Update

So we got the house, we moved in on August 31 - it feels so surreal.  I keep feeling like someone's gonna come to the door and tell us to move, lol.

We've been working hard to at least get stuff put away.  We have NO furniture - I need new furniture for every room.  But its gonna be a process.  No need to go and get in over my head in debt trying to impress people.  Id just rather wait to I have the money and buy it outright.

We are avid HGTV'ers - so we've been enjoying the process of getting things the way we wanted it.  My grass is only 50% dead now, lol.  And my bushes are starting to sprout flowers.  There are so many things that we just did not know about homeownership and taking care of a home....like I was at home depot the other day ready to buy some annuals - so that they could come up every year.  Then the salesman asked me - have you looked at our perennials? - so i decided to engage and say....what exactly is a perennial?  He said they come up every year, annuals are only good for one year.....So I had them totally confused, lol.

My dog is enjoying the deck and the freedom to run around in the backyard.

more to come....gotta do some work, so i can afford the mortgage.

Tatiana

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HOMEOWNERSHIP UNIVERSITY

We officially got word today that the bank accepted our short sale offer.....so we're buying a house! OMG....so excited everyone

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All You Magazine for $8 (maybe even $5)

There's a great deal on Eversave.com today that I thought was right up your alley!

58% off summer beach mags: Everyday with Rachael Ray, All You and more
http://eversave.com/share/tKpA

Because I am sharing this with you, you can get an extra $3.00 off this deal by entering promo code SHARE at check out. Hurry, before the deal and the promo code expire!

Use promo code 'SHARE' for an additional $3.00 savings             

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First Time Home Buyers

So the hubby and I have started the home buying process.  We are looking for a home in the Palmdale Area.  And we have found one that we love - again i know right.....lets check her out:


So we're in love with her - and we submitted an offer - its a short sale.  The sellers have approved our offer - so now we're waiting on the bank to approve us.

This is such an exciting time for us.  A little stressful - because we submitted our offer with no closing costs - so now we have to basically bring a million dollars to the table. (well maybe I exaggerated a little).

Pray for us!

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Financial Peace University Graduate

7 days ago, my husband and I became graduates of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.  We have been eyeing a home in Palmdale...actually here she is:

7 bedrooms 3757 square feet and enough room to build our pool when we got the money.  We have been watching it for a few months.  Then I happened to check in on it, this past Sunday evening, and the price dropped from $335,000 to $307,000 a whopping $28,000.

I told myself, that we could not even begin to LOOK at homes until I had paid off my smallest credit card.  BUT....$28,000 how could we pass that up?

So, we decided to contact a lender to see how much house we could afford.  Well turns out - that because of all my massive student loan and credit card debt - we can only afford $175,000 worth of home and not $207,000 worth of home.... *tear*  I know.

I've been majorly sad all day.  But decided to re-focus and continue with my gazelle intensity.  I no longer have access to the free Dave Ramsey debt snowball calculator, but I found this aswesome debt snowball calculator.

As of April 20, 2011 we have a total of $130,793.87 of debt.  $15,996.50 is credit cards, the remaining balance is student loans.

My Debt snowball calculator says my expected debt free date is February 2022.  Yup, you read that right.  11 years from now, lol.  But, im not gonna let that discourage me.  I BELIEVE that I have the desire to get from under all of this debt, and do it as FAST as possible.  So no, this blog article does not say how I got out of debt in 2.5 months or something really incredible, but it does say that I have hope.  Hey, it was much more than that before, i've knocked out a pretty nice "lil" chunk.....but I still have a long ways to go. 

I'll keep you guys updated on my progress.  Things that I do to penny pinch etc.

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Extreme Couponing

I have recently begin (semi) extreme couponing and I am loving it....its time consuming and unsure of whether I would have sufficient time to devote to this weekly.  However, I am loving all of the savings, and my husband is loving all of the free deodorant and body wash. lol.

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30 day blogging challenge - Day 2

Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name

Young, Gifted, Black and Stressed.

Well this should be relatively short and simple.

Young - Im newly 29 years old.
Gifted - God has blessed me with the talents necessary to become a licensed attorney in California and Nevada.
Black - Say it loud....Im black and Im proud
Stressed - well...I have a stressful occupation.

I guess thats it for day 2.

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30 Day Blogging Challenge - Day 1

Day 1 - Introduce, Recent Picture, 15 interesting facts

Well i've already done an introduction about me page. So you'll have to click here to see it.

As far as a recent picture goes - thats me on the left

Now for the 15 interesting facts:

1) I eat crablegs almost every Friday (probably 45 Fridays out of a year)

2)

I have the sniffles almost year round - darn allergies & sinuses

3) I love to travel to the caribbean

4) I dont like to get my hands dirty

5) My husband and I met online

6) I actually love my job 80% of the time even if I complain 90% of the time - lol

7) I love Las Vegas

8) I started school in Germany

9) I'm a military brat and have lived all over the U.S.

10) Im the baby of 3 girls

11) wow...this 15 interesting things is hard - i digress - I love to laugh and smile. I see humor in almost everything - I think I kinda use it as a shield against reality.

12) I've never been in a fist fight with anyone - despite the amount of junk I talk - lol. Sibling fights dont count

13) I used to say that I had a twin sister because I always wanted one.

14) I almost went on the Jerry Springer show - not as a "real life situation" but as an actress. Hubby wouldnt agree to be spontaneous with me - so I didnt do it.

15) hmmm....last one....this is really hard.....I'm a scorpio....So when I love ya - I love hard....but when your on the bad side....you might get stung by the scorpio stinger.

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30 Day blogging challenge

So I came across someone's blog that said 30 day blogging challenge - and it looked pretty cool...so I'll try it (starting tomorrow - giggle)

Day 1 - introduce, recent picture - 15 interesting facts
Day 2 - meaning behind your blog name
Day 3 - your first love
Day 4 - your parents
Day 5 - your siblings
Day 6 - a picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7 - a favorite movie
Day 8 - a place that you've traveled to
Day 9 - a picture of your friends
Day 10 - something your afraid of

Day 11 - favorite tv shows
Day 12 - what you believe
Day 13 - goals
Day 14 - a picture you love
Day 15 - bible verse
Day 16 - dream house
Day 17 - something your looking forward to
Day 18 - something you regret
Day 19 - something you miss
Day 20 - nicknames

Day 21 - picture of yourself
Day 22 - favorite city
Day 23 - favorite vacation
Day 24 - something you've learned
Day 25 - put your IPOD on shuffle - 1st 10 songs
Day 26 - picture of your family
Day 27 - pets
Day 28 - something that stresses you out
Day 29 - 3 wishes
Day 30 - a picture

Seeming as I have done 3 blogs from April to the present - this will definitely be a challenge :)

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Holiday fun

So I flew home this Christmas to spend time with my mom & dad and my oldest sister. My middle sister wont be able to come up for the Holidays, so its all of us and my nephews.

I have been having a blast. Due to weather my flight came in a lil late on thursday evening/friday morning. Friday we threw a house party which was ENTIRELY TOO MUCH FUN. Saturday we drove down to Hampton to go see all of the christmas lights...but apparently we are still in a recession and no one had any lights up :(

But then we ate at Joe's Crab Shack which made everything all right :)

Yesterday after church I had a lil daddy and me time (im such a daddy's girl) and then later that evening the whole family played poker keeno. Fun family game night - - even if everyone was looking at there phones the whole time, lol - the age of technology.

Today is Monday and me, mommy and big sis went to go see Due Date which is H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S.....then we came home to relax..... A few hours ago we became "amateur bootleggers"

and now I'm blogging. Having a great time at "home". Sometimes, you just wanna go where everyone knows your name.

So what are my upcoming goals for 2011?
1) make some more friends in LA
2) make some more $$
3) lose weight
4) be happy :)

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