On The Hunt

So the husband and I are hunting for houses. Tonight will be the third visit we've had with a realtor and to be perfectly honest, I think I know of a house that I'd be perfectly comfortable putting an offer on. The husband on the other hand has a differing opinion on the house that we purchase.

I have a background in finance. But somehow I'm typically the spendy one. However in this case the husband is the one that wants the baller house with 5 bedrooms and huge yard. There is a house that we've looked at that is extremely affordable for us (read: mortgage is actually less than our rent). The location is perfect and the house is very reasonably sized with a pretty awesome yard in my opinion.

The problem comes when we're going to look at houses tonight. The houses that we'll look at range in price big time. Now, I'm not going to talk actual dollar amounts, but the house that is my husband's DREAM was 80k more than the reasonably priced house that I can consider living in for some time.

Both of our parents still live in the house where we were brought home from the hospital to. There is something about having those long standing memories that I really hold near and dear to my heart. While the house I like/love isn't long term house material, it's certainly a great starter house for us. 3 bedrooms, 1 full bathroom and 2-3/4 baths. The yard is very "manicured"... I guess. But the square footage is 1240sf - which I guess doesn't include the finished basement which is another 894sf.

Pros of a cheaper/smaller house:
Lower utilities (easier to cool/heat)
Lower property taxes
Less places to clean!
Lower mortgage payments

Why I like this house:
Backyard is Ames Nursery (plants, not baby nursery)
Fun backyard (not huge, but definitely not small)
HOT TUB INCLUDED
Sun room
Large bedrooms
Fireplace in basement
Unique floor plan (not cookie cutter house)
Older house (again, it looks different)
Not on a busy street)
2 car garage (which is under one of the bedrooms - remind me to test the sound the garage makes while standing in that room

Cons of a cheaper/smaller house:
Not the place we'll stay forever
Not as much room for guests to come and stay

In particular the husband doesnt like:
Tall trees in the yard (which he claims will definitely fall on the house eventually)
Overall size (he wants a big house vs. having more "mad money" to go on vacations with so he's willing to spend more)

In particular I don't like:
Cosmetic things like wallpaper, and the God-awful carpet in the basement.
Split level house - I've heard multiple disadvantages about these houses... so if you have any opinions, please share!

Overall I'm excited :)

Gone Banananananananas

I hate bananas. There, I said it.

I haven't blogged in a long time and that was the first thing that I thought to say? Wow - my brain is abuzz with things going on.

So more seriously, my job is still going fantastically! I have another event coming up this Friday for the former Dean of the college.

This previous weekend my sister in law came to town to visit/party for VEISHEA. We saw ISU Theater perform RENT which was unbelievable! I was extremely impressed by the college students singing abilities, their costumes as well as set design.

OMG, seriously, I may as well not even publish this but I will just to prove that i'm still alive.

Friday Morning Zombie Syndrome

I am a zombie this morning.  I slept about 3 hours last night after watching THE HUNGER GAMES midnight showing!  I suppose I'll give a quick review:

IT.WAS.AWESOME!

My favorite parts (Possible Spoilers):

• The Hob - it was just like how I pictured it but perhaps more cluttered on screen. 
• The reaping - and Effie's attitude during the event were chilling.  The colors were dull and depressing, all the kids dressing up for the big day.  Little Prim scared to leave her sister and that long moment where you see Prim's expression change and everyone look at her with pity but also relief of their own.  Then Katniss stepping in to save her sister.  My heart was pounding, it was as if I were her in that moment asking myself "what have I done... what have I done?!"
• Prim being carried away by Gale screaming for Katniss.  Heartbreaking.
• At the capital when she's trying to get the Gamekeeper's attention and does so by showing off her archery skills.
• The time Katniss had with Cinna before the Hunger Games began.  The countdown was slower than in real time (ie when there were 10 seconds left and I was counting in my head it was much longer than 10 seconds).  I think this was to help convey how long time seems to go when you're dreading something, but then it happened so quickly.  She gets in the platform and it closes - gives Cinna a look of desperation and starts to rise.
• The actual Hunger Games - this of course is basically the entire 2nd half of the movie.  Katniss fights to survive and at times I found myself thinking if I were her I would have given up.  It must have taken great strength to keep going - keeping Prim in mind must have been very motivating. 
• The alliance of the District 1 and 2 tributes and Peeta.  For some reason hearing the girl laughing and relishing in the murder of a fellow tribute also says a lot about who Katniss is up against.  Cold blooded killers trained from an early age to win the Games. 
• Watching Katniss take care of little Rue.  She's a hard girl, didn't cry during the reaping - or at all until later in the games.  But she truly is emotionally connected and vengeful after her death.  The whistle that they came up with to say that everything was ok was also a bit chilling but positive at the same time. 

Of course there were a few things different.  I think the reason I enjoyed the movie so much was because I hadn't JUST read the book and then went off to see the movie.  The essense of the book sticks with you and that is what the movie captured.  It's a scary world they live in.  Katniss says she doesn't want to have kids because she doesn't want them to go through this, Gale mentions that he would want kids if he didn't live there... realistic and thoughtful decisions are made and that really captures how Katniss is.  They're essentially prisoners of the capital even before they're brought together as tributes.

Go.See.It.

Had a moment, Had to share

So yes, I've just emailed my family this and since family is like 75% of my readers I realize this is redundant. 

I just had a great moment at work today.  The new interim dean of the College of Business called me into his office out of nowhere... kind of scary, no?  Well I sit down and I'm all ready to write down notes for whatever task he needs me to help with but he just starts going on about what a great job I'm doing for this conference that I'm planning next month. 

He continues to say that I've been ahead of the curve and that every time he thinks of something we need to address for this conference he checks his email and realizes that I've already addressed the issue and gave answers!  He asks, "are you a mind reader?"

This was extremely unexpected because he was just put in the position suddenly after the old dean stepped down on Monday.  I was certain that I wasn't going to see or hear from him for a while because he would be so busy organizing for his new position!

Well - needless to say this really brings me back to my old job in Chicago.  But in the opposite way.  Pretty much take every thing I just wrote and turn it into a negative and that's all I ever heard.  Never anything positive, never anything encouraging... just constantly putting down my work and constantly leaving me in a state of unrest. 

It's unreal - back in the days when I knew I was quitting my job but before I gave notice, I would walk around the office and literally think "I wonder what my future co-workers are doing right now."  Little did I know that my future co-workers are all awesome, my superiors are extremely easy to work for, and my responsibilities are very well suited for the type of work that I am doing.  I say this kind of bittersweet because there are people I still care about at my old job in Chicago, including my old boss, the now CEO.  Although I know he's busy I still like to email him occasionally - and of course I bother my old coworkers with my latest goings on.

Building relationships at work are so crucial.  I'm glad that my new coworkers are also my friends and that my superiors are fantastic
*cue cheesy Full House music now*

Things that didn't happen this weekend.

I'm too tired to write and explain how awesome this last weekend was, so I'ma let these pictures speak for themselve.

On the way home from a long weekend, Erk needed to wear a snuggie to keep comfortable on the road.

Grandma came out!

Models.  Only group picture but at least we made the attempt!

Jenny just biffed it on the train.

Guess the arm.  Guess the artist.

Standing at my old waiting place for the train in palatine.

Erk and me!

Wearing the hater blockers.

They wouldn't let me hold the sign unless I told them I really was a santorum fan.  I didn't explain WHICH santorum I'm a fan of.  mmmm Frothy!

• Woke up with a trampstamp
• 3 phones were casualties of this year's train crawl
• Inappropriate drawings with sharpie
• Keeping track of drinks with writing number on your arm
• Learning to play quarters
• Erick almost getting on the sex offender list on the way back home
• Green beer
• Errrybody SHOTS!
• Here's a creative t-shirt... party SHAMrocking!
• Green moustaches
• Forgot to eat dinner
• Lost Erick in Crystal Lake
• Tri-Quad breakfast
• Jamba Juice doesn't have anything
• Rumplemintz shot confused as water... I spit all over the counter