Where we are now

Dan and I lived in Grand Terrace, California with our 3 boys (there they are --->)for 10 years. Last year we decided to put our house up for sale and move to Murrieta, California. Better air for our boys to breathe, closeness to Dan's father who had moved down to San Diego, California a few years earlier and a better area for our boys to grow up in.

Since our house was in such great shape (everything had just been redone from the floors and bathrooms to an upgraded kitchen) it sold quickly. A little too early for us. The new owners wanted to move in in 30 days. Leaving us with no place to live.. We hadn't found a house in Murrieta yet.

It was three weeks before school ended and we were unsure of what to do. We really didn't want to rent a place where we currently lived and didn't want our second son (Ryan) not get credit for the 3rd grade if we pulled him out early.

My first important step was to make sure I could pull Ryan out of school early and still have the records show he finished the 3rd grade. So I spoke with the Vice Principal of Ryan's school. I didn't want to make him start a new school just three weeks before summer. And have him be "The New Kid". It was bad enough that he was not happy that we were moving and taking him away from all of his friends. So luckily I was informed all was good. I could pull Ryan out and not have to enroll him in a new school until the next year. And he would start as a 4th Grader. Whew. The most important thing was taken care of. Now, a place to live.

We thought it would be best to move into an apartment in Murrieta while we looked for a home. We had already put an offer on a house, but it was a short sale. And God only knew when the bank would look at our offer. So we moved the whole family, including our dog, Molly, into a townhouse in what seemed to be a nice part of Murrieta. It was, until the sun went down. Can you say, "The freaks come out at night". Since we were not planning on staying we didn't bring any furniture up the 3 flights of stairs. A 3 level townhouse. What were we thinking.... It was a time I can't say I really liked, however, my boys lived in the pool for the whole 2 1/2 months we lived there. By the time we moved out the boys were amazing swimmers. As a family, we became closer. Who could help it. We were packed in that place. We only had one TV (unusual for this family of 5). So let's just say my 19 year-old and I learned to like the Disney channel. We still, to this day, love icarly. How sad.

After a long and grueling summer of house hunting, we found a house. Well two. The one we moved out here to buy (short sale) and another one. The short sale house was beautiful, the new house was nice, but not beautiful. Dan and I thought long and hard and wrote down all the pros and cons of each house. In the end, we chose the house that was best for our kids. A big flat front and backyard, excellent school within walking distance, street with a cul-de-sac, and plenty of kids. Even though it was a bit more expensive we thought it would be the wiser choice. I have to say, after a year of living here this house was most definitely the best choice. Even though it is a Money Pit... Here she is.