We're Moving!

Yes, its just a few weeks before Christmas and we are boxing up our things and heading out of here. Crazy timing with the holidays but pretty cool that we'll be leaving exactly 10 years after we first moved in. Ten years!! That's a decade of living in our 2-bedroom, barely 700 sq ft, newlywed apartment. We've loved our little place for many reasons. The location has been the greatest thing, but we've also enjoyed fun neighbor friends for Kyle, the pool, and a great community/outdoorsy/beach vibe. Our rent has always been incredibly low and has only increased by $40 throughout our entire time here. Because it's been so affordable, we were able to manage when Rudy was in school and I was either laid off or working part-time. It has also meant that ever since Rudy's been working as a PT, we've been able to save. We knew that if we even considered moving just one apartment over, we'd increase our rent drastically. So, we stayed while building up our nest egg for the hope that we could one day buy a home. A crazy dream in Orange County.

In late September, we started really exploring our home-buying options by enrolling in a class and finding a lender/meeting Realtors. We pretty much had everything out on the table, including moving out-of-state. We prayed a lot for direction and after looking in surrounding areas for quite a while, we knew we'd need to keep saving. In the meantime, for multiple reasons, we realized it's best for our family to move on. Searching for an affordable rental home, however, was more depressing and time-consuming than we could have imagined. We spent countless hours over the last few months looking at properties online and driving the boys from house to house only to come up dry. It was so discouraging and exhausting. Kyle would say, "No, not another house!" Anything remotely affordable was either a scam, too far away from our jobs, or snatched up before we could even pick up the phone to inquire. It generally boiled down to a few things. We wanted to find a property that felt safe, clean (surprisingly difficult to find), and one that wouldn't practically triple our current rent (and therefore prohibit us from saving as much as we'd like). We were also looking to find something closer to our jobs. Were we asking too much?! :)

Sadly, we just couldn't find anything that fit the bill. Day after day, scam after scam, and lost house after lost house...we started to think we'd never find a place. Finally, we found some legitimate options. We were faced with a lot of decisions and ultimately we chose a house that was an improvement in just about every way but was also the most affordable. This one, although not much to look at from the outside, just felt right. I'd heard it said that after looking at dozens of homes you'd just "know" when you walked into the one meant for you. It's true! This place felt exactly that way. The area, neighborhood, and property (on the inside!) just felt like home. And the price was right! Hooray!

This past couple of weekends have been spent boxing up our belongings and getting the apartment ready for inspection. In our ten years here we've really made the place our home, so there were lots of walls to prime and nail holes to patch.

Ru's been amazing at tackling our proyectos. Thanks to him, we have a shot at getting our deposit back! ;)

Thanks to my family, we've had hours of uninterrupted time to work. :)

Kyle's been super excited to go to a house where he can run around and be a kid. He's helped in many ways. :)

Counting down the hours till we get our keys and start the process of moving and settling in. It's a TON of work but will be more than worth it!