Opportunity Cost

Oh man. How did life all of a sudden get so BUSY? Oh wait, I can tell you how...

I became a working girl again.

And while having income from a job is fantastic, there are also opportunity costs. What's that? I remember something from freshman year's American Heritage class?! You bet I do! (Granted, this is about the only thing I remember from that class.... that and the trip to Vegas to work campaigning....)

Here are the opportunity costs of my job (in no particular order):

• Blogging
• Clean house
  
• Healthy home cooked dinner
  
• Free time
• Organization
• Scripture reading
• RS Lesson planning
• Lunch with Dustin
• Fridays with Dustin
  

I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones that weigh the heaviest on my mind right now. My blog hasn't been posted in for over a month, and there are lots of fun things we've been doing that I'd love to record in this journal of mine/share with family and friends. My home has become somewhat of a disaster with piles of clothes that need sorted in my bedroom and crafting supplies scattered all over the floor in the spare bedroom. And when Saturdays roll around, I'd rather spend time relaxing than cleaning. Though I attempt meal planning, even work on getting chicken out to thaw, by the time it's time to cook dinner, I just don't want to or nothing sounds good. So Subway has become a frequent eatery for us. I am teaching Relief Society tomorrow and have I even STARTED my lesson yet? Um, not really. Read through it, got the online version so I can rearrange it and print it out, but haven't started actually forming it yet. I used to do that a WEEK in advance. Dustin has 2 hour breaks on Tuesdays so he would come home and have lunch with me; also is done with classes at 10:30 AM on Fridays. Now I see him for a few hours each night before we try to get to bed early to wake up on time (which doesn't always work).

These are all things I give up to have a job, the opportunity costs.

Of course, there are many perks to having a job:

• Money - no need to take out grad plus loans next year!
• Fun date nights
• DVR service
• Paying off the car in April!!! Only student loans left to pay off :(
• Savings account more realistic
• Something to do all day (hahahaha)
  
• Trips to plan (Chicago next spring break? Alaskan cruise at graduation? Utah for a weekend here and there? the coast?)
• 2 year gym memberships to 24 Hour Fitness bought (via Costco!)
  

Again, more things could be put on this list, but those are probably the biggest. Do the pros weigh out the cons? Some days yes and some days no. I do miss having more time to myself and enjoying time at home, having no excuse to not read scriptures or clean the house and make healthy dinners. But the pros are pretty fun too. We have some fun little weekend trips planned in the next few weeks with Dustin's 2 week break and I love that we can actually DO something for date night instead of McDonalds and Netflix every week. I am SUPER pumped to pay off my car 2 and a half years early! And the thought that we can potentially graduate with more in our savings account than when we started is a nice thought, and that's without taking out grad plus loans for the rest of school! (if I work til he graduates). We got 2 year gym memberships to 24 Hour Fitness so we can get back in shape (Ha, like I've ever been in shape...) and are excited to workout together!

I just have to keep looking at the pros to remind me that I'm doing what's best for our family right now when I look around at the messy house and another Subway dinner because I'm too tired/have no desire to do anything once I get home. It's all about balance and I'm still working out that work/home balance to see that everything is taken care of. It will come with effort and practice, but until then, if the blogging is feast and famine.... you've been warned.

Wrenches and Goodbyes

This week has been crazy with different wrenches thrown in my plans. Why is it that as soon as I plan out my life, some wrench needs to get thrown in to shake things up? I guess I'm just being kept on my toes.

Remember how much we love that apartment complex in Vancouver named Cascade Park? The one with the waterfall and the fireplace? Well, I called them to get applied for the apartment. And they told me that the one we wanted wasn't available because the tenants (who were supposed to be kicked out) were not leaving until October. Which doesn't work for us. So then they told me that there was only a downstairs unit available with the floorplan we liked, but that was not so great for us because the downstairs units are $50 more a month. No bueno when you're going to be tight on money as is. The apartment was supposed to be by the waterfall, we said great. Then when we called back about it, they said that the only one that was available is actually a DIFFERENT one that is down by the highway, but still a bottom unit. I was starting to feel like we were getting the run around.

I was able to download the applications and email them in and our email conversations continued... our credit was great (no surprise there), but they just needed to verify income. Which is great for what we're making now, but remember how we won't be making ANYTHING when we move? But they didn't say they wanted to see any financial aid rewards or anything.... And they wanted the security deposit NOW. Which I wasn't happy about because why would i send that much money if we weren't going to get approved? WRENCH.

Now I've seen enough Judge Judy to know that you should have EVERYTHING in documentation, so I continued with the email plan explaining that I wasn't going to send money without a contract. Which they disputed with "we only sign contracts in the office." To which I said, "well, if I can't sign a contract, I can't start paying rent September 1st cuz we won't be there til the week of the 20th." To which they said, "okay, fine, we'll see what we can do."

Tuesday they sent a contract over and said we could sign it and fax it in (why was that so hard for them? I have no idea). As I looked at the contract, I noticed that they also require you to have a landline number for the security gate so guests can call you on their keypad and you can let them in. This is not an expense we were even THINKING about getting as we don't nearly come close to using half of our minutes with our cell phones. Plus, with Dustin at school all day, and me at work all day to pay for this bottom unit, why would we want a home landline?!? So extra money for the apartment that we don't even want, and now extra money for a utility we don't even want? WRENCH.

At this point, I was seriously starting to question whether we wanted to live here and rent from this management as the whole process had seemed like a hassle and was hard to communicate with. So then we remembered our second choice in apartments: Star Crest Manor in Portland. Over $150 a month cheaper than Cascade Park with all the new expenses. And way closer to Dustin's school. Close enough that we wouldn't need 2 cars. Cut that expense out. And the landline. Add satellite/DVR service, and it's STILL cheaper than Cascade Park. No bridge traffic. An apartment with TWO bathrooms. 5 minutes away from the plasma center. This was looking like a MUCH better option for us and we set our minds that Star Crest was the right decision for us.

Then my Aunt Sheri went to Cascade Park to check out the apartment for us in person. And talking with the management, they told her that if she gave them the security deposit right then, we could actually have the original apartment we wanted because the tenants are moving out in three days. SAY WHAT?!? I guess that there are other people in the complex that want that apartment but haven't put money down on it yet, so if we showed the dough, it was ours. WRENCH. This gave us a lot to think about. We told them we'd take a day and let them know.

On the way home from work (mind you, this is all still TUESDAY), I get a message from Robert Half Accounting saying they have a potential position for me. I called him back and found out more about the job, that it would need to start beginning of September, that they were looking for someone that I met the qualifications for perfectly. This meant that I would have a job! That we could afford Cascade Park! WRENCH.

Seriously, by this point I was freaking out so we stopped at Arctic Circle and got a Butterfinger shake to clear our heads :) It worked.

We made a pros and cons list, listed out all expenses associated with both apartments, and decided to sleep on it.

Final decision made yesterday morning: Star Crest Manor in Portland. We think it will be a great home for us and if we end up hating it and having the money to afford Cascade Park, we can always move. I mean, we're going to be there for YEARS so if we're at a cheaper place now, we won't be out anything really. And we'll be able to save that extra money from cheaper rent and transportation costs to maybe come home once or twice in the next 3-4 years. Or buy food. :)

We've applied for Star Crest and are waiting to hear back on whether we are accepted or not. Of course, they are hung up on "income verification" because they want 3 x rent NET income (what would we ever do with all that money?!?!) We gave them the info for the financial contact at UWS and hopefully she can send them what they need and explain to them that we will definitely have the funds to pay for rent. I'll let you know how that works out. If we're not accepted, I have no idea who will accept us cuz that rent is pretty cheap. Hahahaha.

As far as hearing back about the potential job, after 2 full days, no one has called me about an interview or a job, so I'm guessing that they, like everyone else, do not want to hire me because I don't live there. And the apartment people don't want us cuz we dont' have a job? It's a catch-22.

Oh man. Life is crazy. We are packing up all we can now and there is still TONS left to pack. It's only a month away!

Nathan, Adrienne, and Elliott moved to Chicago on Sunday and it was very sad to see them go!! I definitely loved having them here for the summer and spending time together playing games, watching the Bachelorette, SYTYCD, and Parks and Rec. And of course, snuggling and kissing little Elliott!! We miss you guys and hope you are having a great time on your adventure in Chicago!

Living in Rose City

Our trip last week to Portland had me feeling anxious, nervous, and excited. Now I think I'm just excited. We saw a lot of apartments and the VERY last one we saw will most likely be our future home. It's a 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment in Vancouver, just across the OR/WA border, 20 mins away from Dustin's school, but is awesome!

Option #2 is a 2 bed/2 bath in Portland only 8 mins away from Dustin's school. Here's the low down of our 2 favorite options.

Cascade Park in Vancouver:

Specs: 2 bedroom, 1 HUGE bathroom, 1029 sq feet, completely recently remodeled. And by recently I mean that the apartment we would like to move in to is going to be remodeled as soon as the current tenants (of 10 years) are moving out by the end of the month. The whole complex started remodeling last summer and this is the last apartment to be redone. The current tenants did not want the remodels while they were living there so once they're out, everything will be redone-- granite counter tops, new appliances, new flooring, new paint, new cabinetry, the works. We will be the first people to live in this basically new apartment. Washer/dryer is included, wood burning fireplace, large deck with outside storage, they even have a spice drawer in the kitchen! I'm kinda in heaven.

Added perks: tennis court and basketball court, big pool, year round hot tub, WATERFALL by the pool/hot tub that lights up at night, gym, tanning bed, yeah, it's a great place. The price is right and utilities are in the right price point as well.

Cons: It's farther away from Dustin's school and for a one car family, that poses a little problem. We're trying to come up with solutions as distance to the school is REALLY the only con. The neighborhood is actually really good, and grocery stores, restaurants, everything basically is close and we'd still get the same kind of "hometown" feel like what we have in Spanish Fork/Salem. We really like the idea of that.

Solutions..... A) Convince my parents to let us use the extra car that wouldn't be used until Dallin gets home from his mission in March. Which at that point, my dad should buy himself a new car and let Dallin drive his old car. Brilliant.

B) I won't get a job when we move and Dustin can take the car. That's right, just kick it at home doing fantastic things with my day all day. We figured out that if Dustin decides to do school year round aka continue during the summer instead of taking one quarter off (thanks for this idea Julia, it's PERFECT, AMAZING, LEGENDARY really), we'd have enough money to pay for life instead of having to save some money from each quarter to fund the quarter off summer break. The reasons this would be so great: Dustin would finish in 3 years instead of 4! We'd have money to live! Afterall, we're going to be getting student loans for the same amount of school time, just might as well finish earlier. I'd be able to stay home and be a happy wife to make a happy husband! Honestly, this plan is very doable. Dustin's quarters are each 10 weeks long with 1 week of finals and then TWO WEEKS OFF. Which means he gets a decent break between EACH quarter. If I wasn't working, we could spend those two weeks TOGETHER. We could come home and visit family. We could take little trips to the coast or Seattle. If I was not working full time outside of the home, I could do all the cleaning, cooking, laundry, exercise, EVERYTHING. So Dustin could wake up to a hot breakfast, have his lunch packed lovingly with secrets loves notes inside, then come home to a clean home, and dinner ready. Then he could spend the evening studying and ending the night with a game of tennis or a soak in the hot tub. Happy wife = happy life.

Now just to be clear, it's not that we couldn't do this same setup if we lived in the Portland apartment, but the Vancouver apartment is so much better and we would feel so much SAFER. The area, community, and features are just so much more US. That's how we roll.

Also, before anyone starts thinking that I'm completely LAZY and INCOMPETENT because I have zero desire to work when we move out there, I will still find a job, at least part time, if not something full time. I was just starting to freak out about how much life would cost and that I'd HAVE to get a job if we want to eat. But with this set up, it wouldn't be mandatory and I could find a job that I enjoyed. I did interview with Accountemps while I was in Portland and they have my resume and had me do skill tests so they can place me somewhere. I'm just not going to keep actively looking for a Portland job right now because I keep getting the same response--you don't live here so we won't hire you. This plan just makes more sense to me. Dustin and I have both decided we can sell plasma twice a week (I should be a pro after the 9 blood draws this year!) for extra income and I would love to teach a bunch of piano students. Vancouver would also be a better area for this because there are more families instead of city living adults. I'm still voting for employment at Costco.

Option #2 for apartments I'll be brief on since this is turning into a long post and I'm sure you'd like to see pictures. I'll include other trip details in another post :)

Star Crest Manor in Portland: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 980 sq feet, good location in relation to the school and decent neighborhood. Washer/dryer in apartment, functional floorplan, gym, no pool though :( It was nothing super special, but it was decent and well under our price point. Problem is that there aren't a lot of grocery stores nearby. It's city living, just not downtown city living. But since the school is close enough, I could drop Dustin off at school and take the car to work, wherever that will be. Perk: It is close to the plasma bank.

Basically we want Cascade Park. So here are some pictures of it :)

Big bathroom. Yes, that is a DOUBLE vanity. I'm a fan.

Wood burning fireplace in the family room.

Big pool. Can you see the waterfall? It's not super clear in this picture, but it looks really nice in real life!

Hopefully we'll be putting out a Welcome mat there soon!

Almost Perfect

I've been dreading writing this post for quite some time now, but I guess it's now or never so here goes.... Living the good life...

I've always said that I like odd numbers better than even numbers.... So with this year being 2011 and age 25, I knew it was bound to be an amazing year. Started out great with a good birthday, Boston work trip, Vegas anniversary, Phoenix racquetball nationals, Dustin's graduation, Cancun, and then a summer to work work work to save money for grad school. Of course, we still have good things going on this summer to look forward to-- family reunion in St. George for 4th of July, Portland trip mid July to find some where to live, East Canyon end of July, and then packing up in August and work work working some more! I'm excited to move to Portland this fall. It's a new adventure.

This year was going to be ending perfectly.... And here is where I wish my post could have gone something like this....

Definite positive April 18th

Happy Easter announcement!

10 week ultrasound

But I have to stop here and put more of what the picture at my 10 week ultrasound looked like....I know it's a super tiny picture and it's not even mine (they didn't let me keep any), but you can kinda see that at 10 weeks we found out that my baby wasn't going to be celebrating Christmas with us this year. Measuring 7 weeks. No heartbeat. This was my worst fear going to this appointment. Also, this appointment was the day before we left for our Mexico trip. Not great timing. To rule out any possibility that baby was just measuring small (and had no heartbeat?!?!), we scheduled a follow-up appointment for the next week.

I left for Mexico and was expecting to start bleeding at any second. Thankfully, that didn't happen and I was able to enjoy our vacation and just relax. The day after we got back, we went in for the follow-up and found that baby was still the same size, which is what I was expecting. It was definitely a miscarriage. I started bleeding the next day. Lucky for me, it wasn't painful. Then came blood test after blood test after blood test to make sure my HCG level was going down and that I was miscarrying it all.

With this miscarriage, I think it was a little bit easier for me to handle while I was going through it, as I was preparing for it for a week, instead of waking up with gushing blood one morning. But now.... I'm still having issues dealing with everything.... Especially when I keep hearing about all these other couples expecting a baby. I'm happy for them. But I'm completely jealous. And angry. And frustrated. And bitter. And trying to get over myself. It's hard. I know everyone has their own trials and everything, but I can't help but wish this wasn't mine.

This year would have seriously been the PERFECT year to end with a little one born in December. But now it's just almost perfect. It's still been good. And there are still good things to come in 2011/age 25. Maybe 3rd pregnancy will happen this year and will stick like a champ. I like odd numbers better anyway, right?

To help me cope with the loss and the pain and the hurt, with Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec (played by Amy Poehler) as my hero and role model, I have made a pros and cons list about having this miscarriage at this time. (I know, I know, I have serious mental issues) For every con, I'll list a pro. (not necessarily a pro that goes with the con, just something pro...)

Con: I miscarried at 11 weeks.

Pro: It only took 3 months (only 2 cycles!) to get pregnant again from the last miscarriage! I made it all the way to 11 weeks, which means I made it much further along so I'm progressing!

Con: I'm not having a baby in December

Pro: We can come home for Christmas! (except maybe not cuz grad school costs a bucketload... here's to hoping for a fantastic job out there! That's for another post though...)

Con: The shorts I bought for Mexico that I got one size too big so I could "grow into" them this summer totally don't fit any more. They are way too big.

Pro: Dustin was able to get the TV he wanted with his graduation money instead of a car seat, stroller, crib, and diapers x10. Also, I let us get iphones. i love my iphone.

Con: When we moved, I wasn't going to find a new job because a) who would want to hire someone 7 months prego and b) who would want to find a new job 7 months prego, knowing you're going to quit in 2 months?!? The con part is: now I have to find a job.

Pro: Because I'll find a job, we'll have money to survive... for at least the first year or so. After that we might starve/be homeless.

Con: Every time I look at a new baby or a pregnant woman, I get jealous.

Pro: I was able to handle Nathan and Adrienne and their new baby Elliott moving into the house while I was pregnant, and I grew to love Elliott instead of hate him because I wanted my own baby.

Con: I can't eat whatever I want any more and blame it on being pregnant.

Pro: Dustin and I have more time to spend together with just the two of us. I've said it a million bazillion times, but I'll say it again... I HAVE THE GREATEST HUSBAND EVER. And I'm the happiest when I get to spend time with just the two of us. I am so glad I get to be with him FOREVER.

I'll end with that pro cuz it's a good one. Am I ready to start trying again? Not really. Which is totally fine because we'll be moving in 3 months anyway and I will have time to settle in, get a new job, and get a good doctor who can hopefully add additional helps (progesterone/estrogen) and take good care of me. I don't want to end by saying that "every thing works out for the best" because honestly, this sucks. But I will end by saying that I am glad this year will be almost perfect because there is still the word perfect in it.