Oh by the way...

HAPPY NEW YEAR?!??! already?! (< that's how long I've had this post written and just waiting to upload the pictures...woops!!!)

Holy cow, it's like I forgot about keeping up with this thing through the end of the year until the doc did his regular check and said I don't write anymore. So here I am playing catch up..again.

In November we...

...finally completed the small fixes that our Thomasville buffet we got in a local clearance section needed:

...learned that brussel sprouts grow on these crazy vine things:

...ate the best pancakes EVER (will have to post this gem of a recipe that R found):

...made friends with someone in the neighborhood who so nicely shared his tools with the doc so we could frame out bathroom mirrors with the crown molding R found in a dumpster:

...got mail from one of those friends who make your life so much better just by being in it:

Decided out kitchen needed a backsplash....I can't find the after picture butttt you can see it in the background of our Thanksgiving pictures: 

before

...went to the movies and had popcorn. I love popcorn!:

...celebrated our anniversary! & by celebrate I mean exchanged gifts the night before because the doc had to work what felt like every single day or night of November:

...received our annual photo book:

...had a lovely Thanksgiving (two actually!) with friends:

you can kind of see the backsplash

...DECORATED FOR CHRISTMAS (our fave):

...and took these random pictures on our way to misc. errands:

Gosh I love that cheesy face

In December we...

...had the docs work Christmas party:

and since this is a LATE post and we've announced it now...got some of these on the way home...the first few were BROKEN. The control window didn't work....so I had to wait until the next day to get some more.

...tried a local homemade ice cream place. We haven't been back :X :

...made Christmas cookies with Margaret:

...took these TWO pictures together:

...celebrated Christmas on the farm per the usual:

...and met "Tiny" the calf:

Our New Year's Eve tradition seems to be having an early pretend midnight countdown and going to bed...The only time we've stayed up past midnight was FOUR new year's eves ago...we are old souls. 2014 gave us some of the toughest love but was also a very fun and exciting year. Can't wait for all that 2015 has to offer!!!

What We Didn't Know About Buying a House

- The banks are super nosey during the pre-approval process - expect to have to give them lots of old bank statements and to be able to defend and show proof of where withdraws or deposits went/came from
- Give yourself plenty of time if you're buying in a new city!!! (the earliest we could close was 60 days from date of loan approval)
- Unless you HAVE to...don't have your closing date over a month before you can even move. We were told it would better our chances of have the offer accepted, which could be true because the seller is paying everything until it's sold, but it sucked having to take over all the bills and not be able to live in our new home because we were still living and paying rent somewhere else.
- We used to think that in the negotiating phase if we said "throw in a fridge" it meant they just included a fridge... not so. If you say add a fridge, expect the price of the house to increase $1500 or so -- do the same for anything you want "thrown in" (like sprinklers) and then you have a new price you're negotiating to lower.
- Even if the seller "pays closing costs" ..that doesn't mean you won't pay any as well...and they are not cheap
- Property taxes can be OUTRAGEOUS
- House insurance in just confusing and annoying
- DO NOT close on a house while you're on vacation -- or if you're out of town for any reason
- You need a notary...and unless you know one (we didn't in California)...it's about $10-$15 per signature...and there are about 50
- You know what you're signing....but you don't know what you're signing...don't be shy to ask questions as you speed through and sign all 1000 pages

I'll update this as things come to mind!

The Spanish Way...

At the end of October/beginning of November I spent a week in Valencia, Spain for work - flight paid for, nice hotel covered, food reimbursed - sounds glamorous, right?

It started out with lost luggage. No toiletries, clothes, essentials. Luckily my co-workers had enough to get me by until the next afternoon. Note to self -- pack a change of clothes AND underwear in your carryon.

My typical breakfast every day...I do miss those little queso pastries. I LOVED that they had hot milk available for hot chocolate.

Most of our days consisted of 12-14 hours of work at the conference and social events but we did have a little time to explore historic down town...

Torres de Serranos - built in the 14th century, 1392. It was the main entrance of the city. Thanks Wikipedia!

 

So many gelato flavors...

welcome reception, cheese please!

Paella for the conference banquet dinner

Sometimes flamenco dancers call you up to look a fool in front of 700 people...

part of the Conf Cats team!

The work days were long and the flights were exhausting but I can honestly say I LOVE my job!!! (even the parts that don't involve traveling the world ;)  The only thing that could make it dreamier is if the doc could travel with me. Nevertheless, it's pretty fantastic and such a blessing!