Maya Angelou Monday

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Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

Maya Angelou Monday

via

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday!

It's OURS!!!

STATS
1730 Square Feet (+1200 in the basement)

2.5 car garage

3 bedrooms

2 bathrooms

2 living rooms

A three seasons room with a hot tub

AND IT'S OURS!

We closed on our house today - signed our life away and got the keys.  The first two things on our list are to clean the carpets and get the painting started (prep, prime, and GO).  Before it's all over, we will paint every wall in the house... EVERY WALL... it's going to be quite a project.  Luckily, we have our apartment until the 14th and our storage unit (where most of our stuff is) until the 30th.

Slow and steady wins the race!!

A New Year is Upon Us!

School in Michigan starts after Labor Day - THANK GOODNESS!

All my friends have been back in school for at least a week.  I started today.

The start of a school year is a very busy time for me - meetings, trainings, promotional events, LOTS of students are have all of a sudden returned and expect undivided attention and quick responses  even though they have not been responding to us for 3 months.  Such is life.

On top of the start of school, we close on our house this week - not a huge deal... just THOUSANDS of dollars invested into a single item that will (hopefully) be ours for years and years.  Just kidding - it's really not that scary, especially when you know that your investment is sound.

We are in the throws of packing up our apartment, which is also not a huge task since it's only 700 square feet, but it's still an annoying pile up of energy draining activities that I'm having to deal with right now.  This weekend will consist of cleaning, taping and possibly some painting.  We keep saying we are not in a hurry, but let's get real, who wants painting to take that long... NOT ME!

So, send positive energy my way this week - I'll need all the energy I can get!

Maya Angelou Monday

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Still I Rise (Part 3 of 3)
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors game,
I am the dram and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday

Buying our Second Home

Even when we were buying our first home, we weren't typical first time home buyers - we have high expectations, and while we are not afraid of work, we have a pretty good grasp on what kind of work is going to be worth our time and money and what won't.  We have the ability to look past paint, carpet, wall paper and even walls to see the potential in a home, and as we go through a house, we can differentiate between what has to be done right away and what we could save for and do later.

When we met with our realtor, our list was actually pretty flexible:

We want a garage - attached, detached, space for us to put one up later, whatever

We want 3 bedrooms & 2 baths, or enough space to add a bed and bath to a 2/1

1 story would be nice, but 2 story is fine

Central air - well, that's kind of a non-negotiable

So we started looking in Ann Arbor and the surrounding cities, and let me tell you, the amount you get for your money in this area is WAY less than what we got in our first time around.  We saw a lot of houses that, on paper, looked like they had potential, but most were just too much work, or they were too small with no room for expansion, and the number of 3 bed/1 bath houses in this area are just ridiculous - WHO WANTS TO SHARE A BATHROOM WITH EVERYONE AT THE HOUSE?!!?!

The budget we started with this time around was about $40,000 more than last time, and we still ended up going $10,000 higher to get our house, but we got a great one!  We can't wait to move in - only a week and a half until we close!!

Maya Angelou Monday

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Still I Rise (Part 2 of 3)
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise

Here's to a MARVELOUS Monday