The "Befores" of the new casa.Note: Lease to be signed soon...

Or, click here to see the dotphoto album thumbnails. (May be faster than the show above.)

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House Update

Today, I turned in the paperwork for the house.
It was painted while we were in Ohio.
Preventative A/C maintenance was done.
Propane tank was filled.
We will be meeting with the owners soon.
I believe we'll be starting the contract July 1, 2007.
Exciting!

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As a non-high-roller...

C. and I were discussing it and both believe that we should sell our Toledo house next spring.
We just don't need it. I'm not sure it's worth it to keep a house that we go back to MAYBE 6 times a year, for a total of 30 days maximum.
--
It's really quite interesting how distance truly makes our hearts grow less fond. (When it comes to this one topic.)
We've learned that it's an everyday logistical pickle to deal with a home in another country. If it were a condo or something, that would be easier...
--
Or maybe we'll rent it out. Hmmm....

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Our "Room"

Soon enough C. and I will be moving out of Mykonos 201 B. Though the view is amazing, the location lovely - we're excited to move on.
C. has aptly named our home, "our room," for obvious reasons...

Things we will miss:

• The ocean as our backyard
• The pools
• That this was our first "home" in Cabo
  

Things we will not miss:

1. The ever-present highway noise (semis constantly breaking...)
2. The ever-present dust from the construction site nextdoor.
3. The ever-present construction sounds from the construction site next door.
4. The Homeowners Association which disallows pets and only allows one parking spot. (Hmmmm...?)
   
5. The size of our first "home" in Cabo. (We need mas que 750 sq. ft to live in.)
   
6. Carrying groceries up to the second floor.
7. Having new room for guests.
   

Walk into our place, our "foyer", if you will and you'll see this.
Bathroom on left, bedroom also on left.
(You can see a bit of it. Kitchen and living room to the right.)
Note my great shoes on the shelf and Craig's OSU hat on our lamp. :-)

The kitchen. And our trusty water cooler at right.
(Water only $2.00 a bottle! For that HUGE bottle. Goodbye individual water bottles!)
Also, note my cute Mickey Mouse cookie jar.

Our kitchen. See the toaster oven in the left-hand corner?
Also, do you see the oven or the dishwasher? No?
That's because we don't have them.

Living room. See C.? Laying on the couch?
Watching the love of his life: his T.V.
Note my computer on the floor and my etch-a-sketch on the ottoman.
Two necessities. (Also note, it's Sunday. We can be messy.)

Our view of the 2 pools and the ocean.
Also note three of my seven outside potted plants. :-)

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A Weight lifted.

We found a place to live.

It's adorable.
I am so happy.
It's in San Jose, not Cabo.
Close to family, work & life.
--
Most importantly, Nattie's coming home.
--
More details to come.
*Note: The girl in the photo? That's not me.

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Housing Update

Well, we called several more contacts in San Jose to see if they had a.) anything for rent in our price range and b.) if we could have a dog. Here are the results:

• Property Manager One (our current one): NOTHING
• Property Manager Two (one I found online): NOTHING
• Property Manager Three (Recommended by sister): NOTHING
• Property Manager Four (Recommended by sister): Awaiting phone call
• Property Manager Five (Local contact): Awaiting info

If we don't have anything by, say, Wednesday - we think we're going to go with the house in Cabo.

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Our life topics as of right now:

1. We're trying to figure out when we're going to go back to Toledo from June - October. Since it's about $1200 for us both to go at any single time, we're trying to plan appropriately so as to not miss showers, family get-togethers, important memorial golf outings, friend get-togethers, bachelorette parties and weddings. Eek. Not to mention, I'm out of conditioner and need my hair done. Badly.

2. We're also attempting to figure out where we're going to live. Although Mykonos has been very good to us (we're on the ocean/ beach!) - we require: a.) more livable space b.) a second bedroom c.) our dog to live with us and d.) a place that allows 2 cars. We're looking at a house in Cabo today.

3. Hmmm... that's about it.

Thought I'd give the rundown.

P.S. It's going to be so nice for me, C. and Nattie to all be together again.

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No words. Just smiles.

Yesterday, we moved into 201 Mykonos.

We slept there.
We unpacked there.
We can hear the ocean and see it, too.
I am so happy. So appreciative. So excited. SO thrilled.

What a gift.

--

Pictures, stories to come.

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Home Sweet Home

I'll take more pictures after we're moved in.

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Housing Update #29309340239

As of right now, here's the plan:

March 1st (or so) - We inhabit my brother's condo. (He's moving to another one.)
March 5th (or so) - The house my sister built will be ready. Finishing stuff (kitchen, bathroom stuff) will be done.

We'll move in WHENEVER.

It goes without saying that we miss our dog TERRIBLY. We'll get her as soon as we can. C.'s Dad in Columbus is taking GREAT care of her and she's very happy. I'm so glad that we don't have to worry.

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Housing Update

The super-great house on 19 Cacto won't be finished until the end of March, so we'll be moving into my brother's condo on March 1st. At which time, he will be vacating to a larger condo in the condo community.

EVERYTHING is working out.

...smile...

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It's the little things

I bought bedding today.

Since C. & I have a fully-furnished house in Ohio, it's been kind of fun (and frustrating) knowing that we get to "start over" here in Cabo.

We've decided to do the minimalist thing. Why? Well, again - we have a fully-furnished four-bedroom house in Ohio.

So, I ordered the quilt, 2 shams and 2 euro pillows (square) and shams above - all in white. I'm excited to do a beachy, easy-living, clean, white thing in our house.

Not sure what accent color I want - but I'm thinking the walls in our bedroom will be grey-bluish.

www.westelm.com

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Housing Update

Click photos to make them bigger.

The front of the house where we're going to live.
19 Cacto St.

My sister pointing to our powder room.
(As soon as you walk in, on the right.)

The Family room.
Sliding doors (open part) to the backyard.
Stairs in the middle to the 2nd floor.

View from the downstairs dining room Window.

Craig smiling in the backyard.
(No houses behind us.)

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This has been a good week

Everything is falling into place

This morning my sister and I went over to the original condo/home/area/neighborhood/development that we originally looked at a while ago and picked one out that will be ready in January!

T. (my sister) is buying the whole thing and renting it to us. (This is so awesome, since we're already paying on our home in Ohio. Renting is a good option for us.)

It will be a shell -- needing painting, a kitchen, you name it -- but it will be ready for us to start working on it, etc. How fun!

I'm so excited!

It's a 3-bedroom (I think, it was), 2.5 bathroom home that is just lovely. Perfect for the three (Me, C. & Nattie). Yay!

Boy... I'm starting to feel much better about everything. I know it sounds trite, but this really is such a great Christmas so far. It's all coming together.

THANK YOU T.!

(To put this into perspective for you, finding a home in San Jose is impossible. It's nearly impossible. Aside from knocking on people's doors asking them to move out, there is NOTHING available. So, this -- this purchase by mi hermana is SUCH a blessing, such a worry now dealt with. So cool. Sweet.)

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Housing Update

(Where the house will be built. The back will face that mountain/canyon.)

The apartment/condo was 2 bedrooms and 2 full baths.
It was older.
(I'm trying not to be a princess.)
Definitely not worth $1200 anywhere but in Cabo where there is a housing shortage.

--

Mi hermana and I checked it out. I was/am looking at it with an open mind.

--

We left there and then went to check out a little community/subdivision that is in the process of being built. It's one of those quaint little, cute neighborhoods were there are several styles of homes - and everyone picks the one they like. We checked out the models - and they're great!

My sister bought one.

Yup. She bought one. (Or pardon, is in the process of buying one.)

It's a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath home that has both an ocean (slight) and mountain/canyon (awesome) view. It'll be finished being built in April, but will need slightly more work after that. (You know, like a kitchen, bathroom, etc.)

C. and I will then rent it from my sister. ;-)

SO! We have a LONG TERM plan! It's just during the interim that we must find a place to stay - just somewhere for like 6 mos. or so. SO, this is a super-great thing. My sister builds equity, etc. - we have a place to live!

My brother is also thinking of buying a 3-bedroom place up the road. Awesome.

So, as of right now - this is great news! VERY cool.

:-)

Looks like we'll be staying in Cabo for a little while...

(Inside of the house - a picture of a picture)

(Outside of the house. There are no garages here, really. See that little cover to the left of the front window? On the side of the house? That's where the washer and dryer go...outside of the house. Crazy different. I love Mexico.)

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Place to live

Today, my sister and I will be heading out and taking a look at a possible place for C. and I to live. It's a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo. Let's cross our fingers!

One of the concerns here is that there is NOTHING on the market. We got a call this a.m. that this was available and we'll check it out at 4. Hopefully it's nice and works out. If not, hopefully something else works out.

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