Stress!

I know the world goes on with little care for what is going on in my life and how stressed I am but I can't help feeling like I have been and will be stressed forever!

I am trying to breathe deeply but the little things are getting to me, probably because all the little things add up to a huge feeling of being overwhelmed.

I am ready to be done with moving. All I am thinking about these days is what we have to do today as far as paperwork or phone calls or emails to make sure everything goes perfect and we get closed on our new house on time. It seems like so many things could go wrong and a few things already have. I cannot wait until this is over and we are settled once and for all out here!

Right now we are still waiting on the underwriting decision to make sure we actually are approved for our loan. I'm not worried about being denied, but what I am worried about is the time frame. We close on February 14th and they just got our information yesterday and if it takes several days to review and then they come back saying some information is missing and we get any documents or whatever they need and send it back, it can take several more days to review. Going back and forth more than once means we can't close on time which can't happen or we will literally be homeless.

We are also trying to get everything finished up on our home back in Nebraska so that we can close on that house on time. Our new loan won't go through unless we close on our old house first. The list has been never ending on things we have to fix on our old house for Todd's company to buy it from us. We are so sick of that house and though I may have a few feelings of nostalgia seeing it one last time, mostly I just want to rid myself of it. It has been such a burden! Part of the reason is because after having 'owned' it for 5+ years, we are getting nothing out of it and actually are losing a little bit. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about since we have dumped so much money into that house and have nothing to show for it. We are convinced that won't happen to us with our new house. At least we are hoping!

We are going to Nebraska again this weekend to finish up the house stuff, but more importantly, to see our little baby! It has been two weeks and I miss him so much that it hurts! I have gotten really emotional the last few weeks without him, more so than the last time I didn't see him. It sucks not having a daycare here yet and not being settled. Otherwise, he would be here with us. We only get to see him for little more than a day but we are so excited! We are also going to bring some stuff back with us that the movers can't move so we don't have to worry about it later. We won't get back home tonight until about 3 am so we will be exhausted tomorrow but we will get through it.

The good news is, this crazy stress should be short lived. We close on our new house in just over two weeks and once our stuff is delivered to our new house, I am hoping we will be mostly settled and unpacked within another week after that. So all in all, about 4 more weeks of stress, with it tapering off towards three weeks from now. I am ready for a mental break.

Oh yeah, one more thing to add stress. I am studying for my series 53 test right now for my job. I have to pass the test on February 7th or I will have to take it again within a month. I have been trying to study for it but have been so busy and stressed that I haven't been doing a good job. I hope I pass the test. I would hate to have to tell my boss that I failed.

Here's to less stressful days!

30 by 30 revisited

So, more than a year ago I decided to make a list of 30 things I would like to do by age 30. I said at the time that I reserved the right to change any of these. My sister in law did a 40 by 40 project, but on hers, she just said she wanted to do 40 things that she hadn't done before but she didn't choose them in advance the way I am. I think both ways are fun to do but for me, I feel like it will help me stick to the list more and help me do things I really want to do.

Here are my newest items - 20-30. At the bottom, I will post my previous 19 items and if I have accomplished any of them.

20. Go to a pro football game.

21. Go to a pro basketball game.

22. Go to a pro hockey game.

23. Run a half marathon.

24. Pass my series 53 test.

25. Go back to college (as to when I finish, that is up in the air).

26. Get invisalign (have wanted this for years).

27. Hike a 14er (not to be confused with my general goal of going on a hiking trip).

28. Go to Las Vegas.

29. Have my home fully decorated (so I don't feel like there are any rooms unfinished).

30. Crochet something that looks good.


Here are my previous goals:


1. Get a tattoo.

2. Lose 30 pounds - On my way. I am down about 10 or 11 pounds. I actually did this last year but have gained some back - time to get back to it!

3. Scrapbook my son's first year of life - Doing ok on this, need to catch up though. Still need to finish this!

4. Go on a hiking trip. I think we will do this soon now that we live in Colorado!

5. Get family pictures taken - plan on doing this when Xander turns 1. Booo. I never did this but had scheduled this last fall but then we moved before our appointment. Soon.

6. Start playing piano again. Not yet, but want to buy a piano for our new house.

7. Start swimming again.

8. Do another scrapbook of some sort besides Xander's baby scrapbook - also working on this. I've started a few but need to finish these. I plan to once we move into our house.

9. Visit two states that I haven't been to yet.

10. Be able to run 3 miles without stopping. I got close back in 2009 but haven't gotten back into running for a while.

11. Read at least 25 of these novels.

12. Have my A1C level below 6.5 for 1 straight year.

13. Have our second child if we decide to have another. Probably not going to happen before 30 but who know!

14. Have at least one car that is paid off.

15. Travel overseas, preferably to France/Spain.

16. Have made at least one cake with fondant and be able to say it turned out well.

17. Win a photo hunt contest like this one. Just one picture needs to win for me to be happy!

18. Sew at least one article of clothing from scratch.

19. Have hair longer than my shoulder for once in the last 10 years! Yay!! I did this one - and recently chopped it all off!

A million things.....

Are going through my head right now. Like....

-My $12,000 plus hospital bill that I am still not sure if the insurance company paid on.

-The perfect storm that is closing on our house in Nebraska and closing on our house here in Colorado. The timing of it is just crazy - We literally have to close on the house back home the Friday before we close on our new house (on Monday). Crazy. Good thing we don't have to be back in Nebraska for the closing there!

-Moving our stuff and the timing of when the moving truck will come back home and when they will drop off here and how many days I will be sleeping on the floor in our new house until the bed is delivered. :) Maybe an air mattress purchase is in my future!

-Finding a daycare for the kiddo. I have looked at some online and will start making calls soon.

- Passing the series 53 for work. I have to take it on Friday, February 4th and I haven't been doing the best at studying it but will hit it soon. I must pass.

-Buying furniture for our new house. We don't need a lot but will need some stuff and don't know where to find good stuff out here.

-Losing weight. I have gained some back and hate it and know part of the gain is due to stress. Must.Do.Something.

-A baby. Todd and I go back and forth about whether we want another kid or not. I am pretty sure right now we are on 'no'. But that could change again.

-A bunch more random stuff that no one cares about.

The house

Here are the pictures of the house (from the listing). The link from my last post doesn't work anymore because the listing was removed but we got the pictures back! We will take more pictures once we move in but this gives just a taste of what the house looks like. The pictures looks very yellow but the colors are just very neutral so that is good. Here they are!

Is this the one?

I looked at a house tonight that I thought could be 'the one' here in Denver, but it wasn't because it is a short sale and there is no guarantee of when we could close on the house with a short sale. We have a limited amount of time and need a guarantee.

Anyway, of the ones we haved looked at, we think there is one we really want. This is it, but is it the one for us? Time will tell!

http://www.denverrealestate.com/property/8611434/2636_SOUTH_ENSENADA_WAY_AURORA_CO_80013

A house for Todd and Sarah

Since we just moved to the Denver area, we are looking for a house! We are living in corporate housing right now (an apartment) and are trying to find a house as soon as possible. We have found several we like but have only seen a few on the inside. We are going to look at more tomorrow night and more the following Monday. We are really hoping to have an offer in on a house within a couple of weeks so we can get our loan going and get moved sometime in February.

This is such a hard choice! We have to choose where it's best to live and how much we want to spend and what features we can't live without. This is tough! We bought our first house over 5 years ago and it was the only house we looked at inside! We fell in love and at that point it was more of a sellers market (versus a buyers market now) so we acted quick and put in an offer right away since we loved the house we saw. We are a lot smarter now than then. I was only 22 - what do you expect?? :)

Needless to say, I think we are a lot smarter now and know what we need and want in a house and won't settle. The super great thing now is, the interest rates are lower than when we last bought and the property taxes are much lower out here so we can get a house that is quite a bit more expensive out here for the same or a similar payment to what we were paying back home. That is awesome!

The biggest thing we are trying to decide right now is whether we want to spend a little more and have a house that is near perfect or spend less and have a lower payment for a house that needs some work (not a lot, just a few things like some paint). I go back and forth because in some ways, I don't want to have to do anything to the house for it to be ready but in some ways, I wouldn't mind having a house that needs a few things done and maybe an unfinished basement that we can personalize and also, once we repair or replace a few things, will have instant equity and have a much lower payment. So many decisions!!! So little time!!! Literally.

Wish us luck as we try to find a great home here in Denver!

January 7th

So here it is - a new year. I am not sure what to think or what to do. We are so busy with trying to find a new house and dealing with all of things that come along with moving to another state. The house thing (selling ours and buying a new one) is the most stressful part. I actually joked with Todd about letting him decide on a house for us because it is a huge decision that I don't know if I want to deal with.

I had some 'resolutions' in my head but have been disappointed in myself with them so far. I swear I have gained about 10-15 pounds back from the 30 I lost late last year. It sucks because it is hard to lose weight but oh so easy to gain it back. I refuse to gain it all back so I have to start doing something about it and soon!

I also have another test to study for for my job. I need to take it by the end of this month or early next month in case I don't pass it. That gives me enough time to take it again before my deadline is up to have it done. I have until mid-March but I just want to get it over with.

I have decided to be less boring this year and told my husband that we need to do some fun stuff this year, especially now that we live in a state with lots to do! I have a list of things I would like to try this year and it should be a lot of fun! I just have to get organized so we can do some of it!

I better get back to work. It is fun to blog but I have things to do. Until next time.....

New Year's Resolutions

I know that it is so cliche but I am going to go ahead and make a few. I am going to keep it pretty simple and not go overboard so I can stay realistic.

The two words I am going to focus on are 'blame' and 'commitment'

A famous quote says 'blame renders you powerless'. I need to quit blaming other people or other things when something goes wrong in my life. True, there are plenty of times that something is someone else's fault, but blaming someone else takes away my power to try and fix it. I need to take responsibility where I should and accept things that I can't change without getting so upset.

I used commitment as my other one because I need to fully commit to things instead of starting and stopping things and I should encourage my husband to do the same. I am pretty bad about starting a project or a workout routine or whatever it might be and not following all the way through. I don't feel I do this at my job because I know I can't, but I do this a lot in my personal life.

Hopefully this will be a great year for me and my family and for everyone else too!