Be it ever so humble there's no place like home ...

I've heard that buying a home can be a stressful process full of emotion and angst, causing sleepless nights (or at the very least sex-less nights amongst fighting spouses) and tearing apart families. Well, I guess we'll just have to save the angst for the packing, moving and "so where should we put the wagon wheel coffee table??" debates because WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!

Or more specifically we offered, they countered (with exactly the deal we were expecting all along) and we agreed. Of course there's always the possibility of our home inspection uncovering a meth lab, smuggling operation for illegal immigrants, tiny gnomes in the rafters etc, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

It's exactly the kind of suburban paradise I was wanting in a first home .... a 2 car garage, 3 bedrooms, a kitchen that looks like it was built AFTER I was born, and a nice fenced yard for all of the four legged children to enjoy. It'll add a good 15 minutes to my drive to work, but in the grand scheme of things I would much rather have that than the 1950s era homes we could afford in the city that made me want to cry when we toured them.

So yeah to me and BJ - future homeowners!!! :)

She chose wisely

After reading all the horror stories about the Chicago Marathon all I can say is DAMN! I'm glad I didn't run that race!! Even had I in theory trained like I was supposed to, it really doesn't sound like an ideal situation for a first marathon. Not to mention, it would have hacked me off had I trained so hard and then been forced to walk. I mean I totally understand why the course organizers did what they did, it just would have been hard to stomach the disappointment.

All of my friends and fellow Hot Legs who did the race finished safe and sound, and have interesting stories to tell about the constant sirens, people collapsing, general craziness once the helicopters started telling people to walk etc.

So in the end I'm out $120 for the registration fee and the priceless opportunity to say, "yeah I was at the Chicago Marathon that they shut down half way through."

Maybe I'll have better luck debuting at the Little Rock Marathon. I mean it'll involve winter long runs (of course winter here is laughable at best for someone used to the bitter prairie cold in the Midwestern plains), some hill training, and it's exactly a week before I get married. What could be wrong with that situation???

A Couple that Runs Together .... Picks up Schwag Together!!

BJ and I participated in our first race together yesterday, the Tyler Curtis Memorial 5K, and it was also my first 5K in 6 months (did I mention I'm slow and I don't really like 5Ks???). Even though the 5K distance is not my favorite, I do like participating in local communtiy events, especially for a good cause. I also knew it was going to be fun to race with BJ even though I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to keep up with him the whole way.

The race was in an adorable neighborhood southwest of Little Rock that we actually liked so much we added it to our list of places for our realtor to investigate. The course was run on paved streets and had "rolling" hills which is a very appropriate description. It wasn't horribly hilly, but just enough here and there to really challenge you. We both planned to do a 4:1 run/walk strategy and he was hoping to keep the run sections at 8 min miles, while I thought of staying more at a 9 minute pace. Of course in the heat of the moment and the excitement of the race start, I just ran with him for the first mile and a quarter .... then got a horrible side stitch and had to drop back. He was able to bring it in for yet another PR of 28:45 - an excellent time given that both of his prior 5Ks were on flat as pancake courses. And I was able to put up a respectable (for me) 30:47 which I'm not going to complain about given that my side stitch continued the whole last mile and a half of the race.

I'm pretty sure that had I paced myself better in the beginning, I would have been able to break that elusive 30 minute barrier, but hey - you win some, you lose some, and sometimes you learn to just let your husband-to-be run faster than you.

The best part of the race was the chance to catch up with my Hot Legs running friends and meet some new ones!! My work schedule since moving back to Little Rock has prevented me from joining the group runs, so it was awesome to see everyone who came out to volunteer and run the race.

BJ and I also stuck around for the door prizes and were stoked when he won dinner for two at a fancy restaurant in the Heights and I won two rounds of golf. BJ also ended up with second in his age group, so all in all it was a most productive day of racing!

What's in a name?

Apparently my blog is read by dozens of traditionalists as evidenced by my poll results. 30/46 voters (65%) believe I should take BJ's name, while only 3 measly people (6%) think I should retain my own identity. Of course I do happen to know that my readership does consist of several members of BJs family ... so I am slightly suspicious to say the least :) 21% said go with the hyphen, while another 3% said it really doesn't matter.

After receiving a bribe from BJ (yes I'm weak, I can be bought with pretty baubles) I agreed that I would change my name. I plan on hyphenating because first of all I think it sounds good hyphenated (he agrees) and second I could not live with just taking his last name. I would become Jennifer Jones, or Jenn Jones, or YIKES Jenni Jones!! It would create alliteration which I am opposed to and it makes me sound like a porn star ... or an infamous talk show host ... at the very least a blonde and I am none of the above.

Of course in the end, as long as you don't dare call me Mrs. BJ Jones we'll all get along.

Home .... the final frontier!

It's amazing that I've made it to the age of 34 but never have bought a home, so yes I'm a mortgage virgin. BJ and I discussed buying a house before I even moved back to Little Rock, but both of us can be exceptionally adept procrastinators so we're just now getting around to starting the process. Thankfully one of BJ's friends is a realtor with both charm AND savvy, so we have someone to help us navigate the treacherous waters of the market. We contacted two of the mortgage lenders she recommended and now have good faith estimates coming our way. I really liked the guy who understood when I explained that yes I know we make enough to qualify for a ridiculously expensive mortgage, but we want a starter home with a low payment so we can pay off existing debt, then move up in the future. His response. ... "well that's not very American of you!" I mean sure, we could get a $250K home, never pay off our debt and continue to feed the pocketbooks of student loan and credit card companies - I mean I know that's the American way, why pay for now what you can finance and pay for forever?

As long as we've got something to call our own and it's not in the 'hood (near the 'hood I'm fine with, in the hood not so much) or out in the middle of redneck territory I'll be OK with it. Now if we can just shop for and agree upon a house without killing each other in the process - did I mention we're each strong willed and slightly stubborn individuals?? - then life will be good.