Top 10

I seem to have less and less to write about in the past months. Does this mean I really have no news going on in my life? On the contrary! We have been so busy with the everyday buzz of life, that I don't think I have taken the time to update nearly enough. While I don't have anything incredible or groundbreaking to share, here are the top 10 thoughts in my head tonight:

1. I am training for a triathlon. It is in less than a month. I am super excited and nervous at the same time. I have to admit that I am feeling great about my personal training. I love how I feel physically and mentally when I am training for some kind of event.

2. Josh and I ran the Earth Day 5K last weekend. It was fun. We had the munchkins with us and it felt pretty cool to zoom past hundreds of people while pushing 65+ pounds of kid and stroller. We finished in 30 minutes. Not bad if I do say so myself.

3. I have also committed to yet another physical testament. In August I am going to run in a race called Ragnar. It is a race from LaCrosse, WI to the Cities (~200miles) and I will run 3 different legs of the 36 leg race with a team of 12 strangers with the exception of my college roommate, she invited me onto the team, so I am really excited for something so new.

4. We continue to struggle selling the house. With, a disappointing, 6 days remaining on the "first time homebuyer" credit, we are feeling a little stressed and quite discouraged about selling our house soon. We dropped the price (again) about 2 (or so) weeks ago, and since then have not had a single showing. How frustrating!

5. After the news of our "dream house" selling, we started to revisit the idea of building. We returned to see the land we fell in love with last summer and found that our heart still skipped a beat with the thought of living there, so we are having house plans drawn up by an architect and we are chomping at the bit to see them.

6. I bought an ipod nano last weekend, and I am loving it. I just need to add music--a lot of music! Maybe I will ask for an iTunes gift card for Mother's day.

7. In anticipation of Joslynn's 3rd birthday we went shopping last weekend to look around. Our plan was to buy her a bike, and we were so excited that she showed so much interest, that we bought her bike early and we are amazed when we watch our baby girl riding her very own "big girl" bike. My, how the time flies!

8. We are needing to find a new daycare (in Sartell) and the thought of starting over with that process is already starting to stress me out a little bit.

9. I just completed another one of my masters classes and start a new one on Wednesday. I am surprised at how this process has flown by as well. Before you know it, I will have another degree and be moving up the pay scale (hopefully).

10. A lot of new adventures could be heading our way. I am thinking that with our luck, everything will happen at once. While I dread the thought of being any more busy, I secretly hope that all our wishes start to fall into place.

It's Like Dating

I know, I know...it's been a long time since my last post, but I am without a doubt an emotional writer, so I tend to write when I really have something on my mind. (As you can see, things were pretty dull upstairs for a while; time to clean out the cobwebs.)

Yesterday, I got a call. It was Josh. He told me that our dream house, that we have been fantasizing about for the past 7 months, the house we had planned to spend the next 30+ years in, the house we had already become emotionally attached to, had sold. I was kind of in shock.

First, I cried (which is why I was glad I was at home alone when he called). Then I took a hot shower and cried a little bit in there too.

'It's just a house.' I told myself. 'You shouldn't be so upset over something you never really had!' But I was.

I have concluded that buying/selling houses is like dating. You put yourself "on the market" by looking at houses and by trying to sell your own. You look and sort, and sift through the possibilities with a fine tooth comb. Is it big enough? (no pun intended) Will it suit my needs? Can I picture spending the rest of my life there?

Once you think you have those questions answered, you put in an offer, which is kind of like an engagement. You promise that the house will be yours forever just as soon as the time is right, but not all engagements make it to the next stage. The real commitment!

I was (am) very sad that I didn't get to (officially) promise to love and care for the house like I had planned, but as with many things in my life, it wasn't meant to be. "Everything happens for a reason," has been my motto for about the last decade of my life and I am trying to look at the situation in that way. It's just hard when I was prepared to start picking out china patterns together.

Now, here we are, single, available, vulnerable and back on the market in search of a new place that we will love even more. Tonight, we looked at four houses and I felt like I was cheating on the other house, but then I had to remind myself that it was no more. We are trying not to rush into anything too fast; we are totally on the rebound.

I bet you never knew that dating and house hunting were so closely related!