ROB AND I BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! Ok fine. It’s actually a detached condo. But still…

*happy dance*

It’s been a total whirlwind of a week…

- On Wednesday, we turned in our deposit (biggest check we’ve ever written) and signed 2.5 hours worth of disclosure agreements and contracts.

- Yesterday we went to the design studio and were greeted with this …

We spent 4 hours choosing all our options from door hardware, cabinetry, countertops, electrical/security, lighting, appliances, flooring, etc. The biggest thing we splurged on was hardwood floors for the entire first floor. I was not prepared for the cost. I went into serious sticker shock. !!! But we had decided prior to our appointment that upgrading the flooring was our main priority (the standard is a combination of carpet and tile) so we took the plunge. Overall, sitting down and going over all the options for every single area of the house was good for us first-time homebuyers — I mean, who knew that we would have to consider the location of our hose bibs and data/cable/phone jacks? Or that we’d have to make decisions about the edging of our chosen countertops? I DID NOT.

- Then today, we met with the in-house lender to finalize our loan application. This part is not so fun. But we have a great rep who’s taken so much time to go over tons of scenarios for us. It’s definitely been an eye-opening and educational experience.

SO. Would you like to see our house?

Hehe. It’s not done yet! The foundation slab has been poured and if I remember correctly, the next step is to start the framework. It’s so exciting to see it being built literally from the ground up. Right now it’s tentatively scheduled to be finished by the end of June and eventually it’s going to look like this…

I wish the rain would stop so construction doesn’t get delayed. /Selfish.

EXCITING!

OMG. My dream women’s figure skating Olympic podium came true. Yu-Na winning gold, Mao silver, and Joannie bronze.

This NEVER happens.

AND my favorite US skater Mirai Nagasu had a terrific free skate and bumped herself up to 4th!

The skating gods must be trying to make it up to me for the results of the 1998 and 2002 Olympics. This doesn’t *quite* make up for either Tara Lipinski or Sarah Hughes (UGH) but it’s a start.

Before the men even did their free skates, I honestly thought Plushenko was going to win. But once I saw Plushenko’s program, I knew that Evan had done it. Even despite Plushenko’s quad. There seems to be so much emphasis on landing a quad but figure skating is so much more than that to me. Otherwise, why do footwork sequences, transitions, spins, spirals, etc. also earn points? Unfortunately for Plushenko, there’s been some minor changes to the Code of Points since he won gold at the last Olympics and with his absence of 3 years, I just think he and his coaches didn’t “play the game” so well this time around. His free skate was completely front-loaded — if he had just rearranged his elements to earn some extra bonus points in the second half of the program, that might have made the difference. On the other hand, Evan knew he couldn’t land the quad (he fell on it at Nationals) so he capitalized on his strengths, made sure that every single piece of choreography would earn him points, and found himself on top of the podium.

So happy Daisuke won the bronze medal too! His free skate was amazing and so technically difficult, even with the fall.

Jeremy Abbott didn’t have the Olympic experience I wanted him to have so here’s hoping he sticks around until Worlds next month.

Ahhhh!!! Ice dancing was so great this year! It wasn’t the splatfest that Torino was! I am so, so happy that Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir and Meryl Davis & Charlie White captured gold and silver respectively. They were fantastic in all 3 of their programs. And is it weird that I totally ’ship Tessa and Scott? They are so freaking cute (yes, I know she’s dating someone else)…

This free dance was FAN.FREAKING.TASTIC.

As was this free dance. Even despite the cliched Phantom of the Opera music selection.

But it wouldn’t be ice dancing if there wasn’t questionable judging and I really believe that Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto were sacrificed in order for Oksana Domnina & Max Shabalin to win the bronze. I have to admit that I don’t care for Belbin & Agosto’s free dance but it was the best they’ve performed it all season. Domnina & Shabalin had the edge in the compulsory dance but I think they should have been ranked below B & A in both the original and free dances. Oh, well. I’m really going to miss Belbin & Agosto if they retire. They really paved the way for US ice dancing.

*sniff*

Oh figure skating, don’t ever change. Off to watch the Ladies short program now…

Thanks NBC Olympics for the pics.

So what have I been doing? Mmm… watching WAY too much Olympics coverage. I’m an Olympics junkie. I’ll watch anything that NBC “packages” up in primetime — speed skating, alpine skiing, luge, etc. And of course, I’m following figure skating! I follow individual men’s and women’s skating more closely than I do the other disciplines but I’m really happy that Shen/Zhao won pairs despite the almost-spill on their lift in the free skate. They’re the total package — they have the tricks and the artistry. Which brings me to the men. I can’t believe Plushenko is the leader going into the free skate. He is ALL jumps and no artistry. There’s no real choreography or footwork between jumps — he’s just skating around doing as little as possible until the next jump. I much prefer Evan Lysacek (despite the questionable arm-flailing he does in his programs), Daisuke Takahashi, Stephane Lambiel (his spins!), and Jeffrey Abbott (too bad he imploded in the short program). I hope they all have amazing free skates on Thursday and overtake Plushenko. A girl can dream.

This past weekend was Valentine’s Day and Rob and I celebrated by…

1. Going to Starbucks. LOVE their Valentine’s Day cups.

2. Taking Diesel to the park. He’s in desperate need of a haircut, LOL.

3. Watching the NBA All-Star festivities (the slam dunk contest, which I normally enjoy, was laaaame) and the Olympics (again, figure skating!).

4. Renewing our Disneyland annual passes. We decided that this would be our annual Valentine’s Day present to each other. YAY!

5. Looking at model homes and going back and forth (and back and forth) about the pros and cons of buying a townhouse versus single family, new versus resale, now versus later, etc. It’s kinda stressing me out. Seriously, the home buying process is not fun.

Off to watch more Olympics. Speed skating tonight!

Anyway… let’s continue on…

Day 19 — A Talent of Yours

Oh hell, I don’t know. I’m 30… my talented days are behind me. I guess ballet *used* to be a talent of mine. I started dancing when I was 3 and trained until I was 14. I even considered becoming a professional ballerina despite the lack of job stability. I only stopped because my mom passed away and ballet was “our” thing. It wasn’t the same without her. Anyway, it’s been 3+ years since I took any classes so due to non-practice, I’m positive my skill and technique are definitely lacking.

Otherwise, I’ve got nothing. No other talents.

Day 20 — A Hobby of Yours

My biggest hobby is obviously my blog. I started it back in 2002 and attempted to design and code it myself. I look back at some of my old layouts and cringe. LOL. In my old age, I have become laaaazy and now rely on Wordpress themes so I can concentrate on just writing entries.

I guess you can also count watching TV, scrapbooking, reading, and collecting Starbucks mugs as other hobbies.

My thoughts…

Caprica
The premiere was a little slow to get going (did it really have to be 2 hours?) but by the end, I was really intrigued. I watched Battlestar Galactica occasionally (Rob was more of a fan than I was) so I’m familiar with the world (cylons, 12 colonies, etc) but knowing the future story definitely isn’t necessary for this show. It’s more of a drama than a traditional sci-fi action show so maybe that’s why it interests me more. I like the idea of learning more about the cylon backstory — that they started in a virtual/alternate world and have always been aware; they didn’t all of a sudden wake up with it. At least that’s how I’m understanding it. I also think the way they’ve gotten around showing Zoe as a robot is a good way to really emphasize her human beginnings. Thumbs up so far.

Life Unexpected
Ahhhh, I looove this show!!! It totally brings me back to the old school WB days. So actually, I’m not sure if I love it because I’m nostalgic for shows like Gilmore Girls, Everwood, etc or if it’s really good… oh, whatever. It’s such a heart-warming and feel-good type of show that I’ll still watch. It’s about a 16 year old girl named Lux (I alternately love and hate her every episode) who seeks out her birth parents in order to get emancipated. Obviously, she doesn’t get her wish and the judge puts her in their temporary joint custody. While I really enjoy the show, you have to suspend belief A LOT in the pilot episode. I mean, I don’t believe for a second that a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Lux wouldn’t get adopted even with the heart condition. Just… NO. Also, there’s been 3 episodes so far and each one has been a slightly different variation of the EXACT SAME story arc. ARGH. Please stop and get a new storyline. On a selfish note, Shiri Appleby playing a mom makes me feel old. She’s only a year older than me. I liked it MUCH better when actors my age were playing high school students… not when actors my age are actually playing their age. EEEK. Great casting all around though. I hope it gets picked up for next season.

Deep End
This was… not good. I wanted it to be good because I really like Matt Long (what a cutie! I’ve missed him since Jack and Bobby got cancelled a few years back) and Tina Majorino. I only watched the pilot episode and don’t feel compelled to watch any others. Especially since it’s on Thursdays. I’ll only catch up if the show is on On Demand or if ABC marathons it one day. It’s just TOO unrealistic. I’m not even a lawyer! I mean, come on — would first year associates really be left unsupervised to handle pro-bono cases and allowed to talk to clients? PLEASE. Also, Addy getting arrested to file a motion? *That’s* the story they wanted to tell in the premiere? Meh.

2 good shows out of 3 isn’t bad.

Rob and I already have an awesome Canon camcorder that we bought for our trip to Australia but when I received a white Flip Mino camcorder for Christmas from a work vendor, I was so excited! It’s user-friendly, small enough to fit in my purse, and I can use it to capture random things I come across in my daily life. To test it out, Rob took this video of Diesel rolling over and playing dead (it’s a little shaky and the sound is low but Diesel’s still cute)…

So fun!

I pretty much love ALL of Edgar Degas’s paintings of ballerinas. But one of my very favorites is this one…

It takes me back to my dancing days. Such great memories.

Day 16 — A Song that makes you cry

I’m much more of a visual person so music alone doesn’t really make me cry. But one song that comes close is another one that Rob and I used at our wedding — it’s the “Forrest Gump Suite” by Alan Silvestri. The first 2 minutes of the song is the section we used for my walk down the aisle. I was so calm before the wedding but when our guitarist started playing the this song and I stood at the top of the stairs looking down at Rob, I lost it and the tears started falling. Even now, I look back at that moment and I feel the emotions rushing back.