Alaska to Alabama!

Last week - or was it two weeks ago now? - we packed up the baby and traveled for 26 hours or something like that to go to Mobile, AL. Why would we do that? Well, Jason goes once a year for training, so that was his excuse. I just wanted to get off Kodiak for a little while because the weather was driving me batty!


But, what was supposed to be just a trip to get some sun and maybe a little warmth turned into a trip with a purpose - find a house! We got the verbal word shortly before we left that Jason will be stationed in Mobile starting this summer for 4 very hot years. He'll be an instructor pilot at the Aviation Training Center and is VERY happy about that. I'm happy because he's happy, though I wish ATC could be in North Carolina or something. I mean, seriously - Alaska to Alabama?!? Last summer, we had a day or two when the temperature actually hit 70 degrees here. In Alabama, in the summer, it cools down to 80-ish at night. We're going to melt! But we're excited to be heading back to the lower 48, and we're that much more excited now that we have a place down there to call home.

On two different days, after Jason did his training in the morning, we met with a realtor in the afternoon to take a look at a few places. We didn't expect to find anything this trip, and luckily didn't feel pressured since we had plans to go back in April again anyway, but we got lucky on the last day! Our realtor had pulled the listing for this house the first day but we hadn't gotten to it. So we told her, because of the price mostly, that we'd love to just take a look on Friday afternoon - less than 24 hours before we were flying out!

Lo and behold, the minute we stepped into the house, we were in love! It's a brand-spankin'-new place - it's been the model home for a recently-developed neighborhood and has only been finished completely for about 5 months. We'll be the first owners! It's 4 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms, with a very open floor plan and just over 2200 sq ft of space. It's on a corner lot, which we'll be fencing in and filling up at least a little bit with a pool (I reference you back to the melting). The road it's on is a cul-de-sac (though we won't be on the end like here), and it's kitty-corner from a small park with swings and toys for kids. Since Michaela will be 5 by the time we get ready to move again, we're very excited about all the kid-friendly stuff!

Here are a few pictures, as requested! We had given some people the MLS listing to look at, but it's been pulled since we're under contract. We'll close on May 15th!

The layout of the house is really great. We're especially happy with the dual vanities in the master bathroom, the huge walk-in closet, and the fact that one of the bedrooms and a bathroom are sort of off in their own area of the house which will be perfect for guests! And now, for the next 4 months, I will try to decorate and re-decorate the place in my mind!


Now we just need to sell our place here. And, thanks to the power of Craig's List, that might happen sooner than we thought. We showed it twice on Saturday and we're expecting an offer tomorrow! Fingers are crossed that the selling process will go as well as the buying process.

And now, very quickly because the wailing from upstairs means a baby is ready to eat again... I'm pretty sure the grandmothers would kill me if a put pictures on a blog without including any of said baby. So here are a few... In the first she's showing off her love of yogurt. The second is her playing with the curtain at the hotel in Mobile. And finally, her first taste of cheesecake... she's DEFINITELY her daddy's girl on that count. She LOVED it!

(Yes, those are tears in her eyes... she had a lack-of-another-bite-of-cheesecake meltdown. Jason caved.)

That's the latest from winter, wintry Kodiak! The countdown is on - only 4 more months left on the Rock! Bring on the heat!