" Our " shows

Just thought I'd share some of the shows that we watch on a regular basis... or at least the ones that build up on DVR.  Right now, I think we are three behind on Grey's Anatomy. Haha.  It's always a good thing to save for a rainy day...

Also on the list:  

• Grey's Anatomy
• Jeopardy! (which we are easing our way back into with the Teen Tournament!)
• Covert Affairs

Ray loves:

• The Office
• According to Jim (we have 8 on DVR right now...)
• American Pickers
• Pawn Stars

My guilty pleasures are The Bachelor and Desperate Housewives.  Most of the time I can sweet talk my way into getting Ray to watch them with me! 

Forbidden Shows according to Ray:  

• Oprah
• Toddlers & Tiaras
• Inside Edition/TMZ/Access Hollywood
• Anything on E!

Quick Pic

Here's a better picture of the house.  We are just waiting on the underwriters now.  Pray that they get everything done in time!

We + AVL.

The weather was SO beautiful yesterday. I took advantage of it as soon as I could by going for a walk with a girlfriend at the park.  Once we move, we'll be a lot closer to the park that I LOVE and it will be just in time for Spring!

Ray and I hung out downtown last night.  We walked the streets and enjoyed people watching...  always a very entertaining thing to do in Asheville!

It hit us last night that we've (finally) fallen in love with this place.  :) 

First, dessert.  Chocolate caramels and
coconut clusters. Yum!  

Ray laughing looking at people
dancing and hula hooping.  

Drum circle - a Friday night event in Asheville!

We ended the night with a couple drinks at Biergarden.
For Ray: Blue Moon
For Kimberly: Apple juice, I mean Harpoon Cider

Offer accepted!!

Long story longer...

We made an offer on a house a couple of weeks ago.  Fannie Mae owns it, so we were hoping to get a good deal.  We knew that no one else was looking at it (or at least that no one had submitted an offer), so we went $20,000 under the list price.  They made a counter offer only $1,000 less than their asking price.  We just laughed!  So, we took our offer up $5,000  but still asked them to pay closing costs.  Again, they came down just another $1,000 and agreed to paying closing costs.  We still weren't willing to pay that much, but we were about to go up another couple thousand.  Here's what happened next...

Our agent tells us that the listing agent said it is now a multiple offer situation, so we could either back out, keep our offer the same, or give our highest price.  We were about to up it by $2,000 and raise our earnest money, but then we decided we didn't want to get into an emotional bidding war.  So, I e-mailed our agent on Tuesday night and told her we weren't going to be submitting another offer.  She called us several times Wednesday morning, but I had work and Ray was still sleeping.  She e-mailed us saying that she was unclear as to whether we were rescinding our offer or just not increasing it.  They need to know by 10 am.  Luckily, Ray got the e-mail in time and called her.  At that time, we were planning on just rescinding the offer, but then she told him that the listing agent said we actually have a pretty good shot if we keep everything the same.  WHAT?! So it goes from a "multiple offer situation" to: "your previous offer would keep you in the game." We went ahead and signed the papers (after the "deadline" because I was at work) and faxed everything over. 

This morning, we both got to sleep in because Ray was off and I had a snow day.  We were lying in bed and I checked my e-mail on my phone.  There was one from our agent. I read the subject line: Congrats! 

They accepted our offer! I definitely feel like we got played, but I'm so glad that we didn't budge.  They still agreed with all of our initial concessions and took our offer, which wasn't even the highest we were planning on going!  

We are so thrilled and of course, very scared, too!  I can't wait to get in and move in.  Hopefully all the inspections and everything will be fine.  Our settlement date is March 31st. 

It's way too much house for right now, but we can grow into it.  ;) And, I must say, it's a heck of a deal!  I can't wait to get moved in and settled. I love "firsts" with my husband!  

Running

Since I've known Ray, I've never seen him run for exercise purpose.  He did track in high school, but only because his baseball coach insisted that he do something during the off-season.  I've tried to talk him into it many times because I've wanted him to run a 5k with me. I have only run one, and he was there for support, but I want him to actually run beside me.  Looks like I might be in luck!  He's been running some on the treadmill at the Y lately.  He doesn't like the treadmill because it's so "boring and monotonous", but he will start running outside with me when it gets warmer.

(Picture not mine.)

I'm so excited!  We'll hopefully sign up for a race together this spring.  He won't do the bridge run in Charleston though, because a 10k is too much!

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House update:

Fannie Mae made a counter offer, only going down $1,000 from the list price.  So, we countered back at $13,000 less than their counter, but $5,000 up from our initial offer.  We made this counter offer on Tuesday and still have not heard anything back.  I'm thinking that they are sitting on it to see if anyone else will submit an offer.  In the meantime, we have found a lovely apartment that we will move into if we don't get the house.  Can't wait to see what happens! We'll be happy with either situation because we know it's all part of His plan!

Two Years +

Two years ago today, Ray and I were enjoying our first day as Mr. & Mrs. Guy at The Sanctuary.  We had a great time on our honeymoon!  Since then, we have made the most of our life together - going to our favorite country concerts, Atlanta Braves games, NC State games, family trips (including visiting Ray's parents when they lived in Philadelphia), NASCAR races, random road trips, and of course the seemingly occasional weekends just sitting around at home in Asheville.  When you get married, people throw lots of advice at you, but the one piece we use the most is to do a lot now--travel, explore, etc--while you don't have kids.  We know that eventually we'll have kids, but for now we aren't taking it for granted that it's just us.  :)

Kiawah Island, SC. Feb. 1, 2009 

The Sanctuary

Last year, for our first anniversary we had planned on going to Nashville, TN for a long weekend.  But, it snowed like crazy and we were stuck in Asheville!  It was still a fun weekend though. :)  

This year, I didn't get to take any time off from work and I actually had to go to school on Saturday (snow make-up day), so we were planning on celebrating last night because today is a teacher workday and I don't have to go.  Anyway, we were going to go to a nice seafood restaurant here, but... when I got home from work, Ray had gotten me flowers (a FIRST!) and had a suitcase packed.  He even successfully packed everything I needed.  We went to Cherokee and stayed at Harrah's Casino.  It was so much fun!  It was nice to get away and do something exciting - something new.  We each brought $60 cash to the casino and played the slot machines.  Ray wasn't so lucky - he ended up only using $15 anyway, but I actually left with $15 more than I came with! :)  We haven't stayed up that late in a long long time, so we're both a little pooped today.  Haha.  Plus, it's a cold, rainy day so it's the perfect day to cuddle up and watch a movie.  

I am so happy to be married to an amazing man who appreciates me and loves me for who I am! He knows how to make me smile and he supports me in everything I do. And because I'm not even going to try to get him to blog yet, I'll post something he wrote in his card to me:  

"I wake up every morning and thank God that he blessed me with you." 

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House update:  we didn't end up putting an offer on the house I last blogged about because the listing agent said there were already multiple offers.  But, we did find another house and made an offer yesterday.  We should hear soon!