New Neighborhood and New Adventures!

Today is Ian's birthday so we did whatever he wanted to do today!  Turned out to be an awesome day , which started off with some gift giving.  Thanks to family for pulling together to get Ian a 6 piece tool set to start off his workshop at the new house!  He has been wanting to have a workshop and of course, needs the right tools to get going.    After breakfast and opening of gifts and cards, we drove to our new neighborhood and visited a Plant Sale (picked up 3 little plants for our new yard - garden :)   

The afternoon was beautifully sunny so we decided to drive down to Half Moon Bay and stopped at the Ritz-Carlton to enjoy a drink and snacks over looking the Pacific Ocean :)  What a view for sure!

Our appraisal came through for the house, so now we wait for financing to come through and hopefully close by May 2.  (we may have driven by today after the plant sale, just to take another look - can you tell we are excited?!) 

happy birthday to Ian and looking forward to his next year! 

House Buying - San Francisco Style!

Hi family and friends,

I know it has been quite sometime since Ian and I posted on our blog, so I thought now would be a perfect time to start blogging again!  Because we are far away from many of you, we thought we could share our moving experience via Internet instead.  Our hope is that you get to hear/see/feel the many steps of the moving process!   

For those of you that have not heard yet, Ian and I have had an offer accepted on a home here in San Francisco!  It's a single-family home, two bedrooms and 1 bathroom, with the potential to renovate the downstairs for more space.  It has a yard, roof deck, and space for anyone to come visit!! The cats will also have plenty of space to run around (and hopefully Sammie will lose some weight, she's a fat cat for sure).  We are hoping to close on May 2nd and will have the month of May to move from our current apartment to the new place!!  

Ian has been through the house buying experience before but me, this is the first time.  Let me tell you it is nerve racking!  The amount of personal financial information, work information, etc that you have to share with your mortgage broker is fascinating.  I never thought it was so detailed, but I'm glad that they are thorough.  We feel like we really lucked out with this find and cannot wait to put our own personal touches on it! 

Here is the link to the listing :)  can't wait to hear what you think!  

Sending love across the miles!

~Ian and ME

25 Gambier Street, San Francisco CA

Hills and Heights

Our first couple days in SF are going well! Ian got to work yesterday and enjoyed meeting the west coast team.  :)

We also successfully turned in the rental van and are now car-less. Walking in this city sure is a work out, but the views are amazing!! This was my walk home today, one block from our place

The apartment is great, needs some

love and care, and decorating but is definitely home material.  You walk into our place from a small courtyard area and then see the entry way and kitchen.  The bathroom is to the left and to the right is the living room.  Through the living room is the bedroom, which has a small balcony off of it. I am hoping to grow some vegetables out there!  

Here's a small peak at the apartment (pay no attention to the piles of stuff)

We will keep you updated as we settle in! Miss you all and sending love!

Bayside at Last!!!

We finally arrived!!! All in one piece and managed to unpack the van and do one target run for the essentials. 

This trip has been an amazing experience     to say the least, and we'll write more tomorrow :) 

Hello San Francisco! 

Miss you all and sending love 

A Great Dam Day :)

For the first time on this trip, we had a relatively "short" drive from Flagstaff, AZ to Las Vegas,NV (4 hour drive, seems like nothing) 

As we followed our directions, we found ourselves in an area with very limited food options...however! We came across the Grasshopper Deli.  This deli has no clear signage and a pot dispensary next door, but let me tell ya, they provided amazing turkey sandwiches.  Seriously amazing. 

From there, we continued to the Hoover Dam!! We had never been before and it was really awesome to see on person.  We also took a tour of the power plant and learned a lot about the dam's history. 

Las Vegas was then our final destination of the evening, and we stayed at the Cosmopolitan which was soooo nice.  Dinner at a sushi bar and grill and some

time on the slots was fun! (I made a profit of $3.50, sweet). Our room at a view of the Bellagio light show too! 

And Ian wanted me to add this picture.... I was excited about my slots profit

Hitting the Ole' Dusty Trail (Grand Canyon)

Today was an amazing day exploring the Grand Canyon!  We arrived at Cameron Trading Post outside of the canyon late last night and enjoyed an awesome breakfast this morning! Mine was a scrambled egg/sausage mix in a flour tortilla with red chile sauce, yum! 

The Grand Canyon was gorgeous and we used our wonderful gift from Ian's coworkers (thanks!), an annual pass for national parks.  

Upon arrival, we of course sat through the visitor center video and then chose which trail we wanted to do :)  The decision was to do the moderate level trail down the canyon to Ooh Aah Point - and we made it!! The views were breathtaking and neither one of us slipped on a cliff ;)

On the way back up to the rim, Ian had some fun...

Tonight, we are staying in Flagstaff, AZ and tomorrow, heading to Las Vegas! Woo! 

Sending love to all of you!!!

Happy Thanksgiving and..... !!

Sorry for the delay in posting - Ian and I have been in areas with very limited cell service but incredible views!! 

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends.  We miss you very much!!

Alright, we have something big to share :) 

              We are ENGAGED!!!!!

It all started on Wednesday with Ian asking me if I wanted to watch the sunset with him (look to our last post for the view from the lodge).  He asked this in the morning, innocently, and I thought nothing beyond, "how sweet".  

Fast forward to later in the afternoon, when I am laying on the couch post-nap and altitude sickness, and I notice Ian has his jacket and shoes on already to see the sunset.  I immediately pouted, thinking he was going to watch it without me.  I quickly out my shoes on, and my jacket (but no makeup) and went to the door to the porch.  (I did brush my teeth randomly before heading outside) 

When I stepped onto the deck, Ian was on one end, and asked me to come see the well.  I thought he said "wall", to which I said I've already seen it.  Mid-sentence however, I noticed his face, and then noticed a sign made of sticks on the deck.  As I walked closer, I saw this: 

Ian reached out and grabbed both of my hands and he got down on one knee :) He said beautiful words about sharing our lives together and asked me to marry him.  I was tearing up and shaking a bit but I managed to say yes!! (I clarified later that I acutually said it out loud) 

He then slipped an amazing ring on my finger and we smiled and laughed and cried a bit :) 

Afterward, we popped a bottle of champagne and watched the sunset together behind the awesome landscape before us.  

We didn't have much in the way of cell service and still don't, so if we haven't called you yet, we are  working on it :) 

The next day, my sister and her boyfriend joined us at the ranch for a thanksgiving feast and we loved telling her in person!

We are both so excited for this new chapter!!! 

Thank you all so much for your love and support on our journey. 

Will post more soon! On our way to the Grand Canyon as we speak!