Seven Weeks

And seven weeks later...we close! In an hour I will be sitting in a room with Boo and a bunch of other people, signing all the necessary documents to seal the deal on our house! We can hang pictures and curtains! We can build our fence, and buy a grill, and adopt a pup! We can install our security system, and I can sleep peacefully when Boo leaves for work! We can install a phone jack so we can have internet! We can start thinking about buying a much needed new car! So many things! All involving money leaving our pockets...Ah, home ownership!

I was talking to my mom last night about how relieved we are to be closing. We started this house hunting/buying process in January, so we've been in this mode for so long and are definitely ready to be in a different mode--the home owning kind of mode. I can already feel will be a pretty intense mode, but we're ready for it. There is a long list of immediate to-dos, and a longer list of general to-dos, and a growing list of "what if we did this..." to-dos.  But I love lists, so bring it on (she said naively).

I'm so grateful for everything that Miles and I have learned during this process. And we've learned a lot...mostly a lot to do with being patient. I don't think I've ever had to be so patient for something before. Which kind of isn't saying a lot..but still. And even then, I can't say that I was gracefully patient all the time. Miles has put up with this grumpy/whiney/pitiful wife on several occasions. He had to live in double patience--with the house situation, and with me. So thank you, Boo. You are more wonderful with each new day. You have my heart, home is where the heart is, and so home is wherever I'm with you. But I sure am glad we will own the actual house where our actual hearts will live.

(image via)

And Its Only Monday

At 11 in the morning, no less. 

It has definitely been one of those mornings. And I feel like I've complained too much lately, when good stuff really is happening, so I won't go into details. Because its stupid stuff anyways. But oh, how that stupid stuff burrows under your skin and makes you want to curl up and go back to bed. And it also makes you teary eyed at this picture :

Source: thisis.something-else.com.au via Bethany on Pinterest

Because even though you were on vacation at the beginning of this month...you need another one. And you need it to be Fall already and not so gross outside. Because you can almost feel the cool, crisp air in your lungs and on your cheeks when you see this picture. And that makes you sad, and its just a picture! So then you feel like a loser.

Or you'd also take simply closing on the house that you've been squatting living in for the past month (living in legally, promise). Closing on said house and being able to hang pictures, or put in your washer and dryer, or installing a phone jack so you can have internet and remember to pay your bills..

Or just...other things, like not being in stressful situations that are only occurring because you don't know how to say "no" sometimes. You really need to learn.

So while you learn, I will be looking forward to this weekend, with the start of the Olympics, getting to see this movie, going to the flea market, and hopefully being done with all the house buying junk by then. Hopefully. 

Summer Salad

Source: recipegirl.com via Bethany on Pinterest

I made this salad last night for dinner, sans the chicken, and using arugula instead of spinach. LET ME TELL YOU: new favorite salad, fa sho'. The goat cheese, pine nuts and super easy homemade dijon vinaigrette? SO tasty. I had seconds...and then thirds right out of the salad bowl. And I'm having it for lunch again today. Probably an early lunch, now that I've started thinking about it.

One of Those Nights

You know those nights where you're so happy and everything looks beautiful? That was our date night last Saturday. The week-long rain had finally taken a break and everything glistened in the light of the setting sun. We stifled our loud laughs all through our sushi dinner, ran up our tab, hopped over puddles and visited a new gelato place. When we got to Edgehill Village, we saw a double rainbow and stood outside staring at it, open mouthed, fingers pointing, with tons of other people all enjoying the exact same thing. For those few minutes I forgot about everything else, all the stresses, everything that sucks right now, and just let my heart swell up with joy. I need more sunset rainbow moments in my life.

At the end of the night, we rolled the windows down and let the sticky air blow in as we sang at the top of our lungs all the way home. The next morning, Miles said we should do that more often. I agreed.

p.s. isn't Boo such a stud with his haircut? Wifey likes.

Mountainous Anniversary

For our anniversary, we decided to hole up in a cabin in the mountains, eat, drink, catch up on tv shows, read, and talk a whole lot. And thats exactly what we did. And for the most part, it was wonderful. But I learned that I am just not a mountain vacation kind of gal. At least not in the summer when there are thousands of bugs everywhere and its way too hot outside to sit on the deck and enjoy the view. I think it would be ah-mazing to be in the mountains in the Fall. Something about being in a cabin and being able to use the fireplace, and fire pit, and sit outside in the cool, crisp air...that sounds way more appealing that when we were there. I need to plan more season-appropriate vacations. Beaches for Summer, mountains for Fall. Check.

Also, I really enjoy the whole...being waited on at resorts/hotels and not having to clean up after yourself. How lazy am I? To me, it just feels like less of a vacation when you're washing dishes every night. I'm so posh, y'all. All that to say, Miles loved it, so I'm 100% content with our vacay since he really was able to relax and leave work behind.

We woke up late every morning, Miles made pancakes (since we're waffle people at home, we started out with a few burnt crispies, but by the end of the week, he was a pro. The MOST delicious pancakes I've ever eaten). Then we read. All day. I didn't even bring my makeup, and I wore the same thing everyday. We took naps if we wanted, read some more, started making dinner at sunset, ate together, then watched True Blood and drank all our wine. For four days. That part was wonderful.

Aaaand photo overload:

We're so thankful Miles' mom let us borrow her suv, there was no way we could've 1) fit our Ikea spoils into my car (and Boo's truck is the worst to travel in) 2) made it up the mountain in my car. Really.

And for our next anniversary celebration--it will not be near our anniversary. Getting married July 2nd was kind of the earliest date we could make work, but it makes for busy, expensive vacations right around the 4th when everyone is going...everywhere. Humph.