The New Casa de Perry

So, it appears to be 99% official. We will be moving into a house. Specifically, this house!





For those who didn't know or haven't heard, we have been looking for a home on and off for over a year now, and have had a lot of tough luck with this. Overall I believe we put in offers in nearly 40 houses, came close to getting a few of them, but never got the whole deal closed, until now. It has been a long struggle, but it is seems to be done... at least, the house hunting part.







This is a 5-bedroom, 3-bath house in Tracy, about an hour east of where we are currently in Fremont. It will add a bit to Jen's commute, but on the bright side, she won't have to drive. The ACE train will take her from Tracy to Fremont, and the shuttle will take her from the station to her office at Stanford.







Overall, it's a great house, but needs a bit of work. We have to paint the entire interior of the house because there are a few holes that need patching as well as some odd colors that we would like to change (two bedrooms are bright blue throughout, and one is Pepto pink). A good deal of the flooring needs to be changed as well, because the previous owners had allowed their animals to mess them up. Also, the master bathroom is carpeted, something that baffles Jen, and so we would likely tile that bathroom instead.




We've also got to redo the back yard to make it nice and comfortable for Chris. It's pretty much dead grass and gravel, but there are a lot of fruit trees which give us some much-needed shade in the Tracy heat.

The only scary part is the brief period that we are nomadic. Our lease in our apartment expires on the 15th, so in about a week, we will no longer have an address until we move into our new place, but because the paperwork is in the last-minute detailing, we will likely be homeless for a week, until we move into the new house.

So, if you don't hear from us for a while, we're either not with internet or we're buried in the fixer-upper stuff.

A long-awaited update

As one of Jen's favorite coworkers would say, "Holy Schnikies!" (and my apologies for not spelling that "correctly" in advance!)

It has been an INSANE summer to say the least! Between work, camps, school and everything else, there has been no time to blog! Although, many do get an interesting treat from Jen's FaceBook updates. One of the most recent had to do with her having the Fraggle Rock theme song stuck in her head. "Dance your cares away..."

Anyway, for those who actually follow up with us this way, allow us to divulge the 411.

Jen has been pretty busy with work AND school. She completed her first semester online for her degree in Speech Path, and it wasn't easy! 15 units (five classes), PLUS work PLUS house does not make for a relaxed Jen, but she still managed to pull off her desired B-average! Next semester she's aiming for higher!

Also, nearly every weekend there has been a Diabetes camp that needs her attention, so we have traveled throughout California this summer, to camps as close as San Jose to as far away as Sequoia National down by Fresno, and all of them (at least the ones requiring some actual travel), Jeff was able to come along. This last weekend was the last of the camps she has to attend for a while; Camp De Los Ninos, put on by the Diabetes Society in Boulder Creek. Coincidentally, it was also next to Camp Harmon, the camp for Easter Seals, her LAST job! Overall it was successful. Jen's boss brags that their screening numbers were up 600% this time! Yeah, they only screened 6, but it's definitely better than the 1 from last year!

The quiet won't last for too long, however; from the last week in September through November, there will be the JDRF walks to attend. This time, the work will take us to exotic places like... Modesto... and Las Vegas!

As for Jeff, there's been a lot going on in his world as well! He also finished his first semester online. Although he lucked out and only took two classes, it was a bit time consuming for him as well. It was a good warm up for the fall, where he will likely be taking more classes.

Luckily, he will be getting a job closer to home. Recently, Jeff applied for a transfer from GAP Kids and Baby to another store in the same company: Banana Republic. If everything falls into place, he will be an assistant manager at the Banana Republic in his hometown of Brentwood.

"Wait", you ask, "How is Brentwood any closer to your place than Los Gatos?" Well, here's the biggest piece of news for last: WE'RE MOVING! Although nothing is 100% finalized (unfortunately), we recently put an offer on the house. Ours is the only one accepted by the bank and we are waiting for the final ok before we start our moving.

Moving will be a bittersweet experience for us. We have been together about 5 years now, and we have moved Jen from her apartment in Colorado to married housing, to Jen's parents and now to where we currently live in Fremont. We have been in this apartment for over two years, the longest we've lived anywhere since being married. But the two of us and our menagerie have gotten too crowded for this place, we have gotten tired of paying rent, and Chris (the dog) is tired of only being able to "visit" and not stay with us in our apartment. Plus, paying rent almost equivalent to a mortgage payment is getting ridiculous!

But then there is the sadness part. We will be moving further from most of Jen's family (her brother, however, will be down the street) and all of our friends. Also, her commute will be a bit longer and require a train ride to work (thank goodness for public transportation!). And then the actual act of packing, especially the books is enough to change our minds.

There are some more things we wanted to share with you all, but it will likely have to wait for another time. Until then, hopefully sooner than three months!

ONE LAST THOUGHT

As you can see, we've only added a few people on our blog list. Not because we hate our friends, but we don't know everyone's blogs! PLEASE email or Facebook or something so we can post it, because, honestly, that's how we keep up with everyone's blogs (we won't think to go seek them out on our own).