The "S" Squad Chronicles

Singleton's Buy Their First Casa!

WE DID IT!!!!  Todd and I bought our first house today!  As you read from our last post, we flew out to Houston, rented a car and headed to New Orleans, LA.  We hit up Slidell, LA first.  I had it in my head that Slidell was the place that we were going to live.  We searched for houses online before heading out to NOLA, and got to check them out on Friday.  Well, the pictures were better than the real thing.  There were some weak houses.  We did narrow it down to one, but the kitchen was horrible!!!  We decided we would have to gut it and redo it totally. So we decided to check out Mandeville, LA also on Sunday.  Once we got out there and checked out the area, I was really feeling it.  Mandeville had all the new stores and the over all feeling just felt nicer (if that makes any sense).  Todd and I both decided, we like Mandeville better than Slidell.  The overall vibe was just better.  We met with a different Realtor we've been in touch with and looked at about 8 or 9 houses.  We narrowed it down to 3.  One, needing lots of work, but it was in an awesome area called Greenleaves.  This subdivision has a trail and ponds and it's super close to all the new shopping plazas (more on that later).  The second, was in a nice subdivision as well, just a little further from the shopping, but it backs up to a busy road in the backyard that Todd hates.  He also didn't like the color of the brick and the small kitchen. The last was the furthest out, but it was new construction.  This one was the nicest but it also cost the most.  The subdivision seemed "sterile" compared to the other two subdivisions where there were tons of kids and families outside.  The new construction subdivision had no one outside.  We decided on the Greenleaves house but a few things were brought up during the property disclosures.  Things like "settling water in the backyard" and the idea of the seller not wanting to negotiate.  We decided to relook at the second house.  After a second look and some discussion on what we could do to hide the busy road, we decided to go for it.  It needed little work (the kitchen has granite counters, new tile floors, and kitchen cabinets.) so we wouldn't need to put tons of money in it and it was 15k less than the new construction house.  Plus it was closer to the shopping.  We put an offer in on Monday.  The sellers countered on Tuesday.  We came back yet again and they accepted! We finished up the paperwork today via fax and are heading back to Hawaii tomorrow.  Ahhh.... what a busy week!  We plan on painting and changing the ugly green tiles in the front of the entry way.  We also have some other plans for little things like changing the ceiling fans, door knobs, adding some glass tiles to the backsplash of the kitchen, etc.  But all in all, I think I'm alright.  NONE of the houses were as great as I wanted and I was quite disappointed at what I had to choose from, but I guess I had to make the best of it.  We did buy the house from a Navy officer who is rotating out as well, so I'm sure he kept up on the house pretty well.  I can't wait to start working on it!  Check out more pics here. 

Bro Trip 2010

Jerry, my brother, finally brought his butt out to visit me!  We started off slow.  He flew in on Friday and we had to take Little Todd to lacrosse practice and attend a mandatory parents meeting.  We dropped Todd off and headed out to Waikiki to eat.  Jerry wanted to eat at some place called Coco Curry House….yeah…whatever.  I never heard of it.  He swears up and down that it exists.  So we look it up on his IPhone.  It gives us some directions within walking distance.  We walk down to the location with no success.  Hmmmm….we call the number the IPhone provided.  Nope.  Some guy answers.  By now we are starving and there is no stupid Coco Curry House around!!!!  Some guy is standing outside of Big Kahunas is yelling “break away from the chains!”  So we decided to try it.  Yeah, it was just like a chain just with different names.  It was LAME!  Booooo!  So we head back, attend the meeting and head home.  The next day we planned on hitting up the Swap Meet.

Saturday:  I awake with the sirens of a tsunami blaring.  Todd asks me “What’s that noise?” I say “It’s a hurricane warning.”  I forgot Hawaii doesn’t have hurricanes!  Well, come to find out, Hawaii is supposed to be hit with a tsunami because of the earthquake in Chile.  UHGGGG.  Now our whole day is shot.  The whole island shuts down.  No cars allowed on the road.  We sit in front of the tv all day and watch stupid water “surges” on Hilo.  WEAK.  It was so pathetic!  Not that I am complaining but what a waste of a day!!!  After they realize that the tsunami is actually the “Boo”name, Jerry and I head out to Hickam AFB to check out the old stomping grounds.  Other than that, that was our boring day.

Sunday:  We finally hit up the Swap Meet and it’s raining!  Boooooo again!  It was off and on so we pushed through it anyways.  We got all our touristy gifts and headed out to Bellows AFB.  I was thinking the weather was going to be horrible because usually if it’s crappy on my side of the island it’s way crappier on the Bellows side.  We got there and it wasn’t too bad but it was so windy and kinda chilly for Hawaii.  We took some pics and headed out.  We toured that side of the island and stopped at the touristy spots, ending up back at Waikiki where we checked out a supposed local favorite, The Rainbow Drive In.  It was just as weak as the “Boo”nami.  Typical plate lunches.  Boring.  Then we moved on to Leonard’s Malasadas.  Heaven!!!  For those of you, who don’t know the greatness of malasadas, let me explain:  Yummy, fresh fried dough that’s sugar coated.  Sometimes I get it with custard.  Oh my goodness they are so awesome!  After we pigged out we headed back to the homestead.

Monday:  Today we decided to check out the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean.  The ship is here in Hawaii because they are starting to film the 4^th installment of the Pirates series in May.  The ship is actually in dry dock, but it still looks awesome!  Then we went to the North Shore (again it’s cold and rainy and windy, off and on).  We hit up Turtle Beach and this time there was turtles!  Remember the last time we went here with Jessica and my Mom and there was nothing.  Just some in water, but none on the beach.  That was pretty cool too. 

Tuesday: Todd had lacrosse practice again so we just hung out and ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise.  It was a pretty chill day.  Weather was still windy and sucky though.

Wednesday:  The last day.  This day all of us (Jerry, Todd and I) are heading out to Houston.  Jerry will continue on to Arizona and us off to NOLA (New Orleans)!  So we decide this is our last day to enjoy the  beach and darn it we will!  We headed out to Waikiki and lounged all day.  We got all super tan and ate snow cones from Happy’s.  Oh and we indulged once again in Leonard’s…mmmmmm.  So good.  That night we packed our stuff and was outta there!  To check out our pictures from the Bro Trip 2010, click here.  Sorry that you had to deal with the “Boo”nami and sucky weather, Jerry, but it was fun and I missed you!!!

Great Aloha Run 2010

This morning Dori and I participated in the Great Aloha Run.  It's an 8.15mile run from Aloha Towers to Aloha Stadium.  We did it in 1 hour 27 minutes.  We also did it NONSTOP!  Dori did great.  I knew she could run the whole thing.  Up to mile 4 it was nothing, then we hit 5 and 6...a little harder.  When 7 and 8 hit it sucked.  My ponytail hold broke at mile 6 so I had to run with crazy, sweaty hair.  Dori's notorious (it comes and goes) knee started hurting her then too.  But she didn't give up and we made it through!  Yeah! What an accomplishment!

On Our Way!

Last night Todd and I booked our tickets to go to New Orleans to check out the housing situation.  We are leaving on the same flight as my brother when he leaves here.  We'll all be flying into Houston and going our separate ways from there.  Todd and I will be renting a car and heading to Bourbon street where we'll have our hotel waiting for us!  I'm sure one of our first stops will be Pat O'Brien's for a Hurricane...and we ain't talking about Rita or Katrina!

We'll also be staying in Slidell, the area in which we hope to maybe buy a house.  I'll be sure to post pictures of the houses we looked at once we get there.

Then it'll be back to Houston where I am meeting up with long time friends, RaKeisha and Dave!  Can't wait to see them!  Todd wants to visit old eating grounds like La Estacion in Galveston and Mely's in League City.

Anyways, that's the latest and greatest on the house hunt...keep checking back for more!

The S Squad Returns

I know, I know!  I suck!  It's been a long while since I've been on here. I guess you can call it a hiatus.  I am happy to inform you that I am back now.  I've been to my anti blog "rehab" and I'm cleansed of all the distractions and ready to contribute to the blog once again!

Where to start?!?!  Well, as you know we are on our way to New Orleans in June.  We went through the process and was approved for a home loan!  So we are checking every corner of the internet for houses in Slidell, Mandeville, and Covington, Louisiana.  We found a couple that we really like so tomorrow Todd is going to talk to the Realtor.  I'll keep you posted on what goes down with that. 

Here are some of the requirements needed to house the S Squad:

~4 bedrooms (okay, it's not needed, but I REALLY want a 4 bedroom)
~2 car garage
~Must have a backyard of some sort
~Less than 10 years old
~Good school district
~Preferably brick exterior
~Preferably a big/nice kitchen

I want the 4 bedroom so Todd and I can have a room, Little Todd will have one, one will be my treadmill/workout room, and the last will be the guest room.  I know I'll have a few people visiting me (Mom and Dad, Terrance, Jerry).  Todd wants to have a "Man Room" in the garage or one of the rooms also.  

I'm thinking about what I want to do jobwise when I get out there.  Should I start my own thing again?  Or just go work for the man?  I might do both just in case my own thing doesn't pan out.  One of Todd's goals is to participate in some BBQ competition held every year in Kansas City.  I'm starting out small and working on having ALL my windows of the house, whether rented or owned, to have some sort of window treatment.  I'm tired of plain, no curtained windows!  Plus, I NEED plants.  Everywhere.  In and out of the house.  I hope to recreate a new Island Oasis with an awesome backyard kitchen set up...I know, BIG dreams!  I guess it's just wait and see what happens from here!

Todd and I are trying to figure out when we are going to fly out to NOLA (New Orleans) to check out the houses we are interested in.  Maybe March.  

On to a new subject....

My loser (and I mean that in a sentimental way) brother, Jerry will be gracing Oahu with his presence this month!  He's coming out to visit me Feb. 26th.  I'm sure we'll be reminiscing of the "old days" when we used to live here as kids.  I'll be doing some of the touristy stuff once again, but sadly it might be the last time!  I'll take lots of pictures and keep you all informed. 

I will be posting Todd and my "Hawaiian Bucket List" soon.  It's the list of all the things we are going to do before June 1st.  Times a wasting! 

As I close, once again, sorry for the long hiatus!  I will be posting regularly now though.  We have alot going on in the next few months!  Have a good one and see ya next post!