Alex and I just got back from California. The goal for our few days there was to find a place to live and become familiar with the area. We had a general idea of where we wanted to be from Internet research and opinions from friends. Ideally, we wanted to rent a house (at least 3 bedrooms, fenced yard, good area), but upon looking online, we found that things rent super quickly. Many places we liked we're taken quicker than we could get out there to do anything. We ended up finding a couple houses and a couple apartments to look at once we got there. Alex found one that was perfect. A nice house, nice neighborhood, the best school district, 3 bedrooms, 2 car garage, fenced yard.... We figured there was no way this would still be available once we arrived. We scheduled the appointment for the same day we got there. We loved it! We were so nervous through the whole "waiting" process until we had a singed lease with deposit because we were certain someone was going to come in and steal it! We didn't even want to look at anything else, because we liked it so much. We consider ourselves pretty lucky that it all worked out! Our lease starts on August 18th, and we really can't wait to be in a house again. The only downsides about the house are that we have to get a refrigerator because one is not included (manageable!) and there is no air conditioning. The latter sounds bad at first, until you remember the location. The high temperatures in this area of San Diego (Rancho Penasquitos) range from 69 degrees to 85 degrees. This is also manageable! We were there when it was 85, and the house felt fine. There is great airflow because the windows and screen doors are so large. We will only be about 15 miles to downtown San Diego, 6 miles to the beach, and a 10-15 minute drive to Alex's work, which just so happens to be right by the Torrey Pines golf course. Blake and I are leaving Boston on August 10th to spend some time in Indy while Alex manages most of the packing, the movers, the car shipment, and driving out with the dogs. Luckily, Lauren will be helping. They should arrive on the 18th, and Blake and I, along with my mom, will be arriving on the 19th. Flying with Blake is going to be super interesting since he will be sitting on my lap while I'm 6-7 months pregnant, but at least my mom will be able to help on the flights from Indy to San Diego. We will just have to manage on the Boston to Indy flight! Here are some pictures of our trip, house included! Pardon some of the house pictures, the current renters were in the process of moving out.
