A few posts back I explained that we have decided to move to Orange County to be closer to Kevin's office. After a very in depth research about the different cities and high schools within a 15 mile radius of his office I'm excited to announce that we not only decided on a city; we also found our new home! We just got the call from the owners that we have been selected to rent this beauty! We will be signing a 2 year lease tomorrow. When I was a small girl I used to tell my Mom and Dad that I wanted a yellow house with a picket fence someday. Well....it looks like my dream is finally coming true!
We decided on one of the beach communities for several reasons. For one thing, it is 3 miles from Kevin's office which means when he gets off work...he doesn't even have to get on a freeway! He should be home each day within 5 minutes of leaving the office.
Another reason is the weather. We have ALWAYS lived where it is hot...and I mean REALLY hot 5-6 months out of the year. I don't think we've had a power bill in the Summer months that has been less than $400 due to running the AC all the time EVER. Those days are now going to be a thing of the past. The weather in our new city boasts Mediterranean temps and a daily average between 60-70 degrees year round. The house is approximately 5 miles inland from the beach so we've been told by the owners that we won't experience a lot of fog. A morning marine layer that burns off to a sunny day will be the norm. We will deal with some "June Gloom" which is typical for most beach communities. However we are fine with that. Honestly we are really looking forward to the milder temps. In fact due to the lack of hot days this house doesn't even have an a/c.
Another key reason for our choice in locations, is being so close to the beach is going to be amazing. We are planning walks on the beach after dinner and riding our bikes along the shore on the weekends. It goes without saying that all SoCal beach towns are tourist attractions on the weekends during the peak Spring/Summer months. The past 2 weekends we've attempted to park downtown and go have lunch and we literally could not find a place to park. However we've decided we will have to find a place to park about 1-2 miles away and then ride our bikes into town during the busy Spring and Summer months. Downtown is connected to a pier and miles and miles of the most beautiful SoCal beach.
A friend of mine grew up in this city and she had a wonderful teenage experience here. The high school looks good and has a golf team. Kyle is going to try and find a Summer job and start plugging into the community before school starts in the fall. The owners of the house we are leasing raised their 3 kids in this house and lived in it for over 20 years. They told us their kids had a wonderful youth growing up in this town. The house is just a few blocks and walking distance from the HS. We are praying that Kyle will love finishing HS in this beach community.
We are moving in next Saturday and Sunday. We can hardly wait to make this beautiful place our new home for at least the next 2 years. We've already discussed that if it we love the house and community as much as we think we will that perhaps we will be able to buy the house down the road and just stay on indefinitely. We are very ready to put down some long term roots.
Enjoy the pics!
Enclosed area and gate leads into the courtyard.
We love the courtyard that is enclosed in front of the house.
Looking from the entrance of the courtyard back out to the front of the house.
Having this courtyard area will be great for entertaining or just sitting out front enjoying the day or evening.
Last night we sat at this table with the owners of the house and got acquainted with each other. They are a wonderful Christian couple and we connected well with them. We are so thrilled that they selected us to lease the house.
Below is the beautiful backyard. It has been professionally landscaped and is just breathtakingly beautiful.
The pic below is the enterance to the house.
Immediately to the left is the kitchen.
I love this kitchen! It has brand news double ovens, stove top and a microwave. Almost all of the living in this house is done down stairs. The kitchen, dining room (the pic below is looking through the kitchen into the dining room), living room and all of the four bedrooms are on the main floor. Up the stairs below however leads to a big bonus room which we will use as a family room. We plan on hanging out up here to watch tv and movies etc.
The only carpet in the house is on the stairs and up in the bonus/family room. I am beyond thrilled about that!!! I'm not a carpet person and am so exicted that the majority of the home has tile and laminate/wood flooring.
Below is the living room. It is all tiled with a laminate wood insert where the seating area will be. To the left is the dining room which is attached to the kitchen. To the right is french doors that lead out to the yard. The ceilings are high and this space has a light and bright feeling. It's big and open and I know we will love spending time in this space. I can hardly wait to get our stuff moved in and started decorating.
When you enter the house to the left is the living room and to the right is the bedrooms. There are four bedrooms and two baths. Here is one of the rooms. They are all good size rooms. We will have a dedicated guest room, Kevin and I will share an office and then of course Kyle's and our room.
ll
Above is the Master bedroom. I didn't get a pic of the bathroom but it is just a single sink, toliet and shower stall. Older homes like this typically have small master baths. This room has two large closets however which is wonderful. A first for me will be having my washer and dryer out in the garage...which is another typical thing for an older home. I don't mind it at all. The rest of the house works so well for us that I don't mind giving up having a dedicated laundry room.
Below is the hall bathroom. As you can see it is spotless clean and very neutral in color. In fact the whole house has that turn key feeling and is very clean which thrills me to no end. There is nothing worse then having to move into someone elses dirt and crime.
The below pic was taken standing in the master bedroom looking across the hall at two of the rooms.
Thanks for touring our new place. Once we get all moved in and settled I will post more pics with all of our things set up and the house decorated.
