We've done it!

We've made up our minds to move. And by "we," I mean me, of course. We have a goal to be in LA next summer ('12). Now all we have to do is....~deep breathe~...
Do lots of work on the house to make it sell-able, figure out a way to sell it ourselves to maximize profit, actually sell it, find Daniel a well-paying job and then find a rental house nearby that will allow pets (a zoo), move everything 730 miles and survive all of this while also working full-time, going to school, and raising three little monkeys. Sounds easy! No problem!

So right now, I'm doing as much research as I can to figure out inexpensive ways to spruce up the house and make it more appealing to potential buyers. I brought up the idea of replacing our old counter tops with DIY concrete counter tops... not a great response there. I thought that it would be much cheaper than brand new counter tops, it would be creative/unique, and might even be eco-friendly. We'll just let that one marinate for a while. He's got three more weeks of vacation this year and sitting around that long isn't his idea of fun.

I'm also kind of an HGTV and DIY channel addict. It's really a bad idea for me to watch these shows because I'm constantly getting attached to these ideas of renovation and home-improvement and I am really not equipped to follow through on them. I'm really not crafty at all. I am really not even sure what colors I am going to paint the house for selling...

Another fun thing about planning this move is scouring Craigslist with a fine-toothed comb in search of a good job for Daniel and something that I could do from home so that the burden isn't completely on him to support us.

I'm also going back and forth on whether I want to try to live right on the beach where we could see our friends and do tai chi or find someplace more inland in which the cost of housing is infinitely lower. We could dive 75 miles occasionally to visit friends, right?

A couple of years ago, I had the idea to move to Southern California and so I researched for hours and hours and hours. I researched statistics on schools, crime rates, climate, cost of living, employment, and came up with Temecula as the "perfect" place. Now, I really don't know if any perfect place exists; I'm sure there are pros and cons to every location. So I think the best plan would be to start out finding a job and then search for a rental home as close to that area as possible to minimize the commute as well as school districts. We can get a feel for the area and then if we want to move to a different part of the state later, we'll only be renting, so it won't be so hard.

All I know right now is that I'm so ready to leave and start a new life in a beautiful place.