Ringing in the New Year

Alex and I returned home on January 3rd after being in Cleveland for almost a week. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable trip with family and friends. I enjoy myself more and more every time I'm there. The weather wasn't too bad either!

Once getting home there was lots of unpacking, Christmas clean-up, grocery trips and other things to catch up on (almost there). It's nice to start the new year fresh though. On Tuesday Alex and I went to pick up his new work car. It took all of 10 minutes which was amazing. We're sad to see the Jeep go because of it's extra space and 4 wheel drive, but so far the new car is pretty impressive. How exciting to start the new year off with a new car! (Thank you Eaton!)

I'm hoping that my new thing for the New Year will be a job! Along with finding the perfect job my New Year's Resolution List also includes: Live Healthier (with a few more specific goals underneath that) and Try My Best (and not be so hard on myself). I wrote them out with green sharpie and put them up on the fridge as a reminder (love sharpies and love signage). Alex is also on board for the Live Healthier part (with his own subgoals), which he'll have much better luck with once he gets over his cold.

I'm feeling optimistic about 2012. Life is good, but the best is yet to come.

Happy New Year!

It's Official.. We're Homeowners!

Alex and I will be closing on our first house in less than two weeks! The beginning of the house buying process is challenging. There are so many pieces and parts that can fall through on the deal so you have to be optimistically cautious.

Luckily, everything has gone very smoothly and the last piece will be showing up for our closing with the check in hand (not technically even that since it'll be a wire transfer haha).

We feel so excited to have found such a great house for us and to start this next journey together. There are so many possibilities and for planners like us it's ridiculously fun to brainstorm and dream.

The seller has already moved out so the house is empty. Unfortunately, the only pictures I have are of the house when she lived there so all of her furniture is pictured. Can't wait to paint and get our own furniture in there. The entire house will have a completely different vibe once we're done with it! Let the work get started...

www.flickr.com/photos/laurenjanesz

Spousonomics - Life Lessons from the Field of Economics

I randomly stumbled on the book Spousonomics on thenest.com. (The Nest is a takeoff of The Knot theknot.com - amazing!). After reading a few sentences on the book I felt compelled to buy it. I didn't happen to be "looking for answers or advice," but it just seemed like a book that could pack a lot of punch and something about it intrigued me (I will admit that the cover of the book was part of it).

I bought it on amazon.com (also amazing - did you know they have an iPhone app?) and it arrived a few days later. I immediately started reading it. It had quite an interesting personality - it was easy to read, entertaining, thoughtful and intelligent, and most of all real. The authors of this book are real women who are using their passion (and careers) to write about something that the majority of people can relate to. Here's an overview on spousonomics.com:

"Paula Szuchman and Jenny Anderson, journalists from The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, present a radical new idea: Every marriage is its own little economy, a business of two with a finite number of resources that need to be allocated efficiently. With great wit, insight, and compelling stories from real-life couples, Szuchman and Anderson apply bedrock economic principles to some of the most common conflicts in domestic life."

To me economics has always reminded me of the horrible classes I had to take in college.. Well I take that back... They were interesting, but I just didn't prefer to be tested on the information because it wasn't the type of stuff that stuck well in my brain. (Let's face it - I would not be as well-rounded without those classes even if I can only remember the general principles).

Now that I'm finished with the book I'm Alex will read it too. Previously he was trying to read it over my shoulder at bedtime but that didn't work out so well because I'm a speed reader - even sometimes a page scanner (gasp). It seems to be a book that the male species can sink their teeth into as well, but I'm not sure if I can tear Alex away from his real-estate and finance books. Maybe that's where the word "economics" could be beneficial...

As with economics, marriage is an on-going challenge. The authors have started a blog so they can keep sharing real world examples and their theories. (They're even on facebook, twitter etc.) Speaking of the real world examples, I loved that they had an array of couples, situations, and lengths of marriages (everything from one year to 25+) - it's truly a book for anyone. I don't believe that you have to be married, or even in a relationship to learn something from this book. Many of the conflicts they discuss can be related to any type of relationship, coworker, sibling, friend etc.

Next on my to-do list is to share the book with Alex.. then come the coworkers.. then I'll probably read it again...

Using Economics to Master Love, Marriage and Dirty Dishes

 

Couples Who Play Together Stay Together

This past weekend, Alex and I made a trip with friends out to Maryland for some skiing. Prior to this past weekend I had only skied once or twice, while Alex had never skied. At first when our friend invited us we were a little hesitant because we weren't "skiers." (I personally think the sport can be a little intimidating for those that have not experienced it).

After our friend asked us again if we were going to come along, we decided to go all in. We decided that life's too short and we spend so much time on work, errands and chores, why not fit in as many adventures as possibile too?

It ended up being a great weekend away. While it was absolutely exhausting and involved 12 hours of driving within three days, it was worth it. We were able to get to know our new friends in Lexington more, as well as meet some other new friends. We had a brand new experience together and marveled at the beautiful scenery in Western Maryland.

Weekends like this remind you of the benefits of having a significant other. Alex and I were the only beginner skiers, so we stuck together the entire time and neither one of us had to pretend like we were better skiers than we were! There were a couple points where I was feeling very apprehensive and wanted to give up, but Alex was there to coax me to try again, and I was glad I did.

I appreciate his willingness to try new things and his extremely supportive nature. I can't wait until Spring hits in Lexington and we can have more impromptu weekend adventures!

P.S. On The Bachelorette, Michelle (and maybe some of the other girls) has talked about how the girls that are able to do physical activities with Brad (or whatever bachelor) they usually have an edge up because they've formed a bond with the bachelor that comes from taking on those types of adventures. I think this comes from the fact that things like skiing, zipling, scaling walls and waterfalls, all require trust and encouragement. Out of curiousity I googled the topic and there were plenty of articles, here's one good one about the positive benefits of physical activity on relationships.