Noteworthy

It's a holiday weekend and I don't know anyone who isn't thrilled about a 3-day weekend. I'm thrilled but I'll mostly be doing school work (only 4 weeks left to go!). Here's my noteworthy stuff...

• I finished this game this week.

It was a really fun, long game. There was no strategy guide included which kind of stinks but most of the time if you go to Big Fish Game Walkthroughs you'll find a step-by-step guide to help you when you get stumped. There are dozens more Big Fish games on my iPad waiting to be played--I'm giddy with excitement.

• I saw this picture on a blog post titled 8 Dreamy Spaces

That bench/stool with the goat looking legs creeps me out. Hate it. This entry way does not look dreamy but I do like that green wallpaper to the right.

• The TV movie version of Petals on the Wind airs on Lifetime on Monday night.

I've got it set up on the DVR and I'm excited to watch it. The first movie in the series, Flowers in the Attic, was descent so I'm eager to see this installment. I hope they do the whole series. 

• Have you ever seen Mark Ryden's work?

This piece is more PG then most of his stuff. I like his technique but his art is very bizarre and often inappropriate. I'm not really sure how a person goes about acquiring an art collection they want to display in their home. I certainly can't think of anything in the middle Georgia area. The only time I'm ever exposed to art for sale is at the Georgia National Fair. I don't attend many festivals--that might be a good place to start.

• I volunteered at a local triathlon this Sunday. 

I don't feel that I helped much during my three hours. For the most part I just felt bad about my own level of fitness (or lack of fitness). There were 60 and 70 year old participants that would leave me in the dust in any of the events. 

That's all the highlights I had for this week. It's been a busy one with school and my house buying agenda. 

And The Hits Just Keep on Coming, Part 2

I've already chronicled my house hunting adventures but the actual process of purchasing home has been brutal as well. Jeff and I found a house that we want to make our home so I put in an offer. A low-ball offer. It was rejected. Then I offered again at a 15K increase, they countered with about one thousand off the asking price. I countered that with an increase of eight more thousand. They countered with only a difference of $500 from their first counter. Then we had a biding war and I put in my best offer. It was accepted and the paperwork onslaught began. I chose USAA as my lender because I think they are a great company and I've been with them for my insurance for many, many years. About two weeks into the closing process an appraisal was done. The valued amount came in extremely low and USAA asked that the seller replace all the flooring, paint the interior, and get a stove. Did I mention this house is a foreclosure? The "seller" is a bank, not the traditional homeowner. Plus, the changes required by USAA are cosmetic. The seller terminated the contract. I got with a new lender that same day and the paperwork onslaught began again from square one. Forms and data were collected and sent to underwriters. During the underwriting process they discovered some questionable information about my tax filing. The loan was approved but they wanted details about the ten thousand dollar loss I filed, details about my pet care business, and why my address is in Alabama but my loan application had Georgia. WTF?!?!!? This was last Thursday, the same day I discovered my textbook issues at GSU. On Friday I was told to file a police report, fill out IRS form 14039, and a few other things. I think my sister said it best when I texted her.

I filed my police report, visited the local IRS office yesterday to get my form 14039 stamped, and then I've got to contact the FTC, the three credit companies, and possibly the social security administration online or over the phone. This ordeal has been a major blow to my confidence as a citizen and I'm really worried about what else this person has done with my social security number. I've said more than a few curse words over the last week and lost some sleep. Other than that I seem to be coping fairly well. I am stressed but I'm trying to focus on all the positives in my life to keep me afloat. I've got a lot to be thankful for.

And The Hits Just Keep on Coming, Part 1

There's only so much a person can take before they give up. I'm on the brink. Going back to school has been an absolute nightmare. Everyone knows that I thought I was done last summer and then earlier this year I was informed I needed to take one more course. I have been enrolled in that course since March, purchased and read the textbook cover to cover in April, and May 19th was the first day of class. Last Thursday was a dark day for me. I found out that the textbook my teacher told me to buy/read was for the undergrad class and I'm enrolled in the graduate course. We were working it out so that I could stay enrolled in the graduate course, do the undergrad coursework, complete the graduate project, and get credit for the graduate course. On Monday I found out that I cannot be enrolled in either course and that I needed to complete that course requirement at a different institution. I've been emailing, calling, and filling out online forms to change my student status from graduate student to post-baccalaureate student. As a post-baccalaureate student I can take the undergrad class online which will count toward my media specialist certification. Don't ask me to explain how this happened or why I can't just take any online class I want, the explanation will not make sense at all. Basically, you cannot earn the Media Specialist certification online at GSU, as advertised, without major problems. The same person keeps pointing the finger of blame at me when I'm just trying to go to school and pay them thousands of dollars. It's become crystal clear that I should have completed this certification through Valdosta State rather than GSU. When everything is done and I have my blessed certificate I will be writing a very long letter to the GSU President detailing my misadventures with this program. All I can do at this point is wait for it to get sorted out and have the correct class in my portal. The silver lining is that I did read the right textbook after all. However, I've already paid my tuition for SPED 6130 but I need to be enrolled in SPED 3331. That will need to be corrected by the computer fairies as well. I paid my money, I'm ready to learn, so let me get to work!!

My left eyelid is twitching again

Noteworthy

This week seemed really long. I think maybe it's because I'm in a transition stage right now. We are in the process of searching for a new director where I work, my final (it better be!) media specialist certification course starts on Monday, and we're all counting down the days until prep and college graduation. I'm almost giddy with excitement about the summer. Hate the heat and humidity but love the laid back atmosphere at work. Here are some other things that made me giddy this week:

• I can't wait to see this movie!

I'm not a huge Angelina fan (Team Aniston for the win!) but Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorite Disney movies and I really wish it were in theaters this weekend instead of the 30th. 

• In other movie news, I don't know if you've heard but...

Channing Tatum has been cast to play Gambit in the next X-Men movie. I'm thrilled, not because I like Channing Tatum, but because Gambit is one of my favorite X-Men characters and he's who I named my little Remy after (Gambit's real name is Remy LeBeau). The only thing I've liked Tatum in is 21 Jump Street but I think he'll do justice for Gambit. I told Whitney about this and her response was, "How many X-Men movies are there going to be?!?!". The correct answer is as many as I want. 

• I saw this lovely thing on the dock this week.

These herrings, mostly blue or grey in color, are much larger than you think. Their wing span is very impressive. I'll miss seeing them when we move from the lake house.

• I still keep my eyes open surfing the web for library catalog furniture. It's all so expensive and I'd most likely have the best luck at a flea market. This is a nice concept though.

This would be great for a TV console and TV components. It has the look of library catalog drawers but there really just door fronts. That's all that was noteworthy this past week. My personal life has been a mess and I'll update on that soon. 

Series Fiction Addiction

I'm caught up in several fiction series right now. Some I'm waiting for the next book to be published and others I'm trying to read as fast as I can.

I'm reading this one right now. It's the second in the Pure trilogy by Julianna Baggott. It's a YA apocalyptic/dystopian series and the author has one wild imagination. One of our prep students recommended the series to me and I'm glad I took her advice.

I read this one earlier this year. It's another YA apocalyptic/dystopian book and the sequel will be out this summer. It's only a two book series which is kind of rare. I really admired the main character of this one.

Did you read the first one in this series, Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children? Great book. The cover looks really creepy, just like the sequel Hollow City, but the story was actually very interesting and whimsical rather than creepy.

This is another vampire book, with a little twist, that takes places in a apocalyptic setting. Surprised? I really enjoyed the first book, The Immortal Rules, but the second one, The Eternity Cure, fell a little flat. I'm still going to read The Forever Song, which came out last month, because I want to know what happens.

This is also a YA apocalyptic/dystopian book (I certainly have a type!) but I thought it was a stand alone book. Turns out the sequel, Rebel, just came out. If you don't have a goodreads account you need to get one.

They have a mobile app too. I think my old college friend Jessi (who I just saw this week out of the blue at Kroger) may have introduced the website to me but Whitney really talked it up. After I read a book I log into goodreads and put the date I finished it and leave a rating and sometimes a review. I also get weekly emails from them about new books and authors and I love that they're set up by genre. 

To read a synopsis and reviews by others you just click on the picture. I want to read that Dangerous Creatures one too! What's really great about having a goodreads account is the emails they send with new books by authors you've read. I don't think I would have known about the Rebel book without that email notification. So many fun books waiting for me to read them. I hate that I'm such a slow reader!

Noteworthy

It's been a very out-of-the-ordinary past couple of weeks for me. In and outside of work. This trip with my sister couldn't have come at a better time and I was glad to get away, even if it was just for a couple days. Here are some noteworthy things from the last couple weeks. Oh, I've changed my "Week in Review" series title to "Noteworthy". I'm spontaneous like that.

• I just love this story. Enin's comment that he hopes his story will inspire other kids to appreciate higher education is particularly wonderful. That's right, appreciate. 

• I finished this Big Fish game this week. 

Not my favorite, in fact, if I hadn't already wasted my money on the full version I would have deleted it and moved on a long time ago. I couldn't figure out what I needed to do next at all. I had to use the strategy guide for everything. Not my idea of fun. I usually love these creepy games and I like when they're challenging but not when they're impossible to complete without major hand-holding.

• I kind of want this lamp stand from Target. There are two sizes, medium and large, and I'd like the large.

I don't know what shade I would like along with it at all. This would be for my nightstand. I've been having issues with my old one and I think glass is the safest way to go right now. They only had the medium stand in stock when I checked this weekend and I'd really like to see it in person before I commit. I did buy this bag from Target during our Virginia trip.

It's my new gym bag and I love it so far. 

• In my never ending sadness over finishing all the streaming episodes of Supernatural I've been going through some of the other streaming shows. You know I watched Orange is the New Black but over the last two weeks I've watched the final seasons of 30 Rock and The Office. 

30 Rock was pretty tough to get through but I loved watching The Office. I think they ended the series well and I laughed a lot. I'm gonna miss those kooky characters. Except Ryan, I never did like him. 

• I love this sweet song and the sweet story that goes along with it. 

I actually think the live version from their wedding is better than the iTunes version available for purchase. Hate his hair. Her hair is perfect. 

• Have you tried this product?

They make my laundry smell amazing. Can't say enough good things about this product. They are a little pricey but I'm seeing coupons more frequently (like inside my Tide detergent box!).

That's it for my Noteworthy segment. I'm behind on my Pinterest craft for last month. I already know what I want to do but it's the execution that I'm having difficulty with. I obviously need to get on my two recipes and my craft for this month. I'm such a slacker lately!

Homearama Adventure

Michanne and I made it back safely on Monday afternoon and I've been recovering ever since. The trip was very rushed but that's to be expected for only one full day in Virginia and two days of travel. After we picked up our rental we headed straight to the Homearama. We parked at a local high school and rode an uber fancy charter bus to the Homearama with a bunch of strangers. The weather was perfect. By the time we got around to touring the last two houses it was a little warm but we had sunshine and no rain, rain would have really ruined the experience. John and Sherry just posted an awesome blog post about the other houses and they've given several updates on their own. It's a really great post with wonderful pictures so I'll add a few of my own (and some of theirs, the ones that I couldn't get centered) but they captured a lot of the great features in their post. I'll follow their house numbering because that's also the route we followed to tour the homes. Things got a little fuzzy around house #4 so this might get confusing.

House #1

I liked this house the least. All the interior was monotone and just really boring in my opinion. The floors were that grey pickled look that's so popular right now and all the furniture was grey or beige. I did like a few features though.

This ceiling stenciling in one of the kids room's was really precious.

I loved the bath insert tile which is the same tile John and Sherry used in the flooring for their kids' Jack and Jill bathroom.

I liked the back splash tile used in the basement kitchen. But you'll notice that all of my pictures are grey. The house needed a major dose of warmth and a little splash of color variation. 

House #2 

This was John and Sherry's house. They have posted many, many times about the details but I took pictures of some of my favorite things.

I loved the exterior style and colors used on their house. It had the best curb appeal of the seven houses. 

Here's that floor tile I loved so much. It works really well with the Kermit green vanity. 

I also loved the board detail in that bathroom in the toilet and shower area. 

I've been obsessed with this light fixture ever since they posted it many weeks ago. Gorgeous. I hate to say it but their house was not my favorite. The banquet table was entirely too large, the dining room and office were too small and their color choices in the kids bedrooms just weren't my taste. 

House #3

This was a strong contender for my favorite because of the dining room, the powder room, and the living room. I loved the layout of the first floor. 

This dining room was so impressive. It was just beautiful.

My picture is nearly identical to the one John and Sherry took but I could not get over that wallpaper. It's very reminiscent of one of my favorite bathroom designs by Sarah Richardson (seen below).

Isn't this a great idea? This was in the master bedroom and I thought it was really creative yet such a simple way to camouflage a less than design-tastic TV. 

This color combination is really great. Clean and fun. 

This was the open space above the front door entry. I loved the paneling, the chandelier, the wall color. Perfection!

Alright, the next few pictures are where it gets a little fuzzy on which house I was in. I'll try to get it right. 

I believe this garage door was for house #4. It's also the only thing I photographed in that house (I think). 

I'm pretty sure the next pictures are of House #6. The one with the pool. 

This one was my favorite dining room. Hands down. I loved the nature elements incorporated, the chairs, the light fixtures. Everything.

I believe the same house had one of my favorite living rooms. The masculine wing-back chairs, the coffee table, the stone fireplace, and the built-ins all looked great. The outdoor living space was the best of all the houses. Not just because of the pool (which looked particularly inviting as the temperature outside and in the houses started to rise) but because of the outdoor fire place, the large covered patio, the fire pit, and the large sliding glass doors. Everything was beautiful. This house was up there as one of my favorites. 

When we got to House #7 my camera batteries were really low so I had to switch to my iPhone. The pictures weren't as great but the last house had my favorite kitchen, butler's pantry, banquet, and cozy living room. 

I didn't love the wall finish in the living room or how the fireplace kind of jutted out from the rest of the wall but I liked the size and the built-ins and the furniture placement. John and Sherry have a great picture of the banquet on their post. 

So that's all the houses. It took us about 3 hours to get through everything and start with a "meh" meal before our tours. I loved all the pulley doors, the large windows, ceiling and wall paneling details, the flow of the main floors, the extra living spaces like gaming and media rooms. Now that I'll be getting a house of my own it's really helpful to see some design ideas in person.This was a great experience. I saw so many unique and beautifully showcased homes. I know there's probably something similar in Atlanta and I'll seriously look into attending in the future. 

House Hunting

My big news that I hinted at last week is that I'm house hunting. I've been extremely focused on this task and actively searching since mid-March. This is one of the biggest decisions I'll ever make and the whole process is overwhelming. I've tried to come up with ways to stay organized and keep my thoughts clutter free. I think I've walked through over a dozen homes, driven by a dozen more, and viewed countless home profiles on Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. I downloaded the mobile apps for all three as well.

I had issues with both the Trulia and Realtor.com app. The Zillow app had some glitches here and there but it was the most user-friendly of the three. All the apps are free. I did sign up for alerts with Zillow and Trulia so some days I'll get an updates on new properties in my area. For the most part the properties meet my 3bed/2bath requirement but sometimes the price is no where near my budget. I created a spreadsheet to complete with each home tour because they all start to run together after a while. I think I saw 7 houses in one day. The spreadsheet info was as follows:

• property address
• date of visit
• square feet of property
• lot size
• number of bedrooms
• number of bathrooms

The next two categories were specific to interior and exterior qualities/problems

Interior:

• family room
• separate dining room
• eat-in-kitchen
• formal living room 
• separate den
• great room
• laundry room
• basement
• hardwood floors
• ceramic tile
• carpet
• fireplace
• storm windows
• ceiling fans
• central A/C
• energy efficient features 
• storage 
• attic

Exterior:

• fenced yard
• garage/carport
• patio/deck
• pool
• extra parking
• shed
• nice view
• siding
• brick
• roof
• gutters
• steel front door
• landscaping
• storage building
• sprinkler system
• mailbox

Then I had a section at the bottom about my overall impression of the home divided into positive and negative comments. For each item on the sheet I had room to make comments, measurements, etc. In some cases I had the MLS listing printed to attach to the sheet. I created this before I got a Realtor. After I signed with a Realtor I gave him a list of things that were must-haves, wish list, negotiable, and deal-breakers.

Must-haves:

• 3 bedrooms
• 2 full bathrooms
• double driveway or side yard large enough to accommodate Jeff's trailer and landscaping equipment
• open floor plan (kitchen and living room) or at least the potential for an open floor plan in the future by knocking down walls
• en suite master
• master large enough to accommodate a king size bed and other various bedroom furniture
• large backyard
• central A/C
• dishwasher
• washer & dryer hook-up
• over 1500 sq ft

Wish list:

• fenced yard
• garage/carport
• hardwood floors
• ceiling fans in all rooms
• walk-in closet for master
• kitchen pantry
• shower only in the master bath
• double sinks in the master bath
• backyard deck
• separate dining room
• neighborhood conducive for jogging
• storage shed

Negotiable:

• master bath with separate garden tub and shower

Deal-breakers:

• minuscule yard
• neighbor's house within arms length away
• scary neighborhood
• neighborhood with an abundance of mobile homes or meth houses

I really don't care for master bath's that have a separate tub and shower. I'm not a bath person and as long as there's a tub in the 2nd bathroom for washing pups and babies that's more than sufficient for me. The rest of the items are pretty self-explanatory. House hunting is stressful. You start off really excited and hopeful and then you see the kinds of houses that your budget will afford and it gets depressing. I'm all about compromise but price and location trump everything. There's no point in buying a house that meets your needs but is in a bad area or buying a house that's everything you want but you can't afford (even if you sell all your unnecessary organs).  I'll post again about my progress--this post is just about the beginning search.