If all goes according to plan...

This could be ours on or before July 28th...but only if all goes according to plan.

We met with our mortgage representative on saturday and he gave us a list of 88 bumps along the road or possible things that could go wrong in the process. We're hoping for zero bumps. Ben and I are super excited to see how things go. Wish us luck!

Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. Thank you to all of you that made my birthday awesome yesterday and all weekend. Thanks guys!

Fun

Jackie and Eric added a new addition to their family about 9 days ago. Her name is Jixie. She's really pretty. I got to play with her.

Like any girl see really enjoys being groomed and looking her best...

She's cute. I like her.

Jixie in action.

I got to be the dead weight on her back to get her used to having things on her back. Jackie and Eric both ride her but now they're working on desenetizing her so she doesn't spook as easy.

I hate waiting...

Anyone that knows me probably knows that patience is NOT one of my virtues. I don't like to wait for anything, food, people, telephone calls, planes, etc. Which is why not hearing back about houses is really annoying me. We got another update yesterday on the white house that basically the person who originally made a bid is dropping out or not getting the home, but they're in no hurry to sign the paperwork taking the house out from under contract...as in available for us to try buy. So basically we're just waiting on someone that has no motivation to sign paperwork to do so in order for us to proceed. While I'm glad our real estate agent is keeping up posted, I just wish he had better news than "we're still waiting." Once again, patience is not my virtue. I just want a place of my own. Grrr.

Another option...

Just waiting to hear back and see which one its going to be.

Third Times a charm...

I'm crossing my fingers on this one.

I Just want a House...

I just want a house. A place for Ben and I to call our own. Unfortunately that has yet to happen. After viewing I don't even know how many homes and making offers on three different homes since February just to have each and everyone fall through is really starting to get on my nerves. Is it really so much to ask that we actually find a place we like in our price range and actually have someone accept our offer? On the last house we even submitted an offer above the listing price and someone outbid us by $1000. We missed out on a house we loved by a mere $1000. I'm more than a little frustrated by this point. Sorry there are no pictures to make your reading of my venting more interesting.

A little late...but here's some pretty pictures

So most people don't think of Kangaroos in Ireland but there's this great place called Fota that we went to the first day we were in Ireland. My cousins Eoin and Jack love it and its pretty much a petting zoo, without the petting since they do in fact get angry if you touch any of the animals. I would know, I got yelled at for pettting a lemur that walked up to me. This picture is in fact two very hansome men, Ben and my cousin Eoin. I'm surprised Eoin stopped talking long enough for me to take this picture, he's a chatty little man.

The second day in Ireland we went to Kinsale to meet up with some of the family. This is the view from the upper part of the town overlooking the harbor. It was beautiful.

This is actually in the harbor at Kinsale. We looked at the boats and the homes listed for $2 million Euros.

The is the whole crew in Kinsale. Ben wanted to show that the street was narrow since you would in fact have two way traffic driving to the left of these parked cars.

This was a pretty view and to prove that yes, it does rain a lot in order to make it green here.

We visited Blarney castle the third day with my uncle Ted. This is just as we were walking up to the Castle.

Better shot of Blarney Castle with its pretty flowers.

Ben's comtemplative reading of the sign at Blarney castle. Right next to him is the entrance to the dungeon.

This is my Uncle Ted, in his natural element, camera in hand. He's the family photographer and who took most of the pictures where Ben and I are both in them.

I made it to the top of Blarney Castle! I survived the winding narrow staircase. Ben kissed the blarney stone at the top, but I'll have to post that picture later since he does show a little skin while leaning back and giving the rock a smooch.

the inside of the Castle at one point there were wooden floors between the levels but they decayed at least a couple centuries ago.

I don't remember where this waterfall was but it was gorgeous, Ben was so proud he made it over the rocks to stand in front.

This is my retired semi-pro soccer player Uncle, Cormac. And his sons, my cousins Shane and Bryan. This day happened to be Bryans birthday so he was excited that our visit got him out of school for the day.

I wanted to prove that most things really are green in Ireland, including the rocks.

Mucross house is very old. And awesome. I come here every time I visit Ireland and I remembered a lot from the last time I took the tour. It made me sound smart but I guess I was really just cheating from hearing the answers last time. This is Ben, me, and Shane in front of the house. Just as a tidbit of useless information, the rich nobles slept sitting up, and in order to take a bath the servants had to carry the boiling water up three levels from the kitchen to the bathroom, talk about an annoying job. Oh yeah, this was also the day of our three year wedding anniversary. CRAZY! I can't believe I've been married that long.

This is me at the garden at Mucross house. You can't see it in this picture but they do in fact have black tulips growing here.

The boys, ben included. Ben, Bryan, and Shane. This was their favorite part of Mucross house.

So the noble family that owned Cahir Castle in Ireland built this house (the Swiss Cottage) to make it look like a peasants cottage but it was wicked expensive. The really cool thing about this house though is it was nature themed and designed to look like it grew up from the ground. You can't take pictures inside but each room has a different theme thats nature related. Funny thing though is while it has two bedrooms the family that built it never once spent the night here, it was purely used for summer entertaining. I'd like to have a house just for summer entertaining.

The aforementioned Cahir Castle. Ben went up the little steps on the bottom right of the picture. There was no railing. I did not attempt to do this.

My aunt Paula and I manning the cannon at Cahir castle. We had a blast exploring before we visited the Swiss Cottage.

This was on a beach in West Cork. Paula, Frank, Eoin and Jack took us to see the ocean. We did not go in, it was rather windy and cold. The sand was actually blowing in patterns. It was a tons of fun though hanging out with Paula and the kids. We even explored the tide pools.

This is Ben with a Guinness. He wanted me to take the picture. Its Frank's Guinness. What a nerd. I love him. This concludes the short recap of my Ireland trip. More pictures may be forthcoming.