Just odds and ends.

Sorry, still no expose` on the Federal deficit yet. I know you're SO disappointed, but exciting news!! We actually put an offer in on a house. Yes, we're crazy. It was exactly one week after I started looking at homes with a realtor that we put an offer in. It's a lovely home and a short sale. It makes me very sad for the people who have to sell it and puts a human face on the usually cutthroat realty business, but also means a screaming deal for us (thus the very quick decision to put an offer in). Short sales are apparently kind of complicated (I'm learning tons about the realty biz through this whole process) because not only do the sellers have to accept our offer, but the bank who holds their mortgage does too. The sellers have accepted our offer and we're waiting to hear from the bank. Banks are notoriously slow at letting you know on this stuff so our genius realtor structured our offer so we can keep looking for a home we like better in the meantime and not be out anything if we decide to withdraw our current offer or the bank doesn't accept it. So there you have it. I never thought it would all happen this fast and it's far from a done deal, but still I feel like I need to take a deep breath.

Other odds and ends. A few 'ah-has' I've gleaned over the last two weeks I thought I'd share:

1. When contemplating doing something that I'm just not sure about doing I should ALWAYS go play outside with my doggy before deciding. I always come in with a much clearer and kinder view of the world. Yep. I did something I regret this week, but hopefully all is well.

2. The best way to 'know' Jesus Christ is to actually strive live like Him. I'm always seeking to 'know' Him better and draw closer to Him by reading and learning about His life, but actually living like Him will bring me much closer.
If you didn't know, I'm pretty religious and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka a Mormon). To those of you who are also religious this may sound like a no-brainer, but for me it was a good enlightenment. Even though I think I knew it in my head, I just didn't know it in my heart. Also points back to point #1 - another good thing to think about before doing something you're just not sure about is the good old cliche` 'what would Jesus do,' of course. :)

3. Be open to all situations in life. It's only when you're open to everything life has to offer do you really find yourself and your true passion.

4. Make small daily decisions based on the Easter egg hunt 'hot or cold' philosophy. 'Hot' is what you love, bringing you closer to your passion and goals and 'cold' is taking you farther from them. So make HOT decisions, even if they're seemingly tiny decisions.

5. Kind of repetitive of 3 & 4: “Remain open and follow the path as it comes to you. Listen to the things you love. Being present now and living your best in the moment opens the doorway to those greater long term goals.. . You have to stay open and move into that unknown, uncomfortable space and confront your fears.” I LOVE the bold part!

Thoughts 3, 4 and 5 were came from an interview I heard with Jillian Michaels, the Biggest Loser coach. I've never seen the show, but from the interview I heard she's a pretty amazing lady.

6. “Find yourself in the Free Fall of life.” -Mel Robbins

7. I've always had a strong belief in a loving God who really has a hand in our lives and wants to help us if we let him; and I've always kind of thought that He has this exact, perfect, individual plan laid out for each us and everything will go accordingly if we just try to follow His will. I'm not so sure of the exact, individual, perfect plan thing anymore. I'm now leaning toward the idea that the Lord doesn't necessarily have an exact plan laid out for each of our lives (maybe, but not always.) I now think we definitely create our own path. He may nudge us in certain directions and help us make decisions, but we create our own path. He has that much confidence in us. He knows we can and we will do great things by making our own way and asking for His help along that way.

8. “21st Century skills may help pupils become better workers, but learning history makes them better citizens.” (21st Century skills refers to math, science and technology.)
From The Economist, an article on education and how history is not a valued, tested core subject. I'm a history lover so am a little partial, but I really think this is so true.

That's about it for this week. Sorry I waxed a little philosophical and religious there, but I'm becoming more comfortable with this sharing thing as I blog. I haven't convinced myself 'sharing' is altogether a great thing yet, but I'm realizing more how much other people care and want to be part of my life. Typically, I'm a pretty private person and only share my thoughts and life with my close family and my bestest of friends, but I find blogging is opening me up. I originally had intended to just write about opinion, educational, current event type stuff, but am finding myself writing more and more about me, partly because I committed to writing once a week and I just haven't had the time to think through and write a good post on anything else. But maybe this more accessible, personal stuff is a good thing. I still have the privacy/internet paranoia (Yes. I'm crazy. I know.) which is why you'll never see any contact or traceable information or pictures of my family on this blog (unless I make it private or something) but again I'm just more open than I was 3 weeks ago, weird. . .