You all have been praying, I can tell!
We arrived in San Diego on Friday evening tired but safe and sound. We had driven about 2200 miles in 5 days. We didn't stop too much to do sightseeing. I guess we'll have to go back later and see the sights we think we missed out on.
My favorite parts of the drive were immediately west of Dallas/Fort Worth off of highway 180. It was so beautiful there in the canyons with the mesquite bushes!
The other area I thought gorgeous was west of Hobb's, New Mexico. The mountains going down into the valley by Alamogordo and White Sands, New Mexico . . . beautiful!! I believe that area was called, Lincoln National Forest.
It was hot in southern Arizona and eastern California. The temperature reaching 103 degrees. We drove west through the Cleveland National Forest in California and it kept getting cooler. By the time we reached our hotel around 5 pm Friday it was 71 degrees. It has stayed that temperature for the last three days.
We hit the ground running on Saturday morning. We drove by properties and called for appointments to view houses I have been watching on craigslist. By noon Saturday we had driven by 6 properties and had an appointment to view a property at noon.
(Home on working cattle ranch with cool aviary pens and corrals with donkey's! Way too far out=long commute so this wasn't even a consideration. . .I just wanted to see it in person. I still love the location.)
(this house was very small at 1100 sq. ft. but the property would allow garden, chickens, and other animals such as horses. We kept this one on the list even though I knew the house would be too small. It also was in town, but rural on 3/4 of an acre)
(of course you know, this is the one I LOVED from the ad and pictures. The property management office was closed over the weekend so we were unable to view it. We did drive by it, it was so surrounded by trees, all we managed to glimpse was the roof. The commute would have been about 40 minutes and this place was very rural
)
Our appointment at noon lasted TWO hours! We filled out a credit check and application and signed our rental agreement yesterday (Sunday). We've
NEVER EVER had a house hunt last only
3 hours. We are so blessed and just amazed at answered prayer at every turn in our lives!!
May I also say, that though the house is not in the country-country, it answered every one of my prayer requests?!
- country
- acreage
- cute house
- ability to garden
- ability to keep chickens
- ability to keep a small animal, such as a goat or sheep for 4-H type of project
(that is a picture of our pasture/garden/ future chicken coop and the neighbors house where they keep 3 horses)
(breezeway/patio)
kitchen/dining
(den)
(My husband with one of the Landlords, Debbie)
This home was the longtime family home of a family of 6. The home has been in the family since it was built in 1957. The parents are both gone now and the 4 children are using this property as an investment property. It had been UN-livedin for 4 years as the family sorted through their parents things, dividing them up. I've been watching the listing on craigslist since March. We are not their first tenants as they own some type of apartments as well. They've also been dis-allusioned by recently vacated tenants who left them with unpaid rent and a HUGE mess. We are moving into their family home, so they are pretty firm in how they want the property to remain. We wanted them to expose the hardwood floors . . . they will be buying NEW carpet for the entire house. I wanted to paint at least a semi-gloss in the bedrooms but it will remain flat paint. There are a few other quirky things but they are not unreasonable. We're praying they loosen up with us when they get to know us and our steady rent payments!
I'm excited to decorate. I've already decided on quilts for the bedrooms and which room will be which.
The Master bedroom is 14X22 with dual master closets AND a Master bathroom. (I've never had a master bathroom before!) This bathroom has a bit of chocolate brown tile.
(This is the quilt I picked. I'll sew up a turquoise dust ruffle and use cream colored sheets)
The room I chose as the office is the second largest bedroom at 15X15. It will generously fit our big desk, my students home school desk, all the bookshelves and a twin size bed. I'll try to find a turquoise/robins egg blue bedding set to match the paint on my big desk. This room also has dual closets. One will be my craft storage area, the other for #2 son's Lego's.
The smallest bedroom is still a good size at 12X13. It will fit a king size bed, nightstand and dresser. This will be #2 son's room and the guest room for when we have company. It has a good size single closet.
I picked the tropical duvet cover. It has palms, a sail boat, deserted island and a beach scene.(you may find it here I'll use maps and nautical accessories to decorate.
The main bath has two sinks. Pink tile within the bathtub area and neutrally painted tile on the outside. The house is full of closets and has a big linen closet in the hall I'll use as my pantry. The carpet the landlady has picked is a semi shag in a creamy tan color with dark brown flecks.
It looks as if our things will be delivered to the new place June 19th and we move in on June 15th. I'll be sure to keep you posted as to the unpacking and decorating progress. We'll be without internet for the coming weekend.
Thank you so much for praying for us. We feel so blessed by God to have HIM answer so many prayers recently.
Have a great week!
