Life in Topeka

For the past couple weeks, we've found that Topeka is quite the city. It seems our state capitol city has a lot of things figured out when it comes to a lot of things. Some of the highlights of Topeka so far are well, our house. It is small, but very clean and in a decent neighborhood. Plus our landlord is great and she's very helpful. Helpful landlords are hard to come by for some, and it seems that we have been fortunate yet again. Also, we have found on our "cheap date" excursions some places that will definitely be visited again. Among them? The Topeka State Library.

Basically, it's a cafe, art gallery, museum, and study place all wrapped up in one nice package. Librarians there were very helpful and promptly helped us set up free library accounts. In addition, the selection there is amazing. Latest books were there and available online and in-person--except for the Jodi Picoult series...I think that the Picoult series is checked out everywhere nation-wide.

Wanamaker Road is another great feature of Topeka that will enjoy frequent visits from us. It seems nearly every store resides either on it's streets or very near it. This is quite evident from the traffic there, but the transit system seems to be fairly efficient as we never felt held up at any particular time. Some of the places we've visited are the Westridge Mall, Target, and a Gas Station, so we've a lot of exploring to do.

One place that I visited daily upon moving in was the Hastings at the intersection of Fairlawn and 21st. It was never busy in their Hardback Cafe, and their internet is absolutely free and fast. Another plus is that all of the chairs are comfortable, which seems to be rare among bookstores. I was also very impressed with one of their managers and his dedication to the customers, but that's another story for another time. Nonetheless, Hastings helped me study for my Praxis tests that I took this weekend (7/25) and keep up with other things that wouldn't have been possible had I not had any internet.

I'm sure that there are many other great features that Topeka offers that we'll learn of in the future, but for us, Topeka is home for now and we are glad that we're here. I start school in a week, and am looking forward to getting started. Gretch is still looking for a place to work, but will find something soon.

If you are from Topeka or were from here, and have tips on great places you liked to go on dates to or to visit, let us know! Our address is 3428 SW Mayo Ave, Topeka KS 66611. Have a great rest of the summer!

From buying to renting...

Well, because of credit score mistakes made by Equifax (that are in the process of being fixed) and lack of time, we went from buying to renting. It was a hard choice as we spent a lot of time and money looking at houses, but for now it's not meant to be. We have found a small, neat place to live in Topeka. It's on a corner lot, so we have a decent sized yard and a smaller backyard. We will be moving this Saturday, and will try to get everything moved that day. We will no longer have our landline, but we will have our cell phones. Thanks for taking a look at what's going on in our lives!

On the Road Again

Well, it's been since Fall XC season since I've made any effort to run consistently, and now is the time to do it. My goal? Lose 25 lbs in three months. I would like to run another marathon, maybe two, depending on where we are at, but more than that, I would like to keep running. But, I'm doing things a little different this time around by biking and dieting. I've never been one to be consistent at either, but given my tendency to get bored with running daily (yeah, me get bored running, go figure!) I'll switch it up.

Status on house search and helpful links for first home buyers like us.

We are still looking for a house, and have kind of slowed the search until we hear back from our lender. Due to some misfiling on my (DJ's) credit report, we're having to wait until the mistakes are removed. I sent a big letter with proof of mistakes to Equifax so we will see what happens. But, Gretch is still compiling a list of houses she likes and we are planning on going up again to do some house hunting. 

Some of the helpful links we've been using are www.newhomebuyingblog.com, http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/credit/reports.shtm, http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/credit/mortgage.shtm, and http://www.move.com/home-finance/default.aspx. The blog is a good index for the latest information realtors are getting and it's a good way to stay in tune with the housing market. The FTC has remarkably good advice for how to fix and repair your credit score and I've started to refer to this website more often to keep in touch with first home buyers rights. The move.com site takes a more simplified approach to common situations home buyers face and it too has been of some help. 

We don't know exactly what we'll do yet but we feel the push to get things figured out as soon as possible. We are about 70/30 when it comes to buying vs. renting, and we won't know our options for sure until we get the credit stuff taken care of.