MIA Excuses

Oops I haven’t posted since March… BUT I have a few very good excuses!  Here is what I’ve been up to:

1.      I finished up my first semester of grad school and just like everyone says, it was hard work!  Though I was only taking one class, combined with 2 jobs and an already crazy schedule, it was tough to fit in all the necessary hours of work.   I struggled through the last few weeks but made it out with an A!  The homework wasn’t too difficult to manage and neither were the presentations every student gave.  However, the toughest part of the course was the term paper on top of those assignments– at least 20 pages on ACCOUNTING FRAUD.  Talk about a snoozer.  In the end, the topic ended up being interesting but I did have to peel off my eyelids from my eyeballs a few times in order to do the necessary amounts of research and analysis.  Also I'm pretty sure I killed a few dozen trees in the process.  But seriously, go ahead and quiz me on the JPMorgan Accounting Fraud case from 2012 – I’m a pro.  Though I’m a total math geek and actually enjoyed taking accounting, I’m excited to move on to other courses in the fall.
2.      My weekends filled up so quickly between Easter, running the Monument 10k in Richmond and the Race for Hope 5k in DC, road tripping to my alma matter, and a surprise visit from my brother from Hawaii!

3.      Tis the season of graduations!  Including my boyfriend who just graduated from college!  Kudos to him.  He started his first big boy job this week and I couldn’t be more proud or excited for him!  The picture on the right is the least blurry picture from his ceremony (Tim is waving!) and the picture you see on the left is in fact a blown up picture of his head held up for all of graduation to see, compliments of a good friend.

4.      Drum roll please...I bought a house!  No, you didn’t read that incorrectly.  This 23-year-old is a homeowner!  I’ve been hesitant to share because honestly I’ve been waiting for someone to pinch me and it have all been a dream.  I go back and forth between being so excited out of my skull and wanting to vomit a little.  Between everything listed above, throw in daily document scavenger hunts followed by hours of scanning and sending, endless emails with my lender and program coordinators, running different scenarios through Excel to make sure I wasn’t completely ruining my life (spreadsheet dork here), working a ton of hours to make those closing costs not result in a negative account balance, packing boxes (though let's face it, the move out of mom's is probably the easiest move you'll ever make), and of course convincing myself I was doing the right thing.  Honestly I’m surprised this all happened without at least one panic attack.  But it has indeed and I’m in the middle of unpacking boxes as we speak.  To say I’ve been a busy bee is an understatement but everything was worth it!  I can’t wait to share all the deets, so stay tuned my friends. 

...I promise I won’t wait 3 months again.

Anyone have any first time homeowner tips?  I’d love to hear!