life n'stuff || haüs

On August 1st, the day after my 26th birthday, we closed on our house, and said goodbye to our apartment! Haven't put up lights at the house yet, but I loved this set-up in the apartment bedroom! Be warned: the house looks like a tornado came through in these photos. Don't say I didn't warn you! The living room, as seen from the top of the stairs. Sweet-ass fireplace! SO looking forward to winter, hahah Open kitchen! Beautiful counters, although it could definitely use a few more of them! Smaller upstairs bedroom Larger upstairs bedroom Larger upstairs bedroom (look at those shelves/ledges! These will be catified eventually) Master bedroom, and another ledge to be catified!
The cats were a little upset at first. Katie was (cautiously) exploring within an hour, but Phoebe hid behind the washing machine and yowled like she was being murdered off and on for a few days. Fortunately, she warmed up to the place a bit more once she discovered this ledge overlooking the living room! I keep catching this cat carving out of the corner of my eye and thinking for a split second it's our new furbaby (who will get his own post soon!). I think I need to find somewhere else to put it, hahah. We keep discovering little things wrong, like ceiling fans and outlets not working, but hey, that's life! Homeowners, did you discover any "surprises" when you first moved in? Also, can you spot the new kitty? He's in two of the photos, but I'm not telling which ones (;
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life n'stuff || houses, lay-offs, and rollercoaster rides

A lot has happened recently. For one, Josh and I are now homeowners! We are absolutely in love with our new home, as are the kitties. I will definitely be posting more photos soon! Not today, though. This post is about life changes, yo. Before we had even made our first mortgage payment, I was part of a series of lay-offs. The first day was pretty rough, emotionally, but I am lucky to have incredibly supportive friends; I had people reaching out to me about openings at their company almost immediately. I was officially unemployed for a grand total of nine days. Nine days! In this economy, that is nothing short of a miracle, and I am beyond grateful.

My last two jobs, spanning about four years, were in software quality assurance. I enjoyed my time in QA, but honestly, I'd been dreaming of a change. In my first few days of unemployment, I told Josh that I wanted to be able to look back and say that getting laid off was a positive thing- and now I can! I got a job as a marketing assistant with the first company I did QA work for. The duties are demanding in a way that's new to me, but I'm loving every second of it! The great part is, I already know half the people at the company! The first week or so, I was constantly running into someone who recognized me and was confused about why I was there, hahah.

At my previous job, I had a company-owned laptop that I basically used as my personal computer, since my desktop died a year ago or so. I did all my (admittedly rare) blogging from that laptop, yet another reason for the lack of updates. I'd love to fix up my desktop (and I know I can, it's just one of those things that I'll get around to "eventually"), and I think I'm going to have to, since a laptop is just not in the budget. Until then, I'll likely be blogging from Josh's computer.

I don't know what happened to my background image. IIRC, it used to be large enough that it didn't need to tile, but now it's tiling... and awfully, at that. I'll work on getting that fixed.

That's about it! New house, got laid off, got a new job... hold on. I knew I forgot something. After "new house" but before "laid off", we may have acquired a new kitty. Maybe. Perhaps he will show up on the blog soon. Who knows? (:

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life n'stuff || houses and surveys

Things have been a little hectic around here lately! Work selfie! I bought that toy Mustang so I could have accurate reference material when searching for a nail polish that matches my car /dweeb
Josh and I have been searching for a house. We've been all over north Deef (aka DFW, aka Dallas-Fort Worth) looking at properties, but this past Saturday, we stepped into a house that we instantly knew we had to have. We cancelled the rest of our appointments and immediately made an offer... which was accepted yesterday!

As excited as I am, I know there are still many, many things that could go wrong, hence why I'm not posting any pics of the house... although I reeeeally want to, hahah. Our inspection is today, our option period ends Tuesday, and if all goes well, we'll close on July 30th- a day before my 26th birthday!

Even if this falls through, we still have to close on a house by the time our lease goes up at the end of August, which is the only reason I feel comfortable enough to share this when it's still up in the air. And since this entry is pretty short, I'm going to do something I haven't done since my LJ days: a survey! I've always loved answering questions, as odd/vague as that is.

1. Are you a very open or private person?
Open! I wear my heart on my sleeve and am definitely a talker. Obviously I do have some secrets, but for the most part I'm an open book!
2. What is your favourite Christmas movie?
Nightmare Before Christmas (so original, I know). I'm actually not super fond of some of Tim Burton's newer stuff, but I have been singing along with with the songs to this since it came out when I was five. It's a family tradition I'm more than happy to carry on! On a related note, I found out in high school that the composer, Danny Elfman, also did Jack's singing voice... which led to me learning about his (now disbanded) band, Oingo Boingo! They are officially my favourite band of all time- "drink to bones that turn to dust" is a line from one of their songs.
3. When did you stop believing in Santa?
When my older brother and I snuck into my parents' closet and found presents labelled "from Santa". Noticed around the same time that Santa always uses the same wrapping paper as us, hahah.
4. What do you get complimented on the most?
My hair! It's actually not in the best condition- I absolutely fried my hair with bleach, and I'm slowly growing it out- but it's still colourful, and you wouldn't believe how many comments I get from strangers! (or maybe you do, idk lol)
5. How are you feeling right now?
Pretty good, actually. My neck's a little sore because Josh and I had some drinks for Canada Day yesterday, and then my favourite Every Time I Die song came on so I miiiiight have done some intense headbanging for a bit, hahah
6. If money was no object, where would you move to?
I honestly don't know! I can think of a few dozen countries off the top of my head. I don't buy lottery tickets so I guess I don't think about it that often, hahah. Somewhere tropical would be nice!
7. Who was the last person to make you cry?
Our realtor, when she said our offer was accepted! ...Probably. I'm a crier; I probably cry more than anyone else you know, no jokes.
8. Did you make any resolutions for this year? What were they?
Kind of, but not really? My resolution was that I want to stop making new year's resolutions and just work on my goals whenever appropriate.
9. Is there a song which can bring you to tears instantly?
Waaaaay more than one, hahah.
"American Pie"- not just because of the song itself, but because every time I listen to it, I remember this video the people of Grand Rapids made to show how much they love their city! I am not even joking when I say I'm getting a little misty-eyed right this second just typing about it.
John Legend - "All of Me"
A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera - "Say Something" (only with Christina, tho- the solo version just doesn't do it for me!)
Weezer - "Butterfly"
I'm sure I have more but that's all that comes to mind right now.
10. Who was the last person you talked about sex with?
Possibly my bestie Shannon, but probably Josh, my boyfriend of ~2.5 years.
11. How did you bring in the New Year?
Pretty sure we stayed in and watched something on Netflix, because we're homebodies hahah. Josh might have been drinking, but I was on meds that weakened my liver at the time.
12. Have you ever online dated?
Nope. Certainly not judging anyone who does, though.
13. Post a screen shot of your Twitter “Interactions” page. Nope.
14. Click on the messages tab on Facebook, post a screen shot (erase surnames for safety). Nope.
15. Post a screenshot of your tumblr activity page. Nope.
16. Do you believe in soul mates?
No, actually. Josh and I agree that we're incredibly lucky to have found each other, and to be as compatible as we are (we're not perfect, obviously, but who is?). I don't doubt that there are other people out there that would be just as compatible with me or Josh; I just think it's difficult to find.
17. Do you play video games?
I'll say! Our family got a NES when I was 2 and it was all downhill from there. My first and sixth jobs were at a Gamestop (the same Gamestop, actually), and I actually worked as a tester for a video game company for two and a half years (and a day... exactly.) Josh and I collect older consoles and games, too.
18. What age do people usually mistake you for?
I get mistaken for a high schooler a lot. I think it's my round face, but who knows?
19. What or whom do you miss right now?
A lot of things/people! I miss my bestie Jennie who lives in Canada and is currently on vacation in Slovakia. I miss my bestie Niesho who doesn't live too far away, but has two jobs, school, and a six-year-old to juggle. I miss my boyfriend Josh, which sounds silly because I saw him this morning, I will see him when I get home, and we talk throughout the day online anyway, but for a while we spent close to 100% of our time together, because I used to sit right next to him at my previous job. I miss my parents, who are helping out a ton with this real estate venture, but are communicating by email and text because they're in Florida right now. I miss drinking multiple cans of pop a day, to be honest, but both my dentist and my doctor told me I need to cut that shit out, hahah. I miss Nanaimo bars, Passion Flakies, Nielson macaroons and rosebuds, Cadbury orange chocolate Dairy Milk, Kinder Surprises, Mezzo Mix, and all the other tasty foreign goodies I can't get around here. I miss not having to work and worry about finances.
20. What perfume do you wear?
I have a couple dozen sample sizes of various perfumes, and on the rare occasion we go out, I sometimes remember to grab one at random and spritz a bit on. That said, I'm keeping an eye out for two Katy Perry fragrances on clearance - Purr and Meow. I have literally no idea what they smell like but I need them, because have you seen these things?? Anyone else trying to buy a house? What a stressful process!
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