Whole Foods

We are really focusing on eating healthy right now. I feel my best when I'm eating mostly whole and unprocessed foods. We are so lucky to have lots of food shopping at our fingertips!

Last night we were out enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. We realized we didn't take anything out for dinner and MrHoppy was getting very grumpy and very hungry.

We pulled into Whole Foods to get something fresh and healthy. It's minutes from our house which is so nice! We needed a few things other items as well. People always say how expensive Whole Foods is - and it can be if you don't look for sales! We picked up 2 salmon burgers and a GIANT salad for dinner. I love that salad bar - seriously. We also grabbed a bunch of Clif Bars for his snacks and bananas. All for $20. Dinner for 2, I'm having leftovers for lunch today, snacks and produce? Not too shabby.

I have an exciting appointment in the works as well. Nothing work related - it's tattoo related. I think I found my artist so I'll share my idea and all the details on that very soon!

New Digs

We have been in our new/old house for a little over a month now. It's starting to feel like home. It took a few weeks to get unpacked and organized. We had to get creative as it's much less space than we are used to. That was the point though - downsize!

In the chaos of moving day I didn't take any photos. Not one. Who knows where my camera was and we were busy shoveling 2 feet of snow. I wish I had though, it was quite a mess.

I did snap a picture a few days before the move in. A nice, sunny, non-snowy afternoon! I met our landlord to get the keys and do the walk through. It's from my phone but you can see the size. That's most of our living space! The front door is at the end. There are lots of windows so we have tons on natural light. Off to the right is a small hallway with a bedroom at each end. The bathroom is right in the middle. The paint looks almost pink in this photo. It isn't, it's just kind of a beige color. I'm standing in the doorway that leads to the kitchen. Ooohhh the kitchen. Wait until I show pictures of that!

Our furniture fits great actually. I was worried about our king bed in our little bedroom but it fits. It's cozy... But we got it in there! In the first couple weeks I spent quite a bit of money on new things for the house. It's all hardwood upstairs so we needed rugs at both the front and back doors. The blinds are hideous so of course I needed curtains right away. I have slowed down quite a bit and will continue to decorate and add little touches as time goes on. My goal is to document here as much as possible. You can make a rental your own with a little bit of work and creativity. I'm trying to use what we already have but in different ways so it feels new.

Some of my plans include painting a tall bookshelf, painting the little bathroom, decor on the large wall over our couch, and accessorizing.

Luckily we have a full basement that is mostly finished for storage. It's interesting... to say the least. There is also and underground 1/2 garage under the kitchen. Also, very interesting. But we are making it our own! A couple we are very close with lives only 3 blocks away. We love our little neighborhood and I can't wait for the weather to warm up so we can explore even more!

Changes to the Blog

I know I want to change up the blog. My problem? I have too many ideas! I guess that's better than none...?

My problem is I don't know if I want to focus on just one thing to write about. There are so many things I'm interested in and so many activities we do. I don't want it to turn into a "working out" blog, or a "fashion and shopping" blog, or an "outdoors" blog.

I guess I'm interested in writing about lots of things. The whole "Lifestyle" blog thing is so common but really - it's kinda who I am. I definitely don't just focus on one thing in my life. I'm all over the place. See my list below for proof!

Here's what's new with me that I can see myself writing about:
- Training for my first 1/2 marathon - week 2 baby! My sister and I are doing it together
- Decorating a rental house - it's a project in the works
- Living in a little old house - built in 1924
- Travel - We'll be doing a little bit of travelling this year. With the hubby's new job it will be tough
- Snowboarding - I have a pass this season and am enjoying it so much
- Exploring our new neighborhood - we're in a super cool Denver neighborhood
- Trying out new restaurants/bars in said neighborhood
- Shopping! Did I mention we're minutes from Cherry Creek?
- Tattoo - I'm getting another one. A big one. It's exciting.
- Family - Because I love mine
- Eating right - it's been a struggle lately, I need to get back into my focus on health
- Photography - I so badly want to be good at it. But that would take effort, which I haven't put forth yet...

Not to mention all the Summer activities we do. Where do I start? Would anyone be interested in reading about my life in general? I don't know. Regardless this will always be a place for me to document my ideas and memories. I guess that's all that matters right?

I'll figure it out. It's been on  my mind even if I haven't been as active here lately. I'm excited for a fresh start to the blog. I've come a long way since I started it. I feel like I'm almost a different person! In a good way.

So, My Life is WAY Different Now

Whew. My life has done a 180 in the last few weeks. And I really think it's ALL for the better. It's a great feeling to be honest.

We closed on our house with no problems the end of January. The day before we moved a blizzard hit Denver. Yep, we do have great timing! The move had to go on though, we had to hand over posession of a house that was no longer ours! It's really weird to think about that.

So bright and early (actually cloudy and snowy) one Saturday morning we picked up our GIANT moving truck. Good thing we went with the 24 footer. We have a lot of stuff and we even sold a lot of it before the move! We had all the boxes and small items already in the 3rd car garage to be moved directly into the truck. Last minute items and big furniture was all that was left in the house. It went smoothly.

By 11 we were done loading. My Mom offered to stay behind and help me clean. The house felt so big and so empty. I didn't feel one twinge of sadness though. I even told my Mom "I feel like I should be sad, maybe I should try to cry?"

But a new adventure awaits! We pulled away from the house for the last time. I drove to the new house where even more friends and family were there helping us unload. After they shoveled 2 feet of snow out of our driveway the move-in was ON! We got it done so quickly and it went really well.

We are adjusting to our new digs. Moving from a 4 bedroom, 4 bath, 3 car garage house built in 2003 to a TINY 2 bedroom, 1 bath with a 1/2 car garage built in 1924 has been crazy. I will update more later, hopefully with pictures and details on the new place.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with the ol' blog. I'm really not an IF girl anymore. Well I am, but I don't feel like one. I feel more like a childless couple excited to live our life and take on lots of adventures! It's so weird but I'm in such a good place in regard to that. I'm honestly happy. Maybe I could turn it into our adventure blog - in Colorado, travels, friends, family... I'll have to think about it. I know I haven't written much in the last 6 months so if anyone is still reading let me know what you think!

Hurry up and Wait

I feel like this is the month for waiting. We got our offer on the 2nd which feels like an eternity ago! The inspection was done last Monday, the 9th.

The buyers were to communicate anything they wanted us to do from the inspection no later than Thursday. We didn't hear a peep. Our realtor assumed that means everything went very well with the inspection. I'm going with her on this, for now.

They turned around and scheduled the appraisal right away. It was completed last Thursday, the 12th. We know everything is tight in this market. Our buyers have an FHA loan which means the appraisal has to come back at the purchase price or above. Our realtor asked him to give her a heads up if we had any issues with value. We didn't hear a peep.

I was a nervous ball of stress last week. I was so glad to get those 2 pieces banged out quickly. So...

Last week I was so excited. We didn't hear anything negative so our realtor assumed all was well. But as the weekend went on I started to worry. Here I go worrying again. Why didn't we hear ANYTHING? So I emailed our realtor this morning to make sure everything was OK. She said that she assumes no news is good news. But she did try to contact the other realtor and appraiser today, just to make sure. I haven't heard anything back yet.

So, I hurry up and wait!

Stress - For Real!

I have been holding out. I didn't want to jinx anything. And I still don't but I need to write about what's going on in the Hoppy house!

We.Sold.Our.House! After being on the market for 14 days! To say we are excited is an understatement. I was so nervous to try and didn't have high hopes. But over the holiday weekends we were pleasantly surprised by the number and showings. And the GREAT feedback.

I am so thankful that the showing process went quickly. What a pain is the butt. 2 weekends in a row we were out of town. And both Sundays we ended up displaced with a car full of stuff, 2 dogs and 2 very tired people. It was worth it!

Don't get me wrong. This could all go South. We have the inspection tonight and I'm waiting to find out when the appraisal will be. We accepted a full asking price offer so we need the appraisal to go well!

Closing is estimated for the 31st. So... We are desperately trying to find somewhere to live. In Denver. With 3 pets. That is affordable yet in a great neighborhood. To say I am stressed is an understatement. I never expected this to all go so quickly! I'm not prepared.

But we are very, very excited. I feel like 2012 is starting off the right way. New beginnings!

Baby L!

We had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new niece for what feels like years! You all probably remember that my sister and I are very close. So her children feel as close to mine as they could. :) I love them so much. Since we have a little boy we were all very excited to have a little girl to spoil! And she has my middle name... My sister is the BEST.

My sister's due date was the 16th. We all joked (and hoped) that L would come early. She did! This is going to get long but I want to write it all out so I don't forget. It was so exciting and amazing.

The afternoon of the 14th my sister texted that she was having a few contractions. Nothing to time but they were painful. By 5PM she said I should be ready because they were timing them now. I was ready! I drove home from work absolutely giddy. My parents trekked out to their house to pick up O. My sister wanted to labor at home for as long as possible. The plan was for me to be in the delivery room (again) so I needed to be ready do go. About 8:30 she said the contractions were further apart. So I got ready for bed with MrHoppy and watched some TV.

By 10 my brother in law had called and things had changed drastically. They were speeding to the hospital and I was out the door in 10 minutes to follow! We walked into her room which was eerily quiet. She was laying on the bed with her eyes closed. I should mention that my sister goes all natural. Not even Tylenol. So she was in the "zone".

I found out later that her water had broken as soon as they walked into the room. She felt like she couldn't do it anymore. I also found out that this probably means she was in transition. So we settled outside her room. A nurse went in for a minute and promplty ran out.

"She is a 10, she's ready to push, we need a Dr in here right away!!"

She also said "she wants her sister!". Best words. Ever. So I walked in and a nurse pulled me aside right away. They didn't even know her name yet, she wasn't checked in officially!! I gave them the information and went to the bed where the pushing had already started. I think it took 4 pushes and L was here! She was beautiful, perfect and we all fell in love instantly. My sister is amazing!

I went home about 2AM after getting to experience everything with them. My sister is the most amazingly giving person to let me stay for her first bath, weighing her, shots, etc. It was so much fun! Her official birth date was 12/14 at 11:26PM. She was almost born in the car on the way - it's no lie that the 2nd babies come MUCH faster!

In the morning we received bad news. L was in the NICU with low oxygen and what they thought was an infection of some sort. My sister and her husband were devestated. The perfect family bonding time wasn't going to happen. Instead L was hooked up to machines in another portion of the hospital. I arrived with snacks, movies, magazines and some outfits for L that I had picked up before I found out she was in the NICU. We were all SO worried.

Blood tests confirmed she had an infection, a pretty bad one. We still don't know what it was. She was on oxygen and IV antibiotics. We hoped she would get well quickly.

Finally on Sunday afternoon L was released. She is home, safe and sound. And most importantly - HEALTHY! We are doing our family Christmas celebration tomorrow night and I can't wait to love her up.

So that's my newest niece's birth story. Pretty amazing that they let me be a part of it with both their children. Thank you sissy!