It Is Official, We Own a HOME!!!

Man was this a stressful 48 hrs! I really didn't think we'd close on the house today but we did (finally) and we are officially the owners of our very first home! It's been a long process in the making but after over a year of looking, and several offers not making it we finally found one house that met ALL of our needs! We scheduled closing for today at 10am, but that didn't happen and there has been plenty of drama and hoop jumping in the past 48 hrs.

First we got a call at 8am on Wednesday saying the underwriter wouldn't allow closing to occur until the radon remediation was complete. We had planned on doing this after closing. Our realtor scurried to find a company to do it, and it was done. At 1pm on Wednesday we got a call saying the garage door needed to be repaired or we couldn't close. Well there are several electrical loops out in the house, including the garage. So the underwriter said either fix it or remove it. After many attempts at quick fixes my realtor called the loan processor and she got the underwriter on the line to clarify "removal." We had visions of removing the whole damn contraption! Luckily he was fine with just disconnecting, phew!

Thursday I felt like we were smooth sailing. Until around 4pm we kept getting calls saying the settlement company didn't have our loan documents yet. Long story short, closing kept getting pushed back, until we scheduled it for 1pm. At 1pm I show up, and still they were waiting on paperwork...but it arrived 5 min after I did! Phew! One and a half hours later, we are homeowners!

Pan Roasted Brussel Sprouts

I've been more and more intrigued by brussel sprouts. I've seen so many recipes lately and they look so good. Most are for roasting them in some manner. Then a few weeks ago I was at my friend Jenny's for girls night dinner and she made pan roasted veggies, including brussel sprouts. Oh lordy they were good and it just made me want more. I had to cut myself off from eating the veggies at girls night because I was starting to look like a piggy. I've been on the look out for good lookin sprouts at the grocery store but they've been looking sub-par. That is, until yesterday when I found a really lovely looking group of them and snatched them up! I found this recipe for pan roasted brussel sprouts. Not only is this recipe crazy easy, it's ridiculously delicious. I had to make dinner early and rush out the door to school the night I made these. I did eat a small dinner before I left and all I thought about during school were those sprouts! YUMMM, I was hoping Oscar hadn't eaten them all, but I wouldn't have blamed him if he had. So if you're a lover of the brussel sprouts try this recipe, if you're on the fence about the sprouts try them this way, and if you dislike the sprouts oh I urge you to give them one more chance!

First Hike of the Season

Sunday was really a beautiful day, so we ventured out to Sky Meadows park for one of our favorite hikes. The girls were really excited to get outside and run, and we were excited to do something not related to acquiring the new house (more to come on that). Sky Meadows is an amazing place, just really beautiful and picturesque. Luli was an excellent hiker this time, hiking almost the whole way, and that is pretty steep. She would run ahead and most of the time was at a more jog pace up the hill than a walk pace. Oscar basically ran down the hike with her! It was really adorable. Fiona did better than her last hike but still needed to get up on my back earlier than Luli. Hiking with 30 extra pounds on my back was fun, and a good work out for the legs. Thank goodness I've been doing weighted squats lately! We had a nice picnic, lots of picture taking, and a really fun time as a family. Oh and can I tell you how much I love these sunglasses on the girls!? Everyone on the hike loved them too, I think they're hilarious and very functional. If anyone needs a larger frame it's kids!



There were some really amazing pictures, so check out the album on the top left.

The girls in New York and Jenn alone at home!

This past weekend I experienced some things I haven't experienced in over four years, namely being alone! Oscar took the weekend to visit his parents with the girls and I stayed home for a job fair, some school work, cleaning and packing. I easily could have sat in front of the TV, well the old Jenn could have, now I get antsy sitting around and need something productive to do. While the girls and husband were off I wrote a paper (and several drafts of it), did a final project (which isn't due until the end of April), did some research for another project, cleaned my kitchen with bleach (because I can't use bleach when the kids are around) and generally got the house ready to be seen by Realtors and potential renters. I listened to a little music during the day but for the most part just enjoyed the sweet sweet sounds of quiet. The funny thing is that Saturday night I woke up several times thinking I heard one of the girls cry out, maybe they were in NY and I'm just that in tune with my kids (ha! or maybe).

Oh I guess you'd want to know what the girls and husband did. Oscar left right after gymnastics and arrived in NY in the afternoon. Fiona spiked a fever upon arrival and was a bit cranky for the rest of the evening. The next morning found them all feeling a bit better and ready to get their walk on in the garden. The girls love walking through Abuelita's giant garden, putting out corn for the deer, trying to spot some wildlife, and looking for other nature trinkets. Of course there was also the eating to partake in, Abuelita is always cooking when we're there and she makes some of the tastiest comforting food. I was definitely jealous! They returned late Sunday night with another feverish Fiona, who's still congested but mending.

If you know anyone interested in renting my house email me and I'll send you the listing. As you can imagine I'm not putting my address out there for the world to see.

Dinner with J, K, and Abhi

Last weekend we were invited for dinner at Jeanine, Keshav, and Abhi's new house. It's a beautiful home and we were so happy to share the evening with them. Abhi had a great time running around in circles with the girls. When he couldn't see them running, he thought they'd stopped and he'd get a little upset. Then he'd quickly see them coming and start running and laughing again. The girls had so much fun playing and staying up late. They keep asking when we can do it again. Enjoy the video of all the running.

Packing Helpers

The girls are very excited to help pack...or is it play in the boxes? hmmm

Cutting

The girls are fascinated with many different crafting things right now...painting (with brushes), collages, drawing, making books, and more. But the love for them right now is cutting! If they could cut things all day long they would. I learned a few weeks ago that Fiona needs an eye kept on her while cutting, she apparently gets bored with paper and moves on to other objects. In one morning I found her trying to cut her pant leg, her hair, and the slipcover of the couch. Needless to say my house has tiny bits of paper everywhere!