Update week: Our move!

Okay, so not to be one of those people who says "it's been way too long since I've blogged last" and nobody had any clue that you were gone, but it's been way too long since I've blogged last! Holy moly, it's been AGES. Anyway, some major things have been happening around these parts, so I'm just going to do one, big fat week of updates since the things that have been going on have been pretty significant.

So update #1: our move and living situation! Man, oh man, where do I begin when it comes to the saga of where we have been taking up residence over the past few months . . . To say the least, it's been nuts. Here are the cliff notes:

1. March - April: We were in the last few months of our lease in Irvine, and were looking to buy a condo next. With those intentions, we decided that it would be better to just crash at the in-law's house so as not to jump into another lease. Well, once we hit the pavement and really started looking at what our glorious pre-approval allowed us, we decided to take a step back and reevaluate our options. Now I'm relieved that we didn't try to plow ahead to make it happen because we would have outgrown those places in about 30 seconds.

2. May - mid-September: So yes, the in-law's. Although I feel very blessed to have such gracious people in my life ready and willing to open up their home for our little family, it was quite the trying experience. In hindsight though, living there really put the nail in the coffin when it came to us buying. Since we occupied two rooms in the Cisneros home, it showed us that where ever we lived next, we had to have three bedrooms. It became a non-negotiable. I thought we would be able to manage with a two bedroom place with two kids, but turns out, we couldn't. So that was a positive . . .

3. Beginning of September: Despite the obvious financial awesomeness that living in Yorba Linda provided us, we decided to put the kabosh on the whole thing and move on, mainly because Kota was still in our room and I felt like there was no way I could put the two of them in the same room, what with her waking up every few hours, AND keep my sanity at the same time (picture this: no talking, no TV watching and walking on tip-toes for 8 whole months in your own bedroom! Far too long!). So we decided to take the plunge and start looking outside of the OC for some affordable, spacious inside-and-out properties in good ole' Corona. Yeah, it was going to be weird, but hey! We would have a yard, a minimum of 4 bedrooms and space for us to breathe. It was going to be awesome according to us, not so much according to both sides of our families. Anyway, we went a'lookin' to absolutely no avail. It was horrible. Talk about stress.

4. Mid-September: While I was on a walk wallowing in the misery which had become plain ole' normal at that point, my parent's realtor three-way called me with my mom on the line to talk about a listing he had in Lake Forest (right up the street from my parents' fabulous city of Mission Viejo), and that he could make it happen in one week. ONE WEEK! So I immediately packed the kids in the car at 7:30 pm, drove from Yorba Linda to Lake Forest to meet my mom and Gus, drove back, told Chad about it once he got home from class at 10:00, called Gus at 10:30 and WABAM! We had a new home which met all of our criteria!

5. September 14th: MOVE IN DAY! I swear I heard the choir of angels all day long!

Anyway, I'll tell you what: when you're feeling outrageously low because your peace of mind has been compromised thanks to a lack of sleep and tight living quarters, pray on it and try not to become desperate! Toward the end of our Corona search I was commiserating with my dad about the current state of the four of us, and he told me,
"Honey, I know it's tough, but don't become desperate. When you get into that state of mind, you make rash decisions." 

After hearing those words of wisdom I really did relax, and shortly after I revised my prayer message from "Okay, we REALLY need to figure out our living situation, so could you help a gal out?" to "Wherever you see us, lead me there," it all fell into step. Glorious, I tell you, glorious!