A contrarian's view of buying a house

I read this article today on MSN about how investing in stocks is better than buying a house. An interesting view point. I think he has a good points but there are other reasoning for buying a house besides financial. Give the article a look.

While I have never believed that renting is like throwing your money away it would be nice to be able to paint or customize my house. There is no point to improving my rental property because that would be throwing money away while doing some small improvements to a house might improve its value or at least you know that its yours and you can take pride in the improvements you make.

Lists, lists, and more lists

Here is an update on my progress so far on all the things I need to accomplish before leaving Friday! The completed tasks are in gray. Below are partial lists for our wants and would like for our house. The house hunt is on! (think the song "The heat is on")

To do before Friday:
1. Call House of Brides
2. Find an alterist for Megs wedding
3. Pack
4. Clean the house
5. Find someone to baby sit my herbs.....(maybe Heather can do that and Charlie)
6. Organize trip to maine this weekend
7. Pack for trip to maine
8. Work 9 hours each day (mon - thurs)
9. Exercise at least 3 times per week
10. Mail cell phone rebates and saftey form
11. Call cell phone company to get phone adjusted for Puerto Rico
12. Guest list for Shari
13. Buy black swim suit bottom from tankini top
14. Buy more memory for my camera at Costco

What we are looking for in a house the must haves:
1. Large kitchen
2. Open layout
3. At least 1 3/4 baths
4. At least 3 bedrooms
5. A basement (finished would be nice but not necessary)
6. At least 1400 sqft in top portion of house
7. Good sized yard. (fenced would be prefered)
8. Good, safe neighborhood (a family neighborhood, don't get any idea about kids yet though!)

The would likes:
1. Walk in closet in master
2. Big master bath
3. Separate family and living rooms
4. Eat in kitchen and dining room
5. An extra room or study or loft area for my craft room
6. Laundry Room not in basement
7. Two car garage
8. Patio or porch in back yard
9. Fire place
10. Double sinks in master

I think that may be enough lists for one day. Enjoy....And of course feel free to comment!

BIG MOVE to the middle of no where...

Well now that it is official I might as well announce it to the world. Sean and I will be moving to Dayton Ohio in mid Aug. All of you may be asking Ohio? What the heck is in Ohio? Well the Air Force Institute of Technology is in Ohio. Sean will be starting a masters program there in September. We will also have our follow on assignment there so we'll be there for 5ish years. Well I'm not that excited about moving to the Midwest, this is an awesome opportunity for Sean! I support his fully in this decision to better himself by getting his masters. Also I'm hoping that it will increase his earning potential so I can continue to convince him that I can be a stay at home Mom when we decide to have kids in several years. He is not so keen on this idea and keeps pushing the you can work part time thing.

One of the other good things is that we can buy a house! Sean and I are really excited about the possibility of owning our own house. I'm already thinking about colors to paint certain rooms and the garden I can have in the back yard. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that I can have a space for my craft room again. We plan on having two guest rooms so all of you can come and visit when ever you like. I know Frontier flies direct from Denver so for you guys out there...cheap tickets maybe! As for the Bostoners it is only a short 850 mile drive! Just kidding there are airports and we will be willing to pick you up! We are also hoping to host family events if we have a big enough house. Like maybe Christmas or Thanksgivings one year! Family and friends are extremely important to me so I hope I can keep in touch with everyone! I will be of course keeping up this blog so you can always check it for the latest stuff I'm up to!

I know that Ohio will be a big change from Boston but I'm trying to go into it with an open mind so wish me luck! I will miss Boston more than I ever thought I would!!! It will never be Colorado but it was an awesome place to live for a few years and I wish it had been a few more. Sean and I have a jam packed summer already but I'm still hoping to fit into some of the things I want to do before leaving. Check back later for the list.

A week from today....

A week from today I'll be on an airplane on my way to Puerto Rico! I can't wait. Sean and I talk about it constantly. I have already started packing and getting ready for the trip. I feel like this vacation is exactly what Sean and I need. We haven't had a vacation just the two of us since our honeymoon almost 3 years ago. I can't wait to lay out on the beach and splash around in the ocean. I also looking forward to seeing the only rainforest in the US park services. I plan on taking tons and tons of photographs of everything. Photography is a newish hobby of mine. I have a digital SLR camera and with the new lens Sean bought me for christmas I should be able to take some awesome shots. Check back in two weeks for photos from our trip.

Today's Smile: Crazy patents

For today's smile I'm going to link to a blog about real life patents that are just plain nuts. Some of the inventions found on this site include: A weed cutting golf club, Penile Volumetric Measuring Device, and many more stupid, silly, and just plain nutty inventions. So check Patently Silly out! I'm positive it will make you smile at the shear stupidity or at the amusing diagrams. It may even make you laugh out loud!

Doesn't Bode well....

The start to today does not bode well....While showering this morning I conditioned my hair before shampooing! Apparently I was still half asleep or something! Then I rolled my ankle while walking into the building...luckily this happens often enough I didn't fall just stumbled a little. Keep your fingers crossed that this string of events doesn't continue the rest of the day!

At least it is Wednesday! We are halfway to the weekend and I can't wait! Sean and I are going up to Maine with two other couple friends. It should be a blast! The weather is still looking pretty good so let's hope it stays that way. I'm hoping to see some piping plovers birds. These cute little birds are endangered and every year from april to august volunteers in Wells keep their nests protected. For more information about these little guys and the protection program I found this article.

The end is in sight......

With my trip only less than two weeks away you would think I would be on the down hill, however it will be an uphill battle to the finish! I'm swamped at work between my two groups. Everyone should keep their fingers crossed that I get everything done on that front before I leave. As for my personal life the list keeps getting longer...

Here it is so far:
1. Call House of Brides
2. Find an alterist for Megs wedding
3. Pack
4. Clean the house
5. Find someone to baby sit my herbs.....(maybe Heather can do that and Charlie)
6. Organize trip to maine this weekend
7. Pack for trip to maine
8. Work 9 hours each day (mon - thurs)
9. Exercise at least 3 times per week
10. Mail cell phone rebates and saftey form
11. Call cell phone company to get phone adjusted for Puerto Rico

I'm sure I will come up with more later....It will definately be a sprint to the finish! At least I'll be able to relax once I get there :-)