Well, we went and did it. Today, we drove out and signed the papers to purchase a new house. It's exactly what we wanted, and after all the research, knew it suited all our needs. Even better, we got the upgraded kitchen cabinets for free, as well as found out that the original date we'd been estimated had been revised. We had initially been told the house wouldn't be done until Sept/Oct., but now, we have an escrow date of 8/28, with our walk through scheduled on 8/24. I want it to be August now!

But this is the house we've wanted, and waited for. I can easily see us there for at least the next 10-12 years, our promise to the kids that this will be it until after they graduate high school (barring unforeseen life changes). That means pets are on our horizon as well.

Life is good. :)

So with the California housing market finally getting a tad more reasonable, Craig and I have been house hunting for the past month or so. While we've found a couple, we're heavily leaning toward buying new with Pulte. Does anybody have any experience with new homes, or advice to offer? We've done research online, but I'm curious about personal experiences/knowledge if you have some.

I've gotten so lazy about posting in LJ since I discovered Twitter. I like being able to post random thoughts and reactions in tiny tidbits, so here are just a few highlights of my life lately:

1. I had my weigh-in today. I've lost 30.3 pounds. Woo hoo!
2. I was in Vegas and Salt Lake City for a writing convention, the one where Pepper and I had a bunch of finalist places for their writing awards. I got sick and was miserable most of the time, but came away with good news when my novella, Walk Among Us, won best short story/novella in an anthology.
3. We also saw Zumanity which was AMAZING. I'm trying to talk Craig into going back to Vegas for our 10th wedding anniversary in May so we can see it again.
4. We have decided that it's time for us to start considering buying. We've been renting since we moved to CA, and the housing prices have been crazy. It's cheaper to rent than it is to have a mortgage, by almost half. But the recent crash has finally brought prices down to a decent level, so we've initiated the process.
5. Baseball, softball, and Girl Scouts are all in full swing. Along with writing and trying to recover from being sick, and everything else, I'm feeling a tad bit overwhelmed trying to get everything done. But it will happen, I swear it. :)