New adventures in DC

Welcome to my new blog. It's been almost exactly one year since we moved from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where I made it my mission to not only enjoy the island but also to share our adventures with everyone out there in blogger world via my blog Our Life in Guantanamo Bay.

We left GTMO last year in July and since then I have had a hard time writing about our new home because it is OVERWHELMING how much there is to see and do in the DC Metro area. So much to write about. There are so many options, so many more people, so much traffic (eek!) and very little time. At least that's how it felt to us after spending three years on a small base with no more than 7000 people, one school, few vehicles on the road, 25 mph speed limits... it was information overload.

But here we are, in the DC Metro area, in OUR home with OUR stuff and finally, here I am beginning to journal our adventures in our new hometown in Northern Virginia.  There is no way to easily transition so I wont sugar coat anything.

Our trip from GTMO to Northern Virginia was about 14 hours long. Two flights and a long drive to Aunt Helen's house where we planned to stay until we found a new home. Maybe a month or two.  We moved with three kids (18, 10, 6) a dog and a cat and everyone behaved extremely well considering.

We started our home search before leaving, thought we had a rental but my gut kept telling me this wasn't going to be a good fit, don't do it. This time I listened and declined the house. Nothing wrong with it, it just did not feel right. On the bright side we had a Realtor helping us find a new place, the downside was that everyone in the world was looking for a new place over the summer.  As if I didn't already know this, most families move over the summer for the same reasons we do...schools. DUH!!! OK so every house we went to see as a potential rental would have a contract on it by the time we signed our bid. We were signing bids before leaving the parking lot, it was that difficult to find a place with all our requirements. Many times I wanted to NOT be so picky but when you have kids, pets, and a need for public transportation, oh and lets not forget a place for his woodworking tools (garage) you have to be a little picky and that was becoming a problem. Apparently lots of people were being picky.

So we decided to consider buying because in the end the mortgage would be lower than the rent, blah blah blah. That was no easy task either because they too were going fast. How can you make a such a costly decision before leaving the place without looking at other homes. But it was happening right before our eyes. We were being too picky, we were frustrated, tired, and in the end we chose a house not because we LOVED it but because it met our needs and we needed to get on with our lives.

Our eldest son was in the last year of college, our eldest daughter entering her first year, and the youngest two were ready to settle down, make friends, start school, etc.  I am so thankful for their resiliency and ability to cope in changing times.

So here we are in our new home. Occasionally we look back and wonder why we didn't go with this one or that one, especially each time we find something we have to fix but such is the life of a home owner. I think any house we chose was going to have something we liked and somethings we did not and more than likely we would end up fixing, changing, painting something else.

The kids are in school, I have jobS...that's right several jobs teaching fitness. I have become a slave to my iPhone because without it I would likely forget where I need to be when and in my profession that's not something you want to do. Public transportation is easily accessible, the schools, stores, my jobs, and even some old friends from other bases are close by and the kids have a ton of friends.

What I learned from this adventure:
1. don't wait too long to make a decision on a home, there's always a better option or better house but there are also a lot of other people looking for a that perfect home so be prepared to make a decision on the spot.

2. stay positive, no matter what happens, because the kids are always watching.

3. there's no such thing as perfect anything : home, neighborhood, school, etc...

Next... things to see and do for FREE!!!

Until next time,
Terie