The Details

So despite what Jeremy thinks, it's true. We bought a house! It has been a whirlwind week, let me tell you.

Before I get into how it all went down, I suppose I should start by saying how much we love where we live, but we've come to realize that buying a home with room for us all, in a neighborhood we like, with decent schools, just wasn't going to happen. Maybe I was hoping for too much, but what can I say? We already bought a house in a scary neighborhood with the worst schools in SJ, and I'm not interested in going down that road again. I've seen enough naked tasering to last me a lifetime, thank-you-very-much.

Over the past few months, we weighed all our options as we decided where in California we would settle. (I know, I know, we're not really known for our ability to stay settled....) After many discussions and pro/con lists, we decided on the greater Sacramento area as our future home. Of course, I told Jay I wouldn't move for another year under any circumstances. 

I'm pretty sure he took that as a challenge.

Somehow he got me to agree to taking a little scouting trip two Saturdays ago. We had already spent quite a bit of time in the area due to friends/family/the Academy, but there were a few specific areas we wanted to check out more closely. So off we went, and we had a great time. We went to a few open houses, and one house in particular caught our eye. After we got home, we couldn't stop thinking about that house. In typical Fear Family style, we decided we would make an offer. 

Before we made the offer, however, we decided to take one more trip to look at the house again and check out a few more places, just to be sure. We left the oldest kids with some good friends and were back in Sacramento Tuesday night. I am so glad we made the second trip, because we changed our minds about House #1 (for various reasons), and fell in love with this one:

It's easy to see why, right? 

The house was a foreclosure, though, so we didn't really expect anything. (I've heard they're pretty tough to deal with.) Our realtor called them the next day, which happened to be the day they were taking the offers to the bank. They already had four. We made an offer anyway, and.... they accepted! Needless to say, we were very excited. 

Barring any craziness in the escrow process, or a pest report that shows the house is being held up by termites, we will close in mid-July and move about a week after. 

I am very excited and happy, and know it is the right move for my family, but there is definitely some sadness, too. I will miss our family, friends, ward/stake, neighborhood, and school very much. I feel sad for my girls, too. But because I know all too well what it's like to move as a child, I've come to the conclusion that it's better to do it now than wait another year when we all are even more attached. And luckily, we'll just be about 2 hours away. 

The house details:

In Cameron Park (east of Sacramento), in the foothills

The house is in a court, with views of a small lake and the Cameron Park "airport"

4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, and a big bonus room loft

Not much backyard, but that's because there's a pool!

Built in 1992 with many, many early '90's gold fixtures - my favorite ;)

Cameron Park is a town of about 15,000, and has 3 wards

20 minutes away from the Sacramento temple! 

See?! You all need to move there with me. I know a good realtor you can use. :)

Oh, and for those who are wondering about Jay's job, he is putting in for a transfer. There are about 5 offices within commuting distance of the house, so hopefully he'll be able to get one of those offices during the next transfer round. Being certified bilingual pushes him up the list, so we're hopeful. In the meantime, he'll stay in SJ during the week (he rotates between 3 days on & 4 days on each week.)