Branden and I celebrated two whole years of wedded awesomeness on the 31st. Well, actually on the 30th, since he had to work on Monday. We went to Outback for dinner and had super yummy steaks and baked potatoes. And we also went to see Paranormal Activity 3. It’s sort of our anniversary tradition to see a PA movie. haha. We saw the first one the night we got married. We went with our wedding party and some friends and got the pants scared off of us. Then on our first anniversary we went to see PA2. I’m actually kind of hoping they make a fourth one so we have something to see next year. (And because I LOVE these movies. It’s one of the only series that I find genuinely scary, mostly because it seems SO real.)

News on the baby front, we’ve decided to see a reproductive endocrinologist. If everything is fine, AWESOME. If not, I’d rather find out sooner than later so we can work to fix it. I’ve got my fingers crossed that she’s a nice lady who is understanding so I don’t have to search around even more for another RE. As it is I have to drive an hour to get there. I’d like to not have to drive further!

I’ve been working on clearing out our front spare bedroom to make it into the future babies room. I’m about halfway done, but until we get some more storage space there’s not a whole lot left I can do. I’ve got to get some shelving for the garage to store our totes of out of season clothing and other misc. items. We have cabinets in there but they don’t fit our totes inside them. I’d like to ditch the lower ones completely so we can put a freezer out there. Right now there’s no way we can fit a freezer and a car in there, and we can’t have both cars in the driveway all winter due to the extreme slope it’s on. Any hint of ice and even with the e-brake we could have one of our cars sliding down the hill. NOT GOOD.

Speaking of cars… we’re thinking about buying a newer one. Nothing brand new, since there’s no way we could afford that. But something a few years newer than my ’01 or Branden’s ’96. (We’d be trading in his car, not mine!) We’re looking at a mini van. We figured that even if we don’t have a large family, a van is still a good investment for road trips and vacations. Or even hauling stuff around. We don’t want a truck because of our small driveway and also because neither of us like very large vehicles.  An SUV wouldn’t be awful, but they’re still bigger than what we’re used to. A van will drive pretty much exactly like my Malibu does, just a bit bigger. This might not happen for a while, but it’s definitely going to happen eventually. We found an ’06 Dodge caravan at a local car lot that looks perfect on the outside. They were closed so we haven’t seen the inside up close, but just looking through the windows it looks nice too. If it runs well/is a good price, it might be the one we go with. (Which is funny because my sister just got an ’06 caravan as well, the same color. haha.) The good thing about a van is that we’ll be able to park it in the garage even though it’s a bit wide. We can always climb through the van to exit via the sliding side door if the front doors won’t open all the way. (We have a very narrow garage.)

If you’ve been missing me, I do blog several times a week at NaturallyMamas. Sometimes I just can’t think of other things to blog about aside from the mommy/living green type stuff. I’m going to try to do more personal blogging, though! <3

So, in my last post, I told you guys how I was going back to school. Well, that’s not actually gonna happen. I had a meeting with financial aid, and it turns out that private universities are FUCKING EXPENSIVE. *insert string of other expletives here* Like, really fucking expensive. I was approved for a $9500 unsubsidized stafford loan. I did not get approved for a pell grant. I also did not get approved for ANY private loan, even with a cosigner. So my total out of pocket expense for one academic year at this school? OVER TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS.

Yes. I nearly had a heart attack too!

And the sad thing is, that didn’t include my books. *head desk* So, school is on hold indefinitely. But it’s really ok. I can still work the way I’ve been working, and it will all be fine. And, the best part is… we can finally really start trying for that baby! I wanted that more than school anyhow!

We’re hoping for a 2012 baby, but hey, if it takes longer than that I’ll be ok. For now we’re going the natural route, and if we need to we’ll speak to a doctor about conception assistance. SO. That’s my life right now. Oh, I forgot to mention… IT’S FREAKING OCTOBER! Branden and I have been married for almost 2 years already! Holy cow! Time flies, right? :D

I’m also officially applying to school on Tuesday. I’m going to meet with admissions and financial aid and everything. :D I’m excited and nervous at the same time. Excited to finally get started, but nervous because … what if I’m not good at it?! lol Which is stupid, I know I’m good at photography. Not in a conceited way, just in a… that’s what people tell me way. haha. I don’t know. I just have stayed at home for the past year and a half and I think I’m out of practice with people in general. I’ll get over it.

Branden is making me dinner right now. Such a good hubby. He’s making a variation of one of his only recipes- steak fajitas. He usually makes steak, but tonight he’s cut it into strips, marinated it, and is going to cook it with peppers and onions. And we’re going to serve it with refried beans, cheese, and some sour cream. :) I love not having to make dinner, since I’m usually the one doing it.

I think I’m going to go keep B company while he cooks. He does that for me sometimes. Makes it less boring. Please take a minute and check out my new project, I would REALLY appreciate it. <3

For instance, abortion is a huge deal to a lot of people. And to be honest, it’s an important issue to me. Not because I really enjoy the idea of someone having an abortion- not at all. I’m actually fairly anti-abortion in most cases. But I also recognize the need to allow and have available places where safe, legal abortions can be performed. Just because I don’t like it, doesn’t make it wrong. Opinions are like ass holes, everyone has one. And I’d say a good portion of the time, it’s going to be different from the person sitting next to you. And there’s not a damn thing wrong with that. But don’t expect me to sit there and tell you it’s ok to tell someone else what is allowable. It’s never alright to tell someone what they can or can not do with their own body. See: Minding your own damn business.

There’s also that whole gay marriage thing. I’ll be honest, I’m getting kind of sick of this “gay marriage ruins the institution of straight marriage” argument. Especially when the person spouting that nonsense is also chucking the bible at my head. The part of the bible that says homosexuality is “wrong” is pretty near to the section that says selling your daughter into slavery is perfectly alright. Or stoning your neighbor for working on the sabbath… that’s ok too! It’s the old testament people. You can’t pick and choose what parts to follow and not follow! It’s not ok to make up the rules as you go along! Marriage is a legal institution. Not a holy one. Some people might make marriage about religion. That’s fine. Gay people don’t have to get married in a church! Hell, straight people don’t have to get married in a church, I know I didn’t. When the topic at hand has no direct effect on your life, your marriage, your children, your whatever… stay out of it! Let me reiterate: Mind your own damn business.

Moral of the story… mind your own damn business.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can each: cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, & cheddar cheese soup

1/2 packet of taco seasoning

We served it all up in some flour tortillas with refried beans and cheese. They were really tasty!

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen)
• 4-8 pre-cooked bacon strips, crumbled
• 1 cup fat-free sour cream
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 packet Hidden Valley ranch dip mix
• 1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic
• 1lb pasta (original recipe calls for rigatone, I didn’t have that, so I used rotini)

In a crock pot/slow cooker, mix sour cream, soup, ranch mix, bacon and garlic until combined. Place frozen chicken on top of this mixture. Cover the crock pot w/ lid, turn on high for ~4 hours, turning the chicken halfway through. When chicken is fully cooked, shred it and stir the shredded chicken into the sauce. Serve over pasta.

This was SO INSANELY GOOD. I really didn’t expect much, since I’m not a huge ranch person. But it was actually really good. The ranch flavor spreads out and ends up being pretty subtle, and the bacon adds a nice smokey flavor. This is going in our meal rotation for sure. :D (Sorry for the crappy photo. I took it on my phone because I was too hungry to mess with my camera. lol)

So why must we wait until Friday to have two working cars again? Well, because yesterday on his way to work in MY car, Branden had a tire blow out! Luckily he was going very slowly at the time, so he wasn’t in an accident. But he was late to work because he had to stop and put the spare on, and then because that was flat, he had to drive on the interstate going like 20 miles an hour. Poor guy!  He stopped on his way home and filled up the spare tire, and on Friday afternoon I’m going to go have the tire replaced. Luckily there’s a place in town that has EXTREMELY inexpensive tires. (Tire Barn, y’all!) We were able to get Branden’s tire replaced last year for about $50 with installation. That’s pretty good, in my opinion. We’re also probably going to need to replace the rest of my tires before winter comes, but we shall see.

I’ve been thinking about making cooking videos to post up here, but I don’t know if anyone would actually be interested in seeing them. lol. I am going to be trying a bunch of new recipes soon, to see if we like them. And if we do like them, they’ll be going into my quick and easy or freezer meals categories. We want to get a freezer to put in our garage here soon, so that we can start doing once a month cooking. (Or close to it.) There are days that I just don’t feel like cooking anything, so having an arsenal of freezer food is going to be nice. :P

It’s time to go start dinner, since the hubs is on his way home from work. Fun times.

• We have come to an agreeable conclusion on the insurance front. While it’s not exactly what we wanted (deferred down payment) it does work for us. Our mortgage company has agreed to make a lump-sum payment to State Farm to cover the whole first year of insurance. Then, for the next eight months or so, our mortgage payment will go up roughly $85. After we pay back Chase for the advance, our payment will go back to normal, and escrow should kick in as planned next March. Yeah, it sucks to have to pay $85 more than we were expecting per month, but at least we’ve got insurance again. Or, we will, when I can call Chase and have them make the payment. They refuse to let me do it since my name isn’t on the loan, even though my husband is. And of course, they’re not open 24 hours a day, so having Branden call is a huge hassle.
• I have started drinking a meal replacement shake in the morning. Well, MY morning. (Between 3:30 and 5:30pm lol) I used to just crack open a can of coke first thing after waking up, but that’s not really healthy. And I figured since I never really eat anything good for me until about lunch time (8:45ish), I might as well make my morning ‘meal’ somewhat healthy. I’ve been using the slimfast 3-2-1 powder, since it was inexpensive and tastes relatively good. Though I mix it with 12 ounces of milk instead of 8. It helps the powder dissolve better. I still only use one scoop, though. As soon as Branden gets paid next week, I’m ordering a different type of shake powder. I’ve decided on IdealShape. It was the highest rated protein shake out of all the ones I found, and also fairly inexpensive. Hopefully it’s just as tasty. :)
• It is hot as balls lately. I haven’t been outside in like two days. Our air conditioner seems like it’s running non-stop, even though it’s set between 72 and 75 most of the time. In the early morning, our windows are fogged up because it’s so hot and humid outside, but cool and nice inside. I’ve been dreading turning the oven on for any reason because it makes the house SO HOT. Poor Branden doesn’t get a break from the heat while he’s at work. It’s an air conditioned plant, but due to certain factors, the temperature inside can not go below 77 degrees. Usually it’s MUCH hotter. He’s been drinking water like crazy, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he lost a few pounds just from sweat this week.
• I have a wedding shoot coming up on the 10th of September. As soon as I get paid (the week before the wedding) I’m applying to school. There’s a start date at the beginning of October, and I want to start then. I wish we had the money for me to apply now, because there’s a mid-start in August and I could take 2 online classes to get them out of the way. (Usually math and english.) But between everything going on, and Branden not getting as many hours as we’ve been used to (stopped overtime because of the earthquakes/tsunamis in Japan, they couldn’t get parts.) his checks aren’t quite as big. Which means they don’t stretch as far as they used to. Luckily overtime should start again soon, and he’s getting a raise in August as well. I can’t tell you how awesome it will be once he’s maxed out his pay. Almost $26 an hour at that time. We might actually get to SAVE money!
• Speaking of that wedding, I have yet to meet with the bride and go over the contract. Her future mother-in-law was the one who contacted me and booked my services. Aren’t brides usually more hands-on? I’m going to email her today to see when she’d like to meet to discuss the contract, and I hope it’s soon. I can’t put myself in a situation where I go into the wedding day NOT knowing anything about the wedding. lol As of right now, I don’t even know the location of the ceremony. Not good!

That’s all for now.

Photos belong to me, please do not copy or reproduce in any way.

My agent is Jason Dickelman. He is an independent agent for the State Farm Insurance company, and he’s located in Lafayette, Indiana.

A recap of my problem: In March of this year, I contacted Jason’s office and spoke to one of his employees, Alma. Alma was charged with the task of setting up my new home owners insurance policy. I explained to her over the phone that she would need to contact my loan officer so that the loan officer could give a total amount of money to collect at closing to the title company. (For the record, it was just over $700.) I also explained that my husband and I would be paying our insurance premium through our mortgage company.

Alma must have misunderstood. She told the title company that our first year of insurance was paid in full. However, we had not paid any money to State Farm at this time, nor had our mortgage company. The title company thought nothing was wrong, and therefor collected no money from us at closing. Three months pass with no contact from State Farm. I start getting cancellation notices from State Farm saying that our policy will be cancelled if they don’t receive a payment.

So I call Alma and ask her why I am receiving these notices. She assured me that everything was OK, and I should ignore the notices. A week passes, and then I get a call from Alma saying that State Farm has never received a payment from us for our homeowners policy.

I’ll point out now that until we got this call, we had NO IDEA that anything had gone wrong. The title company didn’t tell us about the call they got from Alma, they just told us we didn’t owe any money at closing for anything. (We assumed that what the seller was paying for closing costs covered everything we owed.)

I went back and forth over the phone with both Alma and Jason for two weeks. They told me there was nothing they could do unless I could pay $300 upfront. We don’t have that kind of money laying around. Heck, we don’t have any money laying around. Our budget has zero wiggle room right now for emergencies. (Though I do not consider an error that was not our fault to be an emergency on our part.)

A week passed with no news, and then I got an email from Jason himself saying that he had been attempting to call me and had not been able to get through. This I know to be completely false, because my phone is NEVER off, and his office has my correct phone number. (Every time I call to speak with Alma, she checks to make sure she has my correct number. I’ve also left my number with Jason on more than one occasion.) I called his office and asked to speak with him, but he was unavailable. I left a message with my number and waited. The next day, no call. I called once more and again left a message. Still no returned call.

Friday marked one week of no contact on his part. This is unacceptable. I have written both the State Farm head office, the State Farm help desk person (got their email via twitter) and Jason Dickelman himself. I have posted on both my personal facebook and the State Farm Insurance fan page. I have tweeted. On Monday morning, I will start calling again. I might even call tomorrow to see if anyone is in the office. I will not stop until I receive a satisfactory resolution to the problem I’m having.

I truly hope none of my readers ever have to go through a situation like this. It is extremely stressful and disheartening.