It is official!

Well, it is official. Come May 11 at 1:30 p.m. Kev and I will be homeowners!!!!!!!

After about three years of searching, we have found a place. It is in the area that we really wanted to end up in, it has a double lot that will allow us to expand down the road and it is on a nice street that is across the street from Kev's parents' house.

We did get the house at a good price, however we have to do some major remodeling. The kitchen needs to be gutted. It's not functioning, has peach wooden cupboards, and the flooring is rotting. The rest of the house has hardwood floors, but they are so damaged we are probably just going to have laminate hardwood laid down.

All the rooms need to be painted (that isn't a big deal.) They are also going to tear out the concrete, tiny patio in the back and put on a bigger deck.

We are also going to have to update the vanity, mirror and put in an exhaust fan in the bathroom.

There is also a possibility that the whole house will need to be rewired because all of the outlets are two pronged and not grounded.

And if we have funds available, we are going to change the front a little by adding a different front porch to make it more welcoming.

I almost forgot, we are going to knock down the wall between the kitchen and the living room to open it up.

So there are a lot of things that need to happen to the house before we can move in. We met with two different contractors. One was way overpriced and said it would take 10 to 12 weeks to finish everything. Well, that isn't good for us because we don't want to have to pay for rent and mortgage for that long of a period of time.

The other guy we met with on Tuesday, and he said it should take only about 4 weeks and he will get us a price by Friday. So we are waiting to see.

But, here is a slide show of some of the photos of the house. Kev is going to take his video camera and we will tape a tour so you can get the full experience. But, these pictures will do for now.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Well, it feels like the Earth is standing still. The day is going so slow. Right now I am waiting for a source to get back to me about a newspaper article. This is the hardest part about being a journalist. Once I have the interview completed, the rest of the article is easy. I just hate playing phone tag.

So I am left to pretty much wait and see the rest of the day. So, I am just surfing the net and seeing if there are any discounts on Disney trips for this year. We haven't booked yet, and are trying to stretch our dollars as much as possible. But, that is pretty much just waiting for people to get back to me on price quotes.

I am also waiting for my package of E.L.F. makeup products to arrive so I can get ready for the day. Kev and I are going to be going over to his parents' house for dinner at 6pm, so until then I don't really have much to do today.

Maybe if the sun would come out for awhile, the day would be a little better.

I guess I had better get back to my waiting.

Time Flies......

Wow. I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted.

I apologize for the long time gap, but things have gotten a little hectic in my life. Good hectic, not bad hectic. But, that is another blog, for another day.

Since I haven't done any product reviews in a while, I just wanted to share my latest new favorite thing. So here is a special Thursday edition of:




Like all of the media outlets saying, everyone is feeling the recession. Some people are going out to dinner and movies less, some people are not traveling as much and others are cutting back on personal luxuries.

I prefer to handle this situation by buying smart. Cutting coupons, watching for items to go on sale and then stock up and even going to Sam's Club to buy huge bottles of shampoo that will last for about six months a piece.

But, one of the best companies out there that gives you quality products, but only charges a fraction of the cost is EyesLipsFace or E.L.F.

E.L.F apparently has been around for a while, and a lot of the fashion mags are a fan of their products as well.


They sell everything from foundation and lipstick to all types of makeup brushes and beauty tools. And here is the beauty part of it, everything is one dollar!

According to their website, the company's philosophy is that, "...innovative technology, quality ingredients and superb delivery systems should not be limited to prestige retailers. Every woman should have the opportunity to participate in innovation, without sacrificing her budget." (Sounds like my kind of philosophy.)

You want to try out the latest shade of lipstick, but you are not sure if it will look good on you, go to E.L.F. Because, if you do not like how it looks , then you only wasted a dollar.

They do have some products, like their professional and mineral makeup items that are more than one dollar, but they are still sold at a better price than what you would find at your local big box store.


I decided to try them out a few weeks ago and I ordered foundation, bronzer, lipstick, nail polish, a brush set, blush, glimmer and some other things and it only cost me $20.

I also get a ton of emails from them with coupons. Today, I restocked on some items and I got 50 percent off of my total order!

There are a few drawbacks. The size of the products are a little small, and shipping does take a while. But you can solve these problems by ordering a little more than what you think you need, and ordering before you completely run out.

In my opinion, E.L.F. products are an absolute buy!

To view their product line, place an order or even to find out more information go to www.eyeslipsface.com .

It's a great day to be from Pittsburgh!

What an exciting Super Bowl!!!

Cicero once said, "Where there is life, there is hope."

Last night, the Steelers gave a great show of life, so now we will wait for the hope to follow!


Photo from Sports Illustrated














Another thing about the Super Bowl was the halftime show. What a great show the Boss gave!


The only disappointment that came from Pennsylvania was from the furry weather predictor, Phil. He saw his shadow, so I guess that means six more weeks of winter. But, I guess you lose some and you win some!

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane....(well not really, but it wold be nice)

If you read my earlier blog, then you know how I feel about winter. I hate it. I used to love it when I was in school because then you could get delays and cancellations. But, when you are an adult, it just loses it luster.

So I decided, just for kicks, I would take a look and see if there was anyplace warm where we could go for a long weekend and not break the bank. So far, I haven't found anything.

Sandals Resort is saying that they are offering 60 percent off some of their packages. Well, for four days, including airfare it is still about $1,700 for the two of us. Not really what I wanted to spend.

There is a nice package for a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas that would be $558 for the both of us. Not a bad price at all! But, round trip airfare is about $200 for each of us. So there goes that idea. Plus, cruises worry me. There are pirates, people getting sick and people disappearing.

There is a 50 night Mediterranean Cruise. Fifty nights! That is for people who are so rich they don't need to work, and they have all the time off in the world. This cruise is over $8,000 and that doesn't include airfare.

Well, I think that I won't be going anywhere until October when we go to Disney.

So until then, I think I will surf Netflix for travel videos.

Bon Voyage!

Not Here It Isn't

For about 16 months my husband and I have been renting and living in a duplex. Well, actually it is like 3/4 of a house because we split the first floor with our neighbors, and then we have the whole upstairs. It isn't a bad place, rent is very reasonable and our neighbors are super nice. But, we would still like to own a place of our own that we could fix up and add our personal touches to it.

So we have been looking around at houses for awhile. We probably have toured about 20 different houses and came up empty. We actually put in an offer on a house, but they turned us down.

Our quest continues and we grow incredibly frustrated. For one thing, houses in our area are so over priced. If I hear one more newscaster say that the housing market is a "buyers market" one more time I am going to chuck the TV across the room. It might be a buyers market elsewhere, but not here.

I decided to do some research at different places throughout the country to see what a comparable house in each place would cost and here is what I found out.

Where We Live

This house is right in our area. It is 2150 sq ft, with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. It also has a two car garage. The house is brand new.

This house comes with the hefty price tag of: $224,900







Ohio (Closer to home, but a little more west.)

I have a friend who lives in Ohio and told us that the houses were pretty reasonable. So I thought I would check them out and see what they had to offer.

This house here is a little smaller then the one where I live. It is about 1544 sq ft. It has four bedrooms, two and a half baths, a two car garage and was built in 2004. It's a little older and a little smaller, but still a very nice house.

This house is on the market for: $100,000.

Now that is a major price drop!


Indiana (The mid-west)

I saw at a couple of different places that Indiana was one of the best places to find a nice house at a reasonable cost. I can now see that is very true.


This house is still smaller than the first house with 1,494 sq ft. It has three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and a two-car garage. This house is the oldest one so far. It was built in 1999.

It is listed at: $116,000.





North Carolina (Sign me up for warmer weather)

I one time went on a vacation to Myrtle Beach, and we decided to visit this town in NC. I immediately fell in love with the community and it's small town charm. It had several business downtown, and was a really pretty city. So naturally, it was a choice for me to look at their houses for sale.
This house might not look like much, but it is a completely refurbished 1920s bungalow with 1,085 sq ft, three bedrooms and one bathroom. There isn't a garage, but parking is available off street.

I know the house is a lot smaller then the one available in my area, but this house is right downtown in the adorable city. Within walking distance from farmers' markets, restaurants and great stores.

This house is for sale for:$114,950. Oh, I should also mention that a beach is only about an hour away.


Washington (The Wild West)

So we have hit the north, the south, the Midwest and now time for the west. I will say that a lot of places out west are very expensive. But, I did happen to find this community to have a decent amount of houses for a reasonable price.

The photo (being this small) doesn't do this house justice. It isn't run down, it is just the pixelation of the photo.

So this house is 1500 sq ft, three bedrooms and one bathroom. I can't find anything about parking.

But the inside is all new and looks very nice.

This house could be yours for: $120,000.



Now I understand that not all of the houses that I have shown are created equally. The one where I live is bigger than all the others, but the other houses have various other good qualities.

The biggest point I am trying to make is, that where I live is considered to be a distressed community. If we are that distressed, than why are our houses so expensive? Are we all doomed to rent for the rest of our lives while we wait for this huge drop in the housing market?

But, for now, I guess we will continue to look and keep our eyes peeled for "our house."

I am really upset at you.

We have spent so much time together. Long days traveling through the jungle; nice quite evenings visiting my farm and hanging out with my cows and fishing. But, now you have really hurt me deeply.

Wii....I'm not sure if we will ever be the same.


Under the urging of my nutritionist, I decided to start up a new exercise regiment. He had been telling me to join Curves, which I was going to do, but then my dad found a Wii Fit at Target and snagged one for me.

So we brought it home and set it up about a week ago. As soon as we had it setup and turned on, an adorable little animated wii fit balance board popped up and told my husband and I some instructions. Then it told me to step on and it would analyze me. Well, I should have known better, but as soon as I stepped on and the wii balance board went "oh" I should have known it was not going to be good.

Then the adorable little balance board exclaimed in a high pitched cute voice, "That's Obese." Then my little Mii's tummy ballooned out and stood there in all its obese glory.

Like I said, I knew exactly what it was going to say because I had been seeing my nutritionist, and I had been working hard to get my weight down. (56 pounds so far, baby!) But, it still took a lot of my patience to not kick the balance board and then list it on eBay.

I decided to give it another shot, and tried some of the exercises and games, and I do have to say I had a lot of fun.

The Wii Fit program is broken into four different areas, yoga, balance games, aerobics, and strength training.

In yoga, you follow a trainer as they show you how to do the pose, and then you give it a shot. While you are holding the pose, the balance board keeps track of your balance and then gives you a score accordingly.

I really enjoy the balance games such as heading soccer balls, walking a tightrope and even doing a ski jump. Once again, as the name states, these games focus on your ability to balance on the balance board.

For many people, the aerobics section is the one they are most interested in. This area contains several mini-games designed to get you moving and grooving. Hula-Hoop, dance stepping and jogging are all great exercises. My favorite, which is jogging, let's you run around a virtual island following a Wii Mii who serves as your pacer. During this exercise, you do not use the balance board, but you either hold the wiimote or put it in your pocket and jog in place. Eventually you can unlock free run which allows you to create your own jogging path through the island.

The final area is strength training, and it is the place that I am most interested in. This is what my nutritionist wants me to focus the most on. He said that by strengthening and toning my muscles, it will help me lose more weight.

For these exercises you have to choose between either a female, or male trainer. I chose the female one, for obvious reasons. (My husband chose the male trainer, and I really can't see much of a difference between the two.) Anyway, this area gives your various exercise such as torso twists and jack knives (they sound like torture devices) to help target different muscles in the body.

I would definitely rate Wii Fit as something you should buy. It is a fun way to keep in shape. The price tag for Wii Fit is about $89 if you already have a Wii. But, if you would need to go and purchase a Wii you can add on about an additional $250. But, all things considered you have to think about how much you would spend on a gym membership. I am sure you would come out financially on top with the Wii.

Here's to your health!