Yep... it's official. We're moving back to California on October 5th (13 days—ahhh!)
Why?
Well, Brad got a job offer and has been in negotiations for a while. They finally gave him the official green light on Friday. That's not the reason we decided to move but we wouldn't have just packed up and left without him having a job at all.
It has been eight years since I've lived near family and I think we're all just at a point where we need each other. Brad and I have lived in Florida three years and it has been the best experience I could ask for... this state has truly stolen my heart. I'll be back someday.
But right now I'm ready for something new. You know those times in your life where you just need a big change? Maybe it's just me, but I can't do routine for very long. Every now and then I've gotta switch things up in a big way. I just hope that transitioning from city to country life is the answer. I guess that remains to be seen...
Where will we be living?
My grandpa passed away earlier this year, at which point my grandma moved into a rest home. My parents took control of their house and have been slowly preparing it to become a rental. Lucky for us, the timing worked out perfectly so that it will be ready just in time for us to move right in. And it's just down the street from my parents. It's a 3 bedroom house that's just a bit larger than our current home and will be perfect for us—for now.
Once I file my taxes next year (Feb/March), we can start house shopping. Because I'm self employed, I have to provide two full years of taxes to count my income towards a new mortgage, so that's why we'll need to wait a bit longer. In the meantime we'll just save as much as we can because I have big plans for our new home :)
What are we doing with our house?
Easy answer—renting it out. Rental rates are so high here compared to housing prices, we'd be crazy to sell. We've hired a property management company to find a renter and she believes it will go fast. Fingers crossed!
What's going to happen to the blog in the meantime?
I'm not sure, to be honest. My grandpa's house could use some updating, that's for sure... I'm just not sure if we'll decide to tackle those projects since we'll be living there for such a short time. We really just have to wait and see how everything pans out. At the very least I'll periodically drop in to share some updates on our new life.
Biggest concern?
This one:
Poor thing has no idea what's coming her way. I'm sure she'll eventually learn to settle in to her new surroundings, but Brad and I are both dreading the full day of travel. She can't even stand to be in a room with new people, let alone stuck in a crate for 3+ hours of driving, 2 hours of airport time and 7 hours of flying in one day. Poor thing is going to be scarred for life.
I've been doing my research on how to make this as easy for her as possible, and I'm making an appointment with the vet next week to get her some medication, but I'm afraid it won't be enough. Anyone have any good tips for traveling with super anxious scaredy cats?
Now comes the fun part of packing.... we've already started:
We have a showing in a few hours so I'd better start cleaning. I hope you all continue to follow along through this next chapter in our lives. I have so many exciting ideas swirling around in my head for our next home... now I'll have six months or so to save up and plan.
Country life, here we come...
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