One Busy Month!

Well the first month in our new house has come and gone...quick! We got the keys on September 12th and within a matter of days we had our three shipments (two from Japan and one we left behind San Diego as storage) started arriving. I usually say I enjoy pack outs whether we are leaving or just arriving to a new duty station. However, aft er having twelve different pack outs with twelve different moving companies in the past five years I can honestly say I'm over it, for now. I will be completely content if we never have to do that for another few years, or every again!

Just in time for our third and final shipment to be delivered, we had some house guests. Mom and Grandma Connie flew in for a week to help us get situated in our new home. Grandma had some fun making apple butter with our bushels that we picked right off our own apple trees. Little did she know, this would get me into a new hobby...canning! (Be sure to look out for a post on my adventures in beginners canning.) Mom showed me how to take care of some plants around the yard and a few tips and tricks we could do in our garden. We made a cushion for the bench in our bay window, saw some sights around Kitsap County and enjoyed a few good meals at some of our new favorite restaurants!

Just as quick as Mom and Grandma flew back home to Ohio, we were on our way back to Sea-Tac Airport two days later to pick up Tim's Dad and Grandma. We were definitely getting spoiled having so many family in town; there's definitely nothing better than having family around to help you with odds and ends around the house or just having someone there to ask advice or an opinion on a project. Tim and his Dad certainly accomplished a whole lot while he was visiting. They installed new lights that illuminate our entire yard at night, made some improvements in our garage, hung a mantle above the fireplace and tilled our garden, getting it ready for the winter. Grandma had a blast making a new best friend with Zoe. I had to persuade her to leave Zoe here with us but promised we would bring her home with us in December.

Shortly after everyone had left the house, reality set in...Tim went back to work and I got busy applying for several different jobs. As mentioned earlier, all THREE of us will be home in Ohio for Christmas and we can't wait, it's definitely long overdue! We still have lots to do around the house, mostly little projects inside the house that will keep us busy long into the winter months. For now, we are enjoying the fall colors and watching our yard change each and every day!

Our Washington Home

When Tim and I arrived, we wasted no time and started house hunting the very next day with our Realtor, Cindy, who we found through USAA before we left Japan. At that point, we had already been living in a hotel for about a month and were ready to finally be homeowners again! In two days, we looked at about 15-20 homes, jet lagged and all but one of the very first homes we saw was one that we had our eye on for a few weeks prior. Two weeks before leaving Japan, Tim and I were in full force virtually house hunting online and sending Cindy our dream list of homes. Of course, we knew many of them wouldn't be available by the time we got to Washington and had a chance to see them in person. Nonetheless, we thought it would still give her an idea of what we were looking for and what we wanted to steer clear from. We both knew that we wanted a different house than what we had in San Diego and Japan; we wanted space, a yard Zoe could truly enjoy and not on top of our neighbors, so much that you could reach out and touch the side of their house.

We saw a home online in Japan that we absolutely fell in love with. It seemed to be exactly what we were looking for (and a whole lot more). We could only hope that it was still available when we arrived two weeks later. Every day, we would check the status of the house and low and behold it remained "active" and we had a chance to schedule a showing with Cindy. Words can't explain how we both felt when we pulled in the driveway; it was that gut feeling we had when we saw our San Diego house for the first time (which was only in pictures, since we purchased it sight unseen). We spent almost a good two hours exploring and loved it even more when we left. Needless to say, we didn't waste much time and put in an offer that afternoon when we got back to Cindy's office. After a few stressful days of counter offers we got the good news that our offer was accepted and two days later we opened escrow! 

We are (hopefully) just a couple of weeks away from closing if all goes as planned. Tim and I can't wait to get into our new home and start our life in Washington. We feel that this house fits our lifestyle and we will definitely have a few new hobbies to keep us busy year round! Get ready for picture overload and enjoy a virtual tour of our new home in the Pacific Northwest!

Side yard, lots of tomato plants a fig tree!

Another side view of the house and seating area

A great space for outdoor dining and a view of the garden shed in the background

View from the deck

A sitting area and deck off of the koi pond

I can't wait to read in the hammock!

View of the side yard and garden shed

Front view of the house and garage

Part of the amazing garden that we can't wait to personalize make our very own!

More garden!

One lonely pumpkin and some apple trees

In the master bedroom

Master bathroom

Guest bathroom

Bedroom #3

View from the kitchen of the attached deck...

Almost a full view of the kitchen

View from the bay window in the dining room, we are guessing this will be one of Zoe's favorite sunning spots.

Another sitting area in the yard

Water feature that flows down to the koi pond

Fire pit area

A greenhouse that we can use year round...great to work in during those cold and rainy Washington days!

Side view of the house from the yard

More veggies! The seller's honestly did not leave a single square inch of the yard untouched with either fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers or plants.

The County Fair

This weekend we headed up to the county fair. It's been awhile since we've been to one of these but they are always a good time! County fairs are always a trip down memory lane for me...country music, tractors and cowboy boots are just a few of the things I love that always remind me of my Dad :) We saw lots of farm animals, had some great fair food and enjoyed Tim's favorite part of the day, the demolition derby.

Exploring Washington

We've had a good bit of time to get out and explore the area. We arrived Thursday afternoon and immediately started house hunting with our Realtor the following day, we definitely didn't want to waste any time on that! In the afternoon we usually take a drive and see what little town we come across. Washington state is definitely like no other place we've ever lived before. In fact, in a lot of ways it reminds us of Ohio. Very small town feel, lots of green everywhere you and just a whole lot of wide open spaces! So far we've ventured out to Bremerton, where Tim's ship is and where he will be working; Port Orchard, a great little town that we hope to find our home in; Silverdale, the more commercial area (where you can find the mall and most of your shopping and restaurants); Gig Harbor and Poulsbo, which are two quaint little towns on the water.

Another small town find, a tractor at the local market!

The view from the Manchester neighborhood in Port Orchard, the Seattle skyline off in the distance!

Downtown Poulsbo...quite possibly the cutest little town I've ever seen in my life! Lots of boutiques, coffee shops, antique stores, bakeries, book stores...all so adorable!

Sayonara Japan!

Yesterday was the day we had been waiting so long for but yet dreading at the very same time. After almost four months of waiting for the Navy to make up their mind, Tim's orders were cut, our house was packed back up and we were Washington bound! I purposefully sat behind Tim on the shuttle ride up to the air base only because I knew the tears would be flowing! I definitely cried leaving the base for the very last time...it may have just been a year and a half that we spent in Japan but we definitely have a special place in our hearts for that country now.

Three hours later we arrived at Yokota Air Base and were dropped off at the Passenger Terminal for our flight back to the states. It was a long, hot day in Japan and there were several delays but we had Zoe and some of the other dogs that were on our flight to entertain us.

Two hours after our initial departure time and we are finally ready to board our plane!

The last picture I took while taking off. Sayonara Japan, we hope to be back soon! (And, yes...at this point I was crying again!)