Labor Day Weekend

Esther drove to Dallas this weekend with Turk, which mainly consisted of more good food and time to catch up. It's a bummer that Vicki and I only get to see her a few times a year but I'll take what I can get! On the last night she was here, we made it to Cru for their wine flights. The bubbly paired with cheese fondue over good conversation was just perfect! Until next time :) 

On a different note, I'm having to find all new people for my dentist, hair stylist, etc. Right after work, I'm going to try out a new hair salon since I could use something fresh! 

First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day back for the students here at the university and it's already been a drastic change around campus. In the morning, parking seemed just a bit fuller but I was still able to snatch a spot one or two spaces down from usual. However, I decided to be productive and drive to HomeGoods just a few minutes away to replace the pillows that didn't match our couch. Luckily I made the trip nice and short with 30 minutes of my lunch break left because it seriously took that long before I found a spot on the other side of campus! Needless to say, I was agitated trying to look for a spot with all the other students and professors doing the same.

All in all, it's been great seeing an increase of students on campus and I love it when students are wandering around aimlessly, looking at maps and asking strangers for directions. My entire first week in Austin consisted of carrying around a campus map! I suck at directions.

I'm also loving all the e-mails I'm getting from my previous high schoolers, letting me know how their first days in college are going. I can't wait to see all the amazing things they'll be able to achieve in the future. I couldn't have been more fortunate with that job.

The Big Move

The move this weekend has been the most intense move of the past month. Bright and early Saturday morning we took the Megabus to Houston and got there in a short four hours. This was the first time we had taken the Megabus and all in all it's a good deal and you can take a nap and not worry about the long drive! Alex's parents brought us to the bus stop and his mom even packed us some snacks for the trip. After my mom picked us up in Houston, we went and got some delicious Chinese food for lunch (which I'm always craving now).

All that was the good part of trip... we went and helped my sister and her fiance move out of their apartment in the rented U-Haul on a hot hot afternoon. Since they're moving into my mom's place, we had to pack up all of my belongings and move everything onto the U-Haul. Yesterday morning we jumped into the U-Haul and drove 300+ miles to Dallas! So glad all of that is done and now I can focus on unpacking all of my clothes and even trashing the stuff I don't need anymore.

Restaurant Week

In a few days, Alex and I will have been together for six and a half years. It also just so happened that Dallas's Restaurant Week is taking place this month and our beloved Fogo de Chao was on the list! We went on Sunday since we'll be out of town this upcoming weekend to move more stuff from Houston. My favorite thing about Fogo is their cheese bread... and okay their service is pretty good too! We're hoping that we'll be able to travel for our actual seven year anniversary! I've been thinking about Mt. Whistler a lot lately... ;)

Frustrating

I'm having so many issues with the financial aid and bursar's office this summer! No one at the campus seems to be friendly or helpful. I've been printing off the conversations that I've had with the financial aid representative as well just in case my money doesn't go through. Alex says it wouldn't be the worst thing if I took a semester off, which I agree with but if possible I'd like to keep going through. I guess we'll see if my money gets disbursed and if it the fiscal services actually return my e-mail.

Passion

I'm often finding myself bouncing off walls, wanting to distract my mind with two or more things at once and ready to get things done. Yeah, this has proven to be both good and bad. I get a lot accomplished, but even sitting down for a movie or just watching TV takes a bit of winding down before I can really focus (oh and when I finally do, I tend to fall asleep). The same dilemma can be said about my emotions too though, I tend to love people and things to the point where if it sometimes doesn't work out, I get super disappointed. This is a work in progress though! I'm not going to apologize for being passionate about things because it hasn't left me astray, which is why I particularly love the quote above that I found on Apartment 34's blog. 

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Goals for Today

I'm going to have a lot of daily, weekly, and monthly goals because of everything that's going on but there's so much fun feeling a bit more accomplished!

Today:

Continue stripping wallpaper, ugh, I haven't been able to paint my nails for a while because I know they'll just get destroyed by this project. I don't remember the last time I didn't have some type of nail polish on.

Get the bathroom mats into the master bath and start setting up my vanity area. I would really just love some type of pink flower arrangement in that area too! There's such great storage space throughout the whole house so I have to do it justice my keeping it organized. Maybe I could do something like this to the drawer:

Remodeling

Everyday is so exhausting with the house but we finally have TV and internet! It took the AT&T rep. four long hours to get it all hooked up, which I felt really bad about since it was so hot yesterday and he had to jump between the attic and garage all afternoon. During that time though, I was able to get some more wallpaper off and line the pantry shelves.

Before

After

First Home

So we did it; we got the keys to our first home! It's got great curb appeal and an even luckier street number to go with it (which is very important to my mom). We moved in on Friday night and began tearing down wallpaper and prepping around the fridge area. This was our first time doing something like this so we ended up messing up and digging all the way through what was a layer of sheetrock. Alex had to get joint compost the next day to smooth it all out - how is he so good at that?!

Luckily, we had Kevin help us on Saturday morning with all the heavy lifting. Jeez, U-Hauls can add up so fast! Now that we have some of the furniture in the house, it's really coming together. I can't wait to get some color and bath mats up in this place though. Here's some before pictures of the kitchen:

Closed

It's official - we closed on our house this past Wednesday and are now homeowners! We get to move into the place tonight so this weekend will consist of TONS of unpacking, painting, and getting situated but we're so excited. We loved our mortgage broker and realtor; they really worked great as a team and made the whole process pretty smooth for us. 

Alexis and Heather gave us congratulations/thank you cards along with gifts at our closing meeting <3

Celebrating our closing with street tacos! 

 

We're thinking about using Dolphin Fin by Behr in the kitchen and maybe Silver Drop in the living room and bedroom

Einstein

We finally brought this little guy to live with us once again. He used to be the whiniest, most hyper and stubborn puppy but now he's calmed down and has been much easier to crate train. We keep him on a leash while he hangs out with us so he doesn't get a chance to wander around the house and leave marks. Hopefully in just a couple days, he will have his new home and amazing yard to run around in.

Wedding Festivities

My sister and her fiance are getting married less than a year from now. We went wedding dress shopping this past weekend and she looked fantastic in all of the dresses. My mom came along with us and my sister finally decided on the one.

Obviously this is not the dress she chose, but I'm loving all the tulle! 

Oops

So you would think that since my job revolves around making students accountable and responsible for their college business, my financial aid business with my graduate program should be flawless. Think again; today was apparently the last day to pay for summer courses (what? you can pay after you take classes?) and apparently my financial aid disbursement never kicked in. What a shock to me! After having to listen to the bursar's office lady give me a lecture of being irresponsible, I just wanted to tell her to cool it on her attitude because there's actual students who don't know what the heck they're doing. I know and I even told her I'm fully aware of any consequences that come along with my careless mind this summer. Anyways, the moral of all of this is that as a higher education professional, I'm always going to try to be gentle with my approach with students. It's a stressful and crazy time, you don't need everyone else badgering you!

We made it back from Houston this weekend! I got my fair share of peking duck and dim sum, delicious! We also went with my mom to pick out the laminate color and even brought back several packages of the flooring so we can cut our next trip by a bit. We can't wait to get laminate flooring in our dining room and living rooms. Tomorrow we'll be going with the Realtor for our walkthrough before we close on Wednesday. I'm always so excited to be able to see our house. We're also meeting our mortgage broker face-to-face for the first time at closing, she's been tremendously helpful, I'd recommend her to anyone!

New Name

I've always wanted to keep a consistent blog, but for a while I lacked anything worthy of blogging. Yes, it's fun when there's dinners with friends or I see a movie, but let's face it, I love reading entries by others that I can relate to or better myself with. All things DIY are amazing to me, I just hope that Alex trusts that I won't revert to my half-ass tendencies and leave him with any projects I start. (:

I told my sister that I was in the market for a new title for my blog and threw "The Shirls Edition" at her. She began to spew out other words that rhyme with my name (other words that I've been scarred for life throughout elementary school)! "The Whirlwind Down". Hmm... well I've always felt like my life has been chaotic but somehow we always put the pieces back together and move on.

Since Alex and I have been saving anywhere we can for the home expenses, it crossed our minds to sell the DSLR since we're honestly both too lazy to lug it around places and sometimes too shy to bust that beauty out. However, my sister asked if I could bring it down to Houston this weekend to her engagement party. What a good idea! Maybe it won't be sold after all ;) 

Good Read on Grief

http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2012/03/23/when_should_someone_be_finished_grieving_.html?wpisrc=sl_iphone

A colleague of mine posted this article about grief after a loved one has passed away. I can relate in many ways to how he dealt with the grief he felt following the passing of his mother. When my dad passed away during my freshman year of high school, I became an emotional wreck and my world was flipped upside down. We were used to having two supporters in the family, one more financial and one more emotional. Now my mom had to take the role of the financial supporter as well and we saw how much she went through in order to keep our lives as similar to how it was before. My siblings and I most definitely became closer and everyone's strengths really began to shine through.

I too have gone through phases in my life so far that I wonder what my dad would say. When I left for college in San Antonio, I was so homesick and wanted all the adult advice I could get on whether or not I should just come back to Houston for school. Of course there were so many life-changing moments that I always wonder what his reaction would be. Now that we're buying our first home, I wonder if he'd like the place!

The author of the article was completely right, there are different intensities and phases of the grieving but it never goes away. Embrace it and do great things.

In the clear

I got a call from our loan representative letting us know that our loan cleared! We should be receiving my closing day information soon so that we can prepare the money required for that meeting. AA and I have been preparing move-in day items so our weekends have been extremely occupied.

I also finished off the summer session with a 4.0! I wasn't too sure about the grade I was going to receive in one of the classes but am ecstatic with the way things played out. Summer sessions are so much more work since it's crammed into just one or two months.

We should also be wrapping up the files for this application cycle at work. It's been fun getting to know specific students and being able to represent for them at the meetings. I wish the best for these students! :)

Slowing Down

I completed the final assignment for the last summer class; now I have a whole month off before fall classes begin again! :) At first, I wanted to knock out the internship requirement this fall, but since we'll have our new house and plenty of work to do in it, I'm going to wait til the spring or summer sessions to knock it out.

Alex is going to look over our warranty and his insurance options and make some final decisions so we can turn in the paperwork to the title company. Turns out that we have to make two trips to Houston over the month of August. It all sounds exhausting but it'll be much needed! Hopefully we'll have time to go to the gym and work on my spice jars tonight. If not, then we'll probably just wait til the weekend to decorate them.

Insurance - Check!

After a million e-mails with about four different home insurance companies, we finally decided on a policy that we're happy with. The premium is doable and the coverage seems pretty extensive and I've already mapped out our very worst case scenario if our house gets destroyed. It's important to pick a deductible that will be able to be paid if anything happens and enough coverage to rebuild the house if ever needed. We're actually going to go meet with the insurance agent after work today to sign papers.

This past weekend, we went with his parents to pick out our washer/dryer, refrigerator, and couch! So so exciting. I have to remember to save my money as well just in case all the monthly home bills pile up higher than expecting. I can't wait to go back to Houston next weekend to my sister's engagement party. Need to put the present package together for them :)

House Update (T-Minus 3 Weeks)

It's pretty crucial that we decide on a home insurance policy as soon as possible, with only three weeks left til move in! We've narrowed our decisions down to two insurance providers so hopefully this will get taken care of today. I'm leaning more towards SF just because I like their customer service more right now but we'll see what happens with the premiums :)

Our lender notified us last night that the house was appraised at the value we were hoping for! Yay!

I'm starting to be on the lookout for stuff for the home; we're starting to get a bunch of the kitchen necessities checked off.

First Purchase for the Home

The past few days, we have been finding ways where we can save here and there. Initially (of course), we wanted to go shopping for all sorts of new things... pots, pans, bowls, you name it! In order to get some new things that we really want, we'll have to accept and love the donations from our families. There's so many things I still have to pick up when I go back to Houston, the weekend of the engagement party for my sister and her fiance. Don't even know if we'll be able to bring our little Einstein with us this time around but I sure do miss him a lot!

So our first purchase for the house was... a new vacuum cleaner! That's going to be one of the first things we'll have to do in the house and we got it for a whopping $27.21, thanks to our Amazon giftcard and discounts. This bad boy is currently sitting at his parent's house.

Darn

So it's official, we didn't win any of the prizes for the furniture contest. That just means that we need to rebudget our money and priorities again so that we'll be good for a while in the new house. The days are just whizzing by and we are excited that all of the loan documents are currently being processed. Next steps are to pick a homeowners insurance company (oh and warranty) as well as look into our utilities providers.

Oops, I just realized that I forgot to update that after several different offers back and forth on the repairs, the sellers finally agreed to repair some of our items and give us an allowance to fix the rest of the major repairs. That'll do!

On the upside: I got an A in one of the summer courses and am wrapping up the second summer course within these next few weeks. BIG project to do by midnight tonight so I have to get on it.

Closed In

Do you ever feel like you're not doing enough? I couldn't have gotten to where I am now if it weren't for people who decided to support instead of judge me. There are so many issues out there that I'm passionate about; I hope that one day I'll be able to stand up for these beliefs and do something about it.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Martin Luther King Jr. 

Beaten Down

I guess we're currently at the part where money decisions have caused serious strain on the negotiating and budgeting processes. Is there any way I can get away from this, even for a little bit? I'm tired. We're waiting for the sellers to see if they'll agree to fix a couple things that we're asking for, with a repair allowance.

Need to pack, shower, and get ready for our trip to the Woodlands tomorrow!

White House

Inspection - check! I was so excited to be able to see the house again. It feels great knowing that we don't have to MAKE it into a charmer, it's already such an adorable property and I can't wait to see how everything else goes. Yesterday two big things happened with the house: inspection overall went well but our realtor will be drafting up an amendment to see what we can get fixed. We talked to our lender and got our interest rate locked in so now we need to keep an eye on a day where it falls pretty low. So many papers to collect and get signed in the next couple days.

Oh and homework, of course I haven't forgotten you :/

Furniture

The boyfriend and I have entered a furniture video contest. The rules are still a bit unclear since we've had difficulty getting our view count accurate (or so we think), but my students and family have helped so much with commenting and liking it! The contest ends in three days and I wonder how soon after we will hear *fingers crossed*. Winning this would help so much with our couch and/or dining table.

Exhausting Week

This week has been INSANE! My family got into town just in time for 4th of July celebrations with the boyfriend's family. It was great for everyone to finally meet each other after us dating for 6 and almost a half years :) Yesterday we went to drive around my potentially new home, grab lunch at a taco diner, and hit up the actual city for some historical site seeing.

I wrapped up one of my grad school courses just a couple days ago. Although I already know my numerical grade, it's always a bit nerve-wrecking to find out what I got in the class. I guess I'll miss this exciting part of being in school when I'm officially done next year. It'll be interesting to see what I end up doing for my internship requirement; hopefully, I'll get to work on some sort of project for the high school!

As far as the house goes, we apparently put in the lowest offer on the house we loved and in the end, won the bid. We're now scheduled for a home inspection on Tuesday evening, which I think several people are tagging along for... I might second guess myself sometimes about the home just because it's such a BIG decision, but I think if the home inspection goes swell I'll feel a lot more at ease. As of right now, we've already sorted out some of the kinks with the lender and title company. Now we have to decide on a homeowners insurance company. We'll probably grab some quotes today and decide pretty quickly (by the way, that's how fast this whole process goes).

Finding Our Home

After being pre-approved, we have been working with a realtor for a bit over two weeks now to find a home that suits us - this is NO easy feat! We went through probably hundreds of houses online to find ones that stick out to us and limited it down to seeing eight before this weekend. On Saturday morning, we received an e-mail from our realtor asking us to check out a select few that she found. We went to go see the house in person and fell in love with it! We even sent in our offer on the home and are now playing the waiting game again to see if we won the bid. Pretty, please!

Strides and Struggles

I did it! After about two to three weeks of not working out, I still completed my week 8, phase 1 run of 5 minutes of walking + 28 minutes of jogging. I'm not going to lie, having Scandal playing on Netflix helped me take my mind off of what a drag it was to run that long.

As for my struggles, we've been in the market of buying a home and it seriously is such a headache. I always think I know what I'm doing because of all the research I've done but then I get put back in square one. Still excited to keep on looking for the house that's just really us! Good news? We're moving forward with having been pre-approved. Now it's just the next steps that feel difficult.

We'll also be working on a video to win money to a furniture store!!

Grad School

If there's one thing I love about grad school, it's my ability to continue learning about the things I'm passionate about. Sure, we have to follow certain articles and provide some cut and dry feedback, but we are also allowed to pick our own path with our projects and presentations. One of my favorite courses at UT was Philosophy - Contemporary Moral Problems. The whole idea behind this class was to pick a side in each of the four controversial topics and support your reasoning while considering what arguments on the opposing side would be. When it comes to working and studying in higher education, I'm constantly in an environment where I'm learning facts and more importantly how I can support students through their academic and career goals. Fun stuff!

BBQ Pork Fried Rice

Ingredients:
2 sticks of carrots
1 lb. of BBQ pork (or deli ham or Chinese sausage)
1 shallot
1 cup of green peas
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups of white rice

1. Chop carrots into small cubes or pieces and try to keep the rest of the ingredients chopped to the same size (just my mom's suggestion to make it prettier). Boil carrots first to let it soften before the rest of the ingredients.
2. Chop one whole shallot and set aside (can be replaced by onion if preferred)
3. Chop BBQ pork - we bought it from the Chinese grocery store in Houston. Gotta find a good place to get more in Dallas! Set aside.
                                            
4. Add green peas to the boiling carrots for about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

5. Scramble eggs with a pinch of salt. Set aside.
6. In a deep pan or wok, add 2 tbsp. of oil and sauté the shallots
7. Stir in the BBQ pork and then the vegetables
8. Pour 1 tbsp. of soy sauce around the edge of of the pan
9. Add 1 tbsp. of salt and peper
10. Drizzle about 1 and 1/2 tbsp. of ketchup or sweet and sour sauce and mix well
11. Optional: Add a pinch of mushroom bouillon and stir

ENJOY! 

Run Baby Run

I did it! I finished week 7 of the C25K program which consisted of walking for 5 minutes to warm up and then jog for an entire 25 minutes (3x over the week). It was hard to get the first day started but once I knew that I could handle it, the other two times just happened. The third go around I actually managed to run 2 miles within the given time period. Bring it on week 8!

Stuffed Bell Peppers and Tomatoes

Recipe from Mrs. Anderson

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 4 cups water
• ~15 tomatoes and/or bell peppers
• 1 large yellow onion
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 half tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups white rice (could be substituted with brown rice)
• 1 1/2 cups parsley (preferably Italian)
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 tsp. pepper flakes (optional)
• olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Brown ground beef in pan, drain, and set aside
3. Sautee onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until translucent 
4. Sprinkle in salt and black pepper
5. Mix in rice, water, ground beef, parsley, and tomato paste
6. Sprinkle in pepper flakes if desired
7. Remove stuffing from heat until cool enough to handle
8. In about a 2" deep baking pan, place tomatoes and/or bell peppers standing upright
9. Stuff bell peppers and tomatoes with stuffing
10. Pour remaining stuffing into the pan around the bell peppers 
    
11. Drizzle olive oil over the top
12. Cover pan with aluminum foil to steam for 15 minutes
13. Continue baking at 375 degrees

Mother's Day

Since I didn't post about this last week, I'd like to make sure to write an entry about mother's day this year. Alex and I both jumped in my fuel-efficient car right after work last Friday and headed down highway 75. I dropped him off at the Woodlands so he could go spend time with his family while I spent the entire weekend with mine (yep, even Andrew was home)! For dinner, we went to Samurai Sushi & Hibachi restaurant and followed up with some Baskin Robbins.

My awkward confession? I never know where to put my hands in photos! Louis is such a good sport about always willing to take these photos for us. It's wonderful that he's going to officially be part of our family even though we already consider him as a member of this strange pack. 

Running

I was asked by my job to write a brief biography about my career experiences as well as including some hobbies; of course running was one of the things I listed. Today I re-completed week 6, part 3 of the C25K schedule. The last time it looks like I completed this was back in September! That means the new goal to beat sometime this week is to walk 5 minutes, run 25 minutes. I think this would be the very first time completing week 7 so I really hope I keep it up.

One of my students from the high school gave me a token that he received from one of his boxing idol's when he was a very young age. This was so difficult for me to accept, but just a couple of days ago he wrote me a letter letting me know his struggles with family and everyone around him and how they doubt his potential for becoming successful both in life, but also more specifically in boxing. He said that I was the only person who has ever shown him faith that he can achieve more. These small moments really validate what I have already helped others achieve, it's such a wonderful feeling. The picture below is of several of my 1st period office workers as well some others that I constantly worked with. They threw me a surprise going away party which included tamales, flowers, and SO much cake.

Aftermath

I survived my first week in Dallas! The new job has been a dream come true but is most definitely a challenge that I'm eager to take on. I can't think of one job that I've had that I knew was coming my way and was entirely prepared for it, well retrospectively TCBY sounds like it was an easy job! Parking was no fun though. I haven't started to meet with students just yet but will hopefully begin to work with them in the next coming weeks. The campus is gorgeous and provides such a fantastic working environment that I haven't experienced before.

On top of all this, I managed to finish my finals for my second semester of graduate school - ending both courses with a 4.0! So very excited that all the hard work is paying off.

The Grass is Always Greener

I can't believe I haven't already titled all of my blog posts with the grass is always greener on the other side.

I'm leaving for Dallas tomorrow to start a brand new job, with brand new people, and a brand new environment. This entire last two weeks has been a crazy roller coaster ride of emotions since I absolutely adore my students. They gave me the sweetest presents, wrote the most touching cards, and threw me small parties with delicious food. I am for sure going to miss all the homemade tamales.

One of my students applied to Rice University and was required to draw a picture that depicts her beliefs or emotions. She used the quote, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" - Dr. Seuss. I completely agree and that couldn't have summed up my years at this high school any better.

Excited for the new chapter in my life.

Chinese New Year

We had our big Chinese New Year feast last night and it was so great to have family and friends around the amazing food that my mom whips up. I'm so glad everyone ended up talking to each other. Of course Alex and I ended the night watching the season premiere of the Walking Dead. Can't wait for this upcoming Sunday to watch the next episode! 

Working out has been at such a standstill and I'm starting to feel it! Hopefully I can get my butt on the treadmill or to the gym this week. Currently in the process of applying for a couple jobs is making me both anxious and excited at the same time. Work is still crazy since some students are still figuring out what colleges are missing from them, some are in the process of applying for financial aid, and everyone is all over the place with scholarship applications. Can't complain, it's seriously one of the best jobs out there. I'm so blessed to have been there for three years! Just wish me luck on my next steps.