Domi's World Secrets, REVEALED!!

Sorry we've been incommunicado this past week, here's a little baby beefcake to make up for it! After the storm of the century, Domi et al, hightailed it out of here and went to the Michigan dunes for a week of fun in the sand and sun. It was a super nice and relaxing week, I'm just so sad it's over. I have loads of pictures to upload, much to talk about, and the all important 12 month update to get on here! (WHAT? 1 year already! I can't believe it!!!!)
But first I've had a few inquiries about some statements and photos recently made on Domi's world.
First, the Elvis photo:
A few weeks ago, we were at my parents' house and the neighbors had this insane party with pineapple centerpieces, flower leis, karoake, Cubs/White Sox baggo, an Elvis impersonator, this weird dancing bald guy who called himself "Mr. Six", and Otis the Town Drunk, and Barney Fife from the Andy Griffin show impersonators. It was completely surreal. Chris said it was like a Fellini movie meets Nick at Nite. The twins were somewhat apprehesive at first, but they saw other little girls dancing and playing with Elvis, so they joined the fun. It was the weirdest party I have ever been to, and I've been to some strange get togethers.
Second, the house comment.
Chris and I have been thinking for awhile now that it would be nice to have our own place, with a yard and a gas range, but mainly, laundry facilities of our very own. You know, the stuff dreams are made of. So we have been doing a lot of online house hunting, which consists of Chris sending me houses saying, "wouldn't this be great?" and me replying "yes let's get it!" and then coming home and sitting on the couch eating nachos. Well the other day we left the couch. We went to see this house that Chris saw posted on Craig's list, it was not much to look at onscreen, but there were a few intriguing little details on the advertisment that made us curious, (not to mention that it was considerably more in our price range than most houses we see in that area) so we went to have a look. Of course we both really loved the house, and the owner and his two dogs and pretty much everything about the place. I had two gripes, 1. the back yard was small, too smal for a swing, or a sandbox, or even a backyard barbeque; and 2. there was only one full bathroom. But even my gripes had solutions. There is a giant park a block away with ample swings, sandboxes, and picnic tables, and the owners had extended the pipes from the first bathroom upstairs so all that is needed is to construct a second bathroom.
This place is most definitely NOT my dream house (historic chicago red brick octagan bungalow w/ 4 br, 2 full bath, giant kitchen, 1st floor laundry room, wood fireplace, 1.5 car garage and nice big oversized yard- do you know of anyone selling one of those for, say $50 US? tell them we're buying!) BUT it was a really lovely, light filled, and interesting space with lots of potential to make it our home.
Did you see that? OUR home. Every place I've ever lived has been someone else's place. Even now I still say going home is going to my parents' house. Everywhere else is just so transient feeling. Chris and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary this summer, and our china is still neatly packed away in the original boxes, safely tucked away in my sister's ever-flooding basement. (Home ownership strikes again!)
Not that I don't completely appreciate and feel a never ending amount of gratitude for having the place where we currently live. It has enabled us to do things we would never have been able to do if we were paying rent or had a mortgage. Things like have a nanny, go on vacation, and even more fundamentally, take "lifestyle" jobs rather than soul-draining law firm jobs, just to manage our astronomical student debt. I will never be able to repay our families' generosity, so this is in no way looking a fabulous gift horse in the mouth, keep those gift horses coming!
That said, maybe it's the delayed nesting instinct in me, but I really long for a place that is all mine, (Minus the annoying things that come with home ownership, like a mortgage and fixing your own clogged drains, flooded basements, but even still...) where we enjoy staying, and can finally stop behaving like nomads, packing up every weekend and taking laundry with us to every relatives house we crash.
So that's the story. Well, not the entire story, we took a look at our expenses, crunched some numbers, and without making some very fundamental lifestyle changes (i.e. the nanny), this particular house is not quite within our reach. But the bright side is that we are now even closer to being ready to start looking at houses (that's a bright side?), and are taking steps towards being really ready to say "we'll take it!" when we finally find our house.