Wednesday, June 26, 2013

The House: Part 2

Before all this started, I knew that there was a lot that went into buying a house. But I don't think I ever really realized how much it really involves.

Today we had our home inspection. It was fun to get back into the house. The weird part about being under contract is that it feels like our house, but we don't get to go in and feel the place, if you know what I mean. So it was nice today to walk through our house, even if it was with the inspectors. To our relief, there were no major issues found in our home. A few minor things--some missing rain gutters and loose siding probably being the worst of it.

The biggest thing has been all the paperwork. It's hard to believe all the things our loan processor asks us for. Bank statements, tax returns, W-2's, pay stubs, home insurance, college transcripts, our marriage certificate and a letter explaining my maiden name, a letter explaining exactly what James has been doing for the past five years (apparently missionary service does not count as work experience), and more. It's a little overwhelming at times!

There's also the matter of acquiring the things we will be in need of, once we move in. We do have most things, but moving from an apartment into a house does necessitate a few purchases. We will be buying a refrigerator, so we've been researching our options. We'll need a lawn mower. (A yard! So excited to have a yard!) On Monday we bought a couch. We found it on KSL, and we're very pleased; it's leather, reddish-brown, and has only a few minor stains, no tears or anything. It's awesome. And my parents are awesome for letting us stuff it in their garage for the next few weeks.

We cannot wait to get into our home. That's what it already feels like: home. Of course, we have much to keep us occupied over the next few weeks (NATIONALS!!!) but still, July 18th cannot come fast enough for us!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Utah Summer Games

This past weekend, James and I competed at the Utah Summer Games, in Cedar City. As a side note, one could potentially argue that mine and James' romance began at the Summer Games a year ago. With and without that, it remains one of my top favorite tournaments, a highlight of my summer each year.

We drove down to Cedar City early on Friday morning, joined in our car by the fabulous Ruth Bartholomew, who regaled us with tales of hilarity and woe (but even those were hilarious--that's Ruth!) Our group was a little more scattered this year than it usually is--normally the whole team goes down early on Friday to go hiking before the evening events. But only a few of us went down early this year, so we nixed the hike in favor of extra swimming and play. At 5pm, we went over to the tournament venue to get set up, attend the referee seminar for black belts, and practice with the demonstration team. Then, we all went out to dinner, went swimming at the hotel, and played a few rounds of Werewolf before heading to bed. Well, some of us went to bed. I'm told the young girls on our team stayed up half the night giggling.

Saturday morning we had a walk-through of our demo at 8am, followed by a meeting at 8:30am for all the black belts in attendance. The tournament started at 9am, with the bow-in, national anthem, and announcements. The Demonstration Team competition was the first event, so we got booted out into the hall--Miss Whitnee, our coach, does not allow us to watch other teams perform, firm in her belief that we'll wig ourselves out. So we stayed out in the hall, warming up, meditating, and working away nerves.

Our performance was good, though there were several issues, the most significant being the failure of the sound system--our music cut out a couple of times, sometimes continuing to play, sometimes stopping, both of which threw us off. Lame sauce. Nonetheless, we were proud of our performance, which you can watch here:



The teams were called up for the presentations of medals, and we were in some suspense, particularly because we hadn't been allowed to watch the other teams, and so we had no way to know how we compared. The third place team was announced, and we waited with baited breath until second was announced, and we knew we had won. Hip hip hooray!
After Demonstration Teams came the Poomsae (forms) competition. They started with black belts, and mine was the very first division. I was in a group of five, one of whom was my teammate and student Kristen. I performed Shipjin, and though it was not my best, it was still strong, and I was delighted to receive the gold medal for my division.

James' division was up shortly thereafter, and he too was in a group of five. He performed Keumgang, and did an excellent job. As it turned out, he tied for 2nd, and so he got to perform again, side-by-side with the guy he tied with. He did a great job, and received the unanimous vote from all five judges. James definitely earned his silver medal!!

After Poomsae, I became a referee for the rest of the day. James spent most of the afternoon corner judging; he also got to be a center referee for the first time. (He says he was petrified; I watched most of the match, and he did just fine.) James also competed in weapons, but started his performance with his routine from the demo team, rather than his solo form, and it really messed him up. He was not surprised, but also not upset, when he did not place, and is determined to win in his division at Nationals in two weeks.

We had a great time at the Utah Summer Games. James and I both love to compete, and we especially love being on the demo team together. One of the best parts of our relationship is our mutual love for Taekwondo; it means we always have a lot to talk about and we get to spend a lot of time together that we wouldn't otherwise have. Life is great!

Monday, June 17, 2013

The House: Part 1

So, remember how I said we weren't in a big rush to find a house? Hah!

We started working with our real estate agent, Cole, about a week ago. He started sending us listings right away, so we could pick houses we wanted to take a look at. We found a few that seemed viable, and had Cole set up appointments to tour. This conversation went back-and-forth over several days, and included one of the houses being contracted before we even got to see it.

On Tuesday, I was looking at houses on Zillow. (Really useful site, by the way.) Now, James and I had discussed our price range for our house, and settled on how much we wanted to spend, and how much was our absolute maximum. So, I was looking for house in our range, when I stumbled across a house that I really liked the look of. It met all of our house-hunting criteria (see below), and I loved all the pictures. But it was outside of the want-to-spend range (though still below the absolute-max) so I did nothing with it that day.

Cole had sent us a few more listings, which all seemed okay, but nothing that really said, "Pick me! I'm the one!" On Wednesday, I was on Zillow again looking to see if there was anything new, when again I found this one house. I loved it all over again, and I felt really strongly like we should look at it. So I emailed it to James while he was at school. I acknowledged that it was higher than we had discussed, but told him that I really liked it. He wrote back and said we should definitely take a look. So I sent it to Cole, and he set up an appointment for us the next day.

As we were house-hunting, we had a few hard-and-fast criteria that we were looking for:
-At least 3, no more than 4 bedrooms.
-At least 2 bathrooms.
-Located somewhere between the studio and BYU.
-Price.

In addition, there were a few more ephemeral things we hoped to find:
-A private, fenced yard that was well-cared for, and easy to care for. (James wants to only have to mow the lawn. I think I can care for a few flowers/plants, but any more than that, and I will probably kill them.)
-A separate master bathroom (didn't get this one)
-No wood paneling (that nasty stuff from what, the 70's? I know it's simple enough to remove, but I despite the stuff.)
-No weird colors, inside or outside. (Yellow house? No thank you!)
-Nice neighborhood
-In Orem (we were willing to look at Provo and maybe other places, but I always preferred Orem)
-Not a lot of fixing-up needed. We wanted something ready to live in.

So, Thursday. The other houses that we looked at fell into this last category: lots of fixing-up needed. Actually, one house that we looked at (which was in Provo...) was a pretty nice house, with an updated kitchen and a spacious yard, but I felt overwhelmed by how much work it would need to really be livable. Another house we looked at was in a really cute neighborhood in Orem, but the inside had just been trashed. So sad.

When we arrived at the house I'd found on Zillow, I immediately felt at home. While Cole retrieved the keys, James and I explored the yard--and I fell in love. The property has been well-cared for, and it was the perfect balance: a decent size, with a few trees and flowers, but nothing major that needs to be tended. James told me I wasn't allowed to fall in love until we'd been inside! But that wasn't a problem--we loved the inside too. Though there were a few funny little things, they were little, and easily remedied. The house was clean, spacious, obviously well-cared for, and exactly what we wanted. It was like going check-check-check down our list (except the master bath...alas).

Cole advised us that houses like this were not lasting long on the market, and he expected that it would not last another day. He looked it up, and found that there had already been two other offers. That made me a little anxious, because I felt so strongly, even then, that this was home.

We went to look at another house (blech), and then stopped at my mother's house to use her printer. Cole was hoping to find more properties for us to look at. While he worked on the computer, James and I stepped into the other room to speak privately.

We loved the house. We felt like it was right for us, and if that was the case, we didn't want to miss our opportunity by waiting. So we knelt and prayed, then and there. The confirmation was very clear to us both. We stepped back into the office and announced that we wanted to make an offer on the house.

Cole went through all the paperwork with us (my poor mother, with her computer taken over!) and we submitted our offer that afternoon. Then James and I headed to the studio, and the waiting game began.

Have I ever mentioned how much I despise waiting?

We finally heard back on Friday night--a counter-offer. We had offered the listing price, but asked the seller to pay all the closing costs. Their counter-offer was that they would pay half the closing costs. We agreed, and signed that night.

James and I were absolutely jubilant. We kept looking over at each other, and one of us would say, "House!" and we both would grin. So silly, so excited.

Of course, now the games have truly begun. We have so much paperwork to get done, for our mortgage, getting the appraisals and inspections and everything done. We are set to close on July 18th--we needed that time, with everything we have going on in the next few weeks! This weekend we compete at the Utah Summer Games in Cedar City, next week is testing at the studio, then we're off to Chicago for a week and a half for Nationals, and as soon as we get back, we have Leadership Conference. Crazy busy time--and buying a house on top of it all! But we are incredibly excited, and most importantly, we know that it is the right house and the right time. What a blessing!!!




Sunday, June 9, 2013

Our newest adventure

I guess it's official: we're house-hunting!

We've started into the process of getting pre-qualified for a home loan (yikes!) and this weekend took the step of getting in touch with one of our good friends who is a real estate agent. We are soon to start actually looking at houses, which seems like a BIG step to me.

We are not in a huge rush, seeing as how we have our apartment until October. But as I've talked to people about home-buying, the more I keep hearing how long it takes, so I feel good about starting now.

James and I are incredibly excited. I will admit that I am a little nervous, seeing as how it's our first time buying a home, and there's so much that goes into it.

Those of you who have been through this before, what advice do you have to share? What should we know as we embark upon this adventure? Please share!

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Family = Amazing

Today I am grateful for family.

When I really stop and consider my family, I start to feel a little overwhelmed. My family (immediate, in-law, extended) is amazing. They do so much for me, sometimes intentionally, sometimes just by being the people they are. There are so many aspects to my family, my relationships with them, and why they are so awesome.

My family is with me in times of celebration. On Sunday, the Holley clan gathered to celebrate the birthday of our nephew Brendan, who just turned 3. After dinner, cake, and presents, a few of us stuck around to play games, and we had a blast.

Tomorrow night, James and I are joining my parents for my father's commencement: at the age of 57, he's graduating with his bachelor's degree. I couldn't be more proud of him, and I can't wait to celebrate his achievements with him.

My family sticks together in times of trial. Whenever I go through a challenge, I know that I can count on my family for their love and support. I do my best to be that same balm to them. Regardless, I know that they truly care about me, and I most certainly care about them, each and every one of them.

My family share in adventure, aka LIFE. Right now, my brother- and sister-in-law are apartment-hunting, and I love hearing about their findings, and sharing my thoughts. My sister Samantha recently had a baby, and I love-love-love seeing pictures (I only wish I got to see them more in person!) I loved taking family photos with the Mechlings, and visiting with my brother the next day. I love teasing my brothers-in-law, and so enjoy their company.

My family shares times of joy. This evening, James and I attended the temple with Patrick & Shaylee. We stood in proxy for Holley relatives as they were sealed. The names were provided for us by my dear mother-in-law, and I was so grateful. Up until the last few months, I had never done family names before. It has really impacted my temple experience, particularly tonight.

My family is eternal. This principle is a major part of my testimony in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the reason my experience at the temple this evening was so very profound. I get to be with these people forever. It changes the way I perceive them. It makes me invest more in my relationships with them. As I performed sealing ordinances in behalf of my relatives (in law), I felt such an incredible joy--because they were my family, the ancestors of my children. I am connected to them, as my posterity will be connected to me. I get to be with my husband forever, along with these wonderful people we have the joyous opportunity to know and love during our time on this earth.

I love my family. I am grateful for them. I am blessed by them. I hope to be as good to them as they are to me.