Thursday, November 25, 2010

First official hunt!

Yesterday began my first day of Thanksgiving break - and it was wonderful. I woke up early because I went to bed super early - and didn't feel guilty about it at all:) So what if I didn't have to wake up early and still went to bed at 8:15 (which is earlier than I go to bed on a normal school night). I slept till 6:30 and felt fabulous! I have to say that it feels great making a pot of coffee in the morning and being able to enjoy it on your couch:) And it feels even GREATER when you can enjoy the coffee - on your couch - on a WEEKDAY! I swear coffee at home on a weekday tastes so much better than on a weekend:)

I was in contact with our realtor, Chris, the night before and we had set up an appointment to meet in the afternoon to view some condos that we had picked out via our online search. I wanted to check out all of the condos together so I could compare them that same day rather than trying to remember each detail of each one. I had 6 of them picked out and they were all in a great area - close to my school and close to downtown. The first one we went to was so cute and I loved it, but it was super small. The next one we went to was junky on the outside - I took 1 step inside and said "eh, I'm good" and we left. It felt worse than being in an apartment. The next one we went to we actually didn't go into - I spotted some people digging in the dumpster (so much for a great area!!) and the outside porch was smaller than my apartment porch. How could I fit a grill and patio set out on that?? Ugh!! The next one we went to was beautiful inside, but had a motel feel to the outside. It was hard to get to the actual condo and there was no other easier way - you had to walk up a flight of steps, then down a flight of steps to get reach the door. The condo had floor to ceiling windows along the entire back and looked out onto a park which was gorgeous. The actual kitchen though was about as wide and long as my arms length and the living room was on an angle and I just could not figure out how to arrange my furniture. The fifth condo I was excited about because it was almost 1600 sq ft which is so big for a condo! It was also in a cute neighborhood that had a "house" feel to it. Unfortunately... it was taken off the market so I couldn't go see it. The last one had an adorable walk-up entrance but the inside was super small and old. So out of 6 condos --- I chose 0! Since Derrick isn't here as often as me I am kind of doing the "dirty" work but checking out any/most places we like online and then if I like them then he will go back to see them when he comes back.

This was slightly depressing because of the great locations of the places, but the last thing I want is to feel like I still live in an apartment! Tomorrow we have picked out our top 7 houses in south Austin and I hope to find wonderful neighborhoods and maybe even a house (or 2.. or 3) that I want Derrick to see on Monday when he gets a chance to go look while I am at school! Fingers crossed:)

PS --- Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Weekend recap

On top of going to see Cirque du Soleil on Friday we had a jam packed weekend. Once we got back from Cirque du Soleil on Friday we changed and headed back out for sushi with one of Derrick's friends and girlfriend that were in from CA for a mini getaway. We then went out downtown for our first time together since moving here (so pathetic) and had a great time!

Saturday was crazy busy which proved exhausting also! First we did major grocery shopping for when my mom and Darrell come next weekend. We are making our first Thanksgiving dinner (not on Thanksgiving though... a couple days later) and also meals throughout the time they are here. Thursday-Sunday was Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republics big sale that they have twice a year and I hit it up on Thursday because I wanted to get there the first day to make sure they had my sizes but Derrick wanted to go so we went on Saturday. He then decided he wanted to get something "burnt orange" because we were planning on tailgating later on that day for the night UT game. While at the outlets we went into a cute TX apparel store and I found a super cute shirt that said I (heart) and then the hand symbol for the longhorns. I grabbed it and an adorable longhorn headband. We then proceeded to go all over town (about an hour and a half) to find what Derrick was looking for and all we could find was a shirt for $75. Totally not worth it. We get back to change for tailgating and I realize that in my excitement of finding this cute shirt I didn't look at the size - LARGE!! Ugh!! No time to return it and now my headband didn't match my other shirt because they weren't the same color orange. grrrr!! We headed off to tailgate and were pretty tired from all of the errands we ran during the day so the plan was tailgate, nap, then go out for round 2. Some friends from school were going out to a bar that I really wanted to go to and this would be perfect since we had time to nap in between.

We were a little better looking this time tailgating - at least we had the colors on:)

We had a great time tailgating (Derricks' cousins live in San Antonio but come down almost every home game to have a great tailgate) and then came back to nap. We both set our phone alarms for 2 hours later - 9:30. I wake up to Derrick on his phone texting and look at the clock.... 2:15 AM!! What the **BLEEP**!?!? How did this happen??? I vaguely remember saying to Derrick "your phone is ringing". He doesn't remember but he must've turned them both off and away we slept (they weren't on my side so not my fault!). We ended up going back to bed and waking up at 7:00.... sleeping for almost a full 12 hours.

We got up, cleaned, ran more errands, and had to meet our realtor, Chris, for the first time for a late lunch. We headed out to meet her which went great. She is a chatter box (eh... no room to talk) but she is definitely full of knowledge. We told her we didn't really have a specific location in mind so this upcoming Sunday she has blocked out her whole day to driving us around for what she said will be 6-7 hours and giving us a giant map to "x" off or circle - yay or nay - for the locations here. Shew... exhausting for sure! Once we were done meeting with her we took out the handy gps and some addresses of houses we had found and wanted to look into. Some of them were really nice and we really like them... others... well it's amazing what a picture can do because the house looked nothing like it in person!

Crazy busy weekend ---- welcome to the holidays and house searching:)

Monday, November 15, 2010

Vegas!!... scratch that

Derrick and I had a super eventful weekend full of fun activities! His birthday is right around the corner, November 29 to be exact, and we try to go on trips rather than buy each other things because we already have a lot of stuff and who doesn't love a good trip that you don't have to pay for!?! The past 2 birthdays Derrick has taken me to Cancun and Bimini. Both were amazing and I LOVED THEM! In case you forgot here was the GORGEOUS location of my 26 birthday to Bimini.

On top of the infinity pool
heading out into the beautiful crystal clear water

Gorgeous sunset view
Snorkeling:)

Unfortunately, it is much harder for us to go on a vacation for his birthday because it falls in November. I do not have have a 3 month break from teaching in November like we do in July and it also falls right in between to 2 pretty big holidays that I don't want to miss for school. But this year my friend Danielle messaged me over a month ago asking if we wanted to go to Vegas. I said sure!! Then I got to thinking and thought... heyyy Derrick loved Vegas! I'm going to surprise him for his birthday!! So we had it all planned out. Booked the hotel, we were looking into coupons for a nice dinner and going to see a show, and the best part of all - DERRICK GOT THE WHOLE WEEKEND OFF!! That never happens and/or works out when we need it to!

ugh! I had been monitoring the flights and they were looking wonderful for us all to fly stand by until about the week before ... they took a nose dive. They looked terrible. I had to make a decision because the hotel had to be canceled 4 days in advance. So, I canceled and told Derrick we were not going (ps... I cannot keep a secret and I got diarrhea of the mouth and told him a couple days before). Then we started looking up places we could go! I had already taken off and gotten a sub for Friday and he was off too so we figured the possibilities were endless! Cancun? Playa del Carmen? Costa Rica? Bahamas? ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh... allll bad flights! PEOPLE WHERE ARE YOU GOING RIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING!?!?! Stop hogging all the seats and let us people who don't pay for seats get on!!! I was starting to feel frustrated and sad. Poor Derrick plans these amazing vacations for me and I can't even pull together a 3 day vacation!?!

Then I decided to google Cirque du Soleil - Alegria. We both love seeing the shows and Derrick's favorite song/soundtrack is the Alegria one. Maybe by some miracle Alegria will be showing somewhere around us on that weekend.

O M G. It was! It was playing in Houston for 4 days only!! I booked the tickets for Friday afternoon, the 3:30 show, that way we still had the night to get back to Austin and meet up with his friend who was in town from San Jose. PERFECT!

My plan was to get up early on Friday, get my new TX drivers license, go get Derrick, drive to Houston together, grab lunch, then go see the show:) UGH! How many ughs can there be?!?! Derrick didn't set his alarm correctly so he missed the flight to get him into Austin on time. Instead I was just going to pick him up in Houston. I didn't bring enough supporting documents to get my license (you'd think after doing this for the 4th time I'd know the drill) so I couldn't even get it that day. It took me way longer to drive to Houston because my GPS is set to "avoid tolls" in Austin because I don't need to drive on a toll road when there is a free road right next to it that is just fine. Well... I wanted to ride the toll roads in Houston because Houston is a disgusting disaster and full of traffic if you're not on the toll roads. Welp... I sat in all of the nasty traffic because it didn't click to me that I forgot to change my settings until I was almost there!

Oh well! I picked him up -- we met up with one of his college friends and grabbed lunch, then headed to the show. Houston is a pretty city on a gorgeous day and I snapped a couple shots. Alegria was UH-MAZ-ING and if it is ever traveling around you I highly suggest you see it. There isn't a bad seat in the house and the clowns were hilarious. All in all it did work out for the best and we really enjoyed the entire day.

Whoo hooo - we were there:)

City view of Houston

Us getting ready to go in!

Magical - what an amazing word

There are so many things that can be called "magical" and it really does make that thing so much better! Disney World for example is called magical because it makes you feel like a kid again. A wedding can be called magical for is beauty or its memories made. At my school we have a forest that has old playground equipment in it and my class calls it "The Magic Forest" and because of its magical-ness it is such a special treat for us to go there and let our imaginations run wild. The reason why I love this word oh so much is because I was observed last week by my principal for the first time. Now many people get nervous about observations and think that they are unfair, but they have never really bothered me. I love showing off what my class is capable of doing and I love to hear back feed back on ideas or ways to improve. But I will say, being new this year has made me feel as though I have to really be on my A game at all times to prove myself. Although I know I am worthy of this amazing job I still want others to feel the same also. And... being observed by my principal really meant that I wanted her to see me at my best. If you have ever been in the teaching profession though, especially with ump-teen 5 and 6 year olds, planning can only get you so far.... then your real teaching will show. The students will hold nothing back and usually if something wants to go wrong, it will on observation day. I have an amazing class and they are beyond the hardest workers I have ever had. They love to learn, ask to do more, have amazing questions, and are eager to get to work. All of this showed during my observation and my real teaching as able to be seen. I was so happy and pleased with how they did but of course I wondered... did she like it? Was it what she expected or are my expectations too low?

After my observation she left me a card on my desk (well table... I actually don't have a desk in my classroom - ask any teacher - they never get used they just hold our junk). This is the card that was placed inside.


Upon reading that I was just filled with smiles inside and out. What an amazing feeling and amazing word to use to describe my classroom, our classroom. I smiled ear to ear and really feel that she could not have picked a better word to make someone feel all warm and gooey inside! So I guess I "proved" myself. And yet again, another hard days work at this place of work I like to call "Disney World".

Sunday, November 7, 2010

We got approved!!

The house process continues:) Derrick and I have been gathering our information for applying for a loan. He contacted a loan officer and on Thursday when I got home from school he said we were going to swing by and drop off my paperwork (his was all sent electronically - fancy pants). So we went to go drop it off, and low and behold an hour later we were approved:):) The process was super quick and the guy was so efficient, friendly, and full of answers (and I was full of questions) :). Since we knew what we were working with we began seeking out areas and communities. At first this was fun but once the real hunt began... well it's not as fun. It's overwhelming! There is way too much to look at, too big of a city with all of these outskirt areas, and it's just intense!

On Saturday after we went to the winery we went to a new housing development to see what it was all about and find out more about building. We went through 4 model homes, discussed pros and cons of each one, and then a spec house that was up for a great deal for immediate sale. We left and discussed the neighborhood on the way back. It was depressing for me because I like everything I see and I am an impulse buyer... if I like I go with it. I have patience in many aspect of my job so I guess I feel I do not need to be patient with anything else hahaha:) We spent 2 hours there and do not plan to buy there. Although the houses were wonderful, well in price range, and full of great amenities, we did not feel 100% secure with the area/neighborhood. And so the hunt continues.

We spent a lot of time today googling and searching on line (seriously... how did people buy a house before the internet?? It is so convenient to check distance, surrounding areas, grocery stores, everything!). We found a lot of great houses in the surrounding areas of Austin. We will more than likely not live with 10 mile radius of downtown Austin due to pricing but we can get a wonderful house on the outskirts. Also, since our lease isn't up until February we are able to deal with what Derrick says is a "slower process" of a foreclosure or a short sale house. This will definitely benefit us.

Derrick is calling a realtor recommended to us by the loan officer tomorrow. He says she is very efficient and hopefully she can take some of the overwhelming-ness off of our shoulders. That's their job right!?!

And so the hunt continues... patience Katie.. patience:)

Jeggings... the best excuse to be pregnant!

...I'm not pregnant just some thoughts on the hot new item this season...

Ahh jeggings... my new best friend! What are jeggings you ask!?!? ONLY THE GREATEST CREATION IN HISTORY!! Jeggings are the perfect combination between jeans and leggings. Jeans.... the go to, staple item in your closet. They go with everything - at one point it was even trendy to wear them under dresses! They go with all shoe types, all shirt types, all hair types, all seasons, and are built for every body type. And then you have leggings.... the most comfortable item in my closet next to loungepants!! They are now a staple in my closet because they go with so much and so many shoes and although they are not built for every body type they are a must for me!! Take your 2 favorite things and mash them together and you have JEGGINGS!!

Jeggings in my opinion are amazing. They make it fashionable to have an elastic waist jean! Who would've thunk this would have ever been okay?? They make it okay to not have back pockets on your jeans... yet again - who would've thunk it?!?! It's like they looked at little old ladies in their fake blue baggy elastic waisted jeans and thought... those look so comfy - how can we make them trendy? Ah ha! Make them in a better color and tighter!! LOVE YOU LITTLE OLD LADIES FOR THIS IDEA! ... ps ... am I the only person who thinks old people and has to say "little" in front of it although neither of my grandparents are "little" old people??

I called my sister then and repeated my new found theory.... that jeggings are giving every woman a new excuse to get pregnant! Of course, eventually maternity clothes are needed (I think?) but with elastic waisted, stretchy jeggings in season and in style you can go so much longer without having to buy new clothes to look trendy! They are MADE for pregnant woman! There are only 3 other instances in fashion history that I can think of that women could be pregnant and still wear normal sized clothes for a little while longer. Those 3 instances were babydoll dresses (not cool anymore), overalls (I wish they were still cool because I definitely rocked my Gap ones weekly in middle school), and maxi dresses (still cool but for how much longer?).

So to wrap this up... jeggings I love you. And although I know this style will not last forever, you will always be a #1 favorite in my heart <3

The Proposal

and no NOT MINE! Before you get overly excited this was not my proposal but still such a fun story to tell because Derrick and I got to be part of it!

On Wednesday afternoon I received a text from one of my college friends, Alex, who lives in Austin with my sorority sister Danielle. He was asking what we were up to this weekend, I told him nothing much but I was excited Derrick would be here and thought we should get together. He told me he was planning on PROPOSING to Danielle and wanted us to help out!! Um yes!!!! He was planning on taking her to this little winery out in hill country and then proposing there. He wanted us to take pictures and video it to have it as a memory and also to see if Danielle would want to go so she was thrown off track. So Mission #1 - get Danielle to go to the winery.

I texted Danielle asking her plans for the weekend and said someone at school had mentioned this little winery and I wasn't sure if they had heard of it or if they were interested (sneaky me... they had been there before but the less you act like you know the less questions people ask!) She agreed.... Mission #1 complete

Mission #2 - ride separately to the winery so we could leave immediately after so they could enjoy their engagement - I called Danielle on Friday asking the time she thought we should go and said that we had a ton of errands to run the morning so it would be best to ride separately - Mission #2 - complete

Mission #3 - what's our cue? Alex called on Saturday morning to discuss final details. Our cue was he had a picture of their dog Sebastian with the ring and a message saying "will you marry me?" on it. He was planning on dropping the picture, asking Danielle if it fell out of her purse (that's our cue) having her pick it up, read it, and he would be down on one knee. Mission #3 complete

We arrived at the winery a little before them and since we had never been there I took that opportunity to take some pictures. It was a gorgeous day - couldn't have been more perfect.
Riding through hill country -- beautiful!
Hanging out by the barrel that collects the rain
Walking through the vineyards - tadaaa:)
At Flat Creek Estates

Once they arrived we headed in for brunch. It was a little chilly in the restaurant so Danielle asked for Alex's coat. Mission #5 - get the ring out of the coat!! Alex said his coat was stuck and Derrick distracted Danielle by asking about the wine list while Alex put the ring in my purse. Mission #5 close... but complete

Mission #6 - close the purse! Alex put the ring in my purse but I didn't realize it! He started talking to me about his iphone and said "see these are how the pictures look on an iphone" - really he had written CLOSE YOUR PURSE on the iphone hahaha. Mission #6 complete

Mission #7 - get the ring out of my purse!! I walked by Derrick and quietly mumbled "get the ring out of my purse and give it back to Alex" while we were wandering around getting ready for the wine tasting. He took my purse to a table and was "looking for his phone" and got the ring out. Mission #7 complete.

About 15 minutes before the proposal:)

Mission #8 - proposal!! We finished up with the wine tasting and headed to the vineyards. We were supposed to trail behind so we could get the cameras ready. I was trying to fall behind and asked the dumbest questions about grapes hoping they would continue walking. Eventually they did. I saw the picture fall out of his pocket, he asked Danielle if she dropped it, she said no, I said yes it fell out of her pocket, she bent down and said "aww it's Sebastian.... are you shitting me!?!" - we had the cameras out and the rest is history:) There is now a future Mr. and Mrs. Glass and we got to be a part of it:):) Congratulations!!