Adventures in Homeownership: Movin' On Up

 Aaron and I have been in our cute little San Jose townhouse for a little over four years. And it's been a wonderful four years. This house will always have special meaning to us. It was the first home we purchased together, just a few short months after we got married. We brought Ethan and Henry home to this house. We've celebrated birthdays, anniversaries and promotions. We've hosted holiday parties and gatherings. We've made friends with our neighbors. Our little townhouse is full of love and cherished memories. 

For the last four years, San Jose has been our home. But it's a funny thing about homes and houses. It doesn't really matter where it is. What matters is that you are with the ones you love.

“Home wasn't a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together. Not a place, but a moment, and then another, building on each other like bricks to create a solid shelter that you take with you for your entire life, wherever you may go.”
― Sarah Dessen, What Happened to Goodbye

Now that the boys are getting bigger, our needs are changing. As our family grows, it has become increasingly cramped. With two babies, we were running out of space. Our office spaces are encroaching on our living spaces, and our living spaces were quickly filling up with kid-friendly materials. But the community is growing, too. This means our commutes were getting worse, as more and more people moved to the area. Getting to our work places was taking us longer and longer, and sitting in traffic is no fun at all when you know you have super-cute little dudes waiting for you at home. And as Ethan gets older, I find myself longing for at least a little backyard that boys can play in with ease.

The thing is that we weren't really looking for something new, or for somewhere new, it kinda just presented itself. We had talked about moving someday; we knew that our cute little townhouse was not our forever home. We figured on a five year plan. We knew that we'd want to find a single-family home, something with a little more space and fewer stairs, and maybe that cute little backyard. And, if I am being honest, I was always looking at houses online. I liked keeping my eye on the market if for no other reason than so that I wouldn't miss something awesome. But with one eye on the market, we also knew that we had little hope of getting any closer to my work, or Aaron's work. If we wanted our ideal single-family home, we'd only be moving farther away. The big question is how far. 

If you have known us for a while, you know that Aaron commuted all the way to Santa Clara from Turlock. It was three hours. Each way. He loved taking the train to work, but the extra, extra long commute was taking a toll on him. That is how we came to find this house in San Jose. But with the traffic getting worse, the idea of taking public transit (even if it took a bit longer) seemed like a really exciting proposition. And that, my friends, is how we found our new house. 

Yes. The Plattner Family is on the move. Again. This time to Livermore, California. It is exciting. And new. And because there is just so much to say, I will share more details about our new home in another post. 

We are really excited about this new chapter in our lives. As they say, when one door closes another opens. And this door opens to a beautiful new home, in a lovely area. Of course it will be extremely difficult to leave everything we have now. I'm going to miss our San Jose home. It's super cute. The kitchen is fabulous. The house often has a wonderful breeze blowing through it, keeping it nice and cool and airy. I finally feel like I have put my touch on some of the decorating. I especially love Ethan's new big boy room. The location is quiet and really convenient for Aaron to ride his bike to work. We have absolutely wonderful neighbors and a few cute grassy areas for Ethan to play in. But I am sure that the new house will have all of these things and more. And, of course, there is the fact that I will be leaving my job at my wonderful school and leaving my sub status with the big band I love playing in. It's a lot of change. But change is good, right? As they say, without change there would be no butterflies. 

Yesterday, we received an offer on our fabulous townhome. We countered, and the buyers accepted. It makes my heart happy knowing that a cute newlywed couple wanted to call this house their home. Just as Aaron and I started our family in this home, they hope to start a family as well. Soon they will get to start filling it with love and making memories of their own.

For those who didn't get a chance to visit, here are some photos of our San Jose home. What wonderful memories it brought us!

The "Upstairs Living Room"

The dining room looking into the upstairs living room

A view of the dining and kitchen

The upstairs living room and half bath	The half bath downstairs
Ethan's Pixar themed big boy room	Henry's Mickey Mouse themed nursery room
The hall bathroom	Aaron's workspace, office
The master bedroom	The master bathroom

Adventures in Homeownership: Moving Day

On Saturday, May 26, my husband and I began our newest adventure! Living in San José.

Our big day started off with some friends picking up/buying our fridge. The fridge was so big, we had to take the front door off the hinges. (Note to self: don't pack up the hinges in a random box, or you will have to go to the hardware store and buy new hinges. Like we did.) Of course "Grandpa Wing" had to give the little guy a ride on the hand truck after loading up the fridge.

We decided that it would be a good investment in sanity and physical anguish to hire a moving company. We decided to go with XO Moving. (See their Yelp review here.) Emil was very helpful in getting us set up for the big day, and the moving men who helped us move were fantastic. The movers were on time and fabulously helpful. My parents and my bestie also came to help us tidy up after the movers. Their help was invaluable. We could not have done it without them!

Goodbye Turlock House. 

Once we got to San Jose, the moving men began unpacking and did so on time and under budget! Mom and Dad came and helped set the basics up.There were boxes everywhere, but it was awesome to know that we were finally in our new home.

Photo of the Week: Week 1

This week was a busy vacation week. This week I did a lot of cleaning and organizing, but I am most proud of having painted our new bedroom in San José and adding a few things to make the place feel a little more like home. Here are a few pictures of the finished product...

The before/in process picture... <3

The colors were chosen from our wedding... of course. 

The fireplace in the living room which includes...
the giant fleur de lis from Hobby Lobby,
the beautiful Monterey Pine Cone,
and the glass vase with postcards from our adventures!   

Adventures in Married Life: A New Home Together

This has been a very big year for Aaron and me; a year of many exciting and wonderful changes.

The year started off with an exciting trip to New Orleans in February. On Valentine's Day... Aaron proposed! The following summer was a whirlwind of excitement, as we spent time planning our own wedding and traveling to three other weddings all over the United States. In August, we bought a beautiful new car (I absolutely love our new blue Hyundai Tucson!) Of course, we had the most gorgeous wedding imaginable in September, followed closely behind by the best vacation ever -- our honeymoon in Aruba. We were able to celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday with family and friends, some we haven't seen in years, over the Thanksgiving holiday; as well as a surprise baby shower for my expectant brother and sister-in-law. Then we were lucky enough to celebrate with Grandma again on her actual birthday last week and concluded with a sweet little family Christmas. (We did light a purse on fire with some Hanukkah candles, but that is another story!)

As 2011 comes to an end and 2012 rapidly approaches, Aaron and I are excited to announce another fabulous adventure on the horizon.... relocating to San José ! Even before we were married we discussed the possibility and probability of relocating to the bay area. The South Bay has so many wonderful things to offer and relocation would cut Aaron's commute from three hours each each way to approximately fifteen minutes! We decided one day to take a look at some places in the area and absolutely fell in love with a new  Lennar development called Savona. One thing led to another, and on December 3rd -- our three month anniversary -- we signed a purchase agreement to buy a new townhome together. Our home.

This decision was very difficult to make, especially for me. The thought of leaving Turlock, my pretty little house, my band friends and my Carroll Fowler family still causes a lot of emotion. But as the saying goes, if nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies. Sometimes you need a little change to shake things up a bit, and I think this new adventure will do the trick.

Signing the loan documents at the title company 12/23/11
That day also happened to be
Grandma's actual 80th Birthday!

Tomorrow, Thursday, December 29th, Aaron and I will close escrow on our new home, the new Plattner Place. Don't worry, we don't plan on making the big move quite yet. For the next few months, our plan is to have Aaron stay in San José during the week to lessen the commute, while I will remain in Turlock and finish out the school year. (It's going to be like we were dating! How cute!)

While we still have plenty of time to enjoy all of Turlock's offerings, we are going to miss a lot of places and, even moreso the people. But friends are friends, regardless of distance. So, if you ever find yourself in the South Bay, make your way to San José , and stop by the new Plattner Place for a cookie... or a drink... or just a big ol' hug.

Every house where love abides

And friendship is a guest,

Is surely home, and home sweet home

For there the heart can rest.

~Henry Van Dyke

Here are some photos for the new Plattner Place in San José . 

View from the informal Living Room

Formal Living Room, Looking into the informal living room and dining room. 

Master Bedroom

View of Communication Hill
from the patio off the Master Bedroom

Guest Bathroom, Upstairs

Master Bathroom

View from the Formal Livingroom

The Plattners standing in front of the new Plattner Place!