The Admiral

After Kevin (my fiance) and I had been living together for a while, we decided that we wanted to get a dog.  We both grew up with dogs and it was weird not having one.  His mom has a Goldendoodle that had already had two litters of puppies, so we decided when she had the next litter, we were going to keep one.  We knew we wanted a male dog so Kevin picked out the name "The Admiral."  I thought he was joking.  He wasn't.  We usually just call him Admiral, or Ad for short.  And the name totally fits him now :)  I can't believe how much I love this dog.  I honestly feel like he is my furry, four-legged child!

Here are some pics of him over the past year and a half.

Here he was just a couple weeks old:

The day we got to bring him home.  We stopped by my parents so he could meet their dog, Levi:

He was just the cutest puppy:

We liked to dress him up:

He is not too fond of bath time at home:

After his first "real" bath and haircut:

I just love his adorable face :)

This is the most recent picture of him from a few weeks ago after a bath and hair cut:

Like I said, I love this dog :)  You'l definitely be hearing more about him and seeing more pictures of him!

House Hunting

In January, my fiance and I decided we wanted to start looking for a house (we weren't engaged at this point).  We were sick of renting and wanted something more permanent and something that was our own.  Our lease on our apartment was ending at the end of April, so we figured since it was a "buyers market" we'd have no problem finding a house before our lease ended.  Boy were we wrong.

We put an offer in on a house in March, but did not get it.  The day I found out that we didn't get the house was the day that Kevin proposed; March 12, 2012.  It turned out to be a great day after all <3

When April rolled around and we hadn't found a house yet, we started discussing our options.  Our apartment complex was raising our rent plus we had to pay more to sign a short-term lease.  So we decided that we were not going to renew our lease and we would move back in with our parents until we found a house.  Then we would be able to save some money by living at home.  Little did I know it would be four months after moving back in with my parents before we found a house.  Let me tell you, after living on your own, moving back home is VERY difficult.

Shortly after we moved back in with our parents, we found another house that we put an offer on, but we were out bid on it.  Another bummer.  The search continued.  

One day we were out with our realtor, looking at some houses, and he told us that he had just met with a couple that wanted to sell their house, and he thought their house was something we might like.  It hadn't been listed yet, but he called them and asked if we could stop over and see it since we were in the area.  After seeing the house, we realized that it was perfect for us!  We wrote up an offer and gave it to them a couple days later, before they even listed the house.  They counter-offered and we accepted!  We were soooo happy!

There have been so many steps along the way to get to the closing process.  We had to have a home inspection, appraisal, loan paperwork, home owner's insurance, etc.  So many forms and documents...it's just a lot of paperwork and waiting.  I will be so happy when this entire process is over with.  We were hoping to close today (Friday, 8/17), but that didn't work out.  So hopefully we can close early next week--keep your fingers crossed for us!  We can take possession of the house seven days after we close (part of our purchase agreement).  We are so close to finally having our own house!  I can't wait to move in and have our little family together again.  And by family I mean me, Kevin, and our dog, The Admiral (can you guess who picked that name?).  I could do a whole post just about the dog--I love him :)  Maybe that will be my next post...

Once we close and move in to our house, I'll definitely be posting pics (after I figure out how to do that).

--Ericka

Here Goes Nothing....

I finally decided to join the blog world...this should be interesting ;)  The layout of this blog is still a work in progress...I promise it will get prettier with time (after I learn what the heck I'm doing--any tips are appreciated)!  I'm not loving the name of my blog, but the perfect name hasn't come to me yet...so I'm sticking with "This Crazy Thing Called Life" for now.

This first post will bring you up to speed on me and my life right now.  So lets just dive right in!

I'm a twenty-something small town girl who met a great guy five years ago.  He proposed in March and we  are getting married June 2013.  I couldn't be more happy and excited!  But let me tell you, planning a wedding is so much more stressful than I ever expected.  If I was rich, I would totally hire a wedding planner!  This is one reason I started this blog...to share my wedding planning with you all.  I'm sure I'll be asking for advice along the way too.

Like I said, I'm from a small town, and two years ago I moved to a "big" city for a job (it's big compared to the town where I grew up).  I've learned the area, and now it doesn't seem quite so big, but it's great and I love it! After living in two apartments over the past two years, my fiance and I decided we were ready to buy a house.  I always thought that house hunting would be soooo much fun!  But let me tell you, it is a stressful process and it definitely doesn't happen over night--that's a story for a different post.  This is another reason for starting this blog...so you can all experience my first-time home buying process with me.  I have so many great ideas for the house from Pinterest that I just can't wait to try and share with you all :)

So that's my life in a nut shell.  I'll give you more wedding planning and house buying details through the next few posts.  Thanks for reading!