Our home buying adventure

Our big news for October is that we are buying a house!

Well, we restarted the process last month and have spent the last few weeks looking at houses. It was starting to get really discouraging to see the state of the houses in our price range(we are also looking in a very specific area near freeways and where we'll be at school/work for the next few years). The houses were older then we had originally been looking for but we had also been looking in the Gilbert/Queen Creek area before with newer neighborhoods so we had to change our expectations a bit. Before we started looking, we made a lists of needs and wants. I'll admit I strayed from that and had to be brought back down to earth again and again so that I could realize that a pool/french doors/chicken coop in the backyard wasn't on the need list and didn't merit overlooking being out of our price range or adding 20 miles to our commute. And yes, looking back now I'm not sure what made me think I needed a chicken coop, I can barely take care of our dog much less a bunch of chickens. To be fair, it wasn't just me. Matt fell in love with a fireplace at one house. Then again, it was pretty cool.
We put in offers on three houses and one was finally accepted! We had the inspection yesterday and thankfully everything went well. We were told it is in very good shape for when it was built. We have to wait for the appraisal which can make or break this whole thing. And I'm learning I know absolutely nothing about home buying. This is like a crash course in real estate, mortgages, home warranties, etc. I keep waiting for something to happen so we can't get it. It's a very nerve wracking process.
If everything goes smoothly from here on out we may be closing by mid November. And, in classic overachiever fashion, I have decided to try to take on hosting our first holiday. That's right, we have a trip to Palm Springs planned for the week before we would be closing, and Thanksgiving the week after. Plus about three big projects on the house to get it guest ready in a week. What have I gotten myself into.
Thank you for listening to my rambling, its a scary but exciting part of our lives and God willing we'll get through it in one piece with our sanity still intact. I am definitely up for recommendations for any books or websites that help with the home buying/remodeling craziness. And any thoughts, prayers, and finger crossings are greatly appreciated.

I absolutely fail at blogging(Pic heavy finally)

Okay it's official. I can spend hours online facebooking and of course Pinterest takes up a small percentage of my life, yet I totally forget I have a blog until I'm reading friend's blogs and remember, oh yeah I haven't written anything in eight months. Granted, this year has flown by faster then any other I can remember. And I have had a job that has consumed me for the last seven months. Still, I will consider it my duty to do a better job at this, so prepare yourself for more ramblings and random pictures.
Let's catch up. Fair warning, this may be a very long post.

All the months before June 18th this year were filled with preparations for my great friend Lacey's wedding. A friend of hers and I planned a Bridal Shower for her a couple months before the wedding. It turned out pretty amazing(if I do say so myself).

The wedding was absolutely beautiful, Lacey was stunning and everything came together great. I am quite proud of my first wedding planning/maid of honor experience. Unfortunately she doesn't have her professional pictures back yet so this is the best I can do for now.

In June was also our 1st Anniversary. I can't believe even now that it went that quickly yet I feel like we've been married for years. We spent the weekend at the Montelucia and it was really just what we needed with all the chaos and excitement of the last few months. They gave us one of the best rooms, right next door to the room I had the night before our wedding. We spent the weekend by the pool, had a nice dinner at Prado, shopped at Scottsdale fashion square and had brunch at Olive & Ivy, and ate the top tier of our wedding cake(even though it was a little frozen still).

July we took a trip back East to see my grandparents and my family rented an old farmhouse on a lake. It was beautiful and definitely made me wish I could have an east coast house with a front porch and Adirondack chairs. Unfortunately the visit wasn't all positive, my grandpa was diagnosed with cancer over a year ago and has been in treatment for it since. It meant a lot to me that he was able to be at our wedding last year and it really was important to be able to spend more time with him while we were there.

Also in July I turned 23, no biggie. We went tubing on the Salt River. And I felt officially old because I was annoyed with everyone. I did get this little baby for my birthday, I am slowly learning how to use it:)

August was nothing too exciting, just a lot of work and projects. Like rainbow cake in a mason jar...didn't turn out exactly the way I hoped but probably because I went with the shorter jars because in my mind they were cuter, just maybe not as functional. Though they did come in handing yesterday when I made apple pie filling, much easier to store. Plus Haley was my helper on these and she loved all the colors even if they did look more like baked playdough or fishing tackle.

Also, I've been wanting to do this for awhile...Ideally I wanted to do this pattern on a wall. But since we are renting and cannot paint, I tried it out on three canvases. I have a great link with instructions that I can't quite find right now. I will post soon though(I promise). I love them! They are hanging in our kitchen and our future home will definitely have a whole wall like this.

September 11th, we went to the Healing Field at Tempe Town Lake. It was definitely sobering. I am glad we went, this is the history of our generation and I'm glad people have not become to desensitized to it yet.

I'll leave you with that, October is promising to be quite eventful but that will have to wait.

How is it already February?

Well the holidays came and went. January was one big bunch of busy. We just took the Christmas lights down this past weekend. Hooray for procrastination. Along the same lines, we still have a tree stand in the corner of our living room. It's been way too cold this week to start my project of organizing our storage shed so I have no where to put it yet. I have this dream of a simplified home with a place for everything. Maybe I need a bigger house. Or to organize, but I wasn't really born with that gene, much to the dismay of my mother growing up.

I'm very impatient for the Spring and Summer this year. Lots of showers and weddings for friends, our first anniversary, hopefully some trips too. Plus I hate cold and the past week has made me miserable. I need sunshine! I'm ready for warm weather and sitting by the pool with a cold drink. *sigh*

It's Finally Fall!

I don't have much creative thought at the moment. Too much going on(at least that's my excuse) and not enough exciting material to share. So here's an abridged version of the goings on of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis these last few weeks. Or at least what I've been meaning to blog about for awhile.

The entire month of October was a blur. My brother got married to my lovely new sister-in-law. And in a funny twist of fate giving her my maiden name(practically, off by one letter). She's amazing and I am so proud of my brother, I love them together. Here's some of my favorite pictures from their wedding weekend. I was using my brother's camera, becoming the unofficial photographer(who couldn't figure out the camera no less) but it made me REALLY want a new camera. Christmas maybe? *hint hint*

(Okay so apparently Photobucket is having issues tonight, I will try to post all the pictures again in the morning.)

Halloween came and went pretty quickly. I dressed up as a nurse and Matt(after much pleading) dress up in his football gear. Not really a costume but at least he looked the part. Halloween night we went to my parent's house for a potluck/trick or treating. And I will admit...this is the first year I haven't gone trick or treating. Yes, I have still gone out and gotten candy until this year. I guess I decided being married kind of discounted me from getting free candy finally. My baby sister has always loved me going with her to get candy so I don't feel too silly for doing it for 21 years. But this year I hung up my pillowcase and we passed out candy at my parents while everyone else went around the neighborhood. That's when I discovered the only thing better then getting free candy(with a few strange looks) is getting to sit out front comfortably handing out candy to cute little kiddies. Until... A certain little 12 year old kid came to the door. We gave him candy, and he says, "Hey I like your costume." Um thanks(me) "Do you wanna go out with me?" Uh, no. Awkward...

Not too much going on so far in November. But it has FINALLY cooled down a bit. I'm not holding my breath that it will last but somehow those fall scented candles(and scentsy) and my new Fall inspired decor(really just rearranged furniture, an entry rug, and new curtains) seem so much better when it actually feels/smells like Fall outside. Not to mention chai tea which never tastes as good cold and cupcake obsession taking a pumpkin theme. I really would share the recipe/pictures however the cupcakes didn't really make it much further then just being made. I'm pretty sure we ate the entire dozen in two days before we even got around to icing them. I guess that's a good thing, I'll have to make them again and actually attempt the frosting I was envisioning. It might be wonderful.

Well I hope you are all enjoying the cooler weather I will add pictures as soon as I can.

Oh and a quick shout out to my friend Lacey who just got engaged! I'm so happy for you two I can't wait for the wedding:D

Vote for me

Hey all, I'm trying to win a Trash the Dress/Rock the Dress photoshoot through Noyan Photography. If you have a minute, I would really appreciate if you would go to their Facebook page... http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/noyanphotography , "like" the page, then go to their photo album and comment a vote on my picture. I'm the one on the red couch.

Our wedding photographer was less then awesome so I would really love to be able to have pictures of me and my dress that I like.

Thanks in advance!

Review: Vine Expressions

First Review. You ready for this? I thought I'd start with one of our favorite dates in the area.
These are NOT my pictures, I still can't find my camera cord so I'm borrowing for now. I'll make a note on who took the pictures.

Vine Expressions is a small wine bar in Gilbert in civic center shopping just south of Warner on Gilbert Road. It's really quiet and rarely busy, the atmosphere is laid back and the people behind the bar are great and know a lot about wine.
Obviously they have a huge wine list for about $7 and up by the glass and their daily featured wines go for $5-$7. Half the place is the wine store, it's like functional decor and you can buy a bottle of wine and drink it there, take home a bottle of something you tried by the glass or just wander looking at the selection. For the non-wine drinkers there is good beer selection too. I couldn't tell you what else they have to drink because I don't usually get past the featured wines.

They also have great app plates and small meals. Or what they call "noshes". We like to sit at the bar or they have some tables and couches to relax in. There is always things going on mostly on weekdays like wine tastings for $10-$15 that includes 4 different wines and an appetizer plate and a discount on wines by the bottle.
There is live music some nights, but the good kind in the background, not the can't hear each other talk kind. Our favorite is Brian Willia, a great acoustic guitar player. All their upcoming events are on the website. http://www.vineexpressions.com/
But, by the way, they are closed Sunday and Monday, I've learned that the hard way and I don't enjoy driving up Gilbert Rd through downtown unless I absolutely have to. Happy hour is from 11AM-6PM with some discounts on wine by the glass but we don't usually get there until around 7 or 8 so not sure how crowded it gets.

Next amazing(?) post to look forward to...
My experience with Bountiful Baskets! Okay so this week I'm just splitting with one of the ladies from The Nest local boards so I can get some apples(apple pie anyone) but I'm looking into getting our own soon. It sounds like an awesome idea. Here's the website, more info about this whole BB thing next time.
http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/

P.S. Photo by Hilen Cruz and by the way I'm not liking the photo uploader on here.

Ah Kids.

My story for the week is thanks to the sweet charming little boys(sarcasm implied just a smidge) that I've started nannying. These two are hilarious and adorable and have so much energy it's crazy. The last two times I've seen them to interview/meet them they've been bouncing off the walls being typical little 5 and 7 year old boys trying to outdo one another and show off because I was there.

My actual first day of picking them up from school and watching them was Thursday. Everything was going great, I talked to their teachers and got them in my truck. I asked about their day at school and then the stories started coming about who did this and what this girl said, I'm trying to keep a straight face while they're telling me these stories so seriously. Then we pull up to a light and the 5 year old who is sitting right next to me says, "Hey look at my muscles!" and does the arm pose. I say wow look at those and do the same thing with my arm and say look at mine! He looks at my arm and points and says, "You need a Shakeweight!" Um, excuse me???
I can't stop laughing about it. This is why I love little kids, they say whatever is on their minds. And scares you at the same time because you know they are listening to everything other people are saying and commercials which can be even worse.

It's been a busy but good week. I got myself a handy dandy organizer(my mother is so proud) so hopefully I will be on top of everything and get all my projects done sooner then later. My immediate project is to clean my room(my mother didn't ever get through to me on that) and find my camera cord so I can post pictures of California and do my first review...cheap date nights in the East Valley!