12/26/22 Goodbye California, Hello Washington!
It turns out that driving in the Bay Area on Boxing Day is actually the BEST!! I have never seen so little traffic on the I-80s: 680 and 880 and 580 etc. It was the most beautiful thing. Especially since our drive was 14 hours anyway….
Fortunately, the drive was pretty uneventful. And we had the finest Little Caesar’s pizza that I have ever had in my life. And, we are officially back in Washington!! Welcome Home!!
Back in the PNW (12/27/22)
It has been wonderful to spend so much time with family and friends. But it really wreaked havoc on our routines. (The best kind of havoc!!)
And so now, we begin the task of trying to get back into our routines. Though, admittedly, we didn’t push it too hard today, cause everyone was still tired from our late arrival.
I went to Costco. And it was quite the experience. It was a business center and so EVERYTHING was in MEGA Costco bulk (as opposed to regular Costco bulk). Though they did still have a decent number of regular Costco items. And, in spite of the fact that it was a Tuesday afternoon, I have never seen a Costco so empty in my life. Apparently all the business types do their shopping early in the day.
We hung around a bit (it was LATE when we got in), And all throughout the day, we exclaimed over little things:
“Oh, there are so many blackberries! Awwww… It’s so Washington”
“This is such a Seattle day!”
“Oh, I forgot how early it gets dark in the winter….We have got to make sure our house has good light.”
“Oh my gosh. The water is so delicious. I forgot how good the water is here”
Etc….
One of the highlights of our current Airbnb? The smart fridge with a screen. You can draw on it. 
Logan’s artistic rendition of his father. 
Close up 
I went to a Business Center Costco….and I have NEVER seen a Costco as empty as this. Plus, it was an experience!! 
So ty ty. 
These poor pants are literally on their last (shredded) leg. 
Clara’s art station (There is actually a desk in this house!) 
A projector!!! 
House Hunting Begins & Ashland 12/27-30/22
Jonathan immediately got the ball rolling on the house-hunting front, reaching out to various lenders and real estate agents. And we met with our agent, Angela the next day. And we decided that we would go look at houses on the upcoming Saturday (New Year’s Eve!)
It was the weird time between Christmas and New Year’s when nothing is happening and so things were really quiet at work for Jonathan. Plus, we were wanting to get things going even sooner, so we decided to go check out some brand new houses out in Lake Tapps and Bonney Lake.
They were all beautiful houses. One house in Lake Tapps in particular, the Ashland model, seemed particularly awesome. And the lot was a really good size!! Plus, the builder was having an ‘end of the year’ sale; the price was going to go up by about $30K in a couple of days. We were into it!
The next day, we went out to see Ashland again. (We also stopped at a few other new developments too. Things were truly dead at work.) And we brought a measuring tape and started measuring things. It was so many of the things that we had been hoping to find. Plus it was already done. And we’d be able to move into it in a month.
So, we decided to sign a contract (Dec 30th). We did this at Chick Fil A. Cause we’re cool. And cause the kids could play in the play area and give us a moment to actually read what we were signing. And it was a done deal (well almost, we still needed to send earnest money)
We had signed a contract. However, I will admit that there were a few things that we had some misgivings about. Not deal breakers necessarily. But just things…. We had 7 days to back out of the contract on Ashland without penalty. And so, we decided that we would still go look at houses with our agent, Angela.
12/29/22- Happy 13th Anniversary!!
This was one of our quieter anniversaries. Basically, we spent it house hunting. And then, we fed the kids and put them to bed, and we got take out from one of our a favorite places. Cafe Rio, how I have missed thee!
13 years have sure gone fast! Look at these little babies, they had no idea what was coming or how much gray hair they would accumulate:
12/31/22 OUR House
Saturday came and off we went with Angela to look at houses!
We walked into the first house. And it just *felt* like a family home. That’s really the only way I can describe it. I definitely didn’t feel that way with Ashland…. For our family, this felt so much more right.
And, *Spoiler* this is ultimately, the one we chose.
We went and saw several other lovely houses. But this was the one. We decided that we would put in an offer on Monday.
NYE CELEBRATION
After house hunting, we came home and began our New Year’s Eve celebrations. We had a delicious charcuterie spread, had some bubbly, had some fun with some glow sticks, and we all went to bed before midnight…. Just how I like New Year’s Eve: quiet and with my favorite people.
Happy New Year, y’all!!
