So yesterday was a super exciting day for my career 'cause I lucked out on a phone call and got my first client! Hooray! I feel like getting the first one out of the way shows you that you can actually do this and makes everything else so much better.
A little while ago (read: forever ago since I'm still getting the hang of blogging for real for real) I mentioned some advice about starting a real estate career. My first word of caution is that it costs a good deal of money to get started. Not only do you have to pay for your licensing classes, but you then have to pay to take the exam, and just when you think it's over you get to pay to officially get your license. All in all that alone ended up around $400 for me.
And then I start making money right? Not quite yet...
THEN the Realtor's Associations have their hands out for money. $795 for my national, state, and local associations. AND THAT'S EVERY YEAR. Crazy right? I also have to pay quarterly dues to the Multiple Listing Service I use of around $200. And I still have to take continuing education courses which run me $115.
When I start actually making money, I'm sure this all won't seem so bad and obviously it can all be written off on my taxes. However when you're 21 and trying to keep food on the table and in the kitty's bowls it hurts a little.
So my advice to you is while you are studying for your exams save, Save, SAVE. It's a great career choice and I wouldn't do it any differently, but no one told me how much it would cost to start out.
Peace&Love
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
ABCs of Me
So I used to do these on facebook/myspace/livejournal/xanga (Yeah, remember when everyone had a xanga? Crazy right?) and I haven't done one in forever so this was stolen from one of my favorite knitting blogs, The Sweatshop of Love. Learn a little more about the woman behind vintage envy!
A. Age: 21
B. Bed size: Queen! Husband and I shared a twin for TWO YEARS. As much as I dig that it made us cuddle I was so thankful when we got our queen bed.
C. Chore you hate: Cat box.
D. Dogs: I want to get at least one Corgi. So cute!
E. Essential start to your day: This will make me sound so lame, but checking my email. I feel like I can't start my day without checking my email when I first get up even though there's hardly ever anything new at 5 AM.
F. Favorite color: Midnight blue.
G. Gold or silver: Sliver. Always.
H. Height: 5’7 but I slouch 'cause Husband is ever so slightly shorter than me and used to be really sensitive about it when we first started dating.
I. Instruments you play: Vocal Cords. I tried guitar but I was just no good.
J. Job title: Real Estate Salesperson.
K. Kids: Cleopatra & Minerva. They're kittie kids. No, I would not name my children like that.
L. Live: In my bed 'cause I don't have a desk right now.
M. Mom’s name: Rise. Pronounced Reesa.
N. Nicknames: Button is my favorite. You always get the best nicknames in Drum Corps, but if I told you how I got said nickname I'd have to kill you.
O. Overnight hospital stays: Never had one. *Knocks on wood*
P. Pet peeve: People who are constantly talking about how busy they are <=Truth Alyson!
My BIGGEST pet peeve ever is people who chew loudly/with their mouths open. Can. Not. Handle.
Q. Quote from a movie: "When the time comes to decide between what is easy and what is right remember Cedrick Diggory." Is it bad that I only thought of Harry Potter Quotes?
R. Right or left handed: Right.
S. Siblings: One half sister named Kay.
T. Time you wake up: Around 5 when Husband's first alarm goes off. He's the kind of person who uses like 10 alarms while I get up as soon as one goes off.
U. Underwear: Yep, I wear them.
V. Vegetables you dislike: Uh... bitter melon? It's about the only thing I refuse to eat.
W. What makes you run late: Facebook.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Both wrists more times than I can count, thumb, chest after my car accident last year, stomach and head. Yeah, I break bones like it's my job and I used to have killer stomach/headaches which were chalked up to "stress".
Y. Yummy food you make: Baked Mac&Cheese.
Z. Zoo – favorite animal: Big Cats. Especially now that the National Zoo has Lion Cubs.
So there you have it! Random facts about me you never knew before!
Peace&Love
Saturday, April 16, 2011
A Little of the Good Life
Hey readers! So I know it's been a while since the last update, but what with moving into the new house (and almost unpacking everything) and trying to get my real estate business off the ground there hasn't been to much time to breathe much less write. However, in the wee hours of Saturday morning before husband wakes up (but after the kitties are fed) I can make time for you all.
DH and I have talked and talked about living a simpler, more wholesome life especially when it comes to food and this week we finally put our money where our mouth is. He took off on Tues & Wed and we went to our local home improvement store and got our first batch of vegetables. I've read a lot about starting a kitchen garden and the number one tip I see over and over for beginners is to start with what you like. It sounds like a no-brainer but I know plenty of projects that I've gotten over ambitious about and just ended up getting frustrated with in the end. It is tempting to plant those spaghetti squash seeds even though I have less than no idea how to cook them, but I resisted. Here's what we purchase.
DH and I have talked and talked about living a simpler, more wholesome life especially when it comes to food and this week we finally put our money where our mouth is. He took off on Tues & Wed and we went to our local home improvement store and got our first batch of vegetables. I've read a lot about starting a kitchen garden and the number one tip I see over and over for beginners is to start with what you like. It sounds like a no-brainer but I know plenty of projects that I've gotten over ambitious about and just ended up getting frustrated with in the end. It is tempting to plant those spaghetti squash seeds even though I have less than no idea how to cook them, but I resisted. Here's what we purchase.
- Allstar strawberries
- Roma tomatoes
- Tabasco peppers
- Pickling cucumbers
- GIANT pumpkins
We also have the starts of a window box herb garden (which I'm still mainly crossing my fingers on) and some catnip for our new kitties. The first three up there have all been potted in planters in the back deck since they were all established plants. The last two will be planted as soon as I get a real day off in the front lawn. I have a dream of having a front yard that is nothing but I giant pumpkin patch. (I live on a mountain so it seems much much nicer than mowing on a slope)
So we essentially started our garden around things we knew that we would cook and can with. I know jams aren't the simplest to make, but you have to start somewhere and with 6 plants in our strawberry planter I have room to make mistakes and have some left over. DH makes a killer homemade Vodka sauce so the Romas were a no brainer (Bye bye store bought pasta sauce!). My big adventure this year is going to be pickling my own pickles. We go through pickles like crazy since they are such a good snack and I always want them more garlic-y than commercial pickles will ever be anyway. The peppers are all for husband and the pumpkins are my guilty pleasure.
I hope this is the first step towards us inexpensively eating the things we need & love rather than just what we can afford.
Peace&Love
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Exciting Life
So just a quick update post...
Side note to anyone looking to get into the real estate business... save up at least $1k before you start taking classes because there are a lot of costs. More about that later because I have a busy Sunday ahead.
- Passed my real estate board exams (yay!)
- Fannie Mae agreed to fix everything we asked them to (yay!!!!!!!!)
- I have nothing on my needles right now because life is kinda too hectic (boo...)
- But that could change today/tomorrow (yay!)
- I kinda start my job on Monday (yay!)
Side note to anyone looking to get into the real estate business... save up at least $1k before you start taking classes because there are a lot of costs. More about that later because I have a busy Sunday ahead.
Peace&Love
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Must get better at this blogging thing...
So once again, it has been far too long since my last post! I guess when you change just about everything in your life it's tough to find time to write about it.
I'm happier than ever about my decision to leave college. This morning I finished the last of my real estate courses and will be taking the practice tests tomorrow and figure out where I am for the final test. Ugh, I know I've always been a good test taker, but I just shoved 60 credit hours worth of work into 2 weeks and there is A LOT to absorb in this real estate business. So much of it is legalese and tough to get through my scientific brain the first time, but I managed.
Something I've learned in my actual home-buying process is that houses are expensive. We got a fantastic deal on our house and I couldn't be happier about it. But then you realize that you have to put furniture in that house (all of which we're getting for free thank god) and even IKEA seems expensive. We're gonna have to live with our minimal free furniture for a while though because the only thing more expensive than new furniture is new appliances. This house doesn't have a fridge, washer, or dryer and the oven is so old it has an analog clock on that.
Let me emphasize that... The clock and timer on this stove are set by turning a knob.
Now I don't need the biggest, newest, or best by any means. Dear Husband and I are going to be energy efficient dishwashers for a while until we can afford to replace the dishwasher that I'm quite sure leaks. However, both of us love to cook and I love to bake. We will not have a stove that was probably the original fixture in the house.
Speaking of baking, I realized that I would give a tip about those heart shaped cupcake forms I used for my wedding cupcakes. I bought them at Michael's along with some of the cute little pearlized sprinkles and I'll own up to using boxed mix in the interest of time and not having to make a cake from scratch on my wedding day. Each of the molds has what I assumed to be a fill line in it so on the first batch I filled each one up with mix up to the fill line. Though that line in the same place of each mold may well be a fill line, it is not for cake mix. All of them overflowed and none looked anything like hearts. So on my second batch I filled them to just below the fill line and got only marginally better results.
My advice to you if your goal is to have cupcakes that are recognizably heart shaped only fill them by half, if even that. I'm planning on trying this again with brownie batter since it won't raise as much and then everyone can have an edge as well as a gooey center since these molds are so deep. We shall see! Also, make sure that you prep these with your preferred method of non-stickery. Despite them being made of silicone they will stick to your cupcakes. Thankfully I only lost two in the battle, but like all things red velvet, they were still delicious!
Any tips for a new homeowner? I have open ears and and open mind & can recognize when I should heed the advice of others.
Peace&Love
I'm happier than ever about my decision to leave college. This morning I finished the last of my real estate courses and will be taking the practice tests tomorrow and figure out where I am for the final test. Ugh, I know I've always been a good test taker, but I just shoved 60 credit hours worth of work into 2 weeks and there is A LOT to absorb in this real estate business. So much of it is legalese and tough to get through my scientific brain the first time, but I managed.
Something I've learned in my actual home-buying process is that houses are expensive. We got a fantastic deal on our house and I couldn't be happier about it. But then you realize that you have to put furniture in that house (all of which we're getting for free thank god) and even IKEA seems expensive. We're gonna have to live with our minimal free furniture for a while though because the only thing more expensive than new furniture is new appliances. This house doesn't have a fridge, washer, or dryer and the oven is so old it has an analog clock on that.
Let me emphasize that... The clock and timer on this stove are set by turning a knob.
Now I don't need the biggest, newest, or best by any means. Dear Husband and I are going to be energy efficient dishwashers for a while until we can afford to replace the dishwasher that I'm quite sure leaks. However, both of us love to cook and I love to bake. We will not have a stove that was probably the original fixture in the house.
Speaking of baking, I realized that I would give a tip about those heart shaped cupcake forms I used for my wedding cupcakes. I bought them at Michael's along with some of the cute little pearlized sprinkles and I'll own up to using boxed mix in the interest of time and not having to make a cake from scratch on my wedding day. Each of the molds has what I assumed to be a fill line in it so on the first batch I filled each one up with mix up to the fill line. Though that line in the same place of each mold may well be a fill line, it is not for cake mix. All of them overflowed and none looked anything like hearts. So on my second batch I filled them to just below the fill line and got only marginally better results.
My advice to you if your goal is to have cupcakes that are recognizably heart shaped only fill them by half, if even that. I'm planning on trying this again with brownie batter since it won't raise as much and then everyone can have an edge as well as a gooey center since these molds are so deep. We shall see! Also, make sure that you prep these with your preferred method of non-stickery. Despite them being made of silicone they will stick to your cupcakes. Thankfully I only lost two in the battle, but like all things red velvet, they were still delicious!
Any tips for a new homeowner? I have open ears and and open mind & can recognize when I should heed the advice of others.
Peace&Love
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
You better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
So in defense of the lack of writing I've done on here recently, the times they are a changin'.
Have you ever had one of those moments where you feel like the universe is speaking to you and telling you that you're going in the wrong direction? That happened to me early last week. I've had a lot of doubt about where I'm going in life and I was unwilling to admit it. However, once I did life got really exciting really fast.
I left college and spent a week at home. After a lot of talking and a little crying I decided to leave college at least for now until I figure out what I'm supposed to do with my life. I feel like it's really unfair to ask an 18 year old to choose a college and a major that can define who you are for the other 50 years you spend working. I've never lived any life other than being a student. How do I know what I'm really good at other than school? That's the journey I've started on and I know it will involve some trial and error, but I know I have enough of a support system to help me through it.
And speaking of which, DF and I "ran off" to get married on Valentine's Day. And by run off I mean we got married in his parent's living room by the sweetest Justice of the Peace ever and I baked everyone red velvet cupcakes in the shape of hearts. Well... they were kind of hearts anyway. More on that later.
Hopefully in less than a month Dear Husband and I (wow, that will take some getting used to) will be getting a house together up in the mountains and living happily ever after.
Peace&Love
Have you ever had one of those moments where you feel like the universe is speaking to you and telling you that you're going in the wrong direction? That happened to me early last week. I've had a lot of doubt about where I'm going in life and I was unwilling to admit it. However, once I did life got really exciting really fast.
I left college and spent a week at home. After a lot of talking and a little crying I decided to leave college at least for now until I figure out what I'm supposed to do with my life. I feel like it's really unfair to ask an 18 year old to choose a college and a major that can define who you are for the other 50 years you spend working. I've never lived any life other than being a student. How do I know what I'm really good at other than school? That's the journey I've started on and I know it will involve some trial and error, but I know I have enough of a support system to help me through it.
And speaking of which, DF and I "ran off" to get married on Valentine's Day. And by run off I mean we got married in his parent's living room by the sweetest Justice of the Peace ever and I baked everyone red velvet cupcakes in the shape of hearts. Well... they were kind of hearts anyway. More on that later.
Hopefully in less than a month Dear Husband and I (wow, that will take some getting used to) will be getting a house together up in the mountains and living happily ever after.
Peace&Love
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Lazy Snow Weekend
So the snow we were slated to get on Friday and Saturday wasn't quite as apocalyptic as I had expected. In fact we only got about another inch and it didn't even really stick to the roads. But I had already done a bunch of food shopping and gotten new needles to try a mobius cast on so I was not going to let myself have a day without knitting beautiful handspun and watching hours of Grey's Anatomy.
Did you know there were only 9 episodes in Season 1?
So some thoughts about mobius. For those who haven't caught the mobius bug yet it's essentially knitting in the round with a twist in it. Think about it as taking a strip of paper and twisting it once then taping the ends together.
If an ant walked along its length, it would be able to walk over every inch of paper without crossing an edge. Cool huh?
I've read a lot about it on Ravelry and a little internet detective work and when it's written out it just sounds like complete rubbish to me. You cast on and then knit into the row below your cast on to produce the twist somehow. I know I'm not really one who learns by reading so found this amazing video...
One word to the wise however... when they say "have a needle that's at least 40" long and longer is better" they really mean it. I attempted this with 32" circulars because that's why my lys had and I didn't even make it through a full row before throwing down my needles in frustration.
But there was still beautiful handspun to knit so I opted for a more traditional infinity scarf. Now I just hope I have enough yardage to make it wide enough to wear. Pictures to come soon of my first FO for the blog!
Peace&Love
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