I don’t understand something. Why the hell do we go through years of college, spend thousands of dollars and countless nights studying, if they don’t plan to give us any insight into the real world? It makes no effing sense. Never once in college was I told, “Hey, if you’re a business owner of an LLC, you’ll have to pay quarterlies.” Thank the lawd I figured that out early because of my mother. Never once in college was I told, “Hey, credit is bullish*t. You need to pay all of your balances in full, on time, perfectly, and you’ll still be doing something wrong.” Never once in college was I told, “Buying a house is the most stressful thing ever. Understanding all the paperwork will be close to impossible. So good luck!” College taught me the USDA guildelines to diet (which is obviously all bullsh*t), it taught me how to calculate BMI (which is obviously all bullsh*t) and I had a teacher who taught me to never cry at work. I think that one is a good idea, but I work from home so I cry at my work all the time. So her tip was obviously all bullsh*t.
I also had a class that we talked about rotting food. Then we had to smell different kinds of rotting food. Yeah. That course was paid for. Ridiculous.
It’s so frustrating that none of the really important sh*t that we need to understand is ever taught to us. Right now, I’m in the process of closing on my first home. OMGI’MSOFREAKINGEXCITED!!! But being a small business owner, there are about a million hoops to jump through first. I’m continuously getting calls from different people asking for different paperwork with different words I’ve never even used before. I just wish I would have had classes on how to create a website, or be a business owner, or all about credit, or about a mortgage, or how to manage money, or all the damn insurance I need. All these things would have been helpful the day I graduated. Thankfully, most of this I have figured out on my own…because I hire people to help me figure it out. But fuuuuu, I’m still annoyed about my whole college experience.
Except for the partying. That all was awesome.
But let’s get back to the news. We are buying our first house!! I’ve been looking for houses since summer, pretty much all around Denver, but I always had one neighborhood in mind that I REALLY hoped we could find a house in. After months and months and months of looking, I found a house on Redfin that barely had any pictures of it because it was in the process of fixing-and-flipping. But since the house was in the neighborhood we loved so much, I went over there right away. It was hard to visualize the final product because it was being painted and no appliances or anything had been put it yet. But I loved it. So I forced Brian to come see the house with me. He had a harder time visualizing the place. BUT the house was under our budget, it fit all the requirements we had, AND if our offer was accepted early enough, we would be able to pick all of our finishes for the kitchen. Pretty much the house became our blank slate. Never once did I think I would be able to create my own kitchen with my own vision and it was finally possible. So we put down an offer still questioning if it was the right house and it was accepted the next day!! I about died. It all happened so fast. Before we knew it, we were signing paperwork after paperwork, picking out granite, choosing our cabinets, thinking about backsplash. It’s all pretty amazing.
And pretty effing stressful.
After going through this process, I firmly believe they should institute a college course entitled, “How to not have a complete panic attack on the floor of your bathroom while in the process of purchasing your first home”.
30 Minute Shrimp Asian Stir Fry
- Yield: 3-4 1x
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, ghee or coconut oil (divided)
- 1 pound shrimp, deveined and peeled
- 1 cup coconut aminos
- 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup sliced button mushrooms
- 12–15 asparagus spears (ends removed), cut into 1 inch pieces
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Place a large pan over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter to melt. Once pan is hot, add shrimp to the pan (making sure not to overcrowd) along with a pinch of salt, and cook on both sides for just a couple minutes, until the shrimp turn pink and begin to curl up. Remove from pan and set aside.
- In the same pan over medium heat, add coconut aminos, fish sauce and red pepper flakes. Bring to a low boil then reduce heat to thicken the sauce. This will take about 10+ minutes. By the end, the sauce should coat the back of a spoon.
- While the sauce is simmering, place another medium-large pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms to pan, making sure not to overcrowd them. Cook on both sides for about 5 minutes, until a nice brown appears.
- Lastly, add the asparagus spears to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Once sauce has thickened, pour it on top of the veggies and toss with shrimp and sesame seeds.
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I think I’ve had a panic attack every time I’ve gone to closing on a house (I’m on #3)
If you find a class, let me know!
Julie Bauer, I love you. Not in a creepy, romantic, “look at the” time, gotta’ run” kinda’ way, I promise. More like a OMG! Did I write that?” kind of way. Or the “pretty much every recipe I need comes from PaleOmg”way. LOL I love your site, your sense of humor and you are my Paleo inspiration. Thank you.
I have an answer to the question in your post, “Why the hell do we go through years of college, spend thousands of dollars and countless nights studying, if they don’t plan to give us any insight into the real world?”. Because what you are taught is not the point. Education is really not about what it is you are studying. It is about training your brain to function, like training our muscles in our bodies, kinda’. As you learn new things it makes our brain process and react differently. Unfortunately, sometimes that ideal is lost and gets replaced with lots and lots of non-useful data puke. They cram a bunch of irrelevant and often inaccurate crap down our throats, we hold it in just long enough to throw it up on a test and then, since it has no practical application in most peoples lives it gets lost. Math based studies and ones that inspire thought and creativity, not regurgitation excluded. I hope I explained that properly.
Woo hoo! on the house. That is so cool. My biz actually addresses EXACTLY what you mention as being one of the biggest challenges you had as many others do, as well. I am a Home Stager (redesign and organization, too). My job is to help the buyer be able to see themselves in the home. Only 10% of people can visualize themselves in a vacant home. So, I leave nothing to the imagination. I create a home, not just a house. I help develop the image of a lifestyle the buyers aspire to after i have identified and studied the target persona so it speaks directly to them.
Do you mind if I quote you and this article as an example of this particular scenario? I would really appreciate it.
Please, keep up the amazing work you do for us in the kitchen and the closet. not to mention the gym. You are a total rock star in my book!!!
Oh yeah! Jackson being such a significant part of your life only serves to endear you to me that much more. I miss my Cassanova
Juli, I think you are on to something. Sometime in the future I predict life lessons…starting with how to buy a house on your blog. That is what I love most about visiting here. Watching your life evolve, love the recipes, and totally love how no matter what is going on you make the story super funny.
Congrats on the house!
And a quick question about the recipe: Are the amounts of coconut aminos and fish sauce turned around? I’ve never actually tried coconut aminos before, but I thought it was similar to soy sauce, and that seems like a lot. Thanks!
I want to try this recipe right away. It looks yummy!
nope. you DEFINITELY do not want a cup a fish sauce. that amount is correct. it will reduce down by about 1/3
College is the biggest joke in the entire world. Yes, I am a college student.
The only reason I learned about taxes/personal finance/managing my own money etc in college is because 1) I was a finance major and we were required to take a Personal Finance class (which I believe every undergrad in every college should be required to take!) and 2) I was an accounting minor so that’s where the tax info came from (also a required class as part of the minor). My parents have also been very open and honest about money and finances since I was young, so I also learned a lot from them and it’s absolutely not a taboo subject within our family…though it is in America and basically the world, which I just flat out don’t understand.
Congrats on the first purchase! I feel like I want to rent for life because house purchasing/maintenance/taxes etc is clearly insanely stressful. (Also, I live in NYC. Rent itself is expensive, let alone owning something!) My parents recently moved from Seattle to Boulder and are trying to purchase a house in Boulder. There is literally NOTHING available and they are basically having weekly arguments (in front of agents!) regarding compromises… and this would be the 4th house they’ve purchased together over the course of their marriage! So, yeah. Apparently this is something that NEVER gets easier. GOOD LUCK!
omg i can’t imagine what it’s like to buy in NYC! i mean, how do people have that much money? it’s crazy!
any feedback on the recipe…..has anyone tried it? Your thoughts.
How very fortunate you are to be able to purchase a home. So many young people just simply can not afford a home of their own and then there are the multitude of displaced people due to war.
So…
the next time the notion that actually being able to purchase a home is anything like stressful crosses your mind you could try replaceing it with gratitude remembering that the world is filled with millions of homeless human beings.
you’re so right! i’ve said that to my fiancé before that I need to remember how lucky we are to be able to make such a big purchase. thanks for the reminder to stay grateful 🙂
Ugh the process of buying a house is the worst. But it’s awesome once you have it! Just don’t get frustrated and settle for some thing you don’t want because you’re sick of the process. You can do it! We made this recipe for dinner last night. Sooo delicious. I already want to make it again.
Wow. I have never commented online before, but this recipe warrants many accolades. I added sliced water chestnuts (entire can) and about a half of a red pepper to give the dish some crunch and color. KAZAM! My boyfriend and I absolutely loved it. I guessed on the red pepper flakes- just kept shaking more into the sauce – maybe doubled it? And the sauce had just the right amount of “kick”. Served it over pureed cauliflower. This recipe is one I will do over and over and over again. Thank you!!!