We have enjoyed living in our home in Granite Bay for the past 3 years. The kids were very little when we moved in March of 2016, and they’ve grown a lot the past 3 years. They have enjoyed the neighborhood – mostly friendly neighbors, a few kids, and a park within walking distance. It has also been nice being so close to the Kaiser hospital they were born at in Roseville, as well as its emergency room. The community is gated, close to shopping, and has been very safe. However, the owner of the home is ready to sell, so the time has come for us to find a place of our own to call home.

We officially start our home search Sunday afternoon, but will likely be also checking out a few open houses on Saturday as well. There are so many homes on the market. Our list was quite long, so we’ve had to start trimming it. Schools are extremely important, which is causing us to take a really close look at homes in Rocklin. There’s also El Dorado Hills in play, as well as Roseville, Auburn and Carmichael. Auburn has this attractive gated lake community called Lake of the Pines. It is up in the foothills, but when we went there to visit everyone loved it. Need to do more in depth research into the school situation. We have a strong list of things we’re looking for in a home. Some things are must haves like an open floor plan and even 1 story believe or not, and others are nice to haves like pools and cul de sac.

In any case, this is a fun time for the family as there is so much to choose from. Packing hasn’t been fun as there are now boxes everywhere and efficient destroying machines hovering nearby at all times. The most interesting thing about all of the homes on the market is that they have been sitting there for weeks, and we’re starting to see a few price cuts along the way – perhaps there’s room to negotiate as a result. Rates are super low, too, so there’s that. The kids start transitional kindergarten in Granite Bay on August 14th, so it is likely that August will be a chaotic month full of change and transition. But eventually the dust will settle and life will get back to normal. Actually, maybe not – late September will be my book launch! I’m really excited about that, as it has been a pleasure seeing everything come together.

What else is new – the kids have been growing and continue to evolve. We had family from back east out in Lake Tahoe for a week, but unfortunately the kids had bad colds and were too sick to travel. One of the Kindle Fire tables got a cracked screen, so we got to take advantage of the worry-free warranty where you get a free replacement within the first 2 years. So it was interesting seeing the kids negotiate (or not) with each other to make 2 with only 2 tablets. We actually use the Amazon Echo dot’s timers to get them to share stuff.