each day is a gift

Strong is Sexy Fitness Challenge_visit Week6
Thursday. Each day is a gift.

It was a pretty rough night again.  After the week I've had and the issues with sleep latency I need to find a way or two to help relax me so I'm not so wired before I turn out the lights.  After an hour I was finally able to fall asleep, but with some disrupted sleep and by the time my alarm went off my body was not fully rested.

I didn't get to my workout today or even yesterday, but hope sometime this evening I will get even a short workout in.  Laundry was one of the things I was able to get done this morning and glad that I only had enough for one load. 

I did however, get a chance to organize some house information and chose 4 from the printouts my Realtor gave me to review.  There were, as always, good and bad for each of them, but really some of the bad helped to eliminate them completely.

HOUSE #1 PENNWOOD. PILE: NO 

This house was a town house/row home that had some really great qualities, but also had a few things that distracted from the good.

PROS * $70, 900 * 3bed, but only 1 bath * Nicely kept neighborhood,    but just on that block * $1303 Taxes * Nice size fenced in yard

CONS - Railroad a block over - Furniture warehouse a block over - baseboards - older cabinets - pink tile in the only bathroom - no central air

HOUSE #2 GREEN.  PILE: NO  

As I made my way to this house I was getting a little nervous. the neighborhood just was to run down and dirty that there was no way I was going to even keep this a consideration. I parked for a quick second and then decided to just keep moving. Plus the road was really clogged up with vehicles and the roads were torn up.

HOUSE #3 N 3RD. PILE: REALTOR

PROS  * $94,900 * 4bed, but only 1 bath * Close to Italian Lake * Close to work * Laundry Room * Nice size fenced in yard * Includes Mic+DW+Fridge+W/D * beautiful layout and flooring * open and beautiful kitchen

CONS  - $2373 Taxes - Neighborhood could be cleaner - on street parking - window units - oil, radiator heat - asbestos shingles - back yard view

HOUSE #4 FULTON ST. PILE: REALTOR  

I was really excited about his place as it had so many great things going and in May they lowered the asking price by 35k.  It was a pretty sweet thought thinking that such a beautiful house with a 2 car garage was located in Harrisburg in my price range, but then I realized why when I drove by.  It was this beautiful bubble community surround by a whole lot of ugly.  I k now the city is trying to bring up the community, but why you would build such beautiful homes in that specific location I don't understand.  It really doesn't make me feel safe to walk outside of the bubble community and having a safe community I can walk freely in is high on my list.  With this I can definitely see why it hasn't sold and why they included a two car garage & a beautiful while privacy fence, because no one would be stupid enough to park their expensive car in such a neighborhood.  Plus, the privacy fence helps to hide the run down city around your home. 

Dispute how ugly the surrounding community is I'm still planning on making a visit., as it's like a needle in a hay stack home with all the amenities.    Really with all that it offers I would be silly not to at least walk inside and check it out.  Plus, it's the lesser priced of the ones for sale and it's the best looking as far as updates and space planned. 

PROS  * Kitchen Size * 2 bed 1.5 ba * Beautiful community * Central Air/Heat * Laundry Room * Nice size fenced in yard * price reduced 35k in May * 2 car garage * built in 2004 * gas range, mic, dw, fridge, w/d

CONS  - $110K - Surrounding Neighborhood - $2000 taxes - back yard view - possible short sale

summary

I'm still no where near making an offer on any of the houses I've viewed and driven by and wont be for a little while as I still have a pretty sizable pile of homes to drive by and potentially visit.  I've only had one house and that's the one on 5th street that I was willing to place an offer, but currently it's still off the market going through the final foreclosure stage before it goes back on the market.  Though it's nice to see what else is out there and who knows I may find something else that says this is home

Currently, I have around 6 condos/homes I would like to attend a showing and so my official Realtor is hard at work scheduling those appointments for next Tuesday.  I'll continue to keep you updated on the process and posting photos of the places I drive by and what I like and don't like and hopefully be able to make a final decision in the next 30-60 days when I'll know if I qualify for first time home buyer help.

I have two that I want to drive by before I head off to Huntington tomorrow,  and about 8 near the Derry/Berryhill area that I'll visit either Monday or Thursday next week..

eats

were almost really good.  Had 2 donuts around lunch time and 3 chocolate chip cookies around dinner.

Breakfast:
* 1/2 blueberry bagel w pb + chia seeds + strawberries
* cottage cheese
* coffee

snack:
* 2 donuts (1) chocolate frosting on plain (1) chocolate glazed

Lunch:  Salad Wrap + yellow apple

* pre-made salad in deli w tuna salad
* cucumber
* cherry tomatoes
* Giant Organic Italain Dressing
* Spinach Wrap
* broccoli, mushrooms, onions (leftovers)

Snack:
* black seedless grapes
* almonds
* raisins

Dinner
* Kashi Autumn Wheat 
* soy milk
* strawberries
* 3 small Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookies