On another note

So it's been a while since I really sat down and blogged...Good morning everyone!

Life here at the Crozier household has been a bit chaotic since arriving home from our trip. We don't have any days off together this week which is a huge bummer but we both have plenty of projects to work on and so we're trying to keep busy. I for one have to keep myself occupied for 12 whole hours alone today while Graham's at work-I'm hoping to take this opportunity to work more on scrapbooking some wedding pictures (I'd like to get the book done before summer) and maybe I'll even finish the last 2 chapters of my novel.

We have a couple pieces of exciting new this week, one being that we locked in to refinance our mortgage so now we'll have a 30 year fixed loan and actually be paying down principal which I'm very relieved about. We were able to get a great interest rate and so our monthly payments will be less than $100 more than they were with our interest only AND we'll be paying down the principal. We are so thankful that we can now afford a 30 year fixed loan! This obviously means that we're planning to stick around in our place for a while which had previously been a huge topic of conversation as we were wishing we could buy a house...

Our second bit of news is that GRAHAM COMPLETED HIS APPLICATION FOR GRAD SCHOOL! If you received our Christmas letter, you may already know that this was a possibility. Well it is a reality now--he drove the application over to UW and submitted it yesterday (it's due today at 5 PM). Phew! It was quite a stressful time for us, trying to figure out which tracks he should apply for. In the end, he applied for their Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, specifically selecting the clinical nurse specialist and family nurse practitioner tracks. There are definitely plus' and minus' to both options but I'm really proud of him and can't wait to hear back. One of the oncology docs he works with (who loves him and always wants to take him and I sailing) completed one of his recommendations so I think that will be an asset in setting him apart from other applicants.

Anyway, we'll see what happens. We're praying lots and trying to keep very open-minded about the future. If Graham does get into school, he'll be working and going to class full time and so refinancing and staying put in Kirkland seemed like our best option to keep everything affordable. Today someone is coming to complete an appraisal on our place (a part of the refinancing process) so I guess we'll be finding out whether our condo has decreased in value or held it's own in the ugly market right now (I'm hoping our nicely-tiled bathroom will bring up the value!) :o)

Hope all you readers are doing well....keep us in your prayers!