31 January, 2009

a new place

We went and looked at a prospective townhouse for us to live in when I move over. They had originally told me we could put $500 down and have first dibs on one that came available when we were ready to move it. The $500 would then go towards our deposit. Today they told us they were having a special...The deposit/holding fee had been knocked down to $99! There was no reason we shouldn't do it. We really liked the place and if they don't have one by the time we're ready we can get the $99 back. The only way we'd lose it is if we changed our minds...and if for some reason we did, forfeiting $99 wouldn't be so bad.

It was maybe bad of us to look at this place first as it was 2 levels (3 if we get the one with a garage) which now sets the bar pretty high for any others we see. We LOVE the two floor layout, it's so nice, it's homey and it really breaks things up. It doesn't feel at all like apartment-living which is something we're both ready to move from.

We made a budget to see if we can reasonably (meaning not have to scrimp, still have money for extras AND put money into savings) afford the place (the ideal one with the garage is $1750/month-life is much more expensive over in Western Washington, whew!). We can if I can get a decent job. And really decent means $15 or more an hour which had better be possible with a masters degree in Seattle...But you never know in this economy. We also really need to sell Nathan's car. It's sucking money out of his pocket so badly. Once that is gone life will be much easier...It costs over $800 a month for the payment and insurance. It's for sale, 2006 Nissan 350Z, please buy it!

Looking at this place of course made us extremely excited for June to get here (actually we'd probably start moving in May 15 and then I'd officially be over after graduation June 13). 4 months and 13 days left to be exact...:) I've already got lots of ideas on how to decorate the new place. Nathan is claiming the second bedroom as his man room (t.v., computer games, Xbox, etc)...which is completely fine by me. We will put the futon in there so guests can stay over too. The sweet thing about this place is that it has 2.5 bathrooms. Each room has their own plus a powder room downstairs...this means Nathan can have his own man bathroom too! Glorious considering Alisha and I decided men cannot see their own messes, specificially from shaving their faces, and therefore believe the bathroom is clean when it is clearly not...so with this many bathrooms we really only need to keep one spotless for people to see, the rest can just be cleaned whenever...is that lazy? I call it practical.

29 January, 2009

lucky

Lately I've been thinking how head over heels I am for my boyfriend...my sweet, wonderful, hilarious, caring, adorable boy. It's not that I don't think this every day but sometimes it's even more obvious. I remember in past relationships that after the year mark things would change a little. We'd get comfortable and some of the butterflies and giddiness would wear off. This just doesn't seem to be happening for us...or better, we're getting the best of both worlds: extremely comfortable but still feeling like we just started dating. I love it and I love him. Maybe the reason I've never felt this before is because this is finally it and all those other relationships were great but none would compare to the one I have now. I'm such a lucky girl.

Scrappy (the dog) and I driving over to Nathan's tomorrow afternoon. I'm driving back Monday morning instead of Sunday because of the Superbowl. I'm leaving Scrappy there because the following weekend I am flying over with a plane ticket Nathan bought for me. And then he comes back over here the next weekend with Scrappy for Valentine's Day. Then we go 3 weeks without seeing each other...yuck.


We are looking at a couple apartments on Saturday. It's a little soon but I am beyond excited for this step in our lives so it tides me over to at least look. And if we really really fall in love with one we can pay a holding fee. A house would trump any apartment. We'd love to be able to have a yard, a place with no shared walls and a driveway. But I'm afraid that's going to be something we can only get right before our move-in date...they seem to go fast.


WE BOOKED OUR CRUISE YESTERDAY! It's official, we're going to Mexico for 7 days on March 14! I can't wait. I am so excited! It's only 44 days away! We even bought our plane tickets to Long Beach so it's all paid for except for a hotel in Long Beach the night before the ship leaves. Nathan wants us to pick one together so we'll do it this weekend as well. It actually was pretty reasonably priced. With Nathan's discount it was $751 each for a balcony room. And I discovered we could fly into Long Beach instead of Los Angeles and not only save money but be even closer to the port. So the plane tickets were $126 each, round trip. Nathan has insisted I don't need to worry about extra money for food and excursions and whatnot but I am going to do my best to save and bring as much as I can. I'm beyond excited for our first big trip together!
My friend and I bought Rosetta Stone to work on our Spanish. I am also SO excited about this, the timing is good and I have been wanting it forever. It's spendy but it'll be so worth it. I can't wait for it to get here. I'm interested to see what it's like. I feel pretty confident in my basic Spanish so I'm wondering how hard this will be. I could see it being really hard with no Spanish knowledge what-so-ever so I'm glad my high school classes and trips to Mexico and Peru have kept me sharp!


I have been really good about working out this week. AND walking the dog. I'm stoked to be getting back into it. It's great once I get to the gym, it's just convincing myself that YES, I do need to go. I'm going to be sure to bring workout stuff to Nathan's so I can go with him. He is doing SO well with his working out, he goes like 6 days a week. He is extremely motivated to work out and eat healthy. I love hearing him talk about it, he is all in. He's reading all these books about goal setting and whatnot. I'm so grateful because I want him around forever and that means getting healthy! Unfortunately I think I have to decide between Rosetta Stone and the bootcamp I was going to go to. I guess I already picked Rosetta Stone. I think I can keep up with my workout routine of 4 days a week plus walking the dog and that should at least do something for me. I just want to get toned and be healthy.


I need to get packed for this weekend and go to bed early so I'm awake for the drive!


15 January, 2009

foggy

There has been extremely dense fog in Spokane this whole week, especially near the airport. I keep checking flight statuses and nearly every one going out has been delayed or canceled recently. I'm so nervous for tomorrow when I'm supposed to be flying out at 5:40pm. I don't know what I'll do if the fog stays and there's no way I can fly. I really need to be there this weekend for our anniversary and at formal party at Wes's house. This is not a weekend I'm willing to miss! So I guess I'd bite the bullet and drive...and it'd be quite the trip considering I wouldn't know I couldn't fly until Friday night...and probably would leave to drive until Saturday morning..and then I'd have to come right back Monday morning/early afternoon. This is the whole point of flying: to make a fast trip out of a short time period. Ughhh. I have to say I have a feeling it won't lift because it's been like this all week, and before. Seems to be getting worse. The weather says the dense fog advsiory is in effect only until noon tomorrow. I'd be so happy if that were true.

I've been really wanting Rosetta Stone: Spanish for months now but haven't gotten it just because it's so expensive. Nathan tried to rip it off the internet for me but there's just too much to it. My friend Brittany just got it for French and says it amazing and she totally understands why it's $500. So now I'm feeling like I should just invest and do it. I just really can't get to a class at the college so I think this would be the best way to do it. I have 2 years of Spanish under my belt and 3 trips to Spanish-speaking countries where I was immersed in the language...so I know the basics and feel like I could easily use a tool like Rosetta Stone to lead myself through it. I should have asked for it for Christmas. I'm finding it on Ebay for a bit cheaper but I'm worried those ones won't come with everything. Oh! There's one that looks perfect for $350 with free shipping ending in an hour...I so want to get it right now.

13 January, 2009

real

This is going to sound really weird coming from me...But I don't know if I'm ready to graduate. I know, I'm the girl who makes daily announcements about how many days, hours, seconds there are until graduation, and have since day one. I have let my whole life depend on June 13, 2009 and have been impatiently waiting its impending arrival.

Today marks exactly 5 months until graduation...and all of a sudden the realization is hitting me. With graduation comes the real world. No more spring breaks, no more time off to study, no more financial aid to pad the lack of income...With it comes a real come in a new place and me becoming the new guy all over again, trying to learn new names, faces, policies and procedures, clients. I move to a new city, not just a new one but a huge one, I find my own around on my own, I get lost in new places, I learn new rules. I make new friends, new aquaintances, I tell my story, I introduce myself, all over again. I start fresh. It's good, it's bad, it's new, it's scary, it's exciting. I'm nervous.

There are two things making this the hardest:

1) New friends
2) My job

1) I have recently become really really good friends with some girls at school and I love them to death. This alway seems to happen to me, I find my closest friends right when we are nearing the end of our time together. I also have my best friend here, my roommate, who has been my friend since the beginning. Thankfully she'll be near Seattle too so we won't be far apart. But, we'll have both started our new lives, separate from one another. We won't come home to each other anymore, share meals in our kitchen, find a way to fill a huge 4 bedroom house with just the two of us or be able to see one another just by walking up or downstairs. That's a lot to let go of.

2) The biggie is really my job. I absolutely love working at and for SNAP and have met some wonderful people here. I love my clients, I love what SNAP does in the community and what it stands for, I love the people I work with and for, I even love my office with poop stains on the ceiling, lack of heat and broken file cabinets...I don't want to leave. And nearly every day someone says something like, "What are we going to do with you?" "We sure will miss you." "We'll make you stay." "You're not allowed to leave." These comments are so thoughtful and endearing but they just make it harder for me to know I have to say goodbye. I am hopeful I will find another place in Seattle that even comes close to comparing to SNAP but I am so nervous about the possibility of it not happening. I'm scared I'll have to settle for something else and I'll be disappointed knowing what I could have. I've been offered my current job and other jobs at SNAP and even today was told by a manager at SNAP that she'd be happy to find another position for me here.

I hate being the new person. I was welcomed with open arms into SNAP but it took a while to get settled and comfortable, as it does with any new position. When I got to that point I got so comfortable. I'm so at home at SNAP. I LOVE going to work everyday, I never dread it. Rarely will you hear me say, "I don't want to go to work" and if I do it's usually because I just want to get to Bellevue to see Nathan sooner. I have loved other jobs in the past so I know it's possible for it to happen again in my life...I just hope it can be now or I am going to have a hard time adjusting to my new life.

I am beyond excited to live with Nathan. Being with him trumps everything. I will love living with him and being with him whenever I want and being with new friends. But I don't want to wake up and dread 8 hours of work until I get back home with Nathan...and then dread weekends until I finally make some girl friends of my own. That part makes me nervous.

When my cousin graduated a few years ago, she was getting ready to do the same thing, pick up and move to Seattle and live with her boyfriend. I remember her crying through almost her entire graduation party. Now I know why. She was beyond nervous and had gotten comfortable in our home in Bozeman.

I know it's going to be good and it's going to be what I've been waiting years for...I'm so excited. I'm just getting nervous as reality sets in.

11 January, 2009

smitten

Nathan and I have promised ourselves (and each other) that we are indeed taking a vacation this year and not just any vacation, the cruise we've been talking about for months! We are planning to use tax refund money so we're a couple weeks from making it official...But it is nearly at that point! I'm so excited. I really would go anywhere by any method with him but I'm thinking this trip is going to be so awesome and relaxing and perfect for us. We're planning on 7 days in Mexico, leaving from Los Angeles. I. can't. wait.

Our one year anniversary is next weekend and Nathan has an entire day planned. Not that I ever do but if by some sheer stupidity and moment of weakness I thought Nathan didn't love me I sure would be wrong. We don't really need to make a whole day of it, I'm happy just in his company, but he has something up his sleeve that is sure to make me love him to pieces. I'm excited for the weekend to get here.

Our office is closed for MLK Day so I will take my paid holiday and stay in Bellevue, thank you very much. I have a one way ticket there and haven't solidified plans for my return yet...Probably going to ride back with my roommate who is driving over before me. Hopefully the pass stays open for us!

I want to work on homework today and finish it so I can pretend to be a good student who doesn't procrastinate. I'm trying really hard but it. just. isn't. happening. 5 months left and I'll never have to say homework again!

04 January, 2009

city life

For Nathan's friend Shaugn's birthday celebration we went out in Seattle last night. I guess I should say "our" friend because I think we're reaching that point...I go back and forth, feeling like I want to make my own friends and let Nathan do his own thing but then at the time I do really do love his friends and wouldn't mind them being my own. Nathan wants nothing more than for his friends to be mine which is a whole new thing for me...in the past my life and my boyfriend's life have been two seperate entities. I was never a huge fan but just kind of accepted that's how it'd be. I think that pretty much made up a good portion of my dating days so I'm just now getting used to this...and I like it.

Anyway, going out was fun, it was a good group of people and a good night. I'm learning to be a part of the city life. On Friday Nathan worked all day so I decided to go shopping. His apartment is right downtown so it makes more sense to walk to the mall than drive (and I still haven't learned to drive a stick...which his car is). Walking around downtown Bellevue sent me in and out of my comfort zone. Sometimes I feel like I could easily fit into the big city and sometimes I'm wandering around wishing for mountains and small towns. It'll just take time to get used to and I know I will forever be a Montana girl at heart. I'm just fine with that.

We were supposed to go on a cruise in September this year but decided to save our money and go later. Now we're 3 months from my spring break and I'm itching to plan a trip. It's hard though because we really should save extra money for moving expenses in June. And I would really like to upgrade our furniture at that point so it requires a little more cash on top of the cost of first month's rent, a deposit and a pet deposit. BUT I want so badly to go to Mexico with Nathan and just have a wonderful vacation in a sunny place, just the two of us. I also think my spring break would be the perfect time considering I'll be nearly finished with school, probably burnt out and, really it's my last spring break before I enter the working world. My hope is that we will vow to always take a spring break whether we're in school or not, whether or kids are or not...whatever, I just think that vacation is extremely important. But if that doesn't happen, this truly is the last big break.

So we'll see. We were thinking about using tax refund money so we'll see what we have. I had to have work done on my car again and my dad insisted on paying for it and letting me pay him back on my own time. I'd like to just pay him back completely as soon as possible so that money should probably go to that too. I hate being responsible!

I never wrote about Christmas...it was great, so much fun to have Nathan there and to spend time with our families. It was definitely a white Christmas and we got some skiing in, made lefse, ate lots of good food, relaxed and just had a really good time with everyone. I wish it could be Christmas forever!

01 January, 2009

happy new year!

Nathan and I failed New Year's. We went to dinner at the Tap House which was awesome. We took our time and had drinks at the bar (I had a key lime pie martini...complete with graham cracker crust: one of my favorite drinks!), ordered an appetizer, had bread and then finally our entrees. It was really good food and a fun atmosphere. We had a big comfy booth to just the two of us and we enjoyed ourselves for sure.

When we headed home we stopped to get champagne and dessert to be consumed in the new year...That's where we failed. We started watching movies on t.v. and realized we were both extremely tired. We'd both started the morning early and never took naps. Big mistake. By 11:00pm we were asleep and slept straight through 2009. We knew that going home would put us to sleep so that was our own choice. Truthfully I don't mind, the most important part was I ended last year and began this year with my best friend and love. Next year we will plan better and make it all night!

I've been looking around at apartments in downtown Bellevue whenever we're out. I go online and look at pictures and prices and add them to our list of possibilities. Things get pretty expensive here so I have to remind myself we shouldn't completely overindulge...BUT we definitely could get a cool funky place downtown and be happy with it. It's kind of nice to have 5 months to look because it gives us time to find what we truly want. I'm so excited for that 5 months to pass quickly!

I think life is going to drastically change when Nathan and I can finally live in the same city. Especially the same home! I'm excited for graduation to get here but I am kind of nervous about starting a new job. I love where I work right now and I'm coming to the sad realization that I have to leave...and might not find a place this good. I'm holding out hope though. Maybe if I start looking early enough for that too I can be a littler pickier and find the best fit.