We're buying a house!!

Well we did it, we put an offer in on a house. I think we saw about 17 houses total in the last few months so we feel like we've seen a good variety. We don't like everything about this house- the backyard is a mess and needs a complete makeover and some of the other rooms are not decorated very well, but all of that can be changed.

The major problem with this house is that it is a short sale, so what that means for us is that we have a long wait ahead of us to hear if they accept our offer or not. I wouldn't mind the wait as long as I knew they would accept our offer in the end...

So fingers crossed that we get this house, or we have to start all over again.

Name change

With everything going on lately I figured I might as well add one more thing to the mix. I am finally filing papers to change my name. Right now my legal name is Gina Lorraine Novak Andersland, although my social security card says Gina Lorraine Andersland. My drivers license and marriage license both say Gina Lorraine Novak Andersland. So I figured I might as well get it all straightened out and make it all the same. When I applied for my new social security I put down all four of my names but they didn't put all four on my card so I don't know if I'll have to change that again... any lawyers want to advise??

Pictures

So photography has been on my mind a lot lately. This is probably because I've been working a lot on the yearbook since it needs to be submitted to the printers in less than a month. There are a handful of people who didn't get their portraits taken when the professional photographer was here so now I am responsible for taking their picture, with my camera and insufficient lighting. Its been a challenge.

So I've been reading some to try to make them the best they can be. Which has led me to looking at photographer's websites and such. During one of my searching sessions I came across a website that had a contest to enter for a free photo shoot- 2 hours 100 poses. I thought it sounded pretty good. So I entered- and I won. I was really really excited, until... my friend Heidi also entered and won that same day...hmmm... so I still called and set up an appointment, but then they sent this thick envelope of "suggestions". Which sound more like rules than suggestions saying to wear longsleeved, single colored, matching tops. ABSOLUTELY no stripes or patterns. It all just sounds too staged for me, and like everybody's pictures are going to look exactly the same. And we are suppose to bring multiple outfits- well first of all, I doubt I can have all four of us coordinate one set of clothing matching their rules let alone multiple and second changing into multiple outfits in a two hour time frame isn't going to leave much time for those 100 poses.

I was really looking for a photographer that does some candid work, not all of the posing, but more natural, follow you around with the camera and catch some "real life" on film. I don't think this studio is going to do that for us, but its free so I guess we'll give it a shot.

Lots of Random Things

So pretty much we have put our house hunting on hold. Our Realtors just really weren't understanding our situation and were just being really dumb about everything so we decided we are no longer going work with them. We have a couple of other Realtors in mind and will contact one of them soon- probably after boards are over.

Mock boards were this past Friday and they were brutal. I totally forgot to complete an entire section of the perio portion- worth 12 points... Even though I forgot I wish they would have just marked the points off and still let me complete that portion so I could have at least seen if I was doing it correctly. Oh well, at least I will remember much better to complete that portion on the day of real boards. The operative went ok. I am still a little nervous, the paperwork and procedures we have to follow are very formal and numerous. If it was just about the dental work it would be a lot less stressful.

Luckily I have all of my patients lined up. Boards are becoming a real family affair with my mom and Anna as two of my patients, Josh picking up my third patient and Kendrick and Lindsey babysitting the morning of boards.

In just over a week I will be done with my senior case presentation. I just started working on it this evening and I am pleased so far. I still have a few more hours I need to put into it though. Hopefully it will come together during the week- I am a little short on patients this week so hopefully I won't get too many emergency patients scheduled and can work on my presentation during school hours.

Coen and Cadence have both been sick the last couple of days- Coen has been a lot worse than Cadence and spent the whole day in his pajamas today, voluntarily sleeping all over the house (the kitchen floor, the ottoman, the office floor). He was doing a lot better this evening so hopefully by tomorrow morning he will be back to his normal self.

Hopefully Josh and I will manage to avoid whatever bug they had.

This last Tuesday Coen and I started swim lessons at the UofM. Its an adult and tot class so the lessons aren't really for me... Coen did really well for his first night though, he even put his face in the water to blow some bubbles and did some kicking on his back. I am looking forward to being able to spend some one on one time with Coen and to get him used to water so this summer we can have a lot of fun swimming.

Everything is just a little crazy around here. I will be very happy when February is over- it'll go fast I'm sure 1- because its the shortest month and 2 I will be very very busy. We have mock boards next week (which I don't have any patients for...) then boards the last weekend in February-which I think I have all my patients for thanks to my family. February 9th I have my senior case presentation which we are suppose to present a patient's case, I chose an implant case and of course she still hasn't gone through with the surgery so I won't have much to present on.

We'll also be looking at some more houses, celebrating our 4th anniversary, getting prepared to sign a contract, and of course hanging out with the kids.

If anyone ever wants to baby sit so Josh and I can spend some time together so we don't forget what each other looks like, we'd love to have you over!

House shopping

Well, we went out and looked at houses for the first time yesterday. It was a pretty successful trip. We saw five homes, three which we were able to eliminate almost immediately not because they were bad homes, just not the one for us. The first one we saw needs some TLC but we really like it. We feel they are asking a little much for it so we'll see if we decide to put an offer in and then we'll see if they accept it. The fifth house was nice, probably not the house for us, but it definitely had some features that we really liked.

We really aren't looking to put an offer in too soon, I really need a contract first which we're not in a rush to do, but if needed I guess we could get one signed pretty fast. But if we decide the first house is the house for us we might need to move a little quicker than planned. Its all very exciting.

There are a few more houses we would like to see before making any decisions so hopefully in the next few weeks we will be able to go out again. It was nice to get out without the kids too so I definitely want to go out a few more times if it means we get to have a babysitter...

All grown up

I can't believe its been 6 weeks since I've last written on here, oops! Every time I sit down at the computer I usually am holding Cadence which makes it a little difficult to type, especially if she is fussing. Some how I'm managing to hold her and type so we'll see how long I'll be able to manage that.

So much has happened in the last six weeks. We hired a nanny, I went back to school, I'm looking for boards patients, and I got a job! I don't have an official contract yet, that will come in May or so but he definitely wants me to work for him and won't be hiring anyone else. The job is in Coon Rapids so now we are starting to look at houses. We can't get approved for a mortgage until I have a contract with my wages in writing since Josh's income doesn't count unless he has a written agreement that he has a job for next year. And then we can buy a house as long as the first mortgage payment is due after my first paycheck! I think we might meet with our realtor this weekend or next week to look at some houses and discuss what we really want in a house.

I finally feel like my life is getting started, my first real job, a house, and oh yeah, two kids!