The Condo That Could Have Been

Luke did fabulous on the plane ride. Taft and Luke both took their first flights at around 3 months old. 

Mid-April Little Luke and I took a trip to San Diego to begin the house-hunt. My mom met us there for a couple of days and it was great to have her along for opinions and help with Luke. On the second day of the search I found a fantastic, fantastic place: totally move-in ready, new carpet in bedrooms, hardwood floors in main living areas, washer/dryer, attached garage, only one shared wall, updated kitchen and bathrooms, 2 bed, 2 bath, close to Seth's work, and right across the street from the park. Practically perfect. I called Seth about it and we decided to make an offer. The morning I was leaving I signed the paperwork for the offer and right before leaving for the airport I decided to do a drive-by. 

I should mention that the first day we saw the place we noticed a bunch of homeless people at the park. The social worker side of me thought, "Homeless people are welcome at this park, they're just like you and me, but they live outside. Life has dealt them a bad hand, let's be compassionate and understanding." But the Mom side of me thought, "Homeless people are crazy, drug-abusing, alcoholics". The first day I tried to ignore the Mom side because I liked the place so much, plus the homeless people weren't by the playgroup so we'd be safe, right? 

Well, when I drove by the place the morning of my flight I noticed two police cars at the park. I decided to stop and ask them about the area. I told them we were thinking about buying a place right across the street and their answer was a big, fat, emphatic "DON'T DO IT". They validated my Mom thoughts by confirming that the majority of those homeless folks living at the park were in fact crazy, drug-abusers, alcoholics, and to top it off, prostitutes. Sweet. 

We were very bummed about it and realized we should put the house-buying plan on hold until we're more familiar with the areas we can afford and that are close to Seth's work. We had spent so much time looking at places online and were super discouraged when I got home. Our realtor told us that if we wanted to take our time looking, she'd rent an apartment that she owns to us, month to month, until we find a place. The great part is, it's on Coronado Island (or I guess technically it's a peninsula but either way it's awesome). We're thinking we might not want to move once we're there! 

Did you know that probably the main reason I picked our current apartment in Spokane is because I liked the kitchen cupboards and thought my dishes would look cute? I'm 100% serious. Isn't that the dumbest reason to pick an apartment? I picked cute cupboards over a washer/dryer, dishwasher, 2nd bathroom, and covered garage. The worst part, they don't even look that cute. I told Seth I was going to try really hard to place functionality above potential cute-ness during the house hunt. 

Here are some pictures of our Spokanian apartment. I never decorated because when we moved in I was sick as a dog being pregnant and then by the time I had energy we only had a few months left. So, it's boring, but here it is:

Note to self and others: Don't pick an apartment based solely on the cupboards

Note to self and others: carpet in a dining area is the dumbest idea ever if you have kids

Note to self and others: Light colored couches are also a terrible choice if you have little kids