Part Two

Ok, ok, here it is. The second half of the story. We moved into our hotel in the business section of Denver, unpacked, and called our realtor. My FIL, who is also a realtor, did some researching for us and found an AWESOME lady to be our realtor, who totally listened to us, was completely honest about every place we picked out and didn't try to get us to look at stuff out of our price range. We made home searching our full time job while trying to entertain two small children and figure out which was is which since the mountains out here are on the wrong side. Bill still had to check into work, we still needed to do normal errands like grocery shopping and I had to find stuff to do during the day because 300 square feet is not much space to play. Fortunately there is a public pool/water park in the area that is CHEAP (like $8 cheap) and not like the actual Travel Channel water parks. We googled local parks, we went shopping, we somehow survived the very long four weeks in that hotel.

We looked at a dozen or so houses all along the eastern side of Denver. I had done so much research before we left San Diego that I knew what schools were good, which areas were low crime and what kind of neighborhoods we'd be looking at (thank you google maps). We saw the *perfect* house on our third trip out. It was like a page out of the Pottery Barn catalog. I was ready to make an offer right then and there. Thankfully I'm not impulsive because there was no growing room. What you saw was what there was, which meant no guest room/office/craft room. Boo. We looked at two foreclosures that were amazing. Unfortunately, they both had multiple offers and we didn't have time on our side. The house we ended up deciding on, we'd looked at twice and turned down twice. I thought it was too close to the main road and the eating area was way too small, but other than that, it was a great house. After you compare home after home, certain things seem workable and the home you've rented for the past six years in the quietest neighborhood ever and the excessive square footage become obvious that there was a reason you were renting. Um, because we couldn't afford to buy a place like that, that's why! So we put in our offer, expecting a counter offer. Years of watching HGTV makes me think that I'm an expert when knowing what to expect. They countered but it was hardly noticeable. We closed in thirty days and voila! We bought our first home. I never thought I'd buy anywhere other than California. It's fun and exciting and all, but I'm thinking I would have been elated had it been where I wanted. Maybe, eventually, this IS where I'll want to be. Our neighborhood is great. We met more of our neighbors here the first weekend than we'd met at our old neighborhood the entire time we lived there. My kids are outside playing with friends every single day which didn't happen back "home". We were invited to a block party our first week here. The kids' school is superb. I might think that about any school after leaving the brokest state in the west. My kids actually have art! And music! And computers! That's just crazy talk. They started late because the school is on a year round calendar. Who would think that school starts in July?? Then there was that whole pesky thing of proving that you actually lived in the district.

We're moving a lot more slowly than I'd thought as far as settling in goes. The air up here is thin, and it truly does make for more work. We've been in the state for two and a half months and I still get winded going up the stairs. I have painting and decorating to do. I need to act like I know how to sew curtains and put up some window treatments. We still need to finish opening boxes. Ugh! Just about the time we get it done, it will be time to move again. I long to buy our 'forever' home while living in this transitional state of our life.

To add to the pile, Bill had rotator cuff surgery a month ago which meant a lot of time devoted to him, and not the house. He's been incredibly agile using only one arm. As one new friend calls him, "Chicken Wing". All the 'guy' projects I need him to get done are waiting patiently. Too bad he'll be ready to do them when the weather is even colder than it is now. Oh...and crazy lady? The woman I mentioned in a previous post? Yeah, we got a call from our insurance that she's claiming injury. When the adjuster came out to take pictures of the car, he laughed. "Uh, well, it looks like you've got a LOT of damage there. Seems you'll need to get a new license plate frame." Darn it! And I was saving up for a Coach purse, too. Thank GOD I took pictures. Insurance has them and hopefully crazy lady will disappear.

There's so much more that has happened here. You'll just have to have faith that I will blog again ;)