House Hunting, House Selling and House Buying

Whew! Our lives have been in a real estate whirlwind lately! After seven months of house hunting and having our house on the market, we have finally sold our house in O’Fallon, IL and have purchased a new home here in Colorado! We close this Friday and we’re SO excited! I will be so relieved to be out of this tiny apartment and back in a home!

I think the three best things will be:

1. Having counter space again in the kitchen

2. Sleeping on a real bed! (We left our furniture in our house in O’Fallon so we’ve been on an air mattress for seven months!!)

3. Having a yard for our dogs. We’ve actually never had a fenced yard for the dogs before and we are both so thrilled to have that! Especially after having to walk them out on the leash every time they need to go out in the apartment.

We really found a wonderful home to move into and feel that in many ways it was meant to be! The short version of the story is... Aaron is the one who found the home when it had only been on the market for four days and he and I were very on the ball about seeing it right away. We were only the 2^nd people to see it and the people who saw it just before us were putting an offer in as we were looking at it. We had a great realtor who kept us well informed and we were able to offer just a little higher than the other people and get our offer in right at the end of the business day with a midnight deadline, so we barely got the offer in and it was accepted! Our realtor actually brought the offer to my work for me to sign in order to get it in on time! It was very well priced and we feel very blessed to have found this home after looking for so long. This is the second home we made an offer on, but the fifth home we wanted. After so much disappointment in our house hunting experience, we felt quite beaten and frustrated, so it was interesting how it all worked out so well. Our home in IL also sold only a couple of weeks before we officially purchased this new one, so the timing was perfect too. Heavenly Father must laugh at us so often for getting frustrated and discouraged at things not going according to our plans when He knows He has a better plan in mind for us the whole time.

The woman we’re buying the home from is extremely nice and has had us over to show us how everything works and introduced us to the neighbors and everything. We’re very excited for our new adventure to start next weekend in our new home and in a new ward!

Here is a picture of our new home! (Don't worry, I'll post more pictures once we're settled)

Family Reunions

This summer both my Mom and Dad’s families decided to have family reunions – a week apart from each other! We haven’t had a reunion on either side in 5+ years so it was funny how the timing worked out! So two weeks ago we had the DeLaMare family reunion. Thankfully it was here in Colorado so we didn’t have to go far! We had a luau at my Aunt Tanya’s house where we roasted a pig, rode ATVs, sat in the hot tubs, played Volleyball, horseshoes, bean bag toss and Rock Band and just had a great time together! The day before, most of the grandkids went to Elitchs together and it was a ton of fun to spend time together and ride the rides. I particularly enjoyed catching up with Stacia (my closest cousin who recently returned from her mission), talking with Phil and Jacob, and running around with Macy.

Last weekend we flew to the Portland Airport to attend the Andrus family reunion in Battle Ground, WA. We enjoyed time sitting by the river one day and by the lake the next talking and enjoying each other’s company. I got to hold my cousin, Jamie’s, baby, Sadie, (who has the same birthday as me!) for hours by the lake and that was a real treat for me. The only downside was that it presented lots of opportunity for comments about my lack of children…lol, but it was actually all pretty funny. My top three favorites parts of the river and lake activities were talking with my Uncle Mark and also my Uncle Danny about politics and public education, holding Sadie, and playing Frisbee with my cousins. We actually got a game of Ultimate Frisbee going and it was a BLAST! It was really fun to spend more time with Jamie’s husband, Patrick. He and Aaron have some fun business ideas going now after chatting for while. It was also fun to see Jamie being a mom and to see Camille as a beautiful teenager! It’s weird how time changes people’s roles from what you’re used to. The last night we had 50^th Anniversary party for my grandparents and it was a fiesta! It was actually a very special night and my grandparents shared some great insights as they spoke to us. The best part was that my grandma gave each granddaughter a piece of handpainted china from her mother’s collection, and my grandpa gave us each a copy of his published life history! I’ve been wanting to read it, but Aaron read over my shoulder as I read the first two chapters on the plane, and he got hooked and hasn’t given it back since! Haha, I’ll get my turn soon.

Both reunions were wonderful experiences, it’s always very special to me to have time with family. I’m extremely frustrated with myself for forgetting to bring my camera to the Andrus family reunion! We didn’t hear our alarms and nearly missed our plane, so it got forgotten in the hustle. Oh well, I’ll get pictures from everyone else soon. Also, I got to see one of my best friends, Caylene, while we were in Washington! It was a short visit but so awesome! I always love spending time with her. It was as if we’d never been apart! She’s like a sister to me and so it was fitting that I saw her on the weekend of a family reunion J

Sorry there are no pictures in this post, if you want to see my family reunion pictures, feel free to check out facebook.

College Graduation!

Well I am officially a college graduate! I guess I was already when I graduated with my associates degree from BYUI…but I guess I didn’t count that since I was still working on my bachelors. So anyway, now I officially have my Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Administration and a minor in Social Science. It feels SO GOOD to be done! I was attending Troy University for the last two years of my degree since it was affordable and I could complete it online to work around my work schedule. I never got to walk in my high school graduation because I graduated early and by the time my class was walking across the stage, I was in the middle of a semester as a sophomore in college, so I didn’t go back to be part of the ceremony. Not wanting to completely miss the chance to have that experience in my lifetime, I flew out to Florida to attend the graduation ceremony there! My parents, youngest brother, baby sister, and of course, Aaron, were all there with me for the special event (and not without sacrifice!). It was so worth it to be there and have that moment. The best part for me was moving over the tassel. That moment made the entire trip worth it for some reason. It felt good to celebrate my accomplishment with the people I love most! And of course, we enjoyed time at Florida’s beautiful beaches!

Celeste and Nathan's Visit!

In May we were super excited to get a call from Aaron’s sister, Celeste, saying that she and her new husband would be driving through Colorado and wanted to stay the night on their way. We were SO excited to have them over and to spend time with them! Especially because we hadn’t gotten a chance to spend time with Nathan yet and we were very excited to get to know him better. When they arrived we enjoyed time to talk and catch up, and then sat in the hot tub at our apartment complex pool for an hour or so. We had pancakes, eggs and muffins in the morning and helped them get back on the road. We were sad to see them go so soon but we absolutely loved getting that unexpected special time to spend with them. And we really enjoyed Nathan and think he’s a fantastic addition to the family. I like not being the only in-law anymore! J

(Pretty sure everyone in this picture would like for you to know that this was taken early in the morning before we were ready for the day and we normally look much better) :)

Promotion!

In April we had an employee move away and when her position became open, my manager encouraged me to apply for it, so I did and I got it! So instead of being a part time Sales Associate in Portable Electronics, I’m now a full time Front End Lead in Operations! Basically what that means is I coach and train the cashiers and customer service associates and deal with all the customer issues that arise in those areas of the store (which are not lacking unfortunately!). It’s great to have more responsibilities but it’s not without its share of negative features. I’m enjoying the position overall though and think it’s a great experience.

One other work update that happened right around the same time is that I was accepted into the Harvest program! It’s basically a management training program run by the current managers for those who want to move forward in the company and show potential. About 30+ people applied and they only accepted about a third so I feel very privileged to have this opportunity and hope to learn a lot of valuable things from it.

Janae's Birthday

I really didn’t want my birthday to come this year because for some reason I did not want to turn 23 (Aaron and I felt the same way about our birthdays this year). But, as always, time didn’t conform to my wishes and April 17^th came and went without my permission, lol. My birthday was on a Sunday this year so we celebrated on Saturday and Sunday! J

On Saturday Aaron put together a great day for me! We went bowling, shopping at a fabric store, then out to dinner at an Italian restaurant. Bowling was SO MUCH FUN!!! Aaron made the mistake of walking away and letting me create the bowling names, haha! So we were "Birthday Girl" and "Handsome Guy". J We had two of the closest games we’ve had, it was some intense competition! There was an old man in the lane next to us who was watching our game and he got pretty caught up in the intensity of our close scores, it was fun! And of course we had awesome bowling shoes, lol.

Oh and I got to listen to whatever I wanted on the radio which I abused terribly and poor Aaron was stuck listening to all kinds of 90s “girl power” music, haha. He was also a great sport at the fabric store while he waited patiently for almost an hour while I picked out a dress pattern. Then that night we had the adult session of stake conference. I’ve had at least some part of stake conference fall on my birthday for the last three years somehow… what’s up with that?? Oh well J Oh and Aaron got me Sims 2 Open for Business for my birthday, haha! It’s a fun game, and Aaron actually got a little addicted to it too once I showed him how to open a robot-making shop, lol.

On Sunday morning I had a delicious fruit tart for breakfast and skyped with my family for a while. Then I got to go to my Grammy and Papa’s house after church and have tacos and birthday cake with my extended family! I picked out a delicious Boston Creme Cake for my birthday cake. So yummy! The best part of Sunday was getting Grammy and Papa’s rendition of “Happy Birthday” in person! J

Aaron's 29th Birthday

This year we celebrated Aaron’s 29^th birthday! My man is getting old! Leading up to his birthday he kept saying that it didn’t feel like his birthday so I went overboard with decorating the apartment for his special day so that he would feel like it was his birthday! Lol, it was fun to see his reaction! My favorite gift that I got him was a Superbowl Packers Champions Tshirt. It seems that every time I’ve gotten Aaron a Tshirt, it’s always too small, so I was thrilled that this one fit! And he wears it a lot J

For his birthday dinner, we had chicken enchiladas and Mexican rice. As a special surprise, I also got him Sangria to drink with his meal. He fell in love with the drink on his mission and every time we have Mexican food he comments that it needs Sangria, so I found some to go with his Mexican birthday dinner!

I also made Aaron a birthday cake and I was really excited to surprise him with a circle layer cake that he prefers (but it’s a little more work so we usually just do sheet cake). Unfortunately, the cake making did not go well! It completely fell apart! I couldn’t stand letting that ugly cake be Aaron’s birthday cake, and I had about 45 minutes before Aaron was supposed to get home, so I ran out the door to the grocery store to get a bakery cake. The grocery store cake saved the day! And actually my ugly cake still tasted pretty good, so we had two yummy cakes to eat!

Valentine's Day 2011

2011 was by far the best Valentine’s Day Aaron and I have spent together yet! Since it was on a Monday it kind of turned into a Valentine’s Day weekend. On Saturday we had a fabulous night of dinner and dancing! We went out to TGI Fridays for dinner and had a really delicious meal. I think their new cheesecake is AMAZING and Aaron really loved his first wedge salad.

Then we went to the Stake Valentine’s Day Dance. The dance was SO much fun! I was very impressed by how beautiful they were able to make the cultural hall. It definitely rivaled most wedding receptions done in church buildings. The theme was "A Love Story" and they had couples submit their love stories beforehand with a picture. Then they displayed the pictures as a slideshow throughout the night and they had each love story on posters around the room. At the end of the night we got to take our poster home. They had some of the pictures in frames as the table centerpieces and our pictures was one of them so we got to take that home too.

It was really creative and fun! Also, the strawberries were huge and delicious! Aaron and I danced a lot and just had tons of fun talking, laughing and goofing off. There were only two other couples from our ward there so we got to socialize a little, but for the most part we were able to just focus on each other since we didn't know anyone else, which was perfect. I got some pictures of the evening off the event website. They took a picture to show the slideshow when it was our picture on there! And there was even had a picture of me and Aaron dancing! :) Also as part of the event they took everyone's couple picture. I didn't really like ours, but I posted it here anyway. It's the black and white one at the top of the post.

On Monday night we exchanged gifts with each other and played games. Aaron’s gift to me was an amazing meal of stuffed chicken breasts – yum! He also got me roses and a stuffed lion that is SO cute! Sugar thinks Mufee (the lion) is her cub or something and she carries him around the apartment and cuddles with him under the couch. But...she also chews on his tail so I constantly have to take him away from her, lol.

And I spoiled Aaron with tons of gifts! (everything in the picture is from me to him, lol) I also put together a very poorly done photoshopped picture for him. It didn't quite go as planned... I wanted to do a collage of words that would look like his silhouette, and that project got stuck half way through (I'll post a picture of that partial project) so I tried putting words over his face and that just looked odd. As a back up (since I knew this was failing), I also threw together a picture of both of us with lyrics from our songs in the background. By the way, the words I used on Aaron's picture were adjectives that I got his friends and family to send me that they thought described Aaron. Also the last picture is the gift from the dogs to Aaron, lol.

Gingerbread House Contest Result

How's this for overdue?? I posted the result on Facebook right after the contest, but it has come to my attention that not everyone saw it! So this is for Brielle :) The contest winner was House A, made by Janae! That's me!! lol, so yes, I got to open the first present on Christmas morning :) Oh and Aaron's gingerbread house fell apart almost immediately after he took the picture! So it's a good thing he got the picture in time! He might have added more but didn't get the chance. It was a close contest! Thanks for voting you guys, it was really fun and will probably be an annual tradition :)

I plan to get back to blogging, so prepare for an onslaught of entries as I catch up on events of 2011...