Home is Where the Dogs Live

15May

Categories: Around the House, Changes, Jobs and Careers, Marriage, Marriage Confessions, Yale

Well, Dear Readers, here it is. Our house. Our cute, little, cape cod house in Connecticut. Isn’t it just the most adorable thing in the world? It’s like a little piece of heaven in Stratford, CT. Its a great house, but I had no idea how much you had to go through before buying a house.

Have you ever had that dream where you’re standing naked in front of a crowd of people? That’s pretty much what a mortgage approval feels like. You basically go to a bank, meet with the mortgage rep, and then proceed to pour your financial guts onto the table for God and everyone to see. They want salary amounts, debt amounts, loan amounts, credit reports, social security numbers, your grandmother’s birth date – everything. And then they take 48 hours to judge how much that says you are worth. I’d rather poke my eyeballs out with bamboo skewers than go through that again.

But through some miraculous twist of fate, they approved us. When our mortgage originator called us to tell us the good news, I couldn’t believe it. I almost said to her, “Did you see that Chris is in THEATER and I am in EDUCATION?” I mean, you know the real estate market is bad when the primary breadwinner is in EDUCATION and they can afford to buy!

We don’t officially own the house yet. We are still under contract, but our closing date is June 27. Mark your calendars because I will be posting one heck of a celebration post on June 27. Then I will most likely disappear for two weeks while we take care of important things like finding the right place for the tupperware and connecting the cable.

In addition to buying the house, I did manage to graduate this past weekend. My incredible and crazy family made it up to celebrate with us, which was so above and beyond because they will all fly up here in two weeks for Chris’ graduation, too.

My Dad, Chris, Me, My Mom, and My Sister, Ginny

Can you see the relief in my face?

My favorite study-buddy.

All in all, its been a pretty good month so far. We’ll celebrate Chris’ graduation and his getting a fantastic job in two weeks when everyone and their mother (literally) will be in town as he graduates from Yale Drama. But for now, I’m trying to allow myself to stay in the moment. To be excited about what I have accomplished with my masters degree, and to relish the fact that Chris and I are on the road to homeownership.

I am also allowing myself to think of all the hardwood floors that Molly will now be able to chew and scratch. It’s a beautiful house, but what were we thinking? We just bought a house made of wood for our giant, fat headed lab to destroy. What are you gonna do though? Home is where the dogs live.

5  comments   |   posted in Around the House, Changes, Jobs and Careers, Marriage, Marriage Confessions, Yale   |   tags: Connecticut, first time home buyers, graduation, home buying

It's Almost That Time…

16Mar

Categories: Changes, Marriage, Marriage Confessions, New Haven, Yale

Last night Chris and I had a few friends over for Game Night. Traditionally, I have always been against any kind of “couples themed” get-togethers. While I love my husband, I hate it when people lump us together just because we are married. Invite us over because you like us, not because we’re a matching set. We do have lots of friends that are married or living together, but I’d say we have just as many friends who are single and fantastic and when we have people over or we go out, we try to get a healthy mix of both.

Last night though we gave in to the “matching set” scenario out of necessity – couples just make games easier to play! I’m sorry, Single People! We had our two friends Lisa and Justin over. If there were such thing as twin relationships, then these guys would be our twins. Although, I think they’d be the cooler, more popular twin. We had our friends Amy and Chris over, too. We don’t get to hang out with them as much, but there’s nothing like fighting over whether “Really Annoying” is a character trait in a good game of Scattergories to bring you closer. And we had our friend Steve, who was single last night because his wife is out of town. And except for taking too long to pass the Catch Phrase thingy/remote/controller he was a lot of fun!

As the night got later and later and the beers flowed, I have to admit that I got a little sentimental. For three years, these guys have been My People! When Chris brought home that 500 pound card catalog from the Yale library, we called them to help us move it. When we had too much to drink and missed our train home from New York, we called them to let our dogs out. When we couldn’t afford to fly home for Thanksgiving or Easter, we called them to bake a ham and stuff a turkey with us. To say I’m going to be sad to see everyone move away after graduation is an understatement.

In honor of all our friends here in New Haven, I give you the first Brown Top Five List:

THE TOP 5 THINGS I’LL MISS ABOUT

THE 3RD YEAR YSD TD&P GROUP:

1. Poker night – how else and I going to make my lunch money for the rest of the week?

2. Beers on Friday nights at the theater – although we rarely go anymore, its just a comforting thought to know that its there if we wanted.

3. The TD&P Offspring – you just can’t resist toddlers walking around in Tonka Toolbelts (DISCLAIMER: This does not mean I am ready for a Tonka Toddler myself, Mother.)

4. Boomer McDaniel - Justin and Lisa’s crazy dog who has alleged “aggression issues” walking around parties with his Hannibal Lecter muzzle on. The only person I have seen him have issues with is Steve, and who can blame him? I mean, that’s just a dog’s sixth sense (sorry, Steve…).

5. BBQ’s - there’s no better feeling than seeing two or three pick up trucks pull into our driveway with a couple grills in each one. I don’t think I remember how to have a BBQ with only one grill anymore!

As much as I am going to miss these things and, especially, these great people, there’s no time for sadness! We’ve got 2 and a half months left! Break out the boxed red wine and fire up the grills! I think I’ve still got a few “dancing on the bar” nights left in me…

Chris, Justin, and Steve at Sea Shanties in Essex

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Lisa with the claymation Beaver during an intense game of Cranium (*Note the flat beaver-like tail…)

1  comments   |   posted in Changes, Marriage, Marriage Confessions, New Haven, Yale   |   tags: Changes, Cranium, Friendship, Game Night, Marriage, Moving On, Personal, Relationships, Scattergories

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