Long Absence

Hey Y'all.

I apologize for my long absence (again). The truth is, there is a lot going on in our household, which you all may or may not know about.

No, I'm not pregnant. We're not ready for that yet.

The hustle around here stems from something big, though not as big as a baby. Tony and I are buying a house. In southern California. Because...we started to like it here. Well, not just like it--love it. We've made good friends here, and the jobs can't really get much better for either me or Tony than the ones in San Diego. Biotech is HUGE here. There is a strong military presence, and lots of government jobs for Tony. There are many other reasons that factor into our decision, but I won't belabor the point. The fact is, we are deciding to make a home out of this place--buying a house in the hopes of living in it for a very long time.

We are far away from our family, which is hard. But, in reality, they are only a plane ride away, and that's the way it has been for both of us for over 6 years now.

So, we are in contract for a house, which, if everything goes as planned, will be ours in less than a month. There are things that could still go wrong and delay the process, but I'm stepping out in faith and posting a few pictures of the place here before we actually have the keys.

Perhaps now you'll understand my absence--it's been a rollercoaster these last few weeks, and I haven't had much time to take pictures and update.

I hope you'll forgive me!

Here's the house, from the end of the cul-de-sac and from the driveway:

We have an avocado tree!

And some palm trees...

And some gophers (or snakes). I'm hoping for the former.

There is a lot of succulent plants around southern California. We are in a desert climate, and the native plants reflect that fact.

Also, there are lizards everywhere. When you spot them, the start to do push-ups as an aggressive action.

Ok, on to the good stuff...

For you especially interested folks, here's the floorplan:

Here is our kitchen, and gigantic pantry space. We have two of these large cabinets in the kitchen/dining room area!

The bedrooms are a bit lack luster right now--once they are furnished there will be better pictures to come. The house has four bay windows with seating--two in the living room, and one in two of the three bedrooms.

Here's a view of the living room. The bay windows are across from the fireplace, which has some pretty detailing on it.

Tony's favorite part of the house is probably the garage area--it's huge! It has a workbench already built in, so he has lots of space to work on projects, in particular the coug.

In the backyard we have a storage shed that will house all of the lawn and garden tools we are going to have to purchase (can't wait to hemorrhage more money).

We also have a deck! I can't wait to entertain on it, and just enjoy the view.

(Yes, that's a swing set. No, I haven't played on it due to the unholy amount of spiders.)

I can't wait to post more pictures once we've made the place our own!

Now, I'd like to end with some prettiness. Thanks for being patient with me!