It's All Happening

Alternate titles for this post: Cat’s out of the Bag and We’re Moving on Up.

So some people might be wondering what the real reason is that I have suddenly dropped off the face of the earth – at least when it comes to online social networking via Twitter, Facebook and my bloggity blog. You might have surmised that I have just been busy, what with work and the kids, which would be true. Between school schedules, t-ball practice, ballet and tumbling, we are always driving to get to or from somewhere. You may have presumed that the kids and/or I got sick and yes my allergies have been kicking my butt, but it is still not the reason for my absence. I would love to say we have been enjoying the warm spring weather but actually we got a teaser and were then struck with chilly temps and ridiculous wind. Then again you may not have missed me at all – I mean I have at least been able to post to the blog about once a week.

But the real reason for my lack of internet time is because it’s all happening and now it would seem that the cat is out of the bag. We are moving on up.

You see when we bought this home 6 years ago, Joe was still planning to be a lifer in the military and we were just going to spend 3 years here and then move onto our next duty station. Then I started working from home, we had another child and Joe decided to get out of the military and join the civilian sector not to mention the fact that with this new job came a need to also maintain a home office. So while our house met our needs at the time we bought it, we really didn’t think about how those needs might change and grow and now we are literally busting at the seams. My "office" is a desk backed up against the sliding glass door of our master and Joe's office is mobile, sometimes setting up shop on our kitchen counter and other times utilizing Jake's student desk in his room. Not exactly ideal.

But we are happy and comfortable and we make it work. With the market the way it is now, it is a great time to buy, but not such a great time to sell and so we figured that we would just have to wait it out. But, we also thought it would be a pretty awesome opportunity if we could take advantage of the market and buy now, while holding onto to our existing house and turning it into a rental. Another factor that has weighed heavily is the fact that we somehow continually find ourselves gravitating toward the next two towns over - I drove first Jake and now Jadyn there for preschool. Jadyn's tumbling and dances classes are there. Our doctors are there. Most of our friends are there. Add to that the fact that it already takes an hour to get to the highway and then another hour to visit family or 30 minutes minimum to the nearest real shopping and restaraunts.

Well we started looking into the feasibility of our little scheme and the stars must have all been aligned just right because in the span of the last two weeks we have been pre-approved, had our offer accepted and opened escrow on a home in Yucca Valley, not to mention the fact that we already have renters for our current home. After years of talking about moving to Yucca Valley and getting a bigger house, it would seem that our dreams are coming true.

And because everything has so far fallen into place, I have been a little skeptical and afraid to get overly excited. In today’s housing market 50% of home purchases that enter escrow end of falling through, usually because of the stricter rules of lending. However, at this point I am starting to gain confidence that this really is going to happen.

So the house has everything we really wanted – 3 bedrooms plus a den, open floor plan where you can see the family room from the kitchen and vice-versa, indoor laundry room, master bed/bath with walk in-closet and separate shower and tub, 3 car garage, fenced back yard on almost ½ acre of land and within the boundaries of one of the better schools in the district. Then there are the nice extras like granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and custom porcelain tile, not to mention we are at higher elevation and will likely see snow a couple times each winter. We are super excited.

Of course with all the reasons that we want to move, there are things that we are going to miss – like the friends Jake and our family have made at his current school, especially his best friend Sam, although we will only be 30 minutes away.

The next couple of months were already going to be busy with spring activities and the kids birthdays but now we are going to throw purchasing a home and moving into the mix. I will be lucky if I get to blog at all. Then again, these days luck seems to be on my side. I better go knock on some wood.