Happy Thanksgiving!

Have been feeling very much in the HOLIDAY mood lately. It's Thanksgiving break tomorrow and then very soon after that... Christmas!!! It's the most wonderful time of the year! :))

We got our first snow on Saturday, which has been a long time a-coming. Skylar absolutely loved it and had a blast running around in the snow and eating it. Maybe it reminds him of Siberia. ;) I have to confess that I got a little bit excited too. First snow is always so romantic and beautiful. Walking hand-in-hand in the snow, sipping hot coffee.. one of those magical little moments in life. :)

Sunday, we went to the Vikings game at the Metrodome! First game for me. We lost, but it was sooo much fun anyway!!! Next time we go I'm going to get face tattoos. Can't wait. ;)
So, Troy and I get to host Thanksgiving dinner this year and here's what on the menu:
1. Turkey
2. Stuffing
3. Cranberry salad
4. Green bean casserole
5. Crescent rolls
6. Scalloped corn
7. Cheese potatoes (Troy's parents are bringing)
8. Pumpkin pie
9. Apple pie

I'm pretty confident about all the above except turkey, which I've never made before. However, everyone I've talked to has assured me its a piece of cake. My only other worry is how I'm going to make all of the above with only one oven and the turkey takes 4 (?) hours to cook. We'll see how everything turns out!!

After watching 《来不及说我爱你》, I've developed what Troy calls my "Wallace crush". Yes, its true, 最进疯狂爱上钟汉良. :) Which is funny because I've known of him for years and years and never particularly caught my attention. But that's what I like about TV shows more than movies, is that you really get sucked into the characters.
Anyway I highly recommend this show, best I've ever seen. Very impressed with the director. There are some war scenes but not too many, I just skip them.

I also finished watching 《法政先锋III》 lately. Had fun picking up some Cantonese, just in case I meet Wallace in the future ha ha ha. :)

Hallo October!

OCTOBER already!

I am still in denial about Fall and have not put away my summer clothes yet. It's still relatively warm now anyhow.

Here's some pictures from September:

Minnesota State Fair!! What I look forward to every summer... NOM NOM NOM.After the state fair comes.. our anniversary. Happy 1st anniversary to us! :)To celebrate, we spent a night in a hotel in downtown Minneapolis and went to see a play at the Guthrie theater.We had a couple of chilly days in September so my dear hubby made our very first fire in our house. This is our upstairs fireplace and Troy is supposed to make me shelves and a mantel to hang our Christmas stockings. Ummm probably not going to happen by this Christmas. :PAnd finally, this is Skylar puppy saying hi! He's been such a good dog lately. :)Yes, I am the only one in our house who doesn't have blue eyes. :(

Happy October, everyone!

July

Can you believe its July already?

Lots of changes the last couple months.. happy changes. :)

New Job is still going well. Of course, no job is perfect and my new boss is all about CUTTING COSTS and being extremely CHEAP, but aside from that I am enjoying my job a lot. I don't wake up in dread every morning anymore!

New House!
We closed on June 10, and moved in June 11. Why no pictures? Because I don't have everything all nice and pretty yet. In fact most spaces are still unfurnished although we DO have a dining room table (yay!) and couches for the living room that just arrived yesterday!!! :) I really want to get more stuff, but then also very worried about whether it will 'match' the other pieces, the feel of the room, etc etc. As a result, have not purchased anything else or decided on paint color. :P

New Dog!
We adopted a 5-month old husky from the Minnesota Unwanted Siberian Husky Rescue! NEVER EVER EVER thought that I would have a dog, because I have been deathly afraid of all animals since I was a kid. But then I figure I should be brave because Troy wants a dog sooooooo bad and marriage is about compromise right. :P

It's actually been pretty fun, although having a puppy is exhausting. Kinda like having a baby?? Waking up in the middle of the night, potty training, keeping him entertained and out of trouble... He is a very sweet, smart, and friendly dog but gets into trouble every now and then (mostly trying to steal our people food, pooping in the basement, chewing on things that are not his). Good news is he doesn't chew on furniture or anything important, but every now and then he will grab a magazine or some other thing and rip it to shreds.

Still lots to unpack! But very fun putting our house together! :)

Happy Spring!

Hello! Feels like there's been a lot of changes since my last post. I am glad to say that things are new job are going WELL and I am feeling very happy. I am glad that I took the risk, because guess what, even in this stinky economy, there is still something better out there!!! FIGHT THE FUTURE!!! I WANT TO BELIEVE!!!!

We bought a house!!! I am soooooo excited. We met our mortgage broker last week and he asked me how much housing costs in Singapore.

Me: I think a small condo in Singapore costs over 1 million dollars.
Him: HOW do people afford it???
Me: I really don't know!!!!!!!

After reading sooooo much about the elections in Singapore.. I didn't get to vote, obviously, but if I did I would probably have voted opposition just because I think there needs to be more diversity, more TOLERANCE of diversity, and PAP needs to stop thinking they are God.

Having said that, I do not like it when people kbkb about foreign talent. HELLO THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY. Globalization is a fact, you can't fight it so you better embrace it!

House hunting Week #2

We found a house!!!!

http://www.edinarealty.com/MN/Little-Canada/55117/homes-for-sale/566-Allen-Avenue-57683075Check out the link for more detailed info.
What we love:
1) Huge deck
2) Huge living room
3) Huge deck and yard
4) Huge basement family room (that can be divided to make a 4th bedroom in the future)
5) Huge bedrooms
6) Move in ready
7) Huge 2-car garage
8) Good, safe neighborhood
9) Roseville school district
10) 2000 sq. ft.

This is the first house Troy and I both love. :) We're going to make an offer next week! Keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Easter everyone!

House hunting, Week #1

Dear hubby and I went to look at 7 houses this weekend with our realtor. It was a lot of fun, but I haven't felt like I've found THE ONE. Troy was about ready to jump and make an offer on this one, listed at $149,900. He absolutely loved this house!! Mostly because it is 2,200 square feet, which is by far the biggest house we've seen so far. Me, I wasn't really feeling it, because 1) I don't like houses on slopes, 2) It has a flat garage roof, which is just totally idiotic in MN because you will spend your whole winter clearing snow off the roof, 3) I'm not too fond of the city of Maplewood, which is not as good as Roseville. So, no go.

We looked at two short sales, which were extremely disappointing. Houses were in very poor shape, and also the realtor said its a long and frustrating process to purchase a short sale because it depends on bank approval which could take months.

Got a call from the mortgage broker today we said we are qualified to purchase up to $200k or even $220k. But then Troy and I decided that we'll still stick with our lower budget of about $150k so we can have more extra money to have fun and future kids AND most importantly so we don't get foreclosed. Looking at several of the foreclosed houses really scared the heck out of us - what a horrible horrible thing to have to go through!

House hunting is fun. :))

House hunting fun!

Going to look at some houses tomorrow! Here's some more on the list:

These 2 are listed at about the same price, $160k. They are in Falcon Heights, 3 bed, 2 bath. In good neighborhoods with finished basements, but no guest bedroom. :(

Love the exterior of the first house!! Dunno what this style is called, but I love it!

House hunting fun

My coworker Sara introduced me to her cousin Jason who is a realtor. So, we are currently semi-seriously looking for houses. I say semi-seriously because although I enjoy looking at listings online, we have yet to take any steps to get pre-approved for a mortgage.

My my my, do I feel old and RESPONSIBLE. First getting married, and now.. buying a house?!

Here's our wish list: (I didn't want to have super high expectations, but the realtor says in today's market we can have everything on our list and more ;))

1. At least 3 bedroom, preferably 4
2. At least 2 bathrooms
3. 2 car garage
4. Finished basement (for Troy's man cave)
5. Livable condition, no major repairs needed
6. Good school district
7. Not-too-ugly exterior
8. Obviously, GOOD AND SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD

Anyway, Jason already sent me a list of 6 houses in Roseville, which is my preferred suburb.

I like the exterior of this house. I think it looks very homey and cute! Listed for $134,900, which is an awesome price! I don't like that it is in the St. Paul school district. This one is listed for $149,900. It has a huge private yard and huge basement, and is in the Roseville school district. I don't like the exterior quite as much though, kinda squarish and boring. Guess that can be updated though.Those are the only two worth considering so far. He sent us lots of houses in Maplewood, but in my opinion that is a less desirable suburb, so who wants to live there.

Online house shopping is fun. ;)

Almost spring

Springtime! Springtime! Oh glorious sun!!!!!!! :)

It's been pretty nice and sunny these two weeks! Oooh do I love the SUN. Maybe now I can finally get some REAL sunshine instead of having to take vitamin D pills!

Unfortunately springtime means lots of pollen which means ALLERGIES, which suck. I was sniffling all of last weekend and had a horrible sore throat. I feel much better now though.

New news.. I quit my job today. I never really thought this day would come, but alas, my job has really been really going downhill since the start of this year. I have to be at FIVE different locations and all the traveling just plain sucks. It is hard to leave Capernaum because its a great company and the people are great and everyone was soooooooo sad today when I told them. My boss was really sad and sorry that I'm leaving, but I said I would still work for them part-time so its not like I'm leaving completely.

SO, I start new job in 2 weeks. I'm praying and hoping that its the right decision and the new place will be a great fit for me. I've heard good things about the place from everyone so keeping my fingers crossed. I am excited and nervous at the same time. :P

Sooo... I'm going to start working about 45 hours (40 hours at new job + 5 at old job), which will be tiring but then extra money will be VERY NICE. :) Poor Troy has been picking up some extra night shifts too cos he gets paid A LOT for OT. It will be nice to be able to afford some furniture for our house, maybe a dog. ;) Best time to make money is when you're childless, right?

It's the weekend!!!!

I love Saturday mornings. I love waking up early and looking forward to the two whole days of nua-ness I have ahead of me. :)

Yesterday was a productive day. Troy and I met with a financial advisor who was recommended to us by an ex-coworker. Wasn't expecting too much, but he turned out to be quite a good fit for us. I liked that he wasn't too pushy and also explained things in a way that we understood. We are meeting with him again in two weeks and he's going to churn out the numbers for us. Told him we don't know much about investing and don't really care about the details - we just want him to tell us where and how much to put our money so we'll be good for the future! ;)

We were going to see the King's Speech after that, but couldn't find a parking spot!!!! So, decided to skip the movie and head to Fridays for dinner. Guess I can wait till the movie comes out on Netflix. Everyone's been saying the movie is really good and I'm pretty curious. Who knows, might give me some helpful tips for working with my stuttering kiddos!

Oh yeah, I should blog about my medical adventure, just so everyone can laugh at the ridiculously-priced American healthcare. ;)

Urgent Care visit (Saw doctor for 10 mins) - $903
ER visit (8 hours in ER for my CT and MRI scans) - $6169
Visit to family doctor - $144
Visit to Neurologist (who told me nothing I didn't already know) - $759

Total: $7975 to find out I had a migraine and I should get over-the-counter meds if I have another one.

Guess I should be thankful they take my health so seriously? Troy knows someone our age who died because she had an aneurysm and they sent her home without running the tests. All in all, I am thankful that I am fine AND that I have health insurance to pick up most of the tab!! My company just switched to a new insurance plan that has a $1600 out-of-pocket maximum per year and they pay everything else.

Happy weekend everyone!