Gretel is Lost in the Woods.

Last week, i contacted a Realtor to start the prices of buying a house; through the insistence and push of a friend. The Realtor is his mom, but the push was more of a nudge out of the nest.
He was tired of me saying i wanted to get a house and said just do it already.

Monday afternoon i submitted the paperwork to be pre-qualified for a loan. I am currently waiting on the underwriters to give me the final word.

In the mean time, i am on the hunt.

I posed a question on Facebook and Google+ asking my friends for advice that they wish they would have known when buying their houses.
Fantastic advice was given, some i knew and some im glad to know.
The roommate gave me some good advice too, and offered to do a walk through once i found some houses i was interested in. As he has bought and sold multiple homes, i am very grateful for the offer.

Buying a home is a big deal for me for multiple reasons.
One, as long as i can remember my family has never owned a home. (I did later find out my mom owned one when i was a toddler for a brief moment). Being the first person to own a home in my family makes me feel very exploratory. Like i'm Columbus exploring new territory! And while i know my sisters will feel like i'm rubbing it in that i'm better than them. That is not the intent. I'm not better than them, i just made better choices and my choice was not to repeat the family cycle set forth before me.

The second reason this is a big deal is because all my life, until i was 24, i have moved around almost every year. When i was little, a new house every year and sometimes a new school district. My mom finally agreed to stay in one school district during our high school years. Grateful for that.
Then i was in my 18 and carefree, moving from roommate to boyfriend to roommate to boyfriend. It happens.

But over the past two years, i have been desperately searching for roots, for somewhere to belong.
Like most females, i thought this was a relationship. Turns out, i'm not great at those, so i am seeking my roots elsewhere; in a home.

Now, im on the hunt.
Last weekend i drove past 15 houses and only found one that i was even excited to see the inside of.
Someone already has a contract on it, so im still looking.

Gretel, desperately seeking her Gingerbread home

First day of the rest of my life

Tomorrow is the first day of my new life.
I graduated college last week, and have been lucky to have a job to go into using my degree.
Im nervous, i feel like im going to my first day of school!
I dont know what to wear, im about to go hit up a few stores to see if i can find something that just makes me feel pretty.
Im excited for so many reasons, besides the fact that ill be working again. Its a new start, i can meet new people and perhaps find better friends than what ive been dealing with lately.
Interacting with more people gives a greater chance for me to meet a new guy, and i need to find a man in my life.
I dont even have good shoes to wear!!!

I DID IT!!!

This weekend was my graduation from college with a B.S. in Management/Human Resources.
I started in June 2006 with a little nudge from a manager I had. Now here I am 5 years later and im finally done.

Im thrilled! At first, I was feeling like the ceremony wasnt a big deal. But closer to the actually day of the graduation, i started to get nervous and anxious.

My mother lives up here, along with one of my sisters and her 4 kids.
My cousin and baby sister live in Springfield. They have two kids each. All the family was there, although late to the start of the graduation ceremony, but there none the less.

Regardless of the hassles that came with this weekend, and having 14 of my family members in my apartment...

I graduated, 11 years after my high school graduation, but i still have that piece of paper.

My week, in short

Being unemployed does not lead for an interesting life.
Quite boring if you ask me.
But the relaxation time before starting the new job is probably worth it.

Wednesday, Kohls had a 50% off sale on dresses, and while i did not need to spend any more money, i did need a dress for my college graduation next month.
I did manage to get a very nice Croft & Barrow black and white scroll dress, for only $22. I also grabbed a couple suit type jackets which I will need at the new corporate job.

Today, I drove 40 miles to another city to get a refund for my GAP insurance from my old vehicle. (Oh, i bought a new car. 2005 honda accord ex coupe) I thought i would get the check right then but apparently its a 6-8 wek mailer.
I also had dinner with my mom, sister and the 4 kids. That was an interesting adventure.

This weekend im going to go to Springfield to see some family and friends for a few days.

What do you do

When the man of your dreams says the most romantic thing you have ever heard, yet he only sees you as a friend and only meant it as something he would say to his best friend.

Today, my best friend/man of my dreams sent me a text.
"Youre important to me like peanut butter is to jelly. Sure, you can have just one of the two on a sandwich but they are so much better when the other is present. We would do "ok" without each other, but even if we decided to just talk every once in a while, the distance between you and i would never get so far that we just stopped talking. It would stop at a certain point where we both wouldnt let it get that bad."

How does this man not have romantic feelings towards me.

I told him I appreciate the sentiment but that he should keep speeches like that for his gf. He didnt understand so i tried to explain it the best i could.
"while your mother told you to find a wife with hips, mine was telling me that i shouldnt pick someone because i feel that i need them in my life as i do not NEED anyone. but to pick someone because with them you are a better person than you already were, because they compliment you"
The peanut butter to my jelly.

God has a sense of humor. To give me someone whom i cant have.

Being an Adult

Why is it so much harder to make friends as an adult than as a child?
Not to mention making female friends...

Its not as if i can walk up to a girl somewhere and say "wanna play"
Or ask a girl to "be my friend" at the bar...

Dont get me wrong, i manage to talk to females in various places, but none of the conversations end up with the whole "lets get together and see if we could be friends" vibe.

I think my desire to have a boyfriend, steams from not having a best friend. Someone to feel close to, to trust, to tell all my secrets to. (besides strangers in a blog)

Everyone says join a group, or club, or something. The sad part is im afraid of doing stuff alone, so joining a group to meet new people is harder to do alone.

Maybe im crazy.

Its good to spoil yourself

I bought a kindle.

Thought about it for well over a month, as i hate spending more than $100 on one item.
I stared at Amazon, Target, Best Buy... all the while considering the purchase.
Finally, i hunted one down and decided to buy in store vs online just for convenience. First thing i did was download some freebies of course, and found a few on sale for 99 cents. which made me click happy!

I ended up spending 6 hours reading one book and just let my afternoon fade away.

So far, im really thrilled with my purchase. I have yet to find a case i love...
And if anyone has any suggestions for low-cost books that are great reads please dont hesitate to let me know.