3606 42nd St.

I promised you I would write a more meaningful blog post rather than write about my love life and things I am constantly working on to improve. To be completely honest, I have had trouble writing this post. I don't think it hit me util the closing papers came in the mail. After owning my home for four years, I officially closed on my first home and my first investment last month, but 3606 42nd never felt like an investment.

After living at the Grove Apartments for one year, I decided to put my monthly pay check towards something I could own rather than toss my money away. This was my mother's idea, because she and Dave Ramsey are pretty tight. Financial geniuses, I tell you. At the time I had two best friends - Elizabeth Mack and Roshni Bohre - and for some crazy reason they thought it would be cool to live with me and in all honesty I would have not bought the house unless they agreed to live with me.

After looking at 41 homes, I bought the 42nd home on June 1, 2011 as a junior at Texas Tech. I used to smoke hookah (it is totally legal folks) and because of the friends I met at the hookah lounge they helped me put my home together. My father drove up with left over paint from his house, and in the heat of the summer my entire group of friends I had made maybe two months prior came to help me paint every single wall in my home. We had two hookahs and a thirty pack of Coors Light in the middle of the living room. We painted every wall in the three bedroom/two bath home in four days. They never asked me for a dime. That is how awesome my friends are.

My two best friends would be my roomates heading into our junior year. We knew the worries, "You don't ever want to live with your best friends," but I would not change it for the world. I learned from my friends. Did we have extremely tough times, yes, but we had hella-good times as well. We had a rule that you had to dance every time you entered a room in the home. This led to random dance parties, which are always necessary! Another bonus to having friends live with you, you get to decide between three people who will take on the black widow in the shower, unless you have a designated wildlife fanatic who just takes the lead. Yay, Lizzy! We threw the best parties and worked our butts off the next morning to clean our home. I'm pretty sure our "Open House" had at least 100 people in attendance and 50 in the garage, but was it a memorable party for months....yes! That is hard to accomplish at Texas Tech. The standard is pretty high.

We shared memories, heartache, scary times and wonderful memories. 3606 42nd was not a college house, we didn't treat it like one and we found solace in it. I literally can't tell you all the memories we shared those first two years, because they are too personal and there are too many to count. We were the three best friends anyone can have and we grew leaps and bounds together.

I learned to be a landlord, and let me tell you being a landlord with your friends is much tougher than being a roommate. I hated it, but I wanted to take care of our home. Nevertheless, it brought out the worst in people including myself, but I think we all grew from those experiences. My friends/roomates taught me how to be a better landlord and an even better friend.

The timeline of who lived in 3606 42nd St. is as followed:

2011- 2012 Roshni Bohre, Lizzy Mack and myself
2012- 2013 Lizzy Mack, Evan and myself (part-time)
2013 - Jordan Travis, Marlon Kraus and myself
2014 - Marlon Kraus, Jenna Bosscher and a craiglist dude (not a good situation)
2015 - Brandon Ma


A side tid bit: get your property taxes and insurance escrowed. That was a fun bill in January. I would say I had no business being a landlord at 21, but I learned about real world experiences you do not learn in class like property taxes, writing leases, home insurance, being a manager of an investment and a manger of tenants, while learning to be the 'handy-man.' I am blessed to have experienced that early on in my adulthood. For example, what it cost to replace a water heater or you just take cold showers until you get paid.

I learned how to handle having a tick issue, a mice problem, a weed control situation and other things you learn about after you sign the closing documents. Turns out I needed to redo my plumping in the laundry room and fix the duck work in the ceiling. Of course the inspection did not say in little letters, "Hey, just a heads up, in a couple months your water heater will go out, while your dog needs shots and your dryer will be ruined." However, I would not even know about these things if it wasn't for owning my first home. I really can not quantify the valuable knowledge I walked away with.

I hope that 3606 42nd meant as much to people living there as it meant to me. That home hosted countless Insanity workouts, parties, gamedays, dances, tough conversations, fights, hugs, tears and created amazing friendships. Some friends grew and some weakened, and all for the better in my opinion. Our home also hosted numerous pets including a wiener dog, a chocolate lab, a cat, a snake, and a turtle.

This is my way of saying thank you to the nine people who lived in our home. Thank you for being patient with me and caring about 3606 42nd as much as I did. Thank you for the fabulous times and the ridiculous fights. Thank you for turning down the AC to save money, thank you for hosting garage sales with me, thank you for waiting for me to mow the yard while the backyard was a jungle. I can not thank you enough and I hope our home holds a special place in your hearts as much as it does mine.

Music for your June

I am working on writing about something other than my love life or the things in my life I need to "fix." I've read through some of my blog posts and while they meant something and are the honest truth, goodness I sound pathetic as of late. So, in the meantime enjoy some new jams and I will deliver a more meaningful blog post at the end of this month. Tis enjoy!

Oh yes, I had to. Kendrick Lamar makes this so good like he always does. 

Obsessed with the X Ambassadors, and if you don't know them, get to know them. 

NEEDTOBREATHE was introduce to me by the one and only Baron Batch. Check it out.

Florence and The Machine....need I say more? Nope. 

Love me some Lady A and those harmonies. 

Can't beat this beat. 

I saw this Stevie Ray Vaughan protege in concert last month and MY GOODNESS, he was ridiculous! 

Lauren Slaton

The Dreaded Plus One

Why do we worry about having someone on our arm to act like an accessory? Maybe the 'we' is just me? Why do I worry about not fitting in when I don't have someone to introduce? Being the independent woman I am, I do not understand why this bothers me so much.

Since moving to Fort Worth, I have received numerous invites including a plus one. It is stupid of me to admit that this turns into a conundrum. For the first time in my life, I have a good group of girlfriends. However, I keep inviting girlfriends to join me when I am single and ready to mingle. You feel me? I have met a few men here in the DFW area, but no one to invite to a work party or award ceremony, unfortunately.

The 'Plus One' conundrum bothers me, that it bothers me so much. Does that make sense? I am an extremely independent woman, nevertheless, would I like a man on my arm to support me? Most definitely. To be the person who people ask who is your plus one, are you bringing anyone or my placemat is next to the young-ins, because I don't have a plus one. That is the best.

Weddings, events, work parties etc. the list goes on and on. The dilemma of 'who do I ask' is just annoying. I wish it was already for certain. Have you ever seen the "Wedding Date" with Debra Messing? I hate to admit it, but I have considered doing that. I am just tired of all the questions.

I guess it is an insecurity for me to worry about this. I am secure with being single or maybe I am not as secure as I thought. I haven't found that great relationship that makes me go on a roller coaster of emotions since 2010....let that sink in. I am definitely not asking for sympathy. I have had several opportunities, but I am still looking for my 'Plus One' if you will. The man I can stand next to at a work party and be proud to be standing next to him.

At least at this next work party, I will be working it instead of worrying about this. Mind you, by working it I mean I am the event planner. Get your mind out of the gutter. ;)

Finding my Swag

I haven’t written in a while. I know you all are disappointed without some Bogle Breakdown in your life, and honestly I have been at a loss of words. When I can’t find the words that says a lot. The last time I wrote the post was about my move here to Fort Worth and my new awesome job, which is still awesome in case you were wondering, but this post is not about that.
 
One of my best friends called me the other night after about three months of us both being incognito and asked, “What happened to us?” She continued with: When did our lives become this? What happened to us being cool? We used to be unstoppable. We used to talk. We haven't been good friends. I'm an unhappy person. Why aren’t we the people we were in college? 

I swear we have ESP, extrasensory perception, because she called me on a tough day asking questions I was already asking myself. Our story may be different than many. I was asked the other day: When did I peak? I answered: “When I was taking 18 hours of college credit, producing/reporting a daily sports show, and then ended up making Dean’s List at the end of that semester.”
 

I peaked in college. I found my stride in college. I did not know what I wanted to be or study before I started my freshmen semester. I started an internship at Ramar Communications working as an Ag Talk radio producer and worked my way up. My friend started her career through an internship as well on The Hill, by that I mean D.C.! We both hit the ground running in college. We were getting in shape, we were healthy, we were fearless and we knocked down doors for our careers in Lubbock. You may not think that means much, but becoming successful in Lubbock as a female is harder than you think.

Randomly, my father was asked one day one word to describe me, and he said formidable. Formidable is defined as inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable. Obviously, that can be a good and a bad characteristic to have. In college, I felt invincible. I was running and gunning, and every time I came home I had good news to report. I had found my identity. I haven’t felt that way in a long time, in a very long time. However, I know I have grown as a person. Career positions have made me more humble. Nevertheless, I need to stay hungry.

Humility works wonders. Honesty is something that needs to be valued and appreciated more in today’s society, but ambition, in my opinion, is the end all be all. Walking a fine line between ambition and entitlement, our generation can blur those lines. Five years ago I had a five-year plan and it did not work out at all like I imagined it. Haha. But I had a plan, and I don’t have a plan right now. I don’t know where I will be in five years or what I will be doing. I do know that I love where I am and I am thankful and blessed I made the move from Lubbock to Fort Worth. My life has changed for the better.

"I don't scratch my head unless it itches and I don't dance unless I hear some music. I will not be intimidated. That's just the way it is." - Coach Boone 

Formidable does not feel like a part of my daily life any more and I want that adjective back. This might sound like a selfish and egotistical thing to say, but I enjoyed it when people knew my name. I felt like my hard work paid off when people respected me. My friend and I worked our bums off in college to get to where we are today. Do I know we are still super young? Yes, but that does not change our career goals.

Physically, mentally, and personally my friend and I are working on getting back to that. Most people do not wish to return to their college selves, but we miss our swag. We miss that confidence in our career and our future. We lost ourselves trying to “conquer the world,” if you may. We might have gotten caught up in it all and woke up one day asking ourselves where did we go? Today, I don’t know what my identity is or what I am proud of, and that is the God’s honest truth.

My plan of action –

Writing/blogging
Exercising in the morning
Running every day
Mediating before bed - I'm a worrywart
Surrounding myself with like minded people
Strengthening my faith
Trusting my decisions
Digging my heels in to give life 100 percent

That is all I can do, and hopefully I find that Lauren Bogle who thinks she peaked in college, but has many more mountains to climb.

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. - Timothy Leary

Jams you might enjoy - 

Because I love Kid Rock, sue me. 

Two-stepping to this song is so fun.