Happy Halloween!

Halloween Graphics

So Far, So Good

First, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to leave such sweet messages on my blog. It feels so nice to have you all beside me as we take this journey. Hugs all around!

We had the inspectors come out to the new house today. All went extremely well and nothing needs attention. So far, so good. :o)

We will spend the rest of our time in Florida just enjoying our family and soaking up the sun. We return to NJ on Wednesday when the real craziness will begin -- sorting, packing, selling, donating. I'm definitely not looking foward to that step in the process, but it's a necessary evil. LOL!

Wish you were here,

Home Sweet Home!

We did it! The sellers accepted our offer and we have bought ourselves a house. We are now under contract with a closing date of December 4. Happy Birthday To Me! What better present than a beautiful new home!

Check it all out here:

The House (Specs: Brand New -- Never Lived In; 4 Bedroom (Master has large walk-in closet w/pocket door); 3 Bath, Eat-In Kitchen w/Nook and Breakfast Island (and largest pantry I've ever seen), Laundry Area, Great Room (huge!), Formal Dining Room, Screened-In Patio (that we are going to make even larger), 2-Car Garage. All exterior yardwork and maintenence -- including painting, mulching, fertilizing, weeding, replacing dead/damaged shrubbery/trees, etc. is done by Association! We also back to an empty park-like area and have the sidewalk walking path next to our home that meanders across 3 miles of walking bridges, waterviews, lakes, fountains, beautiful landscaping, etc.)

The Community
http://www.lennar.com/New-Homes/Florida/Melbourne/Heritage-Isle-Estates?WT.mc_id=YAHO_SEM_Corp_PaidInc_&WT.srch=1

We are overjoyed as we did not have to compromise on any of our dreams. God was truly looking over us helping us find this amazing place within our budget and timeframe. :o)

Looking forward to our new life and lifestyle,

Florida House Hunting - Day 2

I'm a little late with the update, but we have been busy with family and also crunching numbers to actually make an offer on a house. Yes, we're to that point!

It was another crazy day on Friday in the land of house hunting. However, it was much more productive than the day before and we actually have "THE" three to choose from (none of which are from Thursday's jaunt, although 2 are in the same "Disney-Style" resort community). LOL!

We are gathering at the clubhouse in Heritage Isle at 11am tomorrow where we will give our family a tour of the private 21,000 square foot clubhouse (largest in Brevard County) and will lunch at the restaurant there overlooking the resort-style pool. Then the realtor will take us back for a second walk-thru in the two houses in there and then shoot over to Plantation Point to show the family the home we are considering in that community.

I'll update later with the three homes and some links to them.

TTYL,

Florida House Hunting - Day 1

We had a busy day today. We spent 6 hours in the world of house hunting, concentrating in the area of Viera, which is only about 25-30 minutes from our daughter. We looked at 10 houses today; two of which we really, really liked. I'm going to list them in order of preference:

House 1 - ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS HOUSE! Not only is the house to die for, but the community (55+ and gated with an actual manned gatehouse) is like a freaking Disney resort. The clubhouse is H.U.G.E and has everything in a grand scale -- a community gathering room where THERE HAPPENED TO BE QUILTERS QUILTING (yes, I spoke with them at length and it was so nice to meet like-minded gals and one was also head of the genealogy club which is perfect for hubby!), a fitness center, a ballroom, a game room, a pottery room, a library, a beautiful restaurant (where we actually ate lunch), a billiard room, the most immaculate restrooms I've ever seen, and a resort-style pool! OMG! The pool alone was to die for! We both fell in love with the clubhouse before we even saw the house there. LMAO!

Now, the house -- beautiful! Athough bank-owned and in "as-is" condition, it has never been lived in! New everything -- appliances (except we need to buy a fridge and washer/dryer), carpeting, stone flooring, huge 42" cabinetry, 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 2-car garage, living room, dining room, eat-in kitchen with eating island area and the family room was a huge extension to the kitchen (which we would make the office area). The master bedroom was a really nice size with 2 (count 'em 2) closets (a large walk-in for me and a double side-by-side for the hubby). The mater bath was gorgeous with two separate vanity areas, a deep garden tub and a separate shower.

The only drawback was the lanai wasn't screened in and the neighbors behind us -- well lets just say I hope we become good friends because we are in CLOSE proximity to one another. LOL! However, we can rectify the situation by extending and screening in the lanai and putting some nice shrubbery (no fences allowed) behind the screened patio. Problem solved.

House 2 - Really liked this house and the floorplan layout. The flooring and appliances were all in really good condition, it was on a U-shaped street with nice landscaping and the community had a nice community pool area with parks and picnic tables, tot lots, tennis courts and basketball courts. The overall area was beautiful.

The drawbacks were some of the rooms, although freshly painted, were wild colors like lime green, bright orange, and bright, bright yellow. So we'd definitely need to paint, but no biggie. Also, there was only one sink in the master bath and while the one closet in there was a walk-in, it was pretty small.

Tomorrow we are off again for another full day of house hunting. Stay tuned....

Heading South

Well we're off to Florida tomorrow for two weeks of house hunting. I'm really excited. I love looking at houses and it's even better when it's for real we're going to actually decide on and purchase one! The realtor has a lot of them lined up for us to see and she is picking us up bright and early on Thursday morning to begin just one of what could be many days of house hunting. Hope I still feel this excited about it all when it's all said and done. Who knows -- I may just regret admitting I love house hunting after seeing 50-100 of them. Yikes -- I hope it doesn't take that many to find "the one." LOL! :o)

Nothing much quilty going on here. I imagine there won't be much quilting going on until we are settled in Florida. We won't be back to NJ until two days before Halloween and then we will spend all November packing (Y-U-C-K!). Did I mention how much I HATE packing and the actual MOVING process. ACK! Then settlement on this home is December 1 and who knows when settlement will be on our Florida home. All I know is that we will be "moved" to Florida on December 2 and either have settlement soon thereafter (as in days/weeks) or more. God, please don't let it be the "more" part. In the meantime, we will be camping out at the in-laws. We are using a POD to move and store our items. It was the best way to go for us given the circumstances.

P.S. The home inspector, et al., were here yesterday. The house was a whirlwind with all the people coming and going. But, we passed with flying colors! Both the buyer's realtor and our realtor admitted they wished all their home inspections went as great as ours did. WooHoo!

Excited and stressed,

SOLD!!!

Well glory be! Our house is SOLD! After only 3-1/2 months, we can't complain at all considering the market. YAY! We have a Dec. 1 settlement date, which means we will be in Florida before my birthday on Dec. 4, Chris's birthday on Dec. 15, and Christmas. Who knew? :o) It also means that in the next two weeks or so we will be flying down to Florida to find us a new home. Exciting, nerve-wracking, scary -- and a whole host of other adjectives are being felt by us right now. Keep your fingers crossed for us. The good thing is - Florida is overflowing with choices for potential new homes. So why am I feeling homesick already? :o/