Friends, I have been wanting to share this huge life update with you for so long..! We officially sold our home in California and are building a new home in Arizona!! There were so many pieces to this puzzle that I had to wait on until I could fully share the good news. And within two weeks, everything came together SUPER quickly 😮.
All the Feels
We’ve lived in California our whole lives so this move is a totally new experience- I can say that I’ve never felt so many emotions about anything in my entire life! From bittersweet sadness of saying goodbye to our wonderful friends and family, to an exhilarating high of building a dream home in the gorgeous mountain backdrop of the Arizona desert..! I’ll spare the nitty gritty on that whole emotional rollercoaster- there have been big highs and lows. It’s so tough to part with the wonderful home we’ve built here in our home state 🖤. At the same time, this has been a huge calling on our hearts as a family for quite some time now and we are extremely grateful.
The Timeline of Events
As for how everything unfolded- I’ll share the timeline as concisely as I can. My head is still spinning from all of that’s taken place in the past few weeks 🤯.
Job Transfer and House Hunting
I’ll first share that Antone was able to transfer his current job with ease to Phoenix. We had visited Arizona three times last year to get a feel for which specific area in Phoenix we’d like to live in. Honestly that was the tough part because there are many beautiful spots!! Ultimately we chose our specific suburb of Phoenix for the excellent school district, amenities, location (Arizona mountains are insanely gorgeous!!) and the family community. We also like the proximity of our specific suburb to California for ease of visiting family, heading to Disneyland or just escaping to our favorite tide pools in San Diego. We’ll be 4 hours from the beach which is longer than our current proximity but still not too bad!
Selling Our Home
Flash forward to two weeks ago… our plan had always been to make the move over the kids’ summer break so they could easily start school at their new school, get settled in the new area AND still have time for playdates with friends here before the big moving day. Making the transition as smoothly as possible for them was priority number one. We want them to feel secure and happy since this is no small change.
We listed our house for sale during their last week of school and it sold for well over asking price within 5 days 😮 and multiple offers. If you are unfamiliar with the housing market in California right now, its B A N A N A S!! Northern California has always been a little nuts because of Silicon Valley commuters and investors buying properties (many in full cash) but this year is a whole new level!!
We Chose a New Build Home
Once the house was sold we started looking for our new home in Arizona. We had decided on pursuing a new build construction home for two reasons: one, the housing shortage is REAL over there and it’s slim pickings with existing homes because they sell so quickly and two, we wanted to build something just for us to really make it our own. If you have followed along here for awhile then you know how many projects we have DIY’d to our 1950’s ranch style home! There will still be plenty of DIY’s in the new build but lucky for us this does not mean structural projects like new roofing, siding and fixing ceiling leaks (the joys of an old home 😬).
Bidding on a Lot
The way this new build home came together for us is such an answered prayer. Three weeks ago we placed a bid on a new lot release for a new build community we liked and that was in our price range but didn’t get it. Last week that same community released two new lots and we got the news this weekend that our offer was accepted!! 🤩 Apparently our offer was only a few HUNDRED dollars over the other potential winning bid, so we barely barely lucked out with this house🙏 I truly cannot be more thankful because we were worried we would get stuck on a waiting list which could take months or even a year before anything gets finalized.
Customizing our Home
Within an hour of getting the house news we were asked to pick out the elevation and exterior color scheme…After that we went straight to the structural upgrades like adding windows, upgrading the kitchen island, built ins and so on. I am still in shock and trying to catch my breath even now 😆😭🙏. The designer features such as paint colors, countertops, cabinets, flooring and so on will be chosen later when we are present to see them in person.
New Home Details
The new house is going to be beautiful and I’m ecstatic to take you all through the whole design process. This is the first time I’ll be able to curate an entire home for our family which is literally a dream come true. Some specific details I can share about the home: The kids each get their own bedroom and shared loft playroom/hangout room, Antone and I get a dedicated office space, our kitchen/ living/ dining room is an open floorplan concept with bay window overlooking the backyard and we are getting a pool! Our community is set against the beautiful White Tank Mountain Range with park, trails and elementary school. Just typing out these words doesn’t even feel real- so many answered prayers over a short amount of time!
Managing the Stress
So now we are in the midst of packing, planning visits with friends and family and all the things that come along with moving out of state. I’ll be honest that while this has been a season of overflowing blessings for our family it has also been one of extreme stress. Uprooting a family is no small task!! I’m working hard to take care of my own my mental health right now which often means taking a step back from social media. It’s hard to predict how many fun new projects I will be able to share due to the move (we move in 4 weeks btw!). On the other hand, sometimes taking care of me means posting to social media because creating makes me so so happy as well as connecting with all of you!
What’s Next
Things I plan to share in this space next include: design boards for the home, making a rental house a home, and furniture flips and diy’s once we’re there! I’ll continue sharing all things style like easy to wear looks and fun hairstyles to try. It’s going to be a whole new adventure for all of us! As I’m watching all of the pieces fit into the puzzle I’m getting more and more excited about sharing my life with you all and I just thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here- many of you from the very beginning 🖤
Do you have any questions I didn’t answer here about the whole home selling/ buying process? Just drop a question in comments, I’d love to help! Until next time friends!
X o X o ,
