Springtime!

Fire - Update

6:00 am Sunday morning
The good news is the wind has totally stopped in Chino. The sad news is that the fire(s) are coming over the hills from Brea into Chino Hills. Our house is a very safe distance away but we are somewhat trapped in Chino. The fires have closed down most every road that can bring us towards LA. I just might stay home on Monday with Dan. It took him almost three hours to get back to Chino last night after a 14 hour work day.

Fire!

Hello Everyone! One of the things we were warned about when we moved to Chino was the fierce wind that blows through the valley on occasion. In the first wind storm about a month ago we lost many trees around the neighborhood and the hay at the dairy next to our house caught on fire. We couldn't believe how loud the wind can howl. For the past two days we have had our second big wind storm and unfortunately it is helping to spread fire throughout the Los Angeles area. I took a quick picture of the Corona/Yorba Linda fire from the window of the third story loft. I am so sad for the hundreds of families that have lost their homes to the fires.

It is finally done!

Today I took the day off work to head to Chino so that Dan and I could do the first inspection of our finished house. The most amazing thing to me about purchasing a new home is that it comes with customer service and a warranty. Dave, our customer service agent, walked us through the house to explain how everything works and help us create a punch list for the construction manager so that he can fix all the little imperfections. It took us over three hours to do this but halfway through the tour our selling agent, Melissa, surprised us with a lunch in our new kitchen! So today Dan and I hosted our first party in our new house with the customer service agent, selling agent, and all the construction managers! Too bad we didn't have any seats for them. Next Monday, Sept. 29th, we close escrow and get our keys. I seriously can't believe this is happening! The packing has been a lot of work but the end result will be SO worth it. We can't wait for company!

A tale of two houses. . .

We are moving in two weeks and this past week we (mostly Dan) embarked on the adventure of finding renters for our Long Beach house. Tomorrow we will hopefully sign a sweet little family to a two-year lease on our house. Our Chino house will be finished by this Friday (Sept. 19th) and then we get to begin to move!

It has been interesting having strangers come walk through your house scrutinizing it. I thought it would be difficult to find people to pay the $2400 price tag but we had 15 walk throughs in five days! The things that people most liked about our house were the colors of the walls, the backyard oasis (as Dan calls it in our rental ad), the loft space, and the fireplace. The things most people didn't like were the things I don't like about the house: how small the two bedrooms are, lack of a closet in the master bedroom (which technically declassifies it as a bedroom), and that the pool isn't heated. We will have to rectify the closet situation sometime in the future and I would still like to upgrade the kitchen space a bit with tiled floors, new appliances, and granite countertops. But for now our renters seem extremely happy with the property. I think they love the neighborhood.

Well tomorrow I get to go to Chino to check on the progress on Canopy Row Cottage (as I so fondly now call our new house). The floors, countertops, and other details have been installed since we've last been there. I'll post some new pictures soon after we get back from our visit.

We have grass!!!

One month and counting!!!

On Friday Dan and I had to make another trip out to Hidden Hollow for a VERY fun reason. Standard Pacific homes (our builder) called us to tell us they are dropping the price of the house again by $21K bringing the grand total to $381K which includes $23K in upgrades!!! We couldn't believe it! Since we reserved the house in mid-July the price has dropped $46K for a total of $121 off the price of the house. I am amazed at God's generosity and goodness. Since we were in town we visited our new house again and I snapped several update pictures for you all. Since we were last there the interior painting has been finished and the baseboards put in. The interior doors have been installed as well as the hardware. The front door has been painted a nice dark blue/green. The porch and walkway cement has been layed, the side yard wal has been built, several trees have been planted, the central air unit installed, and probably a lot of other things we can't yet see. We met the construction manager on Friday (he was so nice!) and he told us about the things they plan to do to our house.
Today (Saturday) they will finish installing the sprinkler systems as well as the rest of the landscaping. They will also paint the shutters the same dark blue/green color as the front door. This week the granite and flooring is going to be installed as well. The house should be finished by Sept. 19th and our walk through with the construction manager will be on Sept. 22nd. We officially close escrow and take possession of the house on Sept. 29th. We have three other police officers in our neighborhood so far but we still have no neighbors in the house next to ours or across from ours. We are really excited to meet our new neighbors soon!

We have a move-in date!!!

This past Sunday Dan and I went to finish our paperwork and to visit our new house. Our official moving day is September 29th!!! We are very excited to say the least. The house will actually be done on Sept. 22nd when we will do our offical walk-through inspection.
On Sunday when we were there I was surprised at how quickly the house is coming along. The kitchen cabinets are up, the ceilings are painted, and the recessed lights already have their light bulbs. All the stone work and exterior painting is finished and it looks like they are about ready to begin preping the walls for paint. Dan and I climbed through the house and were excited to plan out how we will use each room.
The house next to ours is still available. . .any takers??? It is 2,800 square feet 4 bed 3 bath american colonial style (light green, white trim, with red shutters) for $416,000 (includes stainles steel applicances, recessed lighting, hardwood floors, granite countertops, etc.)

More Treasure

My second great find on craigslist: this pair of chairs!

I'm goin' on a treasure hunt. . .

I have finally discovered craigslist and this is my first deal! I am so excited to add this cute chair to my collection of unique furnishings. The man said it was pre-Castro Cuban mohogany but to be honest I really don't care because I like the way it looks and I paid $30 for it. I will have to reupholster it. I might go the the "Y" to look for some good furniture fabric. I think I did pretty good for my first craigslist purchase! Now I just need to find another one that is similar in structure. Wish me luck! (p.s. please forgive the mispellings- I'm feeling a little lazy today)

A new house for the Shacks!

We bought a new house! We were not exactly expecting to buy a new place but we were at that crossroads where you decide if you pour more money into a house that might have potential (but feels like a money pit) or you invest in a new house that better suits your current and future needs. We opted for the new house and we are very excited.

It is in a planned community called The Preserve in Chino in a neighborhood called Hidden Hollow. There are dairy farms all around and our best friends live in this same community. It is a new construction house to be finished in October. We were originally looking at this this house which was a short sale going for $400-$425K, but then we found out what a nightmare a short sale can be. As a back up plan we began looking again at the new construction homes in the community and were amazed at how much the prices had dropped. Our pick was this 2572 sq ft cottage style corner house on a park. It was listed for 478K but they are having a special and took 75K off the price of the house plus it sits on the second largest lot of 5,100 sq ft and comes with many upgrades (granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, recessed lighting throughout the house, designer paint, white cabinets) We put a hold on the lot so that we could think about it while we heard back from the bank on house #1. The next day I had to drive back to Chino to show the model house to my parents and put our deposit down on the house when the sales rep announced that just this morning the company decided to give us $20K towards upgrades in the house!!! So basically that sealed the deal for Dan and I and we are getting this huge new house for $403K plus $20K in upgrades! Here are some details about the house and some of the things I like best about it:

Floor Plans:

4 bedrooms
3.5 baths
2572 sq ft
3 stories
2 car garage
corner lot on the park
wrap-around porch

my favorites:
the storage!!!
the high ceilings
the old fashioned charm this new house has
the abundance of huge windows that let in the natural light
the master bath and closet is huge!
the master bed and bath overlook the park
there is only another house on one side of us
the view from the third floor (mountains are beautiful and the dairies fun to watch
the parkhouse which is a community center that has a huge pool, jacuzzi, bbq center, movie theater, pool/game parlor, 24 hour gym, meeting rooms (great for my music recitals), and Dan's favorite free Starbucks coffee in the internet cafe.
the school district (great for teaching and our future children)

Even though the move means a longer commute for Dan, eventually we both hope to transfer to local branches in our respective jobs. On Friday, we go to the design center to decide how we want to spend our $20K in upgrades. I am going for dark hardwood floors on the first floor and upgraded carpet on the 2nd and 3rd floors. I am still trying to decide if we should carpet the stairs or put hardwood on the stairs. Any opinions?

God has really blessed us with this opportunity. Chino definitely has a more tranquil feel to it. We are ready for the change! There will be lots of room for guests. I can't wait for you all to see our new place! Tim- we will be asking you for advice on renting out our current house. Dan already has several CHP cadets interested in renting it. We will visit the house again on Sunday to sign papers so I might be able to post more pictures for you all. If not, you will just have to make the trip down to check it out yourselves!
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