*I say I think because we have been through the inspection and the sewer scope and all looks pretty good but now it is time to negotiate with the seller and we can still walk away if they decide to not fix anything- which we don’t think is going to be the case. Anyways, back to the story*

Phil and I decided that with interest rates as low as they are, and the cost of rent increasing, that it would be a better financial decision to buy a house instead of rent. Also, houses in Denver are much more reasonably priced than the houses in DC meaning that for about the same price that we are paying in rent right now, we could be tossing that cash towards and mortgage and building equity. Sorry for the financial rant- that’s the accountant in me coming out.

We originally started our search in a neighborhood called the Highlands- a trendy place that is close to where I will be attending school in the fall but far from Phil’s work. We love the neighborhood but the houses that were in our price range were not in the “trendy” areas and they were built in the 1800s and had no closets. We quickly decided to look into other neighborhoods.

We decided on the City Park/ Park Hill area because the houses were more in our price range and the neighborhoods are up and coming. Our realtor said Park Hill is the new “investor hot spot”- which meant for us that we could find an awesome home (most likely fixed and flipped since many of the homes in this areas went under when the market did) which was pretty big and still in our price range.

The Denver real estate market right now is CRAZY. If a house is nice and priced right, it only lasts on the market for a few days at most. Phil and I knew that if we saw a house we liked we were going to have to jump on it ASAP. In fact, two homes that we LOOOOVED the looks of online we did not even get to see because they went under contract just HOURS before we supposed to see them.

Let me tell ya something about looking at houses online and them seeing them in person- it is like online dating. They have professionals come in and take these awesome photos and then you get there and its not nearly as pretty. This was not the case with our potential new home. In fact, Phil and I almost crossed it off the list because the pictures were just from a little point and shoot.

When we saw the house last Saturday we were the first ones to walk through before an open house. Phil could tell I loved it because I was walking around with a huge grin on my face. I could tell he liked it too because after walking through it once, he walked through it 20 more times banging on all of the windows and brick and wood and checking out all of the pipes and other manly things. I was taken by the brand new kitchen, the vaulted ceilings and the massive back yard.

The house is a rancher style with a basement. The main floor has 3 bedrooms, a full bath, a new kitchen, and a formal living and dining room. The basement has a large living room, a full bath, another bedroom, a pantry/storage room, and a laundry room. The backyard is huge with fresh sod being put in this week and a detached 3 car garage (that better be big enough for all of our bikes…and no, Phil, you may not get more bikes for at least a year).

We knew that if we had any shot of getting this house we needed to put in an offer on the spot. So we had our realtor do all the dirty work while we continued to walk through the house. As we were leaving several more couples were walking in. I was nervous that we were going to lose the house because we did not offer the full asking price. We went home and discussed like adults – aka Phil was crunching numbers and I was planning where all of our furniture was going to go.

At around 5pm that same day our realtor called. I felt like I was on an HGTV show as I answered my phone nervously and put it on speaker so that Phil could hear. “Are you still excited about the house?” he said. “I dont know- should I be?” I replied. He told us that our offer was accepted and he was sending over contracts. SQUEEE!

We had the home inspection done which returned a few things that need to be fixed. The sewer scope also showed a few issues but nothing as bad “run away, your whole house will flood when you flush the toilet”. So now it is time to negotiate with the seller and see what he can do for us to make this sale happen. Cross your fingers for us that he isn’t a total jerk about fixing some leaky pipes! This is the part I am most nervous about!

I’ll post pictures as soon as we know if we are moving in or not! Also, if you are in the Denver area and we do wind up living in this home, be prepared for epic beer pong tournaments in the back yard.

There has been one huge difference I noticed when I moved from DC to Denver. Not the scenery, not the altitude, but my attitude. I was calm. Content with myself and where I was in my life both personally and athletically. Not competing with those around me.

Back in DC, I felt like almost everything was a competition whether you wanted it to be or not. I was on a team of very supportive triathletes but there was certainly some underlying competitiveness to keep up. Who has a nicer bike, a more expensive wheel set, who is training harder or running more miles. And the truth is- I’m not a competitive person with anyone but myself yet I got caught up in the competitive attitude, which to me, makes things a lot less fun. Not knocking anyone in DC, it is just the general attitude of the city (athletically, financially, in the work force).

When I got to Colorado, all of a sudden that dissapeared. I run with a group on Wednesday evenings and I am the SLOWEST one (Colorado runners are damn fast!). Instead of feeling frustrated and upset, I finished last with a smile on my face and no one judged me. Not even me. For once I feel at peace with my training, or lack thereof, and I am not comparing myself to anyone but me.

I not only feel this way about training, but my current life situation as well. I am a soon-to-be grad student making very little (and soon to be zero) income. Phil and I have had to team up our finances and work as a team to make things work. He is supporting both of us and with one income for the next three years, we have a budget to stick to in order to plan wisely for our future (ie: wedding, children, buying a house, having a savings account). Because of this, I decided to not do many triathlons this season- and I feel no pressure at all to sign up for several. A few is just fine.

There, I said it. I’ve been thinking it forever but I finally admitted it. I love how I feel after I run, I love the feeling of accomplishment after a long run and I love seeing my pace getting faster. I don’t love how my ankles ache after 7 miles, how I have to sit in a bath full of ice for 20 minutes to be able to use my legs for the rest of the day, and how I had to explain nicely to the woman who did my pedicure last weekend why I only have 7 out of 10 toenails.

Maybe I should be a little more clear. I dont like running long distances. My happy distance is between 6 and 8 miles. After that, unless I have a good friend beside me to chat, I begin cursing all things running.

I discovered this on my 18 mile run last weekend. I did it solo. I hated every minute past mile 8. It was then that I decided to switch to the Colorado 1/2 marathon instead of running the full on May 6th. I had been toying with this idea for a few weeks, but I felt like I was giving up if I switched to the half. Especially because I have been killing my long runs…I was on track for a sub 4 hour marathon- but my heart wasn’t in it.

As soon as I switched to the half, I was excited to race again. I’m excited to get out there, in my pink and black Tri Bella race kit, and run my heart out for a shiny new PR. I’m excited to have two of my best friends running the race with me, one of whom is going to pace me (and himself!) to an awesome finishing time by telling me dirty jokes for 13.1 miles.

When I was asked why I switched, I simply said “Because I don’t feel like running that far.”

I do all of this for fun, to stay in shape, and to push my limits. I already completed one of the biggest challenges a triathlete can take on (if any of you say a double or tripple Ironman, I’ll scream) and now I want to push my limits on speed while keeping it fun. 13.1 = fun. 26.2 = not fun.

Phew, I feel better now that I got that off my chest.

Hi! Remember me? I’m the girl that stopped blogging suddenly for no good reason.

Well, it was kind of a good reason. I felt like I had nothing to say as far as triathlon goes since I have not been doing anything (nada, zip, zilch) triathlon related and this is a triathlon blog! I’ve been staying in shape with some running, yoga, strength workouts and whatever I felt like doing to sweat. To be honest, I need a break from the swim.bike.run.

But then I realized that this is MY blog and I can talk about whatever I want- triathlon related or not! So Laurens Tri Blog is now Laurens *whatever I feel like talking about* blog. Hope you guys don’t mind seeing some awesome recipes I’ve created, hikes I am going on, and life stories about Denver