House Hunting and Staycationing

What a week! I feel like I've lived 7 lifetimes in 7 days. The main thing on our minds right now is housing for when we move to Utah. Because we're hoping to be done moving for a looong time and raise our kids in whatever home we end up in next, the stakes are higher than any of our previous house hunts. We have moved so many times in the last decade. We feel very done with moving.

We started out last weekend with two top forerunners in mind for a future home. Both new builds, both on the west side of the freeway. We were genuinely excited about both of them, and when we got the green light after prequalifying for financing, we knew I would need to fly down quickly to see both homes/locations in person to make a decision (one of the builders was offering to finish our basement for free if we signed by the end of the week). We really thought I would fly down, decide which location I liked better, and then sign a contract with that option. What actually ended up happening was I flew down, visited both locations, felt decently good about both of them, then during the course of the day observed and gathered more information that left me feeling less than good about both of them. Bad enough that I knew for sure one of the options was off the list, and maybe the other one too.

The first neighborhood had a spectacular view, but it also had non-family-friendly juju and I ran into someone building with them who told me, "RUN AWAY." The second neighborhood is lovely and we feel great about the builder, but we thought it was right next to a pretty river trail and it turns out it isn't (we'd be on the wrong side of the river). The closest trail is actually a 15-20 minute drive, and I'm a big daily-trail-walk girl so we decided to keep looking, and if we couldn't find anything closer to trails on the east side of the freeway in our price range, we'll proceed with the neighborhood by the river. So that's where we're at! There's a new option on the table that feels extremely promising, but we will have to wait a few more weeks for the information we need to make a final decision. It's a "hurry up and wait" situation for now. Regardless of what ends up happening, next month we'll start looking for a rental to move into for a few months while we wait for said future home to be built.

In the meantime, lots of pictures to share from the past weeks! Too tired to narrow them down, so admittedly this is going to be an excessive number of pictures.

^^Now that we know we will be moving soon, we are visiting as many places on our Washington Must-See list whenever we can. When summer's over it will be rain, rain, and more rain. This was a trip to the cute old towns of Bow and Edison, Washington. We got pastries and pizza and enjoyed the feeling of going back in time maybe a hundred years as we walked down the little town's streets.

^^We also paid a quick visit to the magical Whatcom Falls Park. It is maybe the most magical park I've ever visited.

^^More from Whatcom Falls Park. Sorry, i'm too tired to narrow down pictures so you're getting them all.

^^Whenever the temperatures are above 70 we convince Jared to join us for an adventure when he gets home from work. These last summer days won't keep!

^^An afternoon at our favorite nearby lake, Lake Roesieger.

^^A colder-than-anticipated visit to the ocean at Kayak Point.

^^Just everyday life.

^^This is my favorite home in Granite Falls. It has the cutest cottagey feel! Whoever owns it does a spectacular job with the window boxes and gardens.

^^My day in Utah. It was a whirlwind trip, flying in in the morning and then back home in the evening. This view from our first home option is everything. I honestly wish it would've felt right, but something was just off.