Look What We Bought!!!

You won't believe how lucky we got with the house we found! I mean, the market is really bad right now and these people were desperate so we got a killer deal. Look at the pics...

Here's the formal dining area

The family room

The master bathroom that was too big to get in one picture. Here are three...

The kitchen

The formal living area

We also adopted a couple of dogs, Dylan (left) and Taylor (right), and they love to listen to Emily play the piano. So do I!

Actually, I lied. The pictures above are NOT from the house we bought...we were housesitting for three weeks for some people. We did, however, buy a house and the following pics are from the cutest home on Marie Park Street...

Here's what the house looks like when you first roll up

The living area

The dining area

Bob's room...
The master BR

Are you ready for the back yard? Keep in mind that this is New Mexico and green is rare.

We close on the house on July 23rd. Let us know when you want to come for a visit!

FYI:Albuquerque Is the Place to Live

I was doing some surfing (online) the other day and I came across an article on Yahoo entitled, "Charlotte Named Best Place to Live."
The article was from a website called RelocateAmerica.com which publishes a list each year of the Top 100 U.S. cities to call home. Towards the bottom of the article it gave the Top 10 on the list and I was pleased, but not surprised to see Albuquerque coming in at #8. Click here to see the full list.
Maybe we're not weird after all for continuing to make Burque (a nickname for the city) our home.
I mean, it's tough to beat Albuquerque sunsets and the views of the Sandia Mountains...

P.S. We might have a guest bedroom soon so you can come and visit.

Relient K Song for June

The weather in Albuquerque has been pretty crazy lately so this month's song is dedicated to the weather. The video comes in the form of Cinderella (sorry for the cheesiness, but Emily is my Cinderella) and the video is a fitting reminder of where our blog name comes from.




We were talking together
I said, "what's up with this weather?"
Don't know whether or not
How sad I just got
Was on my own volition.
Or if I'm just missing the sun

And tomorrow, I know,
Will be rainy at best.
And the forecast, I know,
Is that I'll be depressed.

But I'll wait outside
Hoping that I'll catch sight of the sun.

[Chorus:]
Because on and off,
The clouds have fought
Their control over the sky

And lately the weather
Has been so Bi-polar
And Consequently so have I

And now I'm sunny with a High
of 75
Since You took my heavy heart
And made it light

And its funny how you find
You enjoy your life
When you're happy to be alive

[Chorus]

And the temperature is freezing
And then, after dark,
There is a cold frost sweeping
In over my heart

And we might break up
If I don't wake up to the sun

[Chorus]

Sunny with a High of 75
Since You took my heavy heart
And made it light (made it light)

And its funny how you find
You enjoy your life
When you're happy to be...
Alive

Big Changes, Part Three:The House Hunt

Well, along with graduation and stable employment comes another exciting part of the Bobily adventure: The House Hunt. We've made the decision that we will be staying in Albuquerque long enough for a home purchase to be worthwhile. We got approved last week for a loan and we met with our Realtor on Thursday. Tomorrow we are going out to look at 8 homes that we think might suit our needs. Our plan was to move very slowly with the house hunt, but we already feel like it is moving quickly. There's a possibility that we could fall in love with a house tomorrow and make an offer. I think this is still unlikely especially since we do not usually make big decisions that quickly, but who knows what we'll end up with...

Big Changes, Part Two: Bugs and Banks

Along with graduation often comes new employment. The timing for me, however, was truly amazing. Just 3 weeks before graduation I was offered a job with First Federal Bank in Albuquerque as a Commercial Credit Analyst.
I guess I better explain what this position is just in case some of you don't have a Finance Degree. When a company approaches our bank with a loan request we take a look at a bunch of their financial information (Balance Sheets, Income Statements, Tax Returns, etc.). Even for small companies this can be a plethora of information. The first thing we (I) do is take these dozens of pages of information and input it into special software so that we can analyze the company's financial standing by looking at just a few pages of information. Once I get trained I will be doing quite a bit of analyzing, but for now I'm doing mostly data-entry. Once we analyze the information we have we are able to make a good recommendation as to whether the company is likely to pay back its loan.
This job might sound boring for many people out there, but for a number nerd like myself it is perfect (for now) and the salary is right around the average for graduates with Finance Degrees.

At about the time I made my exit from the Pest Control Industry and into the Banking Industry, Emily was making exactly the opposite move, leaving Banking for Pest Control. I know, it's weird. For about a year and a half Emily worked as a secretary for Preventive Pest Control. Well, things at the Credit Union became less than desirable for Emily so she went back to Preventive where there's less stress and less drama. It's not teaching, but it's better than Banking and she's making more money...

Big Changes, Part One: Graduation

Just about 2 weeks ago I followed Emily's example by graduating from the University of New Mexico. I'm not sure if the feeling has sunk in quite yet or if it just feels like I'm on Summer break for a few months. Maybe when I actually get my diploma in the mail I'll feel a bit more like a grad.

I had some of my family come into town for the occasion. Grandma and Grandpa Brough (my Mom's parents) came in from St. George, Utah. It was wonderful that they made the trip to see us. We can't get enough of G&G Brough.






Mutti, Dad, and my brother Nick also flew in for the occasion. They have been living in Nowhere, Alaska for the last 11 months and we don't like it one bit! It was great to see and visit with them.












Although Emily graduated back in December she donned her robes again for this photo shoot.