Dave got the new policy from work yesterday for the terms regarding international relocation travel and the new policy established in April states that in order for families to relocate with the employee, the assignment needs to be longer than 12 months! It would've been nice to know that before going down there! That is something new to think about!
I was just settling on the idea of 12 months and now I have to rethink this for 18 months to 2 years. It changes our plans for a second child as well. We were going to wait until we got home to have baby number 2, but that just seems too long to wait.
On another note, it may work out for getting back into the work force though. If I am gone for 18 months, I could come back and substitute for half a year in hopes of landing a job.
More for my brain to process. I'm open to comments, so let me know what you think!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Thoughts
Well, all the houses are posted. Now it is just a waiting, question, and decision game. Yuck. I think this will be the most difficult thing that I have ever done in my life. I used to do a lot of daring adventures - going to Washington DC in middle school, moving away to college without knowing anyone, going to France for our honeymoon, but this feels different and I think it is because of the long length of time that I will be gone. I have, obviously, never been away from all my family and friends for so long and I do not look forward to it. I am a somewhat introverted person, but I still love having people around to hang out with. Ugh.
House #12 - Last One!
This is the last house and it is tied with house #9 as my favorite. The only thing I do not love about this house is the location. It is on a street that seemed a little busy and it is a little bit farther away than all the other houses.
There are a lot of pictures for this house because there were so many awesome things about it so here we go...
The first thing that you notice about this house is the massive front door. This house had a ton of beautiful wood and the front door was just the beginning. When you enter the house, straight ahead you see a fish tank built into the wall that separates the living room from the dining room. You walk into a small foyer that has stairs that lead up and down. Let's start upstairs...
Upstairs there are three bedrooms with unbelievable views. Two out of the three bedrooms have window seats and they all have their own bathrooms, which was obviously a trend with the houses we saw. Also upstairs was a loft area with HUGE built in bookcases, which would be an awesome office. If only I could drag all my books down there. Those bookcases are going to be very lonely and just calling for my books!
Going down the stairs, to the right is a spacious living room and the dining room is straight ahead. I almost forgot to mention the most important part - the bar! It is in the living room, tucked away under the stairs. To the left is a bathroom, a dinette area and the kitchen. There is also a patio off the kitchen and dining room where you can sit and overlook the great view. The patio has stairs that lead down to the back yard and lowest level - the playroom. The playroom is a spacious room in the basement with another bathroom and maid's quarters. The backyard is a decent size and there is an outdoor grill there too.
The things I liked best about this house was the view, the wood, and the layout of the house. I hope the pictures showcase how cool this house was.
House #11
On Saturday morning we heard the goods news that we would only see two more houses! After such a long Friday, I was very excited to hear that we would be done early, little did I know that the rest of my afternoon would be spent sitting in the car in horrendous traffic.
House #11, Vista Esmeralda, is located in a new area that they are developing. In fact, this house was only a year old. This really wasn't a house thought, more of a townhome. It was in a gated sub division where the homes all looked the same. The only one we saw of it's kind. A Colombian family with a one year old lives there currently and we were told that they needed to move closer to the city and that was why they were moving out. I didn't exactly buy that story though, don't ask me why, but it just seemed like a line they were feeding us.
This house had all the features of a new home - built in lights on the stairs and in the doorways, new appliances, and no grass in the backyard! It was a little smaller than the other houses, but all the furniture was contemporary and the women living there said that there were four schools in the area for children who spoke English.
When walking into the front door, the bar area was to the left, along with a guest bathroom. To the right was the living room, followed by the dining room, that was separated by a free standing fireplace. You can get to the backyard through the dining room. Straight ahead from the front door is the kitchen and the stairs leading to the second level.
Upstairs, there was three bedrooms, again, each with a bathroom and a bathtub in the master bathroom, and one had a loft. There was also another living room area upstairs.
House #10
Almost there! This was the last house that we saw on Friday night. It too is at the end of a cul-de-sac and VERY close to a little playground with a play structure, track for bikes, and see saw. This house was not furnished and we aren't sure if that is good or bad. We did like all the work that the owner recently did to the house and the spacious rooms. Dave did not get as many pictures as we wanted because the camera battery was dying after a long day of snapshots.
When you walk into this house, it opens up to a large living room. In this area, there was a lot of plant life. There was a few plants that separated the living room from the dining room and there were plants (very tall ones) leading up the stairs. It had a huge kitchen and pantry and, we think, another family room in the back of the house.
Upstairs, there was a sitting area right at the top of the stairs, kind of like a loft. There is three bedrooms, each with a bathroom. This one has a jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom. It also has two other half baths downstairs and, of course, the maid's quarters.
There isn't too much more to say about this house. It didn't have the unique twists and turns that a lot of the other houses had, but it was open, clean, and in a great area, which was the appeal. I love the fact that the park was literally next door and there is a shopping area that is nearby. (I think walking distance.) And it was in Chiluca, the area that I liked best.
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