good ol' johnny cash.
i finished my last test on friday. it feels good to be done. haven't received my grades back yet but i am confident i didn't fail. had a's in both classes before the finals and i don't think i bombed them miserably.
it was a rough week last week. i had my two tests to study for for friday. linc and i had to decide about the apartment lease/new home. it was month end. by thursday i was ready to crash. i got off work at 1pm or so instead of noon like i had hoped. i was thinking about all the stuff i needed to get done for school. plus the apartment was trashed and that always stresses me out. i can not concentrate in filth.
i walk into the apartment after work and first thing i notice is the smell. it smelled clean and fresh. the front room was organized. i could see the vacuum lines. the dishes were done. the counters cleaned. the toilet cleaned. the bed made and room organized. and the garbages empty. i was so ectastic that i actually cried. sweet lincoln. and he even cleaned the cat box. first time in his life. now that is love :)
so after my tests on friday, we went to judy's show. very interesting. then went home to watch all the shows we had recorded from thursday. linc tried to study for his final on saturday morning.
saturday linc's alarm goes off around 6:45am. his class starts at 8. he shuts it off and we both go back to sleep. i wake up and look at my phone/clock. it's 7:53. and linc is still in bed next to me. i wake him up yelling. he runs around the apartment for a minute like a chicken with his head cut off. but he made it to school right as the teacher was passing out the exams. and he got an a in the class. he still has one more paper due in eng 102. due tonight and of course he hasn't started.
saturday after lincoln's final consisted of watching his 8 year old niece talia get baptized at the mormon church. then a fun time at his sister's house just shooting the shizz. pizza and beer for dinner. house-scoping with brian and judy. then silent hill to top it off. i was too tired to really pay attention to the movie and its story line. plus we were sitting way too close to the screen. hard to focus.
sunday consisted of putting together a packet of houses to see. we printed about 20 or so. drove around to all but the way east/north mesa ones and narrowed it down. fell in love with the outside of one in gilbert. great neighborhood. our price range. but small. met with the realtor to show us the insides of the ones we liked the neighborhoods. linc liked one by the chandler mall that would have needed probably 20k in repair work. i liked one in chandler (i can't recall cross roads) that had the hugest master bedroom and bath and a nice yard but would need some new exterior paint (because i didn't like the colors), new carpet (some stains), and some roof repair. the realtor for the gilbert house never called back so we didn't get to see inside.
we drove out to east mesa. found two houses that were perfect. both in our price range. the first one had gorgeous real wood floors, tile, fabulous kitchen and master bath, and nice size backyard. plus a nice neighborhood. but right in the middle of the two freeways. the other one was a little more modern and expensive. it had a smaller kitchen but it was two stories, gated community, 18' tile, and clean. no repairs necessary for either.
we met with larry and discussed loan options for the down payment and whatnot. we started working with our income and expense figures and other obligations. we had to do the pro/con game again. everyone always says that renting an apartment is just throwing your money away. but if we got in a house, we would be throwing away twice as much a month in interest. we worked out a plan that we could have our cars, credit cards, and even student loans, paid off in less than 2 years and have almost $40k in savings. we ran different scenarios about how much we would have paid in interest and actual have invested in the house and it was crazy. it is just not ecomonically feasible to buy a house right now. especially if the housing market bubble burst like the news has been reporting. we may just be buying less house for the money.
the reasons for having a house had blurred our rational thought. we were too emotional about it. it is hard to live in an apartment, especially a one bedroom. it kills me that i couldn't throw lincoln a birthday party because the apartment is too small to have too many people over. or that mom and dad sleep either in the floor or the couches in the living room. plus we never have lincoln's family over because where would all 14 grandkids run around?
i want to start a family but getting into a house would keep me from getting to stay at home. at least until some of the other debt is paid off. we have been so good at working at that. we haven't used any credit cards since the one for the wedding. we have money in savings and retirement funds. we do have some more things to clean up but we are on the right track. it feels a bit empowering to have a game plan to where we can end the vicious cycle that so many americans are stuck in. can you imagine being able to pay cash for your next vehicle? or putting down more than a 20% down payment on a new house? what's 2 more years? we will only be 25. what's the rush?
maybe we will get into a 2 bedroom apartment to ease some of the emotional issues of home ownership. or maybe not.
all the aforementioned has put me into a depressed state. i should be happy about no more school but it reminds me that it is time to face the music. i no longer will be able to say "i go to asu" or that "i am in school" or "i am a college student." now i am an accountant, working at a full time job that judging by what the ladies i work with complain about, is a thankless job. although they did convince the cfo to give us each $100 gift certificate to have a spa day at the end of may.
i am a grown up now. for real. bummer.
on to lighter subjects.
i watched a ton of movies in the last few days. short reviews for interested parties.
brokeback mountain - tough to take and long to watch. i had heard it would be a love story and in the end you really felt something for the two cowboys in love. but i didn't feel for both of them. one, sometimes. the other, never. ennis really struck me as being in love with jack. he tried to marry his lady and live a normal, straight life. but he never really got over jack. jack, too, tried to move on and marry. but if he couldn't have ennis, he found substitutes. it didn't seem like it really was love on his part, more just lust. it almost didn't phaze me that jack was cheating on his wife with ennis, but he was cheating on ennis with whatever he could find. overall, glad i saw it so i could understand what the big deal was about. but wouldn't watch it again.
shopgirl - claire danes and steve martin and jason schwartzman, i think. clever story line. had some nice "feel good moments". but it amazes me how much sex/nudity can be in a movie. funny and clever, but too long of a movie. and i hate how claire danes looks when she cries (think back to my so-called life).
memoirs of a geisha - this one i liked. interesting topic, great cinematography, appealing story line. really felt for the characters. lot of cat fights. shows how evil girls can be. i am a sucker for a good love story. even though it was over 2 hours, kept me interested.
pride and prejudice - new version with kiera knightley. i really liked this movie. not a huge fan of kiera. but the movie was great. i have read the book but not for years now and have since long forgotten the complicated story line. but the movie flowed so well that even if you didn't read the book you could follow along and feel for the characters. having read the book, i remembered the true character of mr. darcy. i think i had even fallen in love with him too. like i said, such a sucker for a good love story.
prison break - ok not a movie but i did watch it off the tape i recorded last night. best show ever. even surpasses smallville as of late. the breakout has officially commenced. and lemme tell ya, even though i had accidentally read something that spoiled the ending for me, i still was on the edge of my seat and thought i just might pee my pants. can't wait for next monday and the season finale.
ok that's all. i am on vacation this week so i am going to go lay back in bed and put on a good movie or read a good book. kinda wish i owned pride and prejudice.
No comments:
Post a Comment