So, I guess you can say a few small (and by small I mean huge) changes have happened in the past few months. To catch up quickly, we have relocated all the way across the country from Jacksonville, Florida, to Irvine, California (in Orange County, between LA and San Diego).
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| A sweet gift from my co-workers |
Bob was promoted about a year ago at Mazda and had implemented a new program in the Southeast Region that was very successful, so in mid-June Mazda asked him to come out here to their North America headquarters and implement this program throughout the country. This was actually the fifth opportunity we've had to relocate with Mazda (one was even to Japan), and Bob and I both felt God's peace that the time and circumstances were right to make the move. So by early July our Jacksonville home was on the market and we were searching for an apartment in California. Bob began working here the first week of July, and Silas and I came to the west coast the first week of August.
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| Moving van leaving our Jax home |
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| Silas was a trooper on the plane |
One of the biggest blessings about this change is it is giving me the chance to take some time off work and embrace the stay-at-home mom role, or as I like to say, be a "real housewife of Orange County". Ha! I'm very thankful to have this opportunity, but I also admit that it's a huge adjustment and I really miss going to work. Our plan is to make the transition to a new place and get settled, then re-evaluate around the beginning of 2014. A perfect situation would be finding a good part-time job, but it's too soon to say where we'll land or what is in God's plan.
Another big change has been downsizing from our spacious 2200+ square foot home, with a double garage and two porches and a big yard, to an adequate but much smaller 1000 square foot apartment. We had a massive garage sale and got rid of many things, and so far we seem to be fitting just fine (we have a one-car garage being used for some storage). We're sad to lack an extra bedroom for guests, but we'll make do with the couch as needed. :) We also are very sad that Lisa did not trek to the west coast with us, so we're missing the live-in nurse / sister / aunt. The apartment complex is brand new, which is nice, and very large with great amenities. Silas and I have easy access to a resort-style swimming pool, a playground, and a great biking/running path, so we're taking full advantage!
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| I get to hang out with this handsome guy every day. |
The apartment also is only a mile from Bob's office, which is very convenient, and has also allowed us to downsize into having only one vehicle. So we are driving him to and from work on some days, or some days we stay busy with activities here at the apartment and he takes the car, and some days Bob walks or bikes to work. We expect to be here at least for a year, and then perhaps purchase a home that will probably be a little further away where things are a little more affordable (but still cause significant sticker shock coming from the southeast). Our Jacksonville home would cost 3-4 times here, so if/when we do purchase, it will be much smaller and possibly a condo or town home. I'm a little excited to play house hunter and look for places, but also fearing the reality of how far a dollar will (or will not) go in this market.
We have a buyer for our Jacksonville home (a huge praise) but the deal is stalling because there's an unexpected issue with the title from when we bought the house. A big headache and something that makes me want to be angry with whomever didn't do their job properly during the closing back then...but, what can you do. I'm trying to stay thankful that we have a buyer and remind myself that I am blessed beyond measure, even if selling the house has been difficult.
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| A Friday evening at Laguna Beach |
The weather here is amazing (highs in the upper 70's and no humidity), and there are a seemingly endless number of activities and attractions to keep us busy. The challenge is finding the cheap and free ones as we're adjusting to the one-income budget. The beaches and mountains and parks and other natural attractions have been tops on our list so far.
More soon. Love you and miss you all!
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