Monthly Archives: July 2012

Look Ma! No Cavities!

Posted on by
5

This afternoon the kids and I had dentist appointments.  I’m a little ashamed to admit that we haven’t been to the dentist since moving to CA, but one of the last things we did before leaving Iowa was getting our teeth cleaned.  I tried to get all of those little things taken care of before moving because I know I procrastinate horribly when it comes to making routine appointments.

I purposely scheduled all of our appointments at the same time and with the same dentist.  If I made appointments for the kids at a pediatric dentist, I wouldn’t make my own appointment until something went funky with one of my teeth.

In fact, what got me to the dentist when we lived in Iowa was cracking a tooth during a work flight home from San Diego.  You may assume that it was a pretzel or a peanut that was the culprit and you would be wrong.  It happened while I was chewing gum.  That tooth had been bothering me for months and it eventually just cracked in half.  It now has a crown.

Kamryn vaguely remembers the dentist we had in Iowa.  I think the remembers the fun play structure in the waiting room more than the actual dentist, but she asked to go first today.

Both kids had to go to the bathroom and I mentioned to Kamryn that if during my cleaning Rory had to pee, she would have to take him to the bathroom.  A few minutes later she told me she was a little nervous.  I told her that the dentist wasn’t going to hurt her.  She said, “No, not about that…I’m nervous about having to take Rory to the bathroom!”  Of course.

Rory, on the other hand was a little concerned and in a room filled with other waiting patients, he asked, “Is that guy going to hurt me?”  I told him he would not hurt him, that when he got his teeth cleaned it would probably tickle a little bit.  Unconvinced, he declared quite confidently, “No, he’s going to hurt me.”

All three of us got through our cleanings without a hitch.  The hygienist asked me the following questions:

Do you brush their teeth?  No

Do you floss their teeth?  No

Are they brushing twice a day?  No

Do they drink a lot of soda and juice?  No (that was a good “no” and I kind of shouted it because I knew it was the right answer.

How often do you floss your teeth?  Um

OK, how many times a week?  Um

Do you floss your teeth?  Do you mean, have I ever?

You don’t floss?  No

Do you brush your teeth?  Well yeah.

Twice a day?  Sometimes THREE times a day!

The best part was that there was absolutely NO judgement from the hygienist or the dentist!  I didn’t even get reprimanded for letting my 3 year old suck on a binky!  She told me not to beat myself up about it.

So for the next 6 months, I’m really going to try to floss because I don’t enjoy having the iron hook in my mouth and digging in my gums.  And also because I want to tell the dentist that I have been flossing!

Too Much Olympics?

Posted on by
5

I have been watching The Olympics during almost every waking hour.  The only events that I’m not really into are soccer and basketball, unless USA is playing.  I’m not sure what it is about these two that I don’t find appealing…well, I don’t like soccer ever, but I usually do enjoy basketball.

Last night before I went to bed I was watching the women’s gymnastic prelims or qualifying round – I don’t know the terminology.  The kids had been in bed for about 30 minutes when I heard a bedroom door open.  Kamryn came in and said she couldn’t sleep because she wasn’t tired.

I let her watch for a few minutes and then, on her own, she got up and went back to her room.  I watched for about another 45 minutes before shutting off the TV and going to bed.

I don’t sleep through the night and usually wake up multiple times.  Sometimes I can roll over and fall back asleep, other times I toss and turn for hours.  Last night I woke up at 11:30 and thought I heard someone talking.  I looked towards the bedroom door and could see the glow of the living room TV.

Ryan was right next to me so I got up to see who (although I had a good idea) was watching TV.  Kamryn was perched on the couch, in the dark, with remote in hand.  I asked her what she was doing and she said, “Watching The Olympics.”

Kamryn has been pretty excited about watching all of the events.  She wanted to watch boxing on Saturday and today we were watching kayaking.  It doesn’t surprise me that she likes watching gymnastics, swimming and diving.  I liked watching all of those when I was younger too, but I like that she is branching out to some of the lesser known sports.

That being said, I don’t think I can allow my 5 year old to get up in the middle of the night to watch the games.  Maybe in another 4 years it would be a bit more acceptable, but she’s not even able to spell Olympics, much less make the decision on when she should be watching them.

The only thing that I considered was that she may have not been 100% awake when she ventured out into the living room and turned the on TV.  I considered demanding that she go to bed, but it wasn’t a battle I felt like fighting.  I left her in the living room to watch her late night gymnastics meet.

A few minutes later, I couldn’t hear the voices from the TV and no longer saw the glow reflecting off the hallway wall.  I got up again and saw that her bedroom door was still open so I went back into the living room and found Kamryn laying flat on the couch with her arms crossed across her chest.

It was a little disturbing.  I tried to wake her, although not really that hard and typically, if I persist, she’ll start to laugh if she’s just faking.  I picked her up and put her in her bed, where she remained until 7:30 am.

I haven’t asked Kamryn if she remembers getting up last night because that will only encourage her to do it again.  She’s kind of odd that way.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Posted on by
2

One of my favorite sites to send ecards through is someecards.com.  It’s actually the only site I use to send ecards.  There are cards for absolutely every holiday, no matter how seemingly insignificant, as well as about any possible scenario that a person could experience.

I found one for myself.The runner up, or silver medalist, if you will, was this one.Let me clarify.  I don’t usually send FB birthday greetings to people unless I have something other to say than “Happy Birthday”.  If I can find a good ecard that I think is appropriate, then yes, I will post that on your wall.  But I used to think it would be a little insignificant to just say “Happy Birthday”.  Then for some reason, this year my thoughts on this changed.  I read every single post on my FB page and found myself thinking, Oh that was nice of so and so to wish me a happy birthday.  We all like to have other think about us, right?  I’m still going to try and find a fitting ecard, but if I can’t find one, I’m going to wish you a happy birthday anyway.

Now for the card that my dad sent me.  It was from my mom and dad actually, but my mom wanted it known that she didn’t pick it out – not that I really considered that notion.  My dad told me he was crying in the card aisle, actually doubled over with tears streaming down his face.

If you are a new follower, you can check out the cards I made for my dad’s last two birthdays here and here.  Before I show you what he sent me, he claims he doesn’t have access to children like I do, but he does have access to old people and Hey, I guess they’re right. Senior citizens, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose. (That’s from Dumb and Dumber – if you didn’t know.)

Here were the birthday wishes I got from my parents:

 

 

Unexpected Firsts

Posted on by
14

Tomorrow is my birthday and today I realized that I have done a few things this week that I have never done before.  The biggest and maybe the one I was the most excited about was riding in a limousine.  Maybe you can tell here…In all of my 35 years, I never had even sat in a limo.  I know it seems that I live the most glamorous life, what with my blogger and stay at home mom titles, and I hate to disappoint, but alas, I do not get chauffeured around town.

My next first is watching The Olympics with both of my children.  I love The Olympics.  I recorded the opening ceremony last night since I was out carousing around San Diego in a limo and we watched it this morning.  Kamryn watched the Beijing Olympics with me, but Rory was in utero…barely.  I think I was 4 weeks pregnant.  We are anxiously awaiting the gymnastics tonight.  Rory is a Michael Phelps fan, although he can’t tell the difference between Michael and Ryan Lochte when they have on their swimming gear.

Yesterday Kamryn lost her first tooth so I got to play Tooth Fairy for the first time.  I will admit that I almost forgot.  I had her put her tooth in the tooth pillow I made for her and hang it on her door.  I am not convinced that I would be able to get in and out of her room without waking her.  Luckily, I saw that pillow hanging on the door when we got home last night or I know I would have totally forgot about it.

It’s been a fairly exciting week for me and tomorrow, I cross over into my late thirties.

 

Going, Going, Gone!

Posted on by
3

Finally, after months and months of wiggling, Kamryn has lost her first tooth!  If you have been reading my blog for awhile, I posted about when we first discovered that Kamryn had a loose tooth.  I thought for sure those teeth would be falling out faster than a meth addict’s, but she wasn’t too aggressive with wiggling.

We were at Old Navy this afternoon, (where I found an awesome Elvis T-Shirt for $3.43) and Kamryn was fiddling with her tooth a little more than usual.  On the way home, she told me that it was really loose and she thought it might fall out.  I kind of glanced at it, but it didn’t quite have that hanging by a thread look to it.

Once we got home, she told Ryan that it was really loose and he shoved his hand in her mouth and started tugging.  There was a brief moment of panic when it started to bleed.  I told him to stop because it wasn’t ready, but he insisted that it was hanging by a thread.  He grabbed a paper towel and yanked it out!

Kamryn and I both had tears in our eyes at this point.  My little girl has taken the first step in loosing that little girl smile.  I could tell the whole thing was a little traumatic for Kamryn so I had to suck it up and get excited instead of wallow in the sadness of losing a part of my first born.

I gave her a big hug and she turned on her heel and ran back to her room to look in the mirror at the newly made hole in her smile.  I asked her what she thought the Tooth Fairy was going to bring her for that first tooth.  She said, without one ounce of hesitation, “Five dollars like she brought Abigail.”  (Thanks a lot, Kate.)

So now I’m going back to the picture that I posted when we first discovered a loose tooth:I was wrong with my assumption that the top one was going to be the first to go.  It ended up being the “Pretty Loose” one on the bottom.  I was also wrong at how fast I thought the teeth were going to come out.  The picture above was taken on May 17th and I thought it would take about a month.  We’re over 2 months later and finally got one out.

Here is my girl’s new smile…sure to be only temporary as the adult tooth is already visible and is probably going to nudge the neighboring tooth out of it’s position.

Crappy Jobs

Posted on by
5

As a domestic engineer, there are numerous household duties that I have to do to keep things running smoothly around the house.  I was thinking about all the things that I have to do and there are a lot that I really despise, some that aren’t too bad and others that I kind of enjoy.  As you might suspect, this is about the ones that I despise.

I have two baskets of clean laundry that have been sitting (one in the living room and one in my bedroom) full of unfolded clothes for over 24 hours.  I really dislike putting clothes away.  I’ll sort whites and colors, actually do the laundry and hell, I would even iron, if I actually needed to iron something, but folding and putting clothes away sucks.

Unloading the dishwasher is another thorn in my side.  I will wash dishes, load the dishwasher and even rearrange the dirty dishes in the dishwasher if someone does it not to my liking, but I loathe putting the dishes away.  I dislike not being able to carry more than 3 or 4 glasses at a time, putting those away, turning around, getting another 3 glasses and placing them on the shelf, etc.  I also dislike when they are still kind of wet or some gross water and food particles have accumulated in an overturned bowl or a divot in the top of a cup.

I watched an episode of Oprah a few years ago and she said she likes to have clean sheets on her bed at least every other day.  Obviously, Oprah wasn’t having to stretch, pull and tug fitted sheets over mattress corners, she probably made Gail do it.  Or pull beds out from the wall, remove copious amounts of stuffed animals or a bed rail in order to get dirty sheets off.  In that same episode of Oprah, they talked to a guy who hadn’t changed his sheets in over 4 years.  While that would be awesome not to have to change sheets once but every showing of the Olympic Games (see how topical I can be?), even that made me want to puke.

I don’t think I’m alone in my next crappy job.  No pun intended.  Cleaning the bathrooms is the worst.  There really isn’t anything for me to elaborate on with this one.  Bathrooms are disgusting by their very nature.  Cleaning them is even more disgusting.

My next domestic duty dislike may surprise a lot of people but I do not like making breakfast.  Even something as simple as a bowl of cereal is an irritation.  I’m not sure why because I do like to cook and if it’s the weekend, I tend not to dislike it as much, but it has long been something that I enjoy.  I think I probably just want to get up, have my coffee and watch the Today Show.

The final detested household chore is taking out the garbage.  Again, not shocking that this is something that I’m not entirely fond of.  Afterall, who likes grabbing a plastic bag stuffed with waste all the while attempting not to touch any of the disposed coffee grounds, food scraps and the occasional moldy piece of cheese found in the back of the refrigerator?  And don’t get me started on the smell.

The best thing about all of my despised drudgeries is that I hear that I can pay someone to do them for me!  Now I just have to figure out that issue of me being incredibly cheap.

A Tag Post

Posted on by
6

Richard from The Last Song I Heard tagged me in one of those blogging challenge type things where I have to answer some questions and then tag 11 other bloggers.  I have about 5 blogs that I follow consistently, 1 being Richard’s.  So I’m going to start off by breaking the first rule of the tag and not forward it to anyone, but I will answer all the questions.

  1. Which colour would you say best represents you?  I don’t know if I really have a color that really represents me, but the color of a clear blue sky at about 10:00am is my favorite color in the world.  It’s so bright and clear – I could stare at it for hours.
  2. If time and money were no object, what would you do with your life?  I think a better question would be “What wouldn’t I do?”  I would travel, travel, and travel some more.  I may end up settling on an island somewhere and flying all of my friends there so I wouldn’t get bored.
  3. What has been your proudest moment or achievement?  My kids.  I know I’m not the best parent, but I do the best I can.  Somehow, I have two kids that are pretty damn awesome despite their crazy ass mom.
  4. Why do you think you are on this Earth?  To make people laugh.  I’m not really good for too much more.
  5. What do you consider to be your greatest strength?  Again, probably my sense of humor.  The only problem with this is if you think you are funny, but you really aren’t, I can’t laugh at your dumb jokes.  I’ll try, because I won’t want you to feel bad, but if you just aren’t funny, you’ll notice I’ll change the subject rather quickly.
  6. Who’s your best friend and why?  Sara is and always will be my BFF.  She has been one person that has always supported me, helped me, been there for me and even taken care of me when I couldn’t take care of myself.  She’s the most selfless person I know.  She has always been someone I admire because her strengths far out weigh any weaknesses she has – I’m not quite sure she has any, though.  I feel like I’m always benefiting more from our friendship because Sara’s giving is infinite.  I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be closer to her if she were my sister.
  7. How would your friends and family describe you?  A pain in the ass.
  8. If you could relive any one moment in your life, without changing a thing, what would it be?  The night that Ryan and I met.  There is something about that lustful first meeting that you can’t help but lose after marriage and kids.
  9. What do you hope to achieve with the rest of your life?  I really want to help people.  I don’t know how or by doing what, but I want to do something that will positively impact at least one person’s life so much that it will give them a whole new outlook on their existence.  I don’t feel like it’s something that can really be achieved with money – we can all give money to people.  I think of it in the way that a good foster parent affects a child that is put into their care during a time when they are scared, alone and confused.
  10. What legacy would you like to leave the world, or, how would you like to be remembered?  I just want people to remember me as smiling.  I don’t really care what anyone thinks of me, but if you hate me and you think of me – I hope my face appears in your mind with a big ass grin on it.  And if you love me…same thing.
  11. Are you happy?  Abso-fucking-lutely!

It’s Rory’s Fault, Or Maybe The Gas

Posted on by
4

This morning I got up around 6:30 when Rory climbed into bed next to me.  Instead of just lying there, he stared at me while I tried to get a couple more minutes of sleep.  That’s worse than having him talking or watching TV because I could feel his eyes burning into my soul.  It was unnerving.

Getting up at 6:30 isn’t a big deal.  I prefer sometime after 7:00, but I’m usually asleep by 9:30…10:30 at the latest.  Yes, I require 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night, which I did get last night, but I was just a little slower to wake up today.

Kamryn woke up around 7:00 and once both children were fed and dressed, we headed over to my brother’s house where my treadmill is currently residing.  I ran my 5 miles, but the last mile was tough.  I could have slowed down, but I just wanted to get it over with.  I had already been on that treadmill for 40 minutes and I could handle another 10 minutes, but 11 minutes?  Out of the question.

Once we got home, I gave the kids a snack and jumped in the shower.  When I got out, I found Rory asleep on the couch.  It was 10:30 in the morning.  I got some water and I was suddenly extremely tired.  I laid down on the couch and was out within a couple of minutes.

I’m not sure how much time had passed, but Rory was standing in front of me with a Spongebob stuffed animal.  When I opened my eyes, he handed Spongebob to me to snuggle with.

My Snuggle Buddy

I took that sponge and fell right back to sleep.  I woke up again at 11:20, Spongebob still in my arms.  Kamryn was sleeping on my legs and Rory was back on the other end of the couch, awake, but very much in a relaxing pose.  If I didn’t have all the windows and balcony door open, I would have thought that there was a carbon monoxide leak.

I’m going to blame Rory for making us all so tired.  He never falls asleep that early – he can almost always hold off until at least 2:30.  Seeing him all curled up on the couch with his blanket just looked too inviting for me not to give it a try.  I have not taken a nap forever – and never as early as 10:30.

Once I finally got up, my legs were so stiff from not moving for almost an hour.  I could barely walk, but I did get up and I slowly started to feel refreshed.  I ate some lunch, fed the kids and by the time I finished eating, I was feeling great.

I figured we were just having a bit of a lazy day and all of our activities were catching up to us again.  Until tonight.  There is some kind of gas leak somewhere and the smell is overwhelming.  I called our gas company and there apparently had been numerous other calls before mine and they were sending someone out to look into it.

Here’s the kicker.  Because I called, I was told I had to stay inside so when the gas guy gets here, he can talk to me.  Uh, it’s going to be hard to talk to me if I get blown up, huh?  I am not allowed to turn anything on or off, I can’t make any phone calls on a landline, open or close any doors, light matches or candles or smoke.  Son-of-a-bitch!  There goes my Tuesday night.  I was going to flick the light switches on and off, get a landline hooked up, have the kids slam a bunch of doors while lying on my bed in my romantically candle lit room, smoking a pack of Marlboros*.

 

*I don’t smoke, but when I did, Marlboros were my brand of choice.

Weekly Menu 7/23 – 7/29

Posted on by
6

I have fallen completely off the wagon in regards to my menus and after Ryan gave me an intervention, I decided to actually go to the store today.  I was able to keep the bill under $200, but by less than $3.  We were out of EVERYTHING!

Here is my proof that I only blog for myself.  The weekly menu posts get by far the most traffic (besides pictures of my son with his hand in his pants).  It’s an easy post too.  I don’t have to come up with clever wording or a story of any kind.  But yet, this is one of the first posts to go by the wayside.  Even my friends tell me that they love the menu posts – no love for my friends either, until today.

Monday – Vegetable Tian – This is basically vegetables that are sauteed and then baked with cheese.  I’ll post the recipe at the end of this email.  I got it from a local magazine when we lived in Iowa.  The recipe is from Chef Kim Zesiger from the Redhead Restaurant in Solon, IA.  I made this and served it over a bed of brown rice.

Tuesday – Chicken and Cashews in Lettuce Cups – It’s been in the upper 80’s for the last few weeks and I can’t handle eating heavy meals when it’s hot outside – I apologize for all of you in the rest of the country where it is in the triple digits.  Living in San Diego has made me a wimp when it comes to extreme temperatures.  This is a really good light meal and the kids like it too.  I have to leave the cashews out for Rory’s portion since he is allergic, but it’s good with or without the nuts.

Wednesday – Foil Packet Fish Crockpot Recipe – The recipe calls for Tilapia, but I had a bad run with Tilapia and it started tasting like dirt so I pick up any other white fish at the store – cod, sea bass, flounder, halibut, etc.  This time I got rock fish.  I was really skeptical of this recipe because warm mayonnaise makes me want to vomit, but it’s actually very good.

Thursday – Tortilla-Black Been Casserole – I don’t know if I have ever made this or not, but it sounds good enough to eat.  It’s also vegetarian (that’s two meatless meals this week!)

Friday – Beef Fajitas – I subscribed to e-diets after I had Kamryn to lose the baby weight.  If you need to loose some lb’s, this works well, but I quit doing it because I had to buy too much stuff and wouldn’t get a chance to use up the entire amount before it went bad.  For example, I would need 1/2 an onion for something and the other 1/2 wouldn’t get used that week and thus would end up in the trash.  Anyway, the recipe is at the end of the post.

Saturday – Turkey Burgers or ribs – Ryan has some ribs that he is going to smoke and he wasn’t up for it last weekend so maybe we’ll have those next weekend.  If he’s still not up for it, we’ll have turkey burgers.

Sunday – It’s My Birthday! – I’m sure my husband has a glorious meal to make for me or is already planning an extravagant dinner out somewhere (with a 5 year old and a 3 year old of course).

I’m also going to make a Midwest Summer Staple:  Creamy Cucumbers!  I ate these every summer and it’s been awhile since I have had them.  They are a perfect side to any dinner or I’ll probably end up eating them for lunch too.

Recipes:

Vegetable Tian

4 to 6 medium zucchini, chopped or sliced

1 medium onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup Gruyere cheese, or any firm, rich cheese will do

Fresh choped parsley

Olive oil for sauteing

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Sautee the onion for about 4 minutes, then add the zucchini.  Continue sauteing zucchini for about 6 more minutes, or until zucchini is slightly brown, adding the minced garlic about halfway through.  Add enough wine to deglaze the pan, but do not drown the zucchini.  Then add the chopped tomatoes and parsley and cook for 2 more minutes.  Spread the mixture into a casserole dish and stir in the shredded cheese, sprinkling the last of the cheese on top of the casserole.  Bake at 325 degrees covered for 15 minutes, then uncovered and brown the cheese on top.

 

Steak Fajitas (From e-diets)

Flour tortillas

1lb steak, cut in strips

1 Green pepper

1 small onion

Cheddar cheese

Chili powder

sour cream

tomato

olive oil

 

Slice all meat and vegetables into strips.  In a skillet, heat oil on medium and stir-fry steak until slightly golden, about 4 – 6 minutes.  Increase heat to medium-high and add vegetables and chili powder to skillet.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently until vegetable are tender but still firm, about another 2 – 3 minutes.  Chop tomato and add to the mixture.  Spread mixture over tortillas, sprinkle with cheese, top with sour cream and serve.

 

Creamy Cucumbers

1 1/2 c miracle whip

1/2 c sugar

1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1/3 c vinegar

Peal and slice 3 or 4 large cucumbers and 1 large onion – mix and sit overnight.

 

Happy eating!

 

 

House Hunter Idiots

Posted on by
4

Ryan and I watch House Hunters, House Hunters International, Property Virgins and Love It Or List It religiously.  Each show features couples looking for a house or condo to buy or sometimes they’ll have someone looking for a rental, but that is typically on the international shows.

First let me say that I am aware of the accusations of these shows being fake, but I don’t really care.  I enjoy looking inside of other people’s houses whether or not they are legitimately for sale or not.  I read an article saying that this misleading information was damaging to potential home buyers in the areas shown because it may give someone the idea that they can afford a house when they actually can’t.  My thought is that you are either approved or denied for a mortgage.  Especially during this time, they aren’t just handing out mortgages to people.

Ryan and I’s favorite part of watching this show is criticizing the buyers.  We get awfully colorful in our nicknames for them.  Typically one of the two buyers are semi-normal and then their spouse is a complete moron.  So if the show is fake and they agreed to put themselves on TV looking like idiots, well, the nicknames still stand.  It’s a win-win for us.

The first criticisms come with the budget and their expectations.  Ryan and I don’t claim to know the ins and outs of every area in the US and what the market is like there, but we bought our first house in Iowa and are looking to buy our next house in California.  The two markets couldn’t be more different.  So if someone is looking to buy a house in Austin, TX, it’s going to be closer to buying a house in Iowa.  New York?  More like California, but way more expensive.

I love it when a couple goes through all of these intricate details of what they want and then tell the host that they have a budget that wouldn’t even cover the cost of a cup of coffee.  Regardless of how much training the host has or how fake the show is, there is still that look of you are out of your damn mind look on their face.

Yesterday there was a woman that wanted all matching fixtures.  The house they were looking at was about $50k under their budget and all she could point out was that there was 3 different colors of fixtures.  It’s like it doesn’t even occur to her that she could replace all of the fixtures with the $50k that she is saving.  Or when they dislike the paint, wallpaper, floors, etc.  I realize that stuff can get expensive, but it doesn’t prevent you from living in the house!  If you have 3 kids and you want them all to have their own room and the house you are looking at has 2 bedrooms.  That’s a deal breaker.  Not ugly carpet.

The other thing that I like to make fun of is when someone steps out into a backyard and says, “Oh, Fifi is going to love running around out here!”  And then at the next house, “There isn’t much room for Fifi to run around.”  Seriously?  You want to get a 15 to 30 year loan for your dog?  When we bought our house, I kept thinking, Shmoopy isn’t going to be around much longer if we have to buff his claw scratches out of the hardwood floors after he dies, that wouldn’t be that big of a deal.   Your dog is not going to outlive your mortgage.

There is always a commercial before they announce what house the couple is going to choose so Ryan and I guess what one the couple will choose.  Ryan is usually right.  I tend to pick the house that I would choose, which tends to be the practical one.  Ryan usually picks the most expensive and he usually wins.

The couple on the show does kind of the same thing.  They discuss all the different options and then one will say, “I know what one I want.”  Their spouse will say, “I know what one I want…”  And then they always agree.  BULLSHIT!  That should have been the first clue that the show is fake.