Our "Almost" House

Jason and I have decided to make a bold, grown up move... literally. We decided to buy a house rather than continue renting. It was a pretty easy decision: we're both settled in good jobs and sick of paying so much money toward someone else's mortgage. 


Since our lease ended on September 30th, Jason and I accepted my grandpa's generous offer to live with him (rent free!) until we could find and close on a house. The downside was that our beloved pups have to live with my parents until we can move into a new place. But we're lucky that my parents are willing to take care of them during this transition. So we packed all the belongings we don't require on a daily or weekly basis into a POD and moved in with my grandpa. I've traded the luxury of walking to/from work for the luxury of sharing coffee and the newspaper with my grandpa over breakfast. He's quite a guy. 


Finding a home that was affordable, in decent condition, and well-located was not so easy. We've been looking for a solid 3 months and after four (yes, four!) rejected or outbid offers, we finally found and secured the perfect home for us. We call it our almost house, because it's almost ours. If all goes well, we'll close on the 26th. Here's a teaser picture...

Great curb appeal? Check!

Two-car garage? Check! 

Fully fenced yard? Check! 

And that's just the outside. 

I began daydreaming and making plans for the interior before the ink was dry on our accepted counteroffer. Today, I found this bowl and plate at Anthropologie (love the store. just can't bring myself to shell out that much money for anything in it) and am using it as inspiration for my "reading room." Yes, this house is large enough for Jason and I to each get rooms of our own to do whatever we like with. 

    

I'm thinking high gloss black walls above the existing white beadboard and bright floral print art on the walls. Love it! 

Tomorrow I'm dragging Jason to Home Depot to think through paint colors for our bedroom. I have waited 4 long years to paint walls and change door hardware. 

Send us happy thoughts and good energy that all goes well and we close on our "almost" home! 

Pupper Tuck

Tucker
1995-2010

Today, we said goodbye to our four-legged family member, the patriarch of the furry brood. We rescued Tucker from some bully dogs at a kennel when he was just a puppy. I remember looking out the window as my mom opened the car door and this little black and brown bundle of energy flopped out. I thought, "Oh god, what has that woman done now?" But of course I was excited to have a puppy. He was the best puppy. The best dog. My best friend. Tucker always listened. He never passed judgment. I could always count on him.

My siblings never knew a life without Tucker and my heart breaks for them as they endure this hard life lesson.

Tucker was my mom's shadow. He never left her side. And in the end, she was by his as he took his last breath and left us for the first and only time.

Goodbye, Pupper Tuck. I will miss you forever and love you always.

It's Getting Wild

The list of things I'm getting used to since moving to Park City has just been expanded to include the abundance and proximity of wildlife to where we live.

"Bigoo"

I have the good fortune of living walking distance (I'm talking a 1 1/2 minute walk) from where I work. I also have the good fortune of bringing Bigoo (Big+Goo= Bigoo, a.k.a. Lucy) to work with me.

On our way to work Friday, we came out onto the sidewalk to find a 2.5 foot long snake just chillin'. It was just laying there minding its own business.

I made a quick assessment:

No rattle. Check!

Not a black mamba. Check!

Round pupils. Check!

(Tangent: Round pupils indicate that a snake is not venomous. Whereas, elliptical pupils indicate that they are. Good information, but let's hope you never get close enough to a snake for this information to be useful.)

Now I'm not afraid of snakes, or many reptile species for that matter, but I was afraid of the possible altercation between my hyper-curious labrador and this wild creature. But this was not the snake's first rodeo. It didn't move an inch and Bigoo stepped right over it (literally) without a hint of interest or recognition that it was even there. I, on the other hand, respected its "personal space bubble" and walked 3-feet around it.

Great, now I have snake encounters on my way to work. But that doesn't compare to the phone call I got from Jason a couple hours later.

Our condo backs up to a wooded hill-y area that is undeveloped for many many acres. Every now and then, people take their own noise makers for walks around the back of our house so it's not uncommon for our puppers to go ape shit at the back door. Our other little noise maker, Inga, was doing just that at the screen door.

Ferocious guard dog

As Jason attempted to quiet our 20lb guard dog, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see a full-grown giant MOOSE (antlers and all) standing 30-feet outside our back door. Talk about an adrenaline rush.

He managed to snap off a photo before it meandered away. The photo mildly resembles those taken of Big Foot, but I swear that if you look close enough, you can see the outline of the moose in the background.

Forget the snake. I can handle a little garter snake. But a possible moose encounter is another story.

I'm not your sweetheart

I want to be taken seriously at work. Who doesn't? And when you're a woman working in a male-dominated industry, it's even more important to be respected.

Most of the women that work in construction are in support positions. They enter and pay bills, schedule employees for jobs, file, open the mail, etc. Many of them are also married to the owner of the company.

Now since I work for a pretty small outfit, I do complete all of these tasks (although I'm clearly not married to the owner of the company) but I do so much more than this. My title is operations manager (or COO, depending on the day) and my responsibilities extend beyond menial office tasks.

Which is why I was so insulted yesterday when a potential client called me a "sweetheart" after I was able to get something he needed. As in, "Thank you. You're such a sweetheart." Sweetheart? Sweetheart? If I were a man, would he have called me sweetheart? No. He would have said, "Thanks, man, you're awesome." Or "Thank you, sir. I appreciate it." It was a subconscious (I hope) way of him putting me in my place and it felt really demeaning. He may as well have just called me a little lady.

Did I say anything? No, of course not. For one, it happened so fast and then we hung up so I didn't really have a chance. And for two, I don't want to make a big deal out of something that he probably meant harmlessly. But maybe I'm just conditioned to resist causing contention and sticking up for myself. Maybe that's the "little lady" in me.

Has anyone ever said something demeaning to you at work? How did you respond/handle it?

Check, check, and check!

I just love productive Sundays. Don't you? Let's recap this wonderful day. (I know most of you are sensing a hint of sarcasm, but I'm being sincere. No, seriously.)

1. Slept in till 10:00 am.

2. Ate an incredible breakfast prepared by my incredible husband

3. Went skiing for several hours.

4. Took a 30 minute power nap while Jason caught up on the Masters. I am convinced that a golf tournament on in the background is the fastest way to fall asleep and provides the most sound slumber. Must be the inside voices used by the commentators.

5. Did our taxes. Pretty stoked about this. Thank you, Turbo Tax!

6. Made a tasty (technically vegan) dinner

7. Cleaned the house- including both bathrooms and some dusting action

8. Met some friends visiting from out-of-town for dessert

It has been a great day. Let's hope this week follows suit.

Mama needs a new bag of... cereal?

One of my favorite foodie/fitness/healthy lifestyle bloggers, Teri, is having a giveaway that I really want to win. So I am shamelessly using this post to earn two more entries into the contest. The prize you ask worthy of such valuable space? Why, Bob's Red Mill cereal products, of course!

I care about this product giveaway for a number of reasons. Let me list them (in no particular order):

1. I bake with Bob's Red Mill Flaxseed (my whole wheat flaxseed baked bread is the stuff of dreams)

2. They make wholesome, (moderately priced) natural food

3. I like to win stuff

You should enter, too. I'm not easily intimidated so bring on the competition!

25% of my life with 100% Devotion

Today marks mine and Jason's six year anniversary. Let's do the math: I am 24 years old. I have been with Jason for 6 years. Therefore, I have spent 25% of my life being Jason's significant other (girlfriend, fiance, wife). I find it to be pretty remarkable that two people who met at such a young age have been able to weather the storms that come with becoming an adult and growing together rather than growing apart.

I love you, Jason. Thank you for loving and accepting me despite all my quirks, flaws, and craziness. It's been one hell of a ride thus far and I am excited to see what our future holds.

xoxo,

Jessica

Sundance Fundance?

Living in a resort town comes with an expected flow of foreigners (i.e, anyone not from Utah) but the barrage was heightened ten fold in the last two weeks with the Sundance Film Festival. I had participated in this wondrous event when I lived in the Salt Lake valley. I saw Smart People with Dennis Quaid and SJP before it came out in mainstream theaters. I saw a documentary about the making of an opera about the making of the A-bomb and Oppenheimer's life (surprisingly interesting). I attended free concerts on Main street and reveled in seeing Adrian Grenier from Entourage walking down the street. I instantly became star struck and only stopped shrieking long enough to babble incoherently to my friend who had not noticed him walk by. Honestly, how can you not notice someone who looks like this, famous or not?

Anyway, since moving to Park City my Sundance experience drastically changed. I expected it to be two weeks of nonstop fun and excitement cruising Main street in hopes of spotting someone famous; seeing movies that may one day hit mainstream theaters or just make me feel more cultured; finding our way into industry-only parties. Boy was I mistaken!

My daily ritual mail run became nearly impossible because of the insane amount of traffic and overpriced parking spots that were few and far between. They were seriously charging $20 to park in a city owned lot that I had parked free in the day before the festival started. Unbelievable.

Getting anywhere or doing anything was both outrageously expensive and time consuming. We did go out a few nights to Cisero's on Main street because a friend is staying with us while bartending there. We were able to participate in Sundance without having to shell out too much for it. Thank you, Steve!

And instead of seeing three or four movies over the course of 10 days like the years before, I only saw one and it's because a friend had an extra ticket. I just couldn't justify the time, money and effort it would take to get to the theater and deal with the crowds. (I really hate crowds)

I did see some recognizable people, however. I won't call them famous because two are reality TV stars and one is someone you would know but not likely be able to name. I saw Gretchen and Slade from the Real Housewives of Orange County at Smiths last week. It was really bizarre. I had just watched the most recent episode of RHOC the night before and then there they were walking down the aisle toward the deli. (She looks better on TV and he is really tall)

The other guy I saw is named Danny Trejo and usually looks like this in movies:

He looked a little nicer in person, but not much. There were no smiles for those he granted photo ops.

I also heard that Chace Crawford from Gossip Girl had been at a party we stumbled upon around 2am earlier that night. Of all the movies at Sundance, his was the one I wanted to see the most. But I didn't think my better half would enjoy 90 minutes of me drooling at the screen. Hey, I may be married but I'm not blind.

But now that Sundance is winding down, we locals can return to our normal routines. I can get the mail in under an hour for free and with less road rage. We can get into bars where they conveniently remember our names now that they can't charge a $25 cover. And I can start planning my vacation to a warmer climate in time for next year's film festival.

PH 3

I am grasping at straws for something to do today for Project Happiness. Isn't it sad that we have to seriously contemplate ways to bring us good feelings? I'm going to the gym again but I don't want to count that two days in a row. Hmmm... Maybe I'll give myself that long overdue pedicure while watching Bill & Giuliana (love that show!) or go to bed early for once. By the way, I am open to ideas. Also, I'm curious what you think of the new look and domain name. Better, right?

PH 2

If you read my previous post, you know that I am participating in Project Happiness which is simply a conscious effort to bring more happiness into your life- even in small ways.

So for my second day I decided that the best way to bring myself happiness was by doing something for someone else. My friend and co-worker had knee surgery yesterday after a skiing accident and will be laid up for the next week or so. I knew that her family would be scrambling to care for her and take care of themselves, so I tried my hand at a lasagna recipe I found online and brought them dinner. It made me feel good to do something nice for someone who always takes the time to listen and help me no matter what.

Tonight my bit of happiness will be found at the gym. Bring on the endorphin induced euphoria! I especially enjoy going to the gym with my better half. He promised to wear this t-shirt if I buy it for him:

Pretty sweet, right!? He'll look this good wearing it, too.

Have you joined Project Happiness yet?

Project Happiness

I was recently blog surfing and stumbled upon this wonderful thing started by Tamara. It's called Project Happiness. Go here to read more about what she and others are doing to bring more happiness into their lives.

Since everyone could use a little more cheer, myself included, I have decided to join in. This evening I am going to take a candlelit bubble bath, read a book, and drink a cold one.

What will you do to bring some happiness into your day?

Hungry

Every once in a while my biological clock rings prematurely and I get baby hungry. It starts beeping when I see girls I went to school with having babies and I start to wonder if this is what I'm supposed to be doing right now, too. But then I push snooze and remember that they have always been light years ahead of me in checking off big life landmarks (i.e. getting married, buying a house, having a baby, etc.).

Sometimes I wish I could fast forward to the point in our lives when we're ready to make the decision to have a baby. It seems so far away. But if I were able to do that, then I'd miss all the great things we get to do in the mean time. Jason will finish school, I will earn a masters, we will have a house and have traveled and experienced life as a duo rather than a trio.

The other day I told Jason I couldn't wait to meet Caleb. Just saying it out loud made me tear up because it's true. I'm really excited to meet him, but in due time.

This is our nephew, Brayden. I fully expect my future child/children to look a lot like this- blonde hair, blue eyes and super adorable.

And P.S., Caleb is the name of our future son and I have officially put dibs on that name since many of my cousins have started reproducing already. (I may be the oldest cousin on both sides, but there are a lot of girls in my family that have reached the age when you can get married and knock out some kids)

I'm Committed

As many of you know, I fell in love with rock climbing this summer and spent a good chunk of time at the crag or the bouldering gym. Since moving to Park City I haven't been to The Front and it breaks my heart. I decided that the $70 monthly membership wasn't worth it considering all of my climbing was purely imaginative. So I cancelled it. Gasp!

However, we joined the local rec center today and it felt really good to log some time on the treadmill and pump some iron. I even engaged our roommate in a pull-up contest. (He beat me but only by a few)

I am now resolved to get into amazing shape for climbing so that I am ready to hit the rock running when the weather allows. Here's how I plan to do it:

1. Find and follow a work out plan geared for climbers' needs

2. Recruit a workout buddy to keep me focused (my roommate is a gym rat, which may prove helpful)

3. Frequent trips to Momentum will keep my eyes on the prize

4. A late spring climbing trip somewhere warm (and dry) will be my reward for sticking it out

5. Sending a 5.10d (the hardest I've climbed is a 5.10c) or higher will be my ultimate test and provide the greatest reward for my hard work.

If anyone has a handle on a good climbers workout, please send it my way. I've looked online but I need a step-by-step guide, preferably with pictures and a schedule.