ARMs rock

As a former loan officer, I just want to take a moment to counter all of that crazy propaganda I keep hearing on the radio about how Adjustable Rate Mortgages are of the devil. Will and I have a 2-year ARM, and I just want everyone to know that our mortgage payment is going down as of June 1st. Praise be to God. That is the beauty of the ARM. Yes, some ARMs are awful loan products, and you should never use them. But others are totally appropriate and smart choices for certain home owners. So if you're in the market for a loan, don't close your minds to the adjustable end of the spectrum. You need to investigate all of your options. And feel free to hit me up for advice. Makes me feel useful.

The Fridge

I need to take a poll. It's about the fridge. The situation is this...we remodeled our kitchen two years ago and bought a black dishwasher and microwave to match our black and stainless steel oven. Our fridge is almond and was working great, so we just left it. A couple of weeks ago the ice maker decided to start dripping, creating an ice glacier in our ice bin. This happened three years ago and we had to replace it (while it was under warranty). So here comes the question...do we replace it again at the cost of $150 (the fridge is only 6 years old) or buy a black and stainless steel one to match our other appliances (at least $600). My real question is whether you think a potential buyer would be turned off by the mismatched appliances. Since we're only going to be here for another 14 months, I can live with the current fridge quite happily as long as the drip is fixed. I just want to make wise financial decisions and not continue investing more and more money in the house, knowing the market will not support selling at a price that will give us a worthwhile return. Thanks for your opinion.

Life as Usual

So we're back to life as usual. It's been an eventful three weeks. We went on vacation (built snowman, didn't die on skiis), had visitors (Amanda & Daniel), Will went to Chicago (for work), I went to Trinity (visited family). So now we're trying to get back into the routine of normal life. My mind is currently rebelling against that concept. I don't want to be responsible. Not interested in making dinner, washing dishes, doing laundry. But I'm sure I'll get used to the idea soon enough. I actually went to the grocery store and cooked a real meal last night (poached salmon--which was my first time poaching) and it wasn't such a bad time. But enough of that. Thought you might want to see some pictures from our blogging hiatus, so here you go.

And since they clearly thought it was funny to play with my camera while I wasn't paying attention, I want to make sure everyone shares in my laughter...