Pit Stops

After leaving Fayetteville we stopped in Durham. Mom had graciously taken the older boys for the last few days of packing- they had museum dates and playground time and were overall spoiled! We continued our perpetual Christmas after having done round one in DC with Brian and Kate a few weeks earlier, and then hit the road

The next stop was Snellville to see/ say "see you later" to /have perpetual Christmas #3 with Geoff's family. The highlight for the boys was a chance from Grandma and Dudad to see REAL LIVE SUPERHEROES a.k.a. tickets to see the Marvel Live stage show.

After passing through Louisiana we got a fun fun stop in Dallas. We stayed with my uncle and cousin and got to visit Shenaniganz, a fun entertainment center whose owners are the family of a sweet friend from high school. My cousin Kristen came to play too and we enjoyed the arcade, putt putt, go carts and bounce houses- my friend Nicki even left us a car trip survival kit at the front desk for us!

On the way out of town the next morning we stopped by the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. Once upon a time an art group installed 10 half buried Cadillacs off I-40 that people tag with graffiti. Nothing says Merry Christmas(Eve) like some spray paint so we added our own!

On The Road Again

Here We Go

All our bags are packed

We're ready to go (to CALIFORNIA)

 

Bigger House

We got offered a 4 bedroom today! Its beautiful and I am so so so relieved. Geoff even got to do a drive by and snapped this picture...

slightly cuter than the image I lifted from google maps

It is 2064ft, downstairs the door opens to a family room and half bath, then in the back is a dining room/eat in kitchen. Upstairs the master is in front (where that balcony is) with two bedrooms in the back, then one bed room and one study in that section above the garage! -this is the best copy I can get of the floor plan-

fingers crossed

psssst. I just checked the wait list for a 4 bedroom in Monterey

oh man, oh man, oh man-- our friends got offered one at number 4... fingers crossed big time that that might happen to us in the next 3 weeks. almost all of the 4 bedroom homes have a full study too basically making it a 5 bedroom- Davis won't have to live in the storage room downstairs and there would be a guest room for everyone to come and play!!! fingers crossed, fingers crossed for real

Just call us Mr. & Mrs. Landlord

WE HAVE RENTERS!
Last week we showed the house twice, once early in the week to a wife/Mom, her son and the son's girlfriend and then once on Friday to the husband/Dad. Today we got word that they want it for 18months (PERFECT) in order for their son to stay through graduation at Jack Britt, the high school district that we're in. cue the angels singing. cue a HUGE sigh

This week's "can't wait to see this in real life" picture is the Dennis The Menace Playground. 

The created of the famous comic strip set out to build the most perfect kids park in 1956. It is in Monterey at Lake El Estero and just happens to be across the street from Grant's school! I foresee LOTS of time here

We won't be homeless!

We were offered a house in Monterey today! The military neighborhood of La Mesa, which is what we wanted. We'll accept it, its 3 bedrooms and 1,724sq ft- but will keep our fingers crossed that a 4 bedroom becomes available and offered to us sometime between now and Christmas...

Any Questions?

Shake it Off

When the stress from moving/holidays/packing gets to you... shake it off, shake it off!

A lot can happen in 20 days

It turns out, in just three short weeks you can...
-get orders
-get on the housing wait list
-confirm preschool enrollment
-decide back and forth if you are going to move yourself, or have the army move you
-arrange for a POD delievery
-pack away "non-essential for 18months" things
-rearrange plans/cancel some really fun things in order to pack
-have your mother-in-law fly up and rock out some POD packing
-decide on a property manager and sign your house up for rent
-finish Christmas shopping (because your house will be packed up by then)
-and have knee surgery to boot!

Life... its not boring right now

Monterey Bay Aquarium: where real ocean tide pools become exhibits

We have RFO!

RFO= Request for Orders

Nothing can happen (movers scheduled, get on the wait list for housing in California, etc) without orders. Geoff got his RFO today so hopefully in a few days we will have orders and get things hoppin'

If all goes according to MY plan (you know, because the universe bows down and goes out of its way to accommodate ME) we will be packed up the week before Christmas and house will be magically rented out to someone who happens to need a place at Bragg for 18months starting Jan 1. We want to live in on base housing out there- we've heard the on base school is not so great but because Monterey is prime real estate, places don't like renting to people with dogs and we've heard utilities can be sky high.... so hopefully the wait list won't be too bad and we can cut out a few headaches.

I'll leave you with my mental sanity picture. If you don't know, I have a love affair with waterfalls- always have. In 3 months I'll be able to see this in person, and its the light at the end of this crazy tunnel!

(McWay Falls along CA route 1 in Los Padres National Park)

Extra! Extra! read all about it

Well, it looks like Grandma and her school buddies might get their wish, the blog might get a revival!

We learned yesterday that we are headed to Monterey, California this winter for the next 18month!
Its a crazy fast move but we are excited for some west coast adventures. We know we'll need to keep all of our east coast (and everywhere else for that matter) friends up-to-date on our happenings and here just might be the best way to do that....

stay tuned!