House Hunting In Portland: Things Move Fast

Wow!  The Portland housing market is as crazy as people said it was.  My initial instincts were correct and the places I like are popular and sell fast.  It has only been a month and a half since I made my first observations on the speed that is required in this sellers market, in that time we found a place we wanted the day it hit the market and have entered a bidding war with four other people.

It came on the market a few days before Thanksgiving and was not available to view until the Monday after that.  We were the first to be allowed to tour the property and by then there were already four sight unseen offers!  We also discovered that day that it had changed from a conventional sale to a short sale.  This is actually great news for us because we are in a lease until March and can't really afford to pay double housing.  Offers were due the Friday after Thanksgiving and we still haven't heard the official word on the outcome.

I really want this place because it feels like it could actually be our forever place.  We had downgraded our expectations but this place has everything.  The only catch is it needs to be updated, but there isn't anything that needs to be fixed immediately.  Fingers crossed!!

House Hunting In Portland: Game On

It's official, my husband has made a solid case for buying a condo sooner rather than later.  With interest rates threatening to rise and home and rent prices rising daily, it's time to get it together and take the plunge.  Several articles came out recently listing the Portland rental market as some of the fastest rising rents in the country including this story by a local artist in the Willamette Week.
Last spring we downsized our rent around $400 per month by moving to a slightly less trendy section of downtown and parking our car for free at my in-laws.  I felt very lucky to to find an apartment in a great spot that I found livable at that price and I am so thankful we made the decision to go for it.  I do worry that if we don't buy soon we will get boxed out by the other people like us that do jump out of the rental market and into ownership.  One thing is for sure, the rent is going to keep rising.
With that in mind I am going all in on the house hunt like I tend to do with any sort of fun project.  I saw my wedding binder recently and it was truly something impressive!  Haha!!  Hopefully I can execute this project flawlessly in half the time it takes most people like I did with the wedding.  I planned my ideal wedding and honeymoon in 4 months and I couldn't imagine doing that for a whole year.
We started looking about three weeks ago and I have already learned many things.  The first and most important thing is, every place I have looked at and wanted has sold in approximately one week. That tells me that there will be no sleeping on decisions, it's yes or no then proceed.  Our mortgage lender is a friend of ours and is on vacation until next week so we will get that together shortly.  After that we just have to wait for something to hit the market.  I hate waiting!!!  I have three apps cued up to alert me of anything that comes on the market in my zip codes and budget.  I feel so sad when I get up and there aren't any new places and so happy when I get an alert.  This should keep me busy or drive me crazy, at the very least I'm in the game.  The other thing that I have learned over and over again while looking is that you must stay true to the top three rules of real estate; location, location, location.  I am constantly tempted by multiple bathrooms in less desirable areas!  We already did that once and I refuse to let myself do it again!

Fall

I don't know if it's the sudden change from Summer to Fall or what, but I feel lethargic.  All I want to do is eat and sleep.  I am finding the people around me exhausting and I just want to run away and lay down.  Maybe I'm not eating enough protein, or getting enough vitamin D.  I get plenty of sleep so that can't be the problem.
One Day Later...
I was too exhausted to finish this yesterday, but I feel much better today.  It has to be from doing the Portland to Coast Relay this weekend, but I was worried it was a cold for a second.  It's possible it's the changing of the seasons too.  I miss Summer already!  I like not bringing a jacket, staying light late and festivals.  Fall can be fun too, but it's just not the same.  In Oregon the rain gets tiresome and the days get so short.  Maybe it will give me time at home to work out and eat right.  Or I'll eat my blues away.

The Good Fight

Life seems to be a series of fights large and small.  It's right out front sometimes like with the "battle of the bulge" and the more general response to how are you "fighting the good fight".  Relationships are no different even though we act like it should be effortless.  Nothing worth doing is easy, but sometimes it would be nice if that was the case.
When you change your lifestyle and eating habits drastically there are other side effects besides weight loss.  Unfortunately, this can take some time to get used to for the people around you.  I feel like emotions are closer to the surface and fuses are shorter.  When you preoccupy yourself with food it's easy to let other things pass you by, but when that buffer is taken away you may be left not knowing how to handle those feelings in a calm way.  Not that people without eating disorders have their emotional shit together, it's just that now you have a person whose personality has shifted rather suddenly and it's a little unnerving.  I often read articles in my lady magazines about people feeling like their friends are having trouble getting used to the new them because they want to change the habits that put the weight on.  I think it's possible that the emotional changes are hard for them to deal with, and more importantly it's confusing to the person changing their life for the better.  Except depriving yourself of the food and drinks you want and having to work out all the other shit is supposed to be good!  All I know is it's not what I anticipated.

Last Minute Goal Ditcher

I did it again!!!  I turned down an invitation to go to happy hour and Portland Burger Week then I caved in to a spontaneous pizza lunch!  Then to top it all off I lured my friend out to dinner and more drinks instead of having a sensible dinner and staying in to watch our shows.  I don't know why I can't just go to lunch and not totally over do it.  It's the most frustrating thing about me second to going to lunch after I told myself no in the first place.
Here's the thing though, I had a really good time.  I have a friend that's really sick and I bet he never sits around wishing he spent more time hydrating and watching tv! As I have said a million times after doing this exact thing, I have to just move on.  I'm going to have a prescription food day, pre measured everything and lots of water.  

Secret Not Drinking

Sometimes I have a vision of what needs to happen, or not happen, in a week to meet my goals.  For example, this week we are leaving for a couple days at the beach and I would like to leave early in the morning. This means no drinking the night before so I can get a good nights sleep and wake up feeling my best.  In order to insure that I don't get too excited the night before and blow it I have schedule a night out with friends the night before that. This way I'll be all partied out and ready to relax and get ready for my trip.  The next level of the plan is that in order to want to go out that night I can't go out the night before that.
So when my friends invite me to things that threaten my carefully calculated plan I freak out a little. Sometimes I don't feel like justifying my reasons to people so I just make a random excuse.  I'm not sure if I'm embarrassed that it takes that amount of self manipulation or if I don't want to argue the validity of it when they don't care and still want me to do what they want to do.
Last week I over indulged and this weekend I will also want to indulge a little.  In order to keep my weight on track something has to give.  This week I only get to go out one night, and that's that. What bothers me is that I feel guilty somehow about sticking to what I want.  I can't decide if it's my friends that make me feel that way or if I make myself feel that way.  It really is a huge compliment that people want to spend time with me, but sometimes I can't reach my goals and participate in all social activities that I would like to.
This brings up the same conundrum I always find myself in.  Is it better to meet your goals or live life with friends to the fullest?  For now I will try my best to balance the two.

Conflict Of Interest

Sometimes I feel like I am my own worst enemy.  Not just in the going out spending and consuming way, but also in the not taking opportunities way.  I will randomly go out on a weeknight, but say no to a weeknight invite ahead of time to a band or event.  I could call it trying to follow my goals, but am I?  Maybe I just don't want to try new things.  I think I do, but what if I really don't?  Sometimes I hear what other people are doing and I worry that my choices are wrong or worse boring.    

I may succumb to the desire to go out on a weeknight, but the goal is always to wait until Friday.  Is that even a worthy goal?  On Sunday I like to relax and get ready for the week, like the Seinfeld Episode I have to wind down before I start my week.  I have a friend that doesn't have that need at all. She calls it "bad decision Sunday" and treats it as if it was as good a day as Saturday.  I am so jealous of that attitude.  On the other hand, when I do go for it on a weeknight I end up often regretting it the next day.  Monday feels daunting when you're in worse shape than you were Friday.  I suppose a good compromise would be to try to stop the random going out for no reason and join in when a good opportunity comes along.  I really am trying to save money and lose weight and none of those things are helpful.  Life clearly can't be all about those two things.  It's the constant struggle to achieve a balance between the things we want and the things we should want.