How to Pick the Perfect Orange

Last year I learned this tidbit of advice that has changed my life-- in that I haven't since bought a gross, dry, sour orange (you know the type I am talking about). I can't remember if I read it in a magazine, if Jon's grandma told me, if I heard it on the radio or if it was just inspiration from God, but I thought with orange season in bull bloom right now I'd pass how to pick the most juiciest perfect orange.

When picking an orange don't pay attention to the color, the size, or how hard or squishy it is. All you need to go by is how heavy the orange is for its size. If when you lift the orange you are surprised that it feels heavier than you thought it would, or heavier than those around it, you know that it is full of juice. Sometimes the heaviest oranges will be the ones that aren't the most orange or that look kind of funny, but they are usually the best tasting ones. Granted, you don't want to pick the ones that really looked squished or are lopsided, those probably wouldn't be good no matter how heavy they were.

Well, I hope this tidbit changes your orange picking season and that you are blessed with many heavy, juicy oranges! I guess the only downside to this method is that the oranges do cost more because they weigh more, but it is worth it to get good ones and not gross bitter ones.

First Time Homebuyer Programs

I've been meaning to write this post for awhile, but life happens and is more important. I know that with the current financial and credit situation it may not be really feasible to buy a house right now, but I wanted to share what I know--just in case it helps someone. I had to do A LOT of web surfing and calling around the last year or so to find out about first time home buyer grants, and it was REALLY frustrating. I thought that I would save other people some time and heartache by sharing what I discovered. This may or may not be interesting to you at this point in your life, but if it is I hope it helps.

First, since we bought a house in Utah, most of the programs are for Utah, but from what I could find out most States have similar programs. This is a good site to visit that tells you what types of housing assistance programs your state has. Also, check out the HUD website and then use the pull-down menu to go to your state. I believe that the Hart Program, the American Dream Downpayment Initiative (ADDI) and the Nehemiah Downpayment Program are nation-wide programs. But I don't know a whole lot about them because we didn't use them. State Rural Development Agencies usually have community development programs, if the area you are interested in falls into that category.

Now, if you live in Utah these links are for you:

1. Utah Housing Corporation. Utah has a REALLY great first time home buyer assistance program called FirstHome and FirstHome Plus. They offer a below-market, 30 year fixed rate mortgage loans to qualifying home buyers (the income limit is surprisingly high). They also let you take out a small separate loan for your closing costs and downpayment. So you can get into a house without anything down.
   
2. Community Development Corporation of Utah. Has a lot of good resources, but just to save you time--here is a list of all the down payment assistance programs in Utah. The amounts and availability change from year to year so keep checking in. Also, someone told me that they are based on a first come, first serve basis.
   
3. I thought this was a really handy link. It lists all the home buyer resources by county.
4. UNIDAN--If you have a household income that meets these guidelines then you should REALLY check out this savings account (click here to read more about it). It is basically FREE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I SO wish I had known about this three years ago!
5. Housing Services of Utah
6. American Dream Downpayment Initiative (ADDI). This is the link to the SLC program. This is a GREAT deal, but the only downside is you have to buy a house within their designated boundaries. But if you can find one, this sounds like a FANTASTIC program.
   
7. Neighborhood Nonprofit. They have the Welcome Home in Logan program and the Home Start. We used the Welcome Home program. They give you $7,500 grant (no interest) for your down payment and closing costs. The Home Start program is a Rural Development program in which several families work together to build each other's houses. It is a really neat program, if you have the time and want to live rurally.
   
8. BRAG Assistance. Also for Logan. They give you a $2,000 grant for your down payment and closing costs. Lots of other Utah counties have a similar programs.

I know I am probably missing some (if you know of any other programs let me know) but this is at least a good start. You will still probably have to do some web surfing to find the exact program that is right for you. But just know they are out there and that there are people who want to give you FREE MONEY!

Oh, and one more tidbit of advice, lots of communities and colleges have first time homebuyer classes that you can take. Lots of the programs even require that you take a class before you can apply. I would REALLY recommend taking a class, and would take it WAY BEFORE you start house shopping. We didn't take ours till after we had made an offer on a house, but I think it would have been better if we had taken it much sooner. To find a class you can call the Utah Housing Corporation.

Pardon My Mess

Sorry about the messy looking blog, I am playing around with it. Mostly I was trying to figure out how to make it three columns wide, and it took me forever! I have NO clue how to write html and all the explanations on the internet might have well been written in German for all the sense they made to me. BUT, I found this wonderful blog that explains how to make your blog three columns, and it is written for the html idiot (ie. Me) So if you have been yearning to have three columns but didn't know how, this link is for you. Oh, and let me know if my blog is hard to read-- sometimes I can't tell if the light on dark is better than dark on light. Or if you have anyother blog-beautifying tips I'd be happy to hear them.