More Birthday Fun!

As soon as I got home from our weekend in Nashville, I unpacked the suitcase, repacked the suitcase, grabbed Mom and Andrew, and headed out the door.  We stopped in Birmingham to grab Aunt Gracie and drove all the way to Pensacola Beach, FL.  (It was even more exhausting than it sounds.) 


What are we doing in Pensacola?  Well, we got official word that Drew will be stationed there next, so I wanted to go down and narrow down our house search.  (We had over 60 houses saved in our "favorites" list online) My head start would make it easier on us when Drew gets back. 


We arrived at our Gulf front hotel at midnight-thirty, tired and worn out from the drive.  Andrew had slept earlier so of course he was wired when we got there!  We stayed at the (brand new) Holiday Inn Resort.  We learned that this was actually their first week to be open for business, so the rooms were exceptionally clean and the whole place smelled "new."  

Monday morning we had breakfast in the restaurant downstairs.  Andrew loved it because there were tv's on the wall at every booth!  So he got to watch sprout as he ate.  We had an hour to kill before meeting the realtor, so Andrew played in the pool, while we all watched and wondered how in the world he could stand that COLD water! (especially since they had a heated indoor pool...but NO, he wanted to play in the one outside!)
We were really interested in this house across the street from the bay, so I had made an appointment with the listing agent.  We met her at the house and I really liked it.  It was only 3 bedroom and I swear the master was the smallest room in the house!  (Not to mention it had been flooded by Ivan and I'm pretty sure that it will happen again with the next major storm.)  So I moved on, but not without snapping a shot of Andrew in the front yard.

We drove by another house we were interested in, called the listing agent, and she met us there for a showing.  The kitchen was a no go!  I wasn't thrilled about the neighborhood either.  So we kept driving around getting a feel for all the different neighborhoods.  We came upon a subdivision with an open house Model Home!  We stopped on in and were blown away that this brand new 5 bedroom/3 bath 2 story house was the same price as the 3/2 house on the bay!  The agent at the house sent us to another neighborhood to meet the sales manager for this local contracting company.  I fell in love with this guy and his company right away.  He was super nice and had Christian music playing in the model home.  He gave me some floor plans for the neighborhood and we were on our way.  


The next day, the agent that showed us the second house said she's show us around.  (Andrew and Gracie decided to stay at the hotel and spend the day at the beach.) So Mom and I  met the realtor at a sales office in a community 2 miles from where Drew will be working.  We saw several of the move in ready homes.  I fell in love with a kitchen.  

 I loved the openness...and the counter space!

 Here's the same kitchen in another home. 

After we were finished with the realtor, I was sold on new construction!  I just kept thinking how much I liked the local builders so I went back to the model home and talked to the same guy again.  I asked if he could put this kitchen in one of his houses.  He said, "We're custom builders.  I can do anything you want."  I was convinced that he needed to build us a house.  Now I just needed to talk to Drew.


But first, since it was my "actual" birthday and all, we decided to go to dinner.  Before we ate, we took a few pictures on the beach.

Andrew was extremely sleepy, but he cooperated. 

Look at those eyes!

Dinner was delicious and so was the death by chocolate cake! (No I didn't eat it all)

Andrew did manage to eat all his food before falling asleep in my lap!

Drew called that night and we talked for a long time.  I had emailed him all kinds of pictures of houses and floor plans.  He agreed about the new construction and told me to go pick out a lot!  So the next day we met the guy at one of his other subdivisions and picked out a lot. (Well, I narrowed it down and Drew helped me decide.)  The one I wanted was already reserved....get this....by a family from Birmingham with 2 small children!  We decided on lot #21, which ironically was our lot number in Hawaii!  We took it as a sign and reserved the lot.  

Entrance to Cottonwood

 Lot #21

 Future homesite

   The last thing Drew said on the phone, "Happy Birthday honey, you're getting a house!"


So, I had a very productive 3 days in Florida.  I'm going to like living there.  I don't think anything will ever compare to living in Paradise for 6 years, but Milton is such a nice area and it's close to the beach.  I'm also looking forward to living a lot closer to our families!  It'll be so nice to be able to DRIVE and get there!  No more missing out on weddings, birthdays, and other family gatherings!


Now, if we can just get Drew home, we can get started on this new chapter in our life.  I'm excited!