Hello, California!!!

We made it!! We actually arrived in California over a week ago now, but have been househunting almost non-stop. . .until tonight that is. We found a house to rent- finally! Boy, oh boy- is this place expensive!! At least we got used to the higher rent and home prices in D.C., so the sticker shock wasn't quite as. . .shocking. . . as it would have been.

Just as an example: we were driving around Sunnyvale looking at homes for rent and saw signs for an open house for a home for sale. Just out of curiousity we decided to stop. (We are not buying at this point because we don't know how long we will be here.) My guess as to the price of the home as we pulled up was 250 K. It was neat and tidy. Neat and tidy neighborhood for the most part. It was older, but well kept. Only 1100 square feet or so with 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths, I think. It was listed for $532,888!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!! How anyone affords to live here is beyond me!

So, after driving all over creation for the past week, we finally settled on a home in Milpitas, CA. (pronounced "mill" "pitas" just like pita pockets that you would eat.) We definitely wanted a home this time around. Our last apartment was great, but we are ready for our own walls and a yard and garage again and more space! It is about 9 miles away from work for Kenneth. 4 bedrooms, living room and family room and a 2 car garage. Wonderful fenced backyard with fruit trees and a large shaded patio. Downside: it is old. There is wallpaper all over the place. The bathrooms and kitchen are OLD. But, Kenneth and I both felt really good about it- amazingly enough. It will work out really well for us I think. There is a cool park within walking distance, which the kids loved playing at. We are planning on doing a little bit of work on the house (with permission from the Landlord and owner) before we move in to try and spruce it up a little bit.

So, here we are. We are still in the hotel another couple of weeks before we move in. So, I get to enjoy someone else cleaning for me for a while.

The trip across the country was actually quite fabulous. The kids did much better than I had expected. We really enjoyed stopping at a number of Church History Sites along the way: Carthage Jail, Nauvoo, Winter Quarters, and This is the Place Heritage Park. We also LOVED seeing some of our family members and friends out west whom we rarely get to see.

We miss our friends in D.C. and New York. This certainly is a great adventure. It will definitely be interesting to see where we end up next. . .and how long we will be there. . . For now, we are loving the California weather and are excited to see some of the beautiful sites in the area.