ahhh selling

OK so I went over all the offers and one was over full price. So I took accepted that one. Well, everything was going great! The inspection had come back and there was NOTHING wrong. My agent said it was the cleanest inspection she had EVER seen. Not one thing mentioned! A day later my buyer backs out?!?! What? He said he wasn't comfortable with the crime rate in the area...uh you probably should have checked that prior to going into contact and paying for an inspection? Idiot!

Luckily the other couple with the full price offer had not found anything and was still very interested! So we let them know our other buyer fell through and gave them the chance to place another offer. They did plus had lower our input of closing cost. woo hoo! Even better! Also I have to have it said that we listed my place way above what we should have because we were expecting to have to bargain the price back and forth...I NEVER EXPECTED ANYONE TO OFFER A FULL PRICE! I bough the place about 10k under the appraised price at that time. I have put about 5k into the place, however considering the comps for the area we are sitting on about 15k of equity. Yet, Warren thought my upgrades made it the best property in the area and insisted we list it above the recommended price by our agent, So we did...So we are very very excited to be getting A LOT of extra $$ out of the condo that can be used for the wedding! YAY! OK back on track, so everything is going great and the appraiser pulled comp from other areas in relatively close proximity due to mine being the nicest he had ever seen in the area:) Now we are due to close on/or before the 30th of this month!! Woo Hoo huge house here we come!!! oh yeah and then we can get back to wedding stuff since all of our stuff is packed right now!

We have three offers!!!!

It has only been four days since the property was officially placed on the market...and tomorrow I get to go over three offers! Two are full price!!!

To sell or not to sell...

So we received a phone call from Warren's parents asking us if we may be interested in purchasing Warren's grandparents home. His grandparents decided they wanted to move prior to this years snow fall (well any major snow fall since we have already had some snow:(...we are in Alaska) After discussing our options and the fact that we had just decided to wait to purchase a home until after the wedding. We decided that the deal we are getting far surpasses any "complications" this could cause with the wedding. A wedding is just one day...a great house can last forever.

The house is in a great neighborhood. Has a large lot for int he city (8200 sq. feet to be exact) and the living sq. footage is far more than we ever expected to get with our first home (2600 sq. foot to be exact) However, it is very outdated. Warrens grandparents have lived there since it was built in 1964 and in my opinion haven't changed much of anything;) OK I may be exaggerating but it is REALLY outdated!

So what do we do with my condo? We had previously discussed renting because the area of town I purchased in a few years ago is finally being more developed and I think it will eventually raise the value of the condo. However, at this time it is not considered the best neighborhood. I purchased as a full time college student only working part time...so my options and budget were very limited, but this condo has worked great for me! So after looking at our finances and also considering we had just begun remolding certain areas of the condo (since we were going to stay at least a year or so) We would have to EXTREMELY speed up the remodel and then rush to sell. I was concerned with the market the way it is that we would not be able to sell and come out ahead. So we met with a agent to discuss our options and to see if we should sell or rent the unit.

The agent assured us that the property would sell but that it may be 30-60 days due to the market. Also during this time we had gone to be pre-approved for the house. Our mortgage consultant said if we sold we would be able to put less down. So with all of the reason to sell we said OK...but with he permanent fund being released this week we wanted to get it on the market now!

So the remolded was rushed to finish...luckily we had just finished the master bedroom and painting the living room, but the bath and spare room needed paint and little fixes from personalization we had done. But with lots of family help we did and got it on the market in less than a week. Above are some photos from the realtor.

I decided crazy.....

I found my TTD dress!! I won it off ebay and got it in less than a week!!! Love it and it is very similar to my actual dress! Yeah!!!

DIY Dress...or am I crazy??

So in my search to find a TTD dress I stumbles onto the following blog:

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=245247.0

and followed up with the instruction blog:

http://rowena.typepad.com/rostitchery/infinity-dress.html

So I think I could do it with the help of my friend who has some sewing experience, I have none! When I told Warren last night that I was thinking on making my own dress he laughed and said just spend the $150 on the dress you found. I asked if he thought I could do it and his reply was, "I am sure you would make something that could slightly resemble a dress, but a dress that you would LOVE...NEVER!" and then he chuckled and said, "you make a dress?!? You must have lost your mind."

Here is my dilemma...I have been challenge! He thinks I can't do it and that makes me want to do it even more! Also I think this is an awesome idea and if the long version comes out great then I could make a shorter version in a fun color and have a multitude of dresses and only have to bring two garments on the trip! I think it is a great idea! So I am going to attempted a DIY TTD...Maybe I have lost my mind?!?!

Disclaimer:

I figured since I am now using this like my bio I should place the normal Knottie disclaimer: If I used any of your pictures and/or ideas please le tme know I and I will properly credit you!

Flowers

So I finished my bouqet and I love how it came out!!

Here was my inspiration from Angels Accent. I would have loved to order from them, however they are not taking any orders prior to Feb. 2009:( I only want white and green flowers so I changes the variety of orchid and did not want the lilly's.

Here is what I ended with and I love it!

I ended up using cabbage rose, orchids, peony, and hydrangeas.

The bridesmaids will be Just orchids and peony's. The flower girls will have pomades made of Hydrangeas, cabbage rose, and orchids. I will post pic's once they are done:)

Anchorage Reception

We are going for a Mexican Fiesta...Bright colors, fun, and laid back!The cocktail hour will include chips, salsa, dips, margaritas, sangria, and tequila sunrise.

We will enter with a mariachi band and they will play through dinner. Dinner will be a taco/burrito bar and then the full bar will open.

After dinner we will have our first dance to a romanic marichi song. The the DJ will get the party started:)

This is the cake we are having but we will add bright colored flowers to it like the second picture...

Wow...where did the time go??

This summer has been super busy! I have found that I suck at blogging. However I am going to try harder!

This summer FI and I have painted two houses for extra wedding money. At first I thought what the heck do I want to paint a house for afte rmy regular job...But after painting the first in two nights and one day and getting the $3000.00 paycheck...all was well in my book. Since I now look at money in terms of what it can cover for the wedding that was a nice chunk. It also came right in time to put all of our deposits down. What can I say through all my complaining it was worth it!

We have only made it camping twice. Which is very sad considering we live in Alaska and do not have much time to enjoy warm weather:( But our last camping trip was our annual dip netting trip and we caught over 100 fish one day. Whew but the aftermath of cleaning, cutting, smoking, and canning...I can not fully explain unless you have ever tried to process 100 fish:( not fun! BUt it will be worth it over the next year considering the cost of Alaskan salmon.

Anchorage seating chart...well at least the layout

Odd layout I know...but I am odd so it fits:)