Remember That Time We Almost Sold Our House?

I guess when you post something like "Hey, we're selling our house!", you should probably follow it up with an update of some sort to let people (especially family) know what the heck is going on in your life.

Well, we had some open houses and after about a month on the market, we received an offer.  We were so sad/excited and couldn't believe it was actually happening and that we had to find a rental and start organizing and packing!  We found a larger rental in our same neighborhood which we planned to share with JB's brother, and were starting to get excited about our plans to move.

Only, the day they were supposed to come and do their inspections, we instead received an email from their agent that they wanted to cancel the contract.  Apparently this buyer wasn't old enough to make her own decisions and her parents came in and told her she was making a hasty decision and should keep looking....

Well then...

We got kind of discouraged, but kept in on the market and had a few more open houses.  A few people came back and looked at it, but still no offers.  During this time, JB got a promotion at work, and we had discussed just having his brother rent a room from us (since we were all going to rent a place together anyway), which would still allow us to be paying off some things and building our savings while avoiding the whole moving fiasco.  We were also able to re-finance the house and lower our payment a couple hundred dollars.

So, there you have it.  We're staying.

My BIL (and his trusty furry sidekick, Larry) will be moving in this weekend and before they do we have to relocate the office to the loft upstairs and clean out the attic.  Which basically all has to be done, like, yesterday.  Works out well that JB is working split shifts right now because it gives me a chance to be productive in the evenings instead of snuggling on the couch watching Dexter on Netflix (we are currently at the beginning of season 6, so don't ruin anything for me, kthanks).

I have a couple of other things to catch up on, so maybe I will be doing some blogging while JB is working in the evenings too.  :)

Until then...

For Sale

Yesterday I posted this picture on Instagram:

I have since posted a photo home tour and the flyer for the sale of our home on Facebook.  I have been flooded with texts, comments, and messages asking why we are selling and where we are going, so I thought I thought I would just take care of answering those questions here.

First, I would like to clarify that in no way are we selling because we HAVE TO.  We are not under financial strain.  In fact, our financial position is the best it's been since we moved into the home we built from the ground up.  Given the recent market history and the fact that a lot of people have had to short sale or foreclose their home, that's where people's minds automatically go.  Fortunately for us, that is not the case.

It just so happens that the market in our area right now is really good.  And since we have been in our home for just over 3.5 years with a low interest rate, we are in a position to increase our financial position even more by selling our home.  After all, equity is just money on paper...

This was by no means an easy decision, as we have been discussing it for quite a while now.  WE love, LOVE, love this house.  We watched this house go from a piece of paper, to a foundation, to our first home together.  We chose the color of the walls and cupboards, the size of the tile, selected the slab of granite for our counter tops.  JB proposed to me in this house.  We had our rehearsal dinner in this house.  My bridesmaids and I got ready on our wedding day in this house.  We learned how to live together here and make decisions for our future together here, which has led us to where we are now.  We have discussed our goals, plans, dreams, etc.  And in the end, taking all factors into consideration, this is a great opportunity for us prepare for whatever opportunities may come our way (professional, recreational, or otherwise).

There are some that may think that we are moving backwards in the social progression of marriage -> home -> babies -> retirement, but that is subjective, and JB and I don't feel that way.  We feel like we have the opportunity to reset and rediscover our passions and future plans.  Some people think that this amazing home we have now is never going to come around again.  But maybe something better will?

The other question I have been getting a lot is "Where are you going?".  We currently don't have any plans to leave the area as we are both still employed here, our families are here, and we love the community we live in.  Based on our research, we should be able to rent something suitable in the same area for $500-$800 less per month.  You read that right.  How do you deny that fact?  Lower rent, lower utilities, and debt free?

Sign. Me.Up.

Now we just need someone to buy the house....

Who Has Two Thumbs & A New J-O-B?

Circa Vegas 2006

THIS GIRL!!!!  Holla holla!!

I have been contacted by the same recruiter for different positions throughout the year, but I was content where I was and none of the positions were appealing to me and they were all farther from home.  My commute is already 45 minuites each way, so I was definitely going to be moving closer to home if I was going to leave my current position.

Let me just say that the company I work for is wonderful.  In every class I have taken for business or HR, my current company does everything they say you should do.  As an employee-owned firm, they go to great lengths to over-communicate and maintain transparency in their operations.  They have afforded me many development opportunities over the past 5 years, including paying for my masters degree and assisting my efforts to get SPHR certified.

Obviously there is a reason I entertained a meeting with the recruiter regarding this new position...

This was my second HR related job out of college and although I started as an HR Assistant, I was quickly promoted to the role of HR Manager (Go me!).  With the corporate office being in the middle of the country, I have been merely pushing down the processes and procedures as set forth from the mother ship.  I have not been able to gain much experience or really dive into the many facets of HR and have spent most of the last 5 years dealing with mainly administrative processes as they relate to HR and handling employee relations issues.  I have gained some great knowledge in these areas, but I feel that in order to become a well-rounded HR professional and be able to move forward in my career, I need to get this experience sooner than later.

This new position is still the role of HR Manager, but is for a much smaller company that has not had a separate HR Manager to this date.  They have had someone that wears many different hats, one of them being HR, but now that they are growing, they realize they need to put someone in place that can dive into all of these things and be strictly dedicated to HR.

That person is going to be me!!! 

I am so, so sad to be leaving behind the friends I have made over the past 5 years.  It has taken a long time to build some of these relationships and grow into my role here.  I am going to miss my work neighbors and work besties soooooooooooooooo much!  That being said, I am so excited for this next chapter in my life and career.  I will be hands on in all areas of HR Management and I will be closer to home!

Here's to 2013 and new beginnings!!

Show Me The Money!!

In case you haven't noticed, it's tax season.  I have been trying really hard to keep up with everyone's blogs, but working 70 yhours a week right now is not the business when it comes to blog reading/writing, as you may have noticed.  I posted one whole blog in January....

Anywhoooooo....

Hubs and I have been talking about all the things we might do with our tax refund this year, so I thought I might jot all of these ideas down and get your opinion.

The original plan:

We have quite a bit of credit card debt left over from the wedding and I need to get the 90,000 mile service done on my car, along with some new tires, so the plan was to get that taken care of and then put the rest toward the credit card debt.

Then...

Some friends of ours have a timeshare in Cabo and it's only $100/night that would be split among 3 couples ($33/night) for 8 days of tropical deliciousness in a 3 bed/3 bath beach front condo.  So we take the money for the car stuff and then the money for Cabo and then put the rest on the credit card.

But then...

I figured, we have been in our house for 2 years and still have nothing but dirt in our tiny backyard and our justification for not doing anything back there has been that we have no money.  How can we justify spending $2,000 on a trip to Cabo and not get the backyard done.  So....since the car service is a must in all of these scenarios, we take out that money and then get some estimates for the backyard and see what we can do back there with what we have and then put the rest on the credit card.  JB suggested maybe we just take a smaller trip for our anniversary to San Deigo for the World Fitness Convention in July.  I loved the idea, but when all was said and done, we would still be spending the same amount on that trip as we would be going to Cabo.  The upside was that next year JB can deduct the trip as a business expense because the expo offers continuing education units for some of his certifications.

We still haven't come to a conclusion on this.  The expo would be $500 for 3 days for him and almost $200 for me to go for one day.  I asked him to think about just picking the day he would most like to attend and then we both go that day.  Two one-day passes for the price of almost one three-day pass.  Luckily we can drive down there and we have friends we could stay with for free, so the only thing we would pay for is gas/food/expo.  Like I said, the jury is still out on this one.

Next up we have....

I am pretty set on the backyard idea and the car is a must.  The SD trip is up in the air, but one thing I know for certain, I really, really, really, really, really, really want an iPad.  For multiple reasons that are almost justifiable, but mostly that lately I have been in such a technology rut.  I love-love-loved my iPhone, but I gave it up because I couldn't get one through work and I couldn't afford the $100 monthly bill anymore.  Now I have a droid for work and I HATE it.  Nothing is easy to do from my phone, especially blogging/twitter/FB (plus it's a work phone, so I probably shouldn't be doing all of that from there anyway, LOL).  I know this sounds really trivial and I am almost embarrassed to be writing this for all of you to read (especially Sean), but it's so true.  So, I think when the iPad 3 comes out, I will just get a wireless-only 2, since they will be cheaper then.  We'll see. 

Then today...



Minus the DVDs and Treadmill

 I started thinking about our unfinished room upstairs that is attached to the loft and used as attic space right now.  We don't have much stuff to store so we could probably cut the storage space to only a quarter of the room, throw up some sheet rock/texture and throw down some rubber flooring, and turn that bad boy into a workout room.  Lucklily I am married to a personal trainer who knows how to design amazing workouts without any major equipment.  We would need some sandbags, kettle bells, a mounted TRX (or something similar) and a few other items and we would be good to go.  The room already has an AC register, so we don't have to worry about figuring out how to control the climate in there, and I know some pretty handy people who could help make this happen fairly easily.  This one is a definite possibility.

So, what do you think?  Which option would you go with?  Are you getting a refund this year?  Any big plans?  Wanna play 20 questions?