WE HAVE A HOME!!!

Wow! What a week! Last Friday we were notified that Joel's replacement was hired. We needed to go to Virginia to find housing. So in one day, we planned a family trip down to "The Beach" with a prayer in our hearts, that we would find the home that would make all our dreams come true. We set up a million appointments to look at houses, condos, apartments, townhouses, everything but the campground! There is one little problem to renting... No one really wants a dog to live in their house. I don't blame them, I really don't want him either. But he makes Joel and Nora sooo happy, that I can't imagine our family without him. Joel understood that Barkley may be a deal breaker for us. So, we were looking at houses that accepted, and didn't accept dogs. Looking for houses is quite humbling. I would never consider myself to be high maintenance, or spoiled when it comes to my house. Especially if you have been to my house, by looking at it, you would never think that I have high expectations. But, man, this week taught me a thing or two about what I need in a house. My first priority is, surprise surprise, my kitchen. I am very lucky that I have a great kitchen with lots of cabinet and counter space. And I have a DISHWASHER... ultimately, that was a deal breaker, No dishwasher, no deal! The other deal breaker... a wall mounted oven from 1968. I have worked in some OLD apartments, with Harvest Gold, Avocado Green appliances, but I have NEVER seen anything this old before. If we were purchasing, I MIGHT have been able to work with it, because it was in such a great neighborhood, but between that, and no dishwasher, I couldn't justify it. The bathroom was fit for a little girl too. Pink ceramic tile, pink sink, pink tub... wow... if only pink bathrooms would come back in... (no offense to anyone with a pink bathroom, I just see enough pink in my world, I don't need to brush my teeth, and bathe in it!!!) So, no deal to a great neighborhood with not a great house.

Our 2nd option was AMAZING... A small 2 bedroom condo, the back yard was the best... Beautiful private beach! Gorgeous sunrises, beautiful sunsets... the owner offered his personal jet skis. The neighborhood is mostly retired millionaires with fancy cars, toys, houses. The FANCIEST 7-11 I have ever been in. Great area. Not too crowded, or too busy. We spoke with a couple of locals, and they loved the area! People running their dogs on the beach was a plus. Let me reiterate for everyone who would come visit, VERY SMALL! We would be leaving 2/3 of our belongings here.

The third choice... a very cute practical 3 bedroom house! The neighborhood was a little tight, but so is almost every hood down there. There are soooo many people there! The house had almost everything we were looking for. Unfortunately the back yard was a little different,
But the new kitchen helped a little bit.

We narrowed it to the obvious 2 choices, 2 and 3. Knowing that the first choice was so out of our entire lifestyle, we really wanted it! We only have one child. If we don't take this condo now, we may never get this opportunity again. They didn't want Barkley there, but heck, with a view like that, Barkley who? (I am not a dog lover!) Even if it meant getting rid of our fun things, like sewing, tools, toys, most of my cooking/baking stuff, it was all worth it.

The house was so practical for us. So cute! Right by the bases, so there is a lot of jet noise, but the adorable inside of the house was worth it. We hadn't talke about the dog at all, and thought it might be our of the question for them to consider the dog. Joel's thoughts were, if we can't have the dog, then I need to be on the beach. The house also had a fence down in the back yard, that Joel could fix. The owners live in Ca. and are managing it themselves. Since both Joel and I have experience in property management, we pitched our proposal- let us have the dog, and take a few bucks off every month, we'll fix the fence, and not call the second something breaks. We sent the email. If it comes back a "No" then we are moving to the beach. If it comes back a "Yes" then we know where we need to be. After over 24 hours of not hearing back... I was sweating... but we did hear back... wanna know what the answer is? STAY TUNED!!!!