July 12th, 2010

So, we aren’t very good at keeping up with this blog. .

Lauren here!  Since our last post a lot has happened.  We finished out 2009 living in our studio apartment.  We began officially house hunting a few weeks after the wedding.  With all the foreclosures and bank owned homes it was semi-difficult to find a house that wanted to be sold…

We looked for about 4 months, which I guess isn’t that long, but it seemed long to us.  There were many homes in our price range, but not many livable ones.  We found some really great houses, but the floors were ripped up and taken or other important parts of the house were missing.  Whenever we’d find a house we liked, either the realtor selling the house would drop the ball or a cash buyer would get the house.

We bid on a house in early March and we lost it to a cash buyer.  The next day, however, we got a call saying that buyer had backed out.  After a bunch of legal stuff and waiting, we finally got the keys to our home.  The roof needed to be replaced, the kitchen floor needed to be replaced, and the windows were circa 1978 & two of them were broken.  We applied for a loan that would pay for the repairs, so we eventually got a new roof, new windows, and a kick-ass kitchen floor.

We’ve been in the house since the middle of April and are really enjoying it.  We have our kitties back (Thanks Mom and Dad for watching them for us while we still lived in the apartment).  We were able to get all of our stuff out of storage and have it under one roof for the first time in almost a year and a half.  It’s funny how huge a house looks when it’s empty then how quickly you can fill it up if you’re not careful!  We also like the fact that we don’t ever have to pay rent again.

Hello everyone, this is Rick.

Lauren was driving her minivan for a few years.  She always appreciated the fact that it was made available to her and I also grew attached to it as well.  However the size of the vehicle was a bit much for her to handle.  We were able to go car shopping and wound up purchasing a Toyota Matrix.  It’s small, which Lauren likes, and we were able to get the price down low enough for us to afford it.

Lauren again
I’m loving the new car.  It’s not new, but it’s “new” to me.
We’ve settled quite nicely into married life and home ownership.  Keeping a 3 bedroom house clean is much, much different than keeping a studio apartment clean.  We got a new vacuum to keep up with all the cat fur and I’ve already got my money’s worth.  The plan was to vacuum every other day, if not daily.  I’ve tried to do it, but haven’t kept perfectly to the schedule. Lawn mowing and yard work is completely new to me, but I enjoy it and can’t wait to get a garden going.

So yeah, we’re just working and I’m finishing up school and Rick’s playing music.  It’s really been a wonderful 9 months of marriage.  I can’t wait for the rest of our lives.

That’s the update…see you in a year

10/16/09

Hey everyone.

Lauren and I decided it would be a cool idea to start a blog together.  We thought it could be a nice way for us to fill anyone in on what we are up to as personally and quickly as possible.  We hope to update it weekly, with this post being our first.

Last Saturday was our wedding day.  It was a culmination of a little over four months of feverish planning and execution.  It wasn’t problem free, but most of the details went smoothly.  The ceremony was short (10 minutes) but sweet.  It was held in front of the fountain at Applegate Park, one of the few picturesque places in Merced to get married outside.  From there, we went to De Angelo’s for our reception.  Mike, the manager at De Angelo’s, took great care of us and our guests.  He made everything so easy and look so good.  All we had to do was show up.  If anyone reading this needs a place to host a large-ish gathering of people, go see Mike.  He rules.

We left the reception around 4:30pm and ventured across the street to change and hit the road. Rick’s parents (Lauren is typing now, hi!) got us three nights at The Sanctuary Beach Resort in Marina, CA. The drive there was nice, except for an insect massacre on Rick’s windshield. The room at the resort was amazing. There was champagne chilling on ice when we arrived, as well as silk rose pedals strewn across the bed and surrounding area.

The second night we ended up eating at a restaurant that we had eaten at on our first trip away together, two years ago. We didn’t realize that our first vacation together was in Marina, CA until we started driving around the town.

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Monday and that was ok. Fisherman’s Wharf was a drag. Lots of clam chowder salesmen.

The day after we visited the aquarium, it rained.  It didn’t rain hard, but it made us want to cuddle up by the fireplace and read the paper…not really.  We watched cheesy dating shows on MTV and VH1 and tons of Food Network shows.  We live without cable right now, so mindless dribble is a welcome treat.

For our fourth night we stayed at the Beach Inn in Santa Cruz, CA.  The drive down to SC wasn’t too horrible, but once we got to the hotel the rain and wind picked up.  It blew trees down in the area, causing the hotel to lose power.  We decided that the only thing to do was to walk to the nearby downtown and find something to do.  The wind and rain made it difficult to see.  We couldn’t figure out what to do, so we went into a Border’s bookstore and picked up a few books, The Office trivia board game, and an umbrella (which promptly failed once we tried to use it outside the bookstore).  We walked back to the hotel, changed out of our soaked clothes, and played our board game until the power came back on.  For dinner we ate at a small restaurant a half mile away or so.  This time we used our heads and took a taxi.

The drive home was very scenic. We took a longer way than we needed to, but it was worth it. We ate at Casa de Restaurant for lunch. Rick had a buffalo burger, which he says was bland. I had a veggie burger melt thingy…

We’re home now. Rick went back to work today, I go back on Monday *tear*.  Six days in, married life is great. We got some pretty nice kitchen stuff at Kohls and a new comforter and sheets at Target. Now we’re just planning for what’s next…

So yeah, hope you enjoyed our first entry. More to come!!

R & L