Speck Of Texas

Thursday, March 11, 2010

I don't want to write a title

Eh, you've probably all abandoned me. So now I get to write horrible things about you all! Yay!

All right. Anyways...

Last night I had a very vivid dream about someone I used to know. It felt very real...I was even doing some weird math computations and I think I was getting the right answers! I've always wondered if you dream about someone one night if they're dreaming about you too. Hmmm...

Things have been good lately. Michael and I went on a lovely double date with Nathan and Brian down to Bohanan's in San Antonio (remember? the place with the japanese/texas $100 steaks http://www.bohanans.com/). Brian and Nathan had gone after reading my original post and really liked it. They wanted an excuse to go again so we all went down a couple weeks ago. Brian drove his very shiny Mercedes (don't know what kind...I'm a girl)...so it was like we were being chauffeured to the restaurant. Dinner was as lovely as expected. Michael and I did are usual where I get the New York Strip, he gets the sirloin, and then we cut them in half and share so we get to try both. Brian has the Akaushi fillet and thought it was good. Nathan got the dry aged New York Strip and the thing was HUGE. We've never had dry-aged beef so we all tried a bite. It was wayyyyy too strong for me. Very powerful flavors. I don't think I would have enjoyed it. We were there about 3 and a half hours and had a great time. The bill came to about $300 for each couple, which is pretty good since none of us had any alcohol. It was a lot of fun to go out there with other people than just me and Michael - more to talk about!

Michael's been living with me almost 5 months now. It's been going good so far. We were talking about buying a new house about 5 years from now, but I think the timeline is getting pushed up dramatically. I had originally said 5 years to allow us time to save up for a heafty down payment. Michael had debt in his past and although he's all done with that, he's never really focused on saving. I thought 5 years was a timeframe that he could ease into realizing that saving was important and sometimes you had to put off purchases in order to save for the big thing down the road. Well, the other day we were looking at models in the Brushy Creek area of Cedar Park (that's just a little more northwest of me). They were out of our price range, but we liked looking at models to see what our tastes were and to make sure we liked/disliked the same things (we do). Well, the house guy mentioned there was a new subdivision being built at 1431 and Anderson Mill and the prices were lower there. So, we figured we'd go check it out. There's only one model built and of course it's the biggest plan. We talked to the guy and said we wanted something a little smaller. He told us their division down in Dripping Springs (way south) had the model of the house we really wanted to look at. They just didn't have the model built in Cedar Park, but it was the same thing. The next Saturday was a really pretty day and we decided a drive down to Dripping Springs sounded like a good idea. Well, we found our dream house. It has EVERYTHING we wanted. It even has a 3 car garage option, which would give us plenty of room for the kayaks and Michael's bikes. http://www.highlandhomes.com/730-MARTB.html Luckily the builder has 3 phases and they just started Phase 1. So, we're shooting to get into Phase 2 which won't be until spring/summer of next year. Uh. yeah, the saving plan is going to have to accelerate some. And that's frankly a good thing. I want Michael to know he can save a shit load of money when he really puts his mind to it. With what we can save, plus the equity I can get out of this house, we shouldn't have a problem with getting the upgrades we want and putting down 20%. It'll add about 15 minutes to my commute, but it's easy access to the freeway, and 1431 is getting really built up. There's a lot going on out there.

Now we're looking at our expenses and seeing where things can be cut or tweeked, and we're focusing on saving for the house. Michael has done a remarkable job of cutting some of his expenses and really taking this seriously. He even brought some food to work to make lunches there, which in the past he has refused to do. He realized spending $50+ a week on lunches downtown was not the best thing to do. I'm really proud of how far he's come with his finances. He pointed out one day that I knew everything about his finances and he didn't know anything about mine. So, I showed him my retirement accounts and my savings accounts. Although I should have more than I do, I think I have a decent amount. I think that spurred him into saving more as well, especially since he makes more than I do.

As for marriage, we've talked about it, and we both know it's in the near future. I don't know if it will be before the house or not, though. As I'm keeping my name after marriage (which he's fine with), we won't have to change the names on the deed.

Have I ranted about engagement rings before? I'm not sure. Well, here it is. Most men are lemmings and blindly follow what the diamond industry has forced down our throats for decades. That diamonds are a girl's best friend, diamonds are forever, every girl wants one. Well, I'm telling you now, before you buy that engagement ring for your honey, take a good hard look at who she is and decide if you just want to buy some cliche diamond ring, or if you want to take the time and get something different, unique, colorful, and thoughtful. Although I do own a couple of diamond rings, Michael is well aware of how much I despise the idea of a diamond engagement ring. I'll probably wear the wedding ring more anyways. I really like the look of carbon fiber rings - light weight and durable. And black goes with everything!


alright, that's it for now.

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