#48. Whackity whack - Hair Chop!

At the beginning of the week, my hair looked like this:

My hair hasn't been cut (other than trims) since May of 2010, when Sean and I moved to Kansas City. Then, it was up to my chin - beautifully short. Then I grew it out for our wedding - I loved it short, but I needed a little more hair for the wedding. And then, I just kept growing it out. I never chopped it after that - I didn't want to be a part of the standard "post wedding chop" gang. 

So Thursday, I changed things up. I changed it up in a big way. In a 13" kind of way. 

And yes, I am donating it to Locks of Love. It'll be mailed off this week - after all, tis the season of giving, right? All and all, here's the new 'do - I'm absolutely LOVING it! 

Make a change - it's awesome.

Future Plans

Our lives are about to change in big big ways. (and no, I'm not pregnant)

Sean graduates in May. He'll have a law degree, a doctorate! It Europe, that means he has a title (Barrister). It's pretty damn cool.

It also means that we're no longer bound to Kansas City. But, we've come to love it. And we're thinking about staying - much to our families' dismay.

We're seriously considering buying a house. So much, in fact, that we're going to talk to a bank in January. The biggest issue is that I'm the only person who can be on the loan - Sean's loans will completely negate anything else. We've got plenty for a downpayment on an FHA loan - as long as my salary is enough for a loan (which it should be, since the only debt tied to me is my student loans).

While I would love to stay here in south KC - we don't want to spend the amount we'd have to in order to live down here (and we can't afford that either!). We'll have to work up to it. But a house in north KC? We can get a LOT of space in a fix-it up home for super cheap. As long as it's liveable, we're totally okay with fixing it up - we'd rather flip a house anyway.

We're about to transition our lives. With Sean graduating, we're no longer attached to the school - we're starting to hang out more with our north town friends (another pro to living up there), and the places we hang about equidistant anyway. We're thinking about real jobs, company cars, and babies. We're gonna wait until January on this - mostly so I can pay off at least one of my student loans (there's only $300 left - hellllloooo Christmas money!).

But right now? Right now I'm just thinking about a new haircut. ;)

Selling My Wedding Dress?

I'm seriously thinking about it folks. It's on my 101in1001 list, but I was never sure that I would actually do it. The more I think about it though, the more I think I should.

My dress is literally hanging in a closet in Sean's mom's house. The same place I left it nearly 2 years ago. I haven't touched it. I'm not going to make it into a Christening gown or First Communion dress for a daughter of mine. Nor will I ever make it into pillows or whatever people do with old dresses. It won't be in style if/when any of my daughters get married - and it will probably be yellowed before then anyway. Sean's mom's dress was professional preserved and it was still yellow and brown.

So. I'm going to clean it up, post some pics on a website that saved my life when planning, and cross my fingers that it sells. It's definitely money that we could use for our house fund. 

I'm thinking about asking $300 for it. It's a $700 dress, with a $200 18 point underbustle. There's no alterations, and it's fairly clean (though, I'll get it professionally cleaned before I sell it). I'd definitely include shipping too, if I sell it outside of KC.

What do you think? Think it would be worth it? Has anyone ever sold their dress before? 

70 years young

Last weekend, I took an impromptu trip to Pekin, IL.

It's where my maternal grandma's family is from (my mom's mom) is from, including my great great aunt Marge. Aunt Marge is 89, has been a smoker since she was 18, and is still going strong (well, as strong as an almost 90 year old woman can be) - and so is her husband. Of SEVENTY YEARS.

I feel like most people don't even live to be 70, let alone be married for that long. It's amazing. They had a small little family, and my Uncle Jim worked at CAT until the 80s. It's amazing. They still live on their own, and (frightening enough) drive themselves wherever they need to go. Which, admittedly, is really just the senior center for card games and the grocery store.

Aunt Marge remembered me perfectly - but Uncle Jim only remembered me by my nickname (Miss Jones lol). It's crazy that these folks have outlived my grandparents, who were a generation below them. I also was able to see many of my cousins whom I haven't seen in YEARS - I was probably 14 the last time. I didn't get nearly enough photos, but I did snag one of my aunt and uncle - and one of a picture of their wedding photo (they got married right before Jim got deployed, so no wedding getups for them!)

Then: 1942 

Now: 2012

Congrats to the happy, spunky couple!!

We're now an iPhone family

Yup. You heard right - we both got the iPhone 5 yesterday. Yes, my husband, the anti-Apple, got the phone. And he loves it. (can I get a BOOMBABY?)

For those of you wondering about price, it actually comes down to be cheaper for us. I've been wanting one for forever, but I'm a loyal Sprint customer - I was holding out. When Sprint came out with the iPhone last year, I knew it was going to be what we got. Plus, I was able to sell my Evo to a girl at work for $75, which means my cost for it was only $100 :D

Things that I love about the new iPhone?
- Size. I HATE how big phones are becoming - I want something that I can use one-handed.
- Syncing. I have an Apple computer, so it's natural to have a matching phone. My calendars and iTunes sync together and with Sean's phone, so he never has an excuse to not know what's going on. It's already been a game-changer.
- App selection. Apple apps nearly always come out first - and it's super frustrating. Plus, I love that I can find apps on iTunes instead of having to always use the app store.
- Camera - it's super fast. Like, faster than my android's by a long shot. I wasn't really buying the phone for it, but I'm very impressed with the camera.

I haven't really used Siri much, so I can't actually relate on it.

My favorite apps so far?
-Waze. It's the maps alternative - it was even recommended by Apple's CEO when AppleMaps sucked balls coming out. It records speeds of traffic, construction, accidents, and even where cops are hiding. Pretty rocking.
-OpenTable. I'm not sure it's something I'll use often, as we don't eat out often. But it's an app that makes reservations for you at restaurants - sweet!

Something I've downloaded but haven't used yet?
-Cloth. It's a way to categorize your outfits. I've been trying to par down my closet to things I only really use, so it's really useful to take pictures of things I'm actually going to use on a daily basis. I can't wait to use it regularly!

I still need to find a good grocery app. I'm not sure everything that I want in it, so I might download a few free ones to see which I like.  Also, I'm slightly annoyed that there aren't many accessories yet - but I completely understand. After all, they've only been out for 2 weeks. I can't wait to get a dock for my car, a wireless radio transmitter, and an armband. *le sigh* Christmas gifts I suppose. :p