circa 1998

yesterday i decided to go through every single box left in the house with my name on it.
it was like a gold mine of memories that i had totally forgotten about! and i discovered that i might have had a hording tendency in high school. i had a hardy collection of baseball cards, fast food table numbers, comic cards, weird bobble head figurines, weird little Buddhas, empty jewelry boxes, cards, notes, a bunch of old clothes tags, lanyards, and all my corsages from my high school dances. it was gross. it was like a disgusting time capsule from 1998-2002:


pictured: my fave and first jewelry box, h.s. play bill, fave number to steal, my first cell phone, stack of excellent comic cards, YMCA "rag", many formal dance pictures, working at fender, nirvana phase, notes passed between friends, tapes from our house boat trips to shasta lake, and the disco ball that hung from my ceiling fan in my bedroom.

i really wanted my old cell phone (with the glow in the dark case, naturally) to turn on so i could hear the ringer. my mom had her own tone and if i heard it today i would probably still get wide eyed in fear because i was most likely doing something i shouldnt have. aaaand i found an old mother's day card i never used. what timing!

memories trapped in time, people!

catching my breath.

for once im my life i have everything under one roof. 

a roof im currently living under too. 

our roof.

i have to train my brain that this is for reals this time. not going anywhere for a long time and its okay to take things out of their packaging and boxes and throw the boxes away. its a happy concept im embracing. 

all in all, its been more emotional than i expected. but im starting to catch my breath. 

i got the keys on friday the 16th and Pat, geoffs mom, and i started cleaning out the place so that on moving day it would be good to go. luckily, there wasnt too much of a clean up since its all new flooring, appliances, etc and no one has lived in the house for we think 6 months. I did notice some tiny spiders and other baby bugs running from the vaccum cleaner

Saturday morning geoffs parents, my mom and florida came by bright and early to the apt to help take apart my bed frame and move some of our delicate things and the movers were about an hour and a half late! i was pissed since i had a visual of the time line of the day set in my head and they just pumped it all back! The movers were pro though. they wrapped up the couches, tables, desk, anything not boxed so well that not one thing was damaged. and of course it had to be 85 degrees outside, i felt bad for them. they worked their asses off. one stop at our apt, then two stops at my work, where we kept the majority of our stuff stashed. BARELY got everything into a 26' truck! and of course i had to have my over sized solid oak furniture which weighed over 500lbs each piece. by 4pm they were on their way and our bank acct had a nice sized dent in it. 

then the discoveries of things that dont work in the house came up. apparently the hot water tank was empty because the valve that lets the water in was stripped and couldnt be opened. which mean that no hot running water. did i mention that i was sticky sweaty and hadnt showered since the day before. NOT OKAY. you'd think a home inspection wouldve caught that, but no. some outlets dont work either. so that night i had to bum a shower from my best friend from 7th grade and on, who is now one of my neighbors (!). not the high point of being a new homeowner haha. i stayed home alone that night. just june and i. i wasnt scared or anything. just felt alone and really lonely. i realized that i had just faced the reality that friends will think i live too far from corona to visit me unless i entice them with baked goods and bbqs.
and geoff's not here. i so couldve used him then for everything. emotional support, a laugh, his brute strength.

the next morning geoffs dad and i made a home depot run (so far ive only made 3) with a huge list of things i need for the house. we ran into almost all the people i know in elsinore that sunday morning in the home depot. my mom and craig (her hubs) who were there picking up parts for me, and harley (my aforementioned bff's hubs). my step dad took off the old valve and replaced it with a brand new working one. i was back to the land of clean clothes and hair! bug bombed the whole house too! then i tried to watch all 3 of the back to the futures but only made it to 2 before passing out.

so on monday i took the day off of work since there was still a lot to be done that day and i had been running on the same headache all weekend.

where once there was just a door....

now is a sliding glass door

(since the house has an add-on in the back there was only a single door to the back yard)

june just sat in the house watching the guys work the whole day. i think she liked the company of all of the people running around the house.

Then Verizon showed up and connected me with the rest of the world with high speed internets and tv. oh, how i love my tv. and instant netflix! if you think you see geoff signed on in xboxlive, its actually me either A. trying to learn MW2 and ruining his stats or B. watching Weeds and documentaries. 

then the dishwasher started acting up. i called Whirlpool to tell them how it looked like it wasnt draining right but they said its normal. so i put another load in there and sure enough, water all over the kitchen floor... a technician is coming out today to look at it. yay for warranties. so between cleaning up the kitchen floor, putting away laundry and trying to make an organized mess of the house, i look out the window and June is out front gallivanting in the street! she went and pissed off all the neighbors dogs. theres 2 other german sheps on the block and they arent dog friendly either. 

met my next door neighbors too. really sweet people.

all in all, i am so incredibly blessed to have my mom and Craig and to have married into a family that treats me like im part of the family. Ron Pat and Holly were all over and helped me out so much. and without Craig i wouldve had to pay a plumber an insane amount to fix it. and my mom is just plain old amazing and awesome. kept me sane. Nat's been visiting me a whole lot too! i live closer to her now! and april and jason came and hung out with me late monday night and hung up my curtain rod so i wont think there someone watching me on the other side of my reflection! you know you get creeped out by that too. 

so yah. thats been the gist of this crazy past weekend + monday.

blessed beyond belief.

missing Geoff more than i could imagine.

moving again! ...yes, seriously.

If you lost count, thats 6 times in the last 6 months. 

God is so mysterious.

after getting settled into our cozy little apartment and all but waved a white flag at the housing market someone accepted an offer. 

it happened pretty fast. last month our realtor showed me this property that had fallen out of escrow and is looking for someone asap and we should go look at it immediately so we can write an offer. we didnt want to get our hopes up so we just wrote an offer without seeing it. after our realtor did a little wheelin', dealin' and pullin' on the heart strings by layin the newlywed card on the seller, they accepted our offer! so in the same week we started escrow, we got married! insane.

geoff was the first to go check it out and he loved it. said i would love it too. so about a week later i finally was able to check it out. remember this post? and i gave a description of our dream home? it was in the first sentence? ya, well God pretty much delivered on that.

on April 15th, 2010 this will be our home sweet home!

front

kitchen

living area

the house is in lake elsinore and has 4 bedroom, 2 baths. and its got two additions to the house making it actually a 5bdrm house. through those french doors there is an add-on so theres like 2 living areas and in the back yard there is a detached house/room thats got its own a/c and electricity. geoffs making that into his art studio! and with all the extra rooms i can have my own room for crafts and whatnot. office. guest room. our room!
it doesnt look like much from the outside but we have big plans for it all. white pvc fencing, sprinklers, plants and palm trees. we even have some fruit trees in the back yard too.
oh and june will finally have a big yard and house to roam around in!

one downer about this all is that when we close escrow and get the keys geoff will be gone on tour! he finally got out of helping me move! and half of the stuff thats getting moved is all his stuff  now too. jokes on me i guess. only, this time, i hired movers. so dont worry, i wont be asking for your help :)

i feel over the moon loved by God right now and blessed that He would give us such a wonderful place to live. its always once you surrender it all that you get more than you were even asking for. first, with a husband. now, with a place to call home.

its really happening

yesterday we got the keys to our first place, which is also geoffs first time ever moving. yeah, MOVING AT ALL. thats just crazy to me. sure ive moved 5x in the past 4 months but even before all that and when i still lived with my mom we were moving about every 1.75 years into a newer house. so needless to say we have a major decluttering operation in his room and throughout his garage.
he was saying how he felt like he was signing his life away after going over the 23 page contract and 10 different addendum's but i reassured him that its easier to get married than to get an apt these days and it will all be uphill from here on out.

and no, we wont be living together before we are married. i will be but he wont. after all this time i think we can wait another 3 weeks.



while i went back to work he started unloading my stuff from storage all alone. he is the man.
i was helping him bring in the couch and he slipped into a planter and i was laughing at him, being the supportive fiancee that i am, and in doing so didnt realize the curb coming up. feet stand still, my body goes forward, knees hit the cement, face plant into our new (to us) lazy boy couch, and expecting my fingers to be smashed off since im still gripping the bottom as it slams down on the cement. luckily the couch has feet so digits were unharmed. my knees and pride were not. as i was still laying there on the ground trying not to show my embarrassment tony comes around the corner, "AWWWW... did i miss it?!"
at least geoff got a good laugh!


i dont know why God continues to bless me with so much. i was driving to work thinking about how much He has provided for me lately and im seriously dumbfounded and humbled. when money starts running out or i dont know where i was going to live or what to do, He would provide me with just enough. Andrew opened his house up to me, Travis opened his house to june, larger than expected tax returns and to give me geoff as my husband, i mean seriously?! i just cry thinking about how He loves me and how undeserving i am to have His love and blessings. there are so many people who have less than what they need and i feel guilty. theres just not enough ways to show my love or thank Him.

23 more days.
(till im married, corre. :])

home sweeet home

this is our luxurious house: all 2500sqft, 4bdrm/2.5baths, half an acre backyard with a jacuzzi, back house for geoffs recording and practices and the white picket fence.

Dream home... no, but we are still excited and feel blessed none the less for being able to live on our own. geoff kept repeating, "we're really doing this, harry!" all night.

after another huge let down on a house we were fighting for we have to throw in the towel for now. its reached that deadline where theres no way we can find a house, go through escrow and move in before we're married so we went apartment shopping on saturday. This place was our first stop because they are cheap and some of our best friends live in the track aaaaand because they dont have a breed or weight limit on dogs! did you hear that? its the sound of heaven opening! WE ARE GOING TO BE A FAMILY AGAIN. geoff, me and june. its been so long since ive seen her. Junes been living with her uncle Travis in grand terrace. frolicking on their huge property, swimming in his giant pool and chasing grandma's cats from what ive heard. And Uncle Trav has even taught her how to sit still with food on her nose and is teaching her german. We signed a long lease with this apt since God only knows what Hes doing and this buying a house business is taking so long.

enter housing talk
there were 2 house in lake elsinore that we wanted so bad we were going conventional with our offers and not even bothering with FHA. so that helped us beat literally 15 offers that were all FHA right off the bat. for both houses it was the day before the seller was going to make a decision that some lame-ass cash offer would come in and steal our spot. and naturally the investor thats selling the house wants to sell their house asap so we even went with a private lender that would be able to close escrow in 15days(the usu- is 30days)! still didnt help.
we are still waiting to hear back from the bank on a house in corona thats a short sale from november. November! NOVEMBER?! apparently, the owners took a second on this house so we have to deal with two banks instead of just a hellish one. but the owners dont live there anymore nor are they still paying it so it keeps going up on the auction block and then getting postponed every month. but its a sweet house with a lot of room and potential so we are waiting for it. but now that since its coming closer to the obama money deadline we are going to have to start going FHA and can kiss standard sales goodbye.
end realtor talk.
i could seriously talk about homes all day and have been entertaining the idea of becoming a realtor but recently geoff and i have come up with an even better career path for us.
youll see eventually.

last night, after leaving multiple deposits on our apt and credit checks, we went to sams club for a stroll and dinner. we're such an old married couple already.

no i didnt surprise him, he posed that way.


now we can stock up on mass quantities of toilet paper and dog food for a good price.
plus to get your 35mm film developed is so cheap!


26 days till we dont have to say goodbye every night. cant come fast enough.

Little things

He gave me a bunch of his DVDs since I have no tv

And in exchange, when we swapped cars tonight, I made his new stereo stop flashing in DEMO mode.

Team work.


Good stuff:
Went cake tasting today mmmmm
Geoff is picking up June tomorrow from the sitters and trav is watching her
Ryan and Joanna are getting married on Friday!
I'm staying in a sweet house right now
Cassius is sleeping on the floor and sitting on command
I can move all my stuff in one car trip in my xB. Liberating.
I got a good parking spot in front of the door tonight.
God spoke to me through someone else yesterday. He told her to tell me He is listening. Always providing me with just what I need.
And I'm going to marry my best friend and the best man I know in 7 weeks!

im moving... again!

yep. that's right. its a long dramatic story so ill make this short:

• Richard didn't actually own the house. his dad does.
• dad lives in Ireland.
• when Richard broke the news to his dad that hes moving to WA to get back with his ex wife dad got mad.
• then dad found out that Richard was renting out the room.
• Dick (this is when his name changes from Richard to the abbreviated form of his name) wasn't allowed to.
• i get a not-so-nice phone call from Ireland.
• Dick moves out the next day.
• i need to be out by January 15th.

awesome.
this all happen within 2 hours, which was 4 hours before Sleeping Giants last show this tour, which was geoffs first day home. welcome home, honey-- im a stress case-- so glad you're back.

oh, but Dick said he'd be so gracious to write me a reference letter for my next place. thank you Mr helpful.

so ya, i think i may move into my brothers house for a month or two. just until i find out if mine and Geoff's offer on a house gets accepted. if it doesn't then ill be getting an apt which means i will need to find June a new home.
in a perfect world, my dream world:

1. God gives us this house
2. we have a short easy escrow
3. i get to keep June
4. all by march.

we're praying for extra favor from God.
honestly, i don't know what He's doing but i think this all must be to get me away from my "things" and out of any comfort zone that i once had and what i considered "home" to me. because for months now i haven't really had a home base. and each time i move i bring less and less with me. some goes to storage, some to sell and some just trashed. and moving into my little brothers house and staying in their spare bedroom will be the ultimate humbling experience. but this time i will literally be bringing nothing with me since its already furnished.
that means no more baking supplies, no sewing, less crafts, no style school projects that i paid in advanced and was looking forward to(!), no video editing, just less of the me that i was starting to really like in my life.
besides my car for my transportation i will be totally relying on others for the next few months.
i don't like that.

i know this is supposed to be a blog without complaints so i apologize for being such a negative nancy lately. i know it could be worse and im seriously grateful so much. when im in my room and driving i often think of all the things im grateful for that Gods given me. mainly its my mind being blown by how much He actually loves me the same today as he did when im a crappy person and that i have such beautiful wondering supportive friends.

sorry again this is all long winded and for breaking my own "no complaints" rule.

back to the regular program tomorrow.

oh, and something i found funny.... before leaving for tour for a month Geoff said, "i dont care if you move again because i wont be here to help you this time (evil cackle)!" welp buddy, guess what situation you just came home to! haha! sigh.... nothing makes or break a relationship like moving 3x in three months.

photo dump of my last week

i cant believe its already mid november. insane. its like ever since august time has just zoomed by.
last weekend was non stop so i thought id share some of my favorite parts:

not my favorite view but it was fun to watch FL play.


the fans


then i had to run straight from the game to my cousin's daughter's birthday party. my other cousin's boyfriend dressed up as Hamilton the pig (from maggie and the ferocious beast, i guess). Taytum was a lil hesitant at first...

but she quickly warmed up and wouldnt stop hugging and holding his hand. one time is head almost fell off and she screamed, THERES A MAN IN THERE! THERES A MAN IN THERE! but we just told her shes crazy and that its just a pig. she eventually believed us.


jojo got married!

just kidding. she was in a bridal expo. she owned it. even in a dress like this...


here some of my new place:

grandma curtains.


the chandelier in my bathroom. nbd.






lots of fruits trees in the back


and the best part:

i get to have my june back.

UPDATE

on sunday i found a place where june and i can live together in harmony once again. its literally right down the street from the sheshack, huge closet, the dude that owns and lives there is barely ever home since he works 80+ hrs a week, no other pets, rent is cheap, really clean older home, and im moving in THIS FRIDAY! so stoked! so blessed. i really pray that this place will work out for a while. im sure it will.
i miss having my dog around and i know shes missing us. geoff visited her earlier in the day at the kennel yesterday and it was her first time seeing him in a week and he said she practically knocked him down when she saw him. awwww... and when i went by there later to bring her more food i was on my way to class so i couldnt play with her this time and the lady that owns the place was telling me she was such a cuddle bug that day... :(
its weird playing with her at the kennel. supervised visits, rationed food, schedule play time. sorta like jail. shes going to need a bath so bad this weekend haha

so ya, things are starting to look up. maybe calm down a bit. that would be nice for a little bit.

thank you to everyone who was helping spread the word on finding june a place to stay. i really really appreciate it so much.

big thanks to geoffrey. it takes a special kind of boyfriend to help their girlfriend move twice in two weeks and not want to kill them afterward. well... actually the second time will be in a couple days so there still time for that to happen. meh... i rented a 14' u haul, a dollie and i have 1/4 of the amount of stuff to move this time so things will be easier.

happy veterans day to all you veterans! everybody else, happy 11/11