Excitement all around.

Tim and I closed on our new home today! We had our final walk through this morning. Amber, our friend and real estate agent was supposed to meet us for closing this afternoon.

She had a good excuse for not making it. She went into labor and is having her little boy any minute now. Congratulations Amber! What a memorable day for both of us.

Did I mention that I love the Fourth of July?

Tim and I spent the weekend with family and friends. Saturday we celebrated Mom's birthday early because Sarah, Troy, and Breacy were able to come up from Vegas for the weekend. At night we would come home exhausted from playing all day and I would drag Tim out in the dark to have a little more fun. I bought some SUPER SPARKLERS and Tim and I would run around like little kids (unfortunately there are no picture of this since our hands were full.)

What a mischievous look!

Tim and I spent our Fourth of July evening at the Vala's having a delicious dinner and hanging out with some of the neighbors for fireworks. Somersaults and cartwheels on the lawn barefoot with the kids made me giggle and feel like I was five again. I took sparklers for the kids (the small sparklers, not the supersize) and we went through six boxes in under twenty minutes.
And an update on the house....we were excited to hear that the seller is leaving her gas dryer, along with a few other things, which will save us some cash for now. That means the money we were going to put towards a new washer and dryer can now go towards....patio furniture? A new couch for the living room? Or the chicken coop? We will have to think about that.

The world is our candy store.

Now that we are waiting to close on our new home and no longer haggling about fixes, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted. I'm sure that in the next two weeks life is going to become completely chaotic as moving day comes near. But until then, we are trying to enjoy every blissful moment we can.

Keeping our home and yard in mind, it seems like the world is a giant candy shop and we are the little kids exploring all the possibilities. Walking through gardens we look about with fresh eyes to see what might be a good fit for us. What flowers attract the birds, butterflies, or bees we would like to be in our yard. Daydreaming together has never been more fun.

On Saturday we spent the day with family and enjoyed good food with great company. Sunday we went to Murray Park with the dogs then went to Tracy Aviary to explore the new changes. The pictures are in reverse order (still learning about adding pictures.....next time I will be smarter and add last to first!)

This little guy was begging for food.

Love the bright color these flowers bring.

New planters at the Aviary. See, we really are paying attention. Tim wants something like this for the yard and patio.

Tim's boyish grin (one of my favorite things about him!) is for the new fence. We are planning on building something similar for our garden area.

I tried to get a shot of both of us, but this is the best my short reach could do. I have to admit I still like the way it turned out.

Flooding at Murray Park.

Tim taking Lady to play in the water. The reflection in the water was beautiful.

A fire pit and picnic tables that are now in a pond.

The water was raging, so we were careful to not get too close.

There is a great little garden area in the northwest corner of the park.

You can see the water level had comedown by the mark on the tree.

A hummingbirds view of some pretty flowers.

And finally, the beginning of the weekend, enjoying a beautiful summer day at Jason and Feliece's house. I hope you all had as lovely as weekend as we did.

House Hunting or Daily Bartering

It is official. Tim and I are about to become certified grownup adults. We have spent the better part of the last several months looking at houses on the internet, driving by houses to check out the neighborhoods, talking to our agent, touring houses, and finally putting offers on houses. Yes, that is right, we put an offer in on more than one. No, it was not at the same time. Our agent, who happens to be very pregnant, was incredibly patient with us. The first was cute with a nice floor plan and a spacious backyard that was completely fenced including a dog run. If you know me well, at this point you might be wondering why I want a dog run.......more on that later. It had a great view from the east bench, easy access to the freeway but tucked away into a nice neighborhood, and near some great parks and schools. Things were cheery and bright and we put in an offer. The people rejected it and wanted the original asking price. We counter offered but they still wanted the original asking price. Their agent said they are upside down in the house but the husband is being relocated for work *we may have seen a paper saying he is a special FBI agent, but would probably deny it if anyone asked* and a relocation company is willing to give them fair market value. The problem is they owe more than the fair market value, or so they say. So we walked away and went looking at other houses. We spent several more days looking for the right fit. Finally we found what felt like home. We even spent a day walking through the first house we put an offer on and the "home" we wanted to get and both felt like we were making the right decision. Oh, by the way, the first home is now asking for less than what we first offered. We still like our "home" more. We both knew that if we were patient the right home would come along, and here it is. It has all the elements Tim and I wanted. A decent sized yard for Tim to play in, a nice floor plan, windows that let in plenty of light, not to mention friendly neighbors on both sides. And it is a two car garage, which is not very common in this area. I love the hardwood floors and the "old house" feel. Lucky for us, previous owners renovated and updated the wiring, plumbing, and air conditioning. Our inspector told us it was like we are buying what looked like an old home on the outside and a brand new home on the inside. That said, it is not perfect but perfect for us. I already have a list of projects to be done. Here is part of the back patio. Tim has plans for us to eat dinner out here nightly as long as the weather lasts. It will be great to have an "outdoor room" to enjoy. The back yard, a.k.a. Tim's space. Plenty of room for gardening, dogs, and hopefully hens. That is right, hens as in chickens. My boss has been spoiling us with fresh eggs the last year and Tim had chickens as a child, so why not give it a try. The Tour de Coops this past weekend helped further educate us on what type of coop might work for our hen house.

Let me get back on track and finish telling the story of our home. We spent several days bartering back on forth about a few things that need to be fixed. The former owner is a lawyer, so it was like going to battle each day, but we stuck we our guns and all parties came away happy in the end. In about three weeks or sooner we should close and have the keys to our new nest.


These are just a few of the ladies we saw on the tour. Can't wait to have a few of our own.