Moving???

I hate to be such a downer all the time but I am so mad/upset/confused right now.
We got our lease renewal for our apartment lease that isn't up until April 30th. YES, here in Chicago, they have the right to ask you to renew your lease like 90 days in advance which is so STUPID!!  So, we have to tell them by February 22nd if we are going to stay here.... for a small rent increase.... and by Feb 28th for a larger rent increase.! EFF!  I/we really want to move to a better apartment that's not so "vintage", but it's hard to predict if we can when I STILL don't have a job yet. ugh. How are we supposed to know in like 12 days from now what we want to do?!  I mean, what if we say we are going to move and then I STILL don't have a job and/or we cant find a better place?  All I know is that I don't want to be stuck in our place for another year. I mean, I love the area, I don't mind the place most days, but I am getting sick of not having basic things like an updated bathroom and kitchen and a dishwasher and laundry in the unit. Is that too much to ask?  I mean, I guess we could plan on moving and then just bust ass and make it work, but I am worried it wont work. I just don't want to be caught in the position of them finding a renter for our place and then we decide we want to stay, or have to stay, and we cant.
Geez, life is hard right now and I'm not handling it very well.  I am just sick of trying to be positive because things AREN'T getting better out there in the jobs department and I am frustrated as all hell.
OK. Off to bed to sit awake and worry about this all night. yay.

February Snow Day

Today, Chicago finally got hit with the snow that the rest of the country (Omaha and the Northeast, etc) have been getting all winter. Joe stayed home from work because it was supposed to be worse as the day went on, so we just hung out and relaxed today.
Joe took the dogs for a walk in the morning when it wasn't too deep and they had fun, then I tried to take them out to play and walk in the snow again at 4:00 and it was much deeper. Chloe wasn't having anything to do with it, she just went out and went potty and went back in. Some days she likes it some days she doesn't. It may have been because I didn't put her boot/booty things on and she hates getting snow packed in her paws.  Louie just LOVES the snow, he would stay out there all day if he could, so he was ready to go! Chloe went back upstairs with Joe and me and Louie took a little hike through the snow at the park across the street.
I wanted to try out this windows video maker thingy, so I made this little video of the photos and video I took on our walk. It was hard to hold the camera and the leash all while it was snowing, but I managed OK.
 :-)  I think it came out cute for a first try... Enjoy! (Turn your sounds on, there's music).

Happy Birthday to Andy!

Today is my little brother-in-law Andy's 19th Birthday! Well I guess he's not so little anymore! Hard to believe that the little 7 year old that I met when I was first dating Joe is now NINETEEN! Wow....time flies.... Its nice to see him growing up into a nice young man. I'm glad that we stay connected on Facebook and get to chat on there often. He's my buddy whether he likes it or not! :-)

Now for some photos to remember the little twerp when he was young and sweet. hee hee. ;-)

Andy at our Wedding in 2001.

When he was really little....Halloween (left) as a duck with Joe and Ben

Christmas morning (right) Joe is not happy to be up early, but Andy sure is! :-)

Happy Birthday, Andy!!!

I'm Awake

So, I don't have much time to write today, so I am posting this really quick with a little quick intro.  I saw this awesome video last night and I think it's great.
Even though we don't have kids yet I am always looking into and saving information on the latest awesome baby products, sites, etc. Call me crazy...I just love researching things.
Anyway, I became a fan of this company called 'g-diapers' through Facebook, they are an awesome alternative to disposable diapers, but not as "Au natural" as pure cloth diapers (even though they do have a cloth insert option). Anyway, to make a long story short, they posted a link to this video which comes from the healthychild.org.
I completely agree that we, people with kids, people who plan to someday have kids, need to be wise about the environment in which we raise our children, to be aware of what is being put into our bodies and eventually the bodies of our children. When I see stories about lead in toys and BPA in plastic baby bottles, it makes me sad. Why is our society so obsessed with producing without THINKING about the potential negative/dangerous effects certain chemicals may have. All I know is that when I am a mother I will be very careful about what is in my house and what goes into my babies body.
Anyway, I could go on forever, but I'll just post the video for you to watch. It's a great eye opener.

I WON!

 A couple months ago submitted several logo designs for IIDA Illinois' logo contest. The board narrowed all of the logos down to 4 finalists that all members of the Illinois chapter were going to vote on. Two of the designs were mine, so I had a good chance of winning! Shortly after the voting I found out that mine was winning but that they had gotten some comments from downstate members that the designs only represented Chicago... So after many adjustments working with the board we finally got down to the final design! IIDA sent out an email this week announcing me as the winner! Yay! See the flyer here: FLYER The flyer also shows the final winning logo.

So, not only does my design get to be on all of the IIDA Illinois flyers, materials, website, etc, BUT I also won an Eames Molded Plastic Arm Chair with the Eiffel Tower/Wire Base!!! I am so excited because I am a lover of Eames furniture and design. If I could have all of my house filled with their furniture, I would!! This is such a great chair, comfortable and versatile. I am so excited that I will own one!
I am having trouble deciding what color to get though, so I haven't ordered it yet. Can't decide if I want to go with the classic and iconic red or if I should go more neutral and get white. Hmmm. I need to decide soon though! See the photos of the chair below: