No longer Californians

Well, it's official. We signed the paperwork this week and have sold our condo in California. I teared up when we were at UPS shipping off the paperwork and then lost it in the car. I sure loved our first home. We bought the black Kenmore appliances we wanted, we picked out the Corian countertops, we painted the walls, and we changed the stainless steel sink to the BEST (Black Siligranite) SINK EVER!

So I can remember later on, here are some of the things I loved about living at 1501 Secret Ravine Parkway #320 Roseville, CA 95661...

- I loved the modern firehouse at the corner of Secret Ravine and East Roseville Parkway

- I loved the trees that lined our street and that they would blossom first at the beginning of spring

- I loved the way each of the buildings in the complex looked different from each other

- I loved our close location to the clubhouse

- I loved how nice the whole complex was, how clean it was kept, and the landscaping

- I loved how on a really clear day you could see downtown Sac from our porch

- I loved the way the afternoon sun shone in through the front room window on the couch

- I loved seeing our guests' reactions when I showed them the grounds - i.e. the life-sized chess board, the game room, the pool, etc. It made me really proud to live there.

- I loved leaving our windows open especially at night to enjoy the breeze that would cool off the house

- I loved how clean our dishwasher got EVERYTHING and how we never had to rinse the dishes

- I loved our fridge especially the in-door filtered water and ice!

- I loved the view over the valley (especially in the spring) I got to enjoy when I would drive down Sierra College Blvd to go to Safeway

I know that there were things I didn't like about the place as well but I want to make sure that I remember some of these little things that are tender to me right now. It was a great first home for us and met our needs really well. When we first started thinking about purchasing a condo, I had driven to another complex that was just being built and while I was in the sales office someone mentioned to me about a complex call "The Phoenician" in Roseville that was also under construction. I checked it out later and from the first moment I saw it, I KNEW that it would be where we lived. It just felt right. So we waited and participated in the crazy silent bidding process once they started selling the units. We didn't win the first unit we bid on but won when we bid on a unit in the second group released. We finally moved in on New Years Eve 2004. It was a great nearly 5 years and I will always feel blessed that we were able to live there.

New Years

Kimberly came to town a couple days after Christmas to hang out with us. It was a lot of fun to have her in town. We spent time shopping, watching movies, playing addictive Facebook games (Treasure Madness and Bejeweled), and enjoying being around family.

For New Years Eve we went to Medieval Times. They had a special late show which included their regular dinner/show and then they'd have a party afterward so it sounded like a lot of fun. Plus I figured if the show was going to go up until 11:45 pm then at least I'd have something to keep me entertained and enable me to stay up until midnight. :)

I thought that it would end up being cheesy and no one would be there but I was wrong. There was a TON of people there and they put on a great event.

Dinner, in true Medieval fashion, didn't include silverware so that was fun. And then during the show we were in the Blue Knight's section so we cheered heartily for him as he competed in various events. It was fun and engaging plus he was the cutest knight so it wasn't hard to root for him. Poor Kimberly was struggling to breath due to the horses so I felt bad.

Once we left the arena when the show was over and went where they had a dance floor set up Kimberly was able to breath again and didn't look like she was going to die on us. :) After that we huge out and dance until it was time for the countdown. It was a true New Years Eve celebration complete with noise makers, hats, beads, a balloon drop at midnight, confetti canons, and a DJ. We danced and showed the masses the great moves we had learned thanks to the Wii game "Just Dance". It was certainly the funnest New Years Eve I can remember in a long time.

(Please ignore my orange Oompa Loompa face. I had tried some self-tanner so that I would be scary white in my sleeveless dress for Katherine's wedding. Clearly it wasn't the naturally sun-kissed look I was going for. Did you know that Oompa Loompa was a nickname I had in high school? True story. Too bad I didn't have the self tanner back then, I could have made a great halloween costume out of it.)

This is the first post where 100% of the pictures were taken with my new camera. Aren't they so nice, clear, and colorful???