! The window looks out the front entry, and there's a beautiful leafy tree that I get to look at when I'm at the sink! =]

Our laundry room!

The little laundry room is off the kitchen. It's the perfect size for the laundry, plus our vacuum and tools. We put a small dresser in there that holds extra kitchen towels and the like. We're sooo glad to have our laundry actually in our apartment now! No more loading up the baskets and praying there are empty washers at the laudramat!

Our balcony!

We love sitting out here in the evening! It's so beautiful, and very quiet. It's starting to get nice enough now that we can use it during the day too! Chloe likes to stick her nose through those little holes in the patterned wall to see what she can get to.

Also on our balcony!

It's really a very roomy space, and very cute! Those little metal lizards on the ground to the left are going to be hung up on that wall. I love them!

Our bedroom!

Our comforter is actually reversible, but we love this pattern with the blue on the walls, so we haven't ever changed it!

Another bedroom view!

Behind the curtains is a sliding glass door that goes out to our balcony. It's nice for letting in the cool air, but we usually go out there from the front room instead.

One more look at the bedroom!

Behind that full-length mirror is our walk-in closet (!)! Yes, the mirror is a door. And I love the closet. Nice and roomy! You can also see into our attached bathroom in this photo as well. It's also nice and roomy. It has lots of counter space, and a nice tub-length standing shower with glass doors. Yay!

Our guest bath!

Yes, we have two bathrooms! It's sooo nice. Especially considering each one is at least twice the size of our only bathroom in our last apartment! You can see the shower curtain in the mirror there. This bathroom does have a full-size tub, so this is where Chloe gets her baths! =]

Our study!

The final room (but yes, there are a few more views)! That sofa is actually a sleeper, and it's way more comfortable than sleeper sofas used to be (yes, we've slept on it)! It's also super comfy just as a sofa, which is very nice as well. I spend a lot of time on this couch, because...

Our study yet again!

...this is where Travis spends most of his time! So I do a lot of work on the couch in here so we can at least see each other. Poor guy! He's working ridiculously hard. I'm so proud of him.

I also like to call this our Broadway room because of the decorations you see around the desk. Those are all either programs or photo books from plays we've actually been to. As we see more, we'll expand our decor!

The last view of our study!

Yes, behind that mirror is another closet. It's not as big as the one in our room, but it's still quite large. It works perfectly for storage.

You can also see the front hallway from here. The open door to the right is the guest bath, and way in the corner you can see the front door.

So that's our home! Hope you enjoyed the tour! We love it here. It's absolutely perfect for us!

Things that make me happy right now

• Looking outside and seeing palm trees.
  
  
• Looking around my apartment and knowing that we really, actually, truly are almost done moving in (and yes, I know I promised pictures - and I will post them eventually - I'm just waiting until it's totally done!).
  
  
• Buying my RENT tickets this morning.
  
  
• Seeing how excited my little puppy gets when one (or both) of us comes home to her.
  
  
• Knowing that mi madre will be coming for a visit in less than a week, and that we're going to have heaploads of fun.
  
  
• Having a husband that loves me, takes care of me, and has fun with me (...and puts up with me).
  
  
• Knowing that both Travis and I are happy to just sit around and talk or do silly things together.
  
  
• Knowing that we both enjoy doing the same silly things.
  
  (example: last night we actually took the time to make our own rankings all of the states in the order of which we would want to live, and then compared.
  
  For those that are curious, our top states are: Arizona, Washington, Virginia, Oregon, Ohio, New York, Nevada and Maryland.
  
  Rounding out the bottom are Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota and, of course, Wyoming)
  
  
• Getting pictures like this of Chandler in Korea. This is so cool.

• Eating up Brach's mellowcreme pumpkins that only come out in stores this time of year (this is both a good and bad thing for me).
  
  
• Using sites like this that give me great discounts on just about any online shopping. I can't tell you how much money this has saved me.
  
  
• Being able to still keep in touch with friends from all over even though I'm way far away (and not feeling like things are suddenly drastically different).
  
  
• Sharing a home with my family, and knowing that it's our favorite place to be.

And that's how it is.