Getting settled in Savannah

The month of April has been quite a whirlwind to say the least! Joe and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on April 11th, April 12th we closed on our new house, April 13th the moving truck delivered our things, April 14th mom and dad came to help us get the house together, April 16th was my birthday and on April 23rd my parents hit the road back to Ohio. My parents we so much help, I can't thank them enough for all the hard work they did, we are so loved! Joe was able to concentrate on his new job while we took care of everything else. We put cabinets in the laundry room, installed spot lights outside around the house, hung all our pictures and mirrors, and organized the garage as well as everything else! I'm looking forward to having may parents back to enjoy a much needed vacation. Here are a few pictures of the house, we are excited about painting the walls to make it feel a little more homey! So far, we are loving it!

I found this old Chinese cabinet in an antique store in downtown Savannah. Last year when we went to Hawaii we stayed at an estate that was fully furnished with this Chinese decor and I fell in love with it! I was so excited to find this and many other pieces I look forward to purchasing here. This piece was from the 1800's and I LOVE IT! My parents actually bought this for me for my birthday/housewarming gift! They are the BEST! The heart above it is made of driftwood from a local artist in Laguna, Joe and I wanted a little piece of Cali in our new home.

Kitchen, our new table...it's awesome! Best part is that it is high enough that the dogs can't beg...as easily that is!

 We were going to have a built-in added to this space until we found this awesome cabinet that fits perfectly! We had the top trimmed down a little to fit, but you can't tell at all. Best part is that we can take this piece with us down the road!

 Living Room

 Spare Bedroom

 Extra full bath shared by spare bedrooms.

 Spare Bedroom

 Half Bathroom

 Dining Room

 Office

 Kitchen

 Laundry Room...and my fabulous new washer and dryer!

 Master Bedroom

 Master Bath

 Partial view of backyard

 Kitchen
We have a "bonus room" that is on the second floor. It is big enough to be made into a media room and 3rd guest bedroom. I didn't take any pictures of the empty space, but it is going to be awesome one day!

 Dad and Gipper...our first visitors! Gip was such a good boy, he made himself right at home.

 My amazing mom and little Gip!

The house at night with our spotlights on...kinda hard to get the full effect from this picture, but it look beautiful!

When friends are more like family...

Our last 2 weeks in California were so busy with the caios of moving cross country...yet we made sure to spend as much time as possible with the people who have touched our lives in so many ways. When Joe and I moved to Cali we didn't know a soul. Joe's parents lived a good 1.5 hours away (which was great) but making friends can always be difficult. We moved to Irvine into good old Quail Hill, and it was the best decision we ever made! We instantly made friends that soon became our little California family. Many of us were not California natives and have family all over the world, so we found ourselves celebrating holidays, birthdays and other random made-up holidays together. We will forever remember our amazing life in California and our dear friends we left behind...but we know they will always be a big part of our lives together.

Thank you all for your love, support and never ending good times!

 Joe and Todd enjoying an amazing sunset in Laguna Beach. This was the night after the tsunami hit Japan and we had threats in California...the ocean was calm and beautiful. The four of us had numerous double dates that will surly be missed.

 Jess and I "cheersing" to new beginnings in Georgia...we had amazing sushi this night followed by dancing with a bunch of 20 somethings. We quickly felt out of place and all secretly wanted to go home and play scrabble.

 Disneyland! Joe and I had never gone and we lived 10 minutes away! Our great friends Cheryl and Charlie got us free passes to both parks so we could finally tell people we had actually gone. It was an experience that we would love to do again...when we have children of course!

 An amazing dinner at the exclusive Club 33 at Disneyland with Meghann, Spencer, Cheryl and Charlie. We were treated to one of the best meals ever and followed by a late night ride on a haunted rollercoaster! It was fantastic!

 Our surprise going away party at the Canery in Newport Beach. We were joined by Ashleigh, Baby Mason, Chatom, Emily, Spencer, Meghann, Todd, Jess, Stephanie, Ben and Kristen. Thanks for making us feel so loved!

Emily and Chatom gave us a "Georgia Peaches" inspired parting gift. It was so awesome!!

A little California LOVIN before we leave...

As our journey here in Cali comes to an end, we have a few places that we felt we needed to say farewell to before we leave. When I think of my first trip to California I think of Santa Monica. I absolutely fell in love with it. It was the first time I put my feel in the Pacific too. Joe and I spent the day walking around and sitting on the bench taking in the view. We sure have had some wonderful experiences here...

If that pink and purple house wasn't millions of dollars I would totally snatch it up!! <3  That was for you Aunt Gloria :)

Savannah here we come!!!

Almost Ready!!

So, this past weekend we had quite a whirlwind couple days in Savannah house hunting! We were hopeful that we would find the perfect home...and we found 2! We realize this is a good problem to have, however difficult to decide which we like better, which is the best deal etc... In the end, we decided to put offers on both houses thinking it would help us decide, BOTH were accepted! YES, I said both. After days of brainstorming and pros and cons we have decided on which home we like better...I will be sure to post a picture or two when things are finalized! Don't want to jump the gun, never know what could happen! We are so excited!

While we were there we took some time to visit some of the surrounding areas. Savannah has several beach islands that are really beautiful. One of the local favorites is called "Tybee Island" it isn't as touristy as Hilton Head, yet has a lot of charm for sure. It reminds me so much of Myrtle Beach...which I LOVE! Tybee was celebrating Mardi Gras while we were there. People were totally decked out in crazy hats, clothes, beads of course...even their golf carts were dangling with streamers and other colorful goodies. It was so hilarious! A live band was right off the beach where people were enjoying cocktails and dancing...you are able to drink publicly and on the beach...this makes for lots of stumbling!!



Mid-West meets West Coast meets East Coast...!!!

Hello All!

For those of you who don't know yet...Joe and I have some BIG news! We are moving to Savannah, Georgia at the end of the month! Joe has accepted an amazing job and is looking forward to this advancement in his career.

Joe's new employer is "Gulfstream" http://www.gulfstream.com/ For those of you who don't know about the company, they build the most technologically advanced business jets in the world. These things are amazing, I personally had no idea how advanced these jets could be! Joe is very excited to get started and I am very excited for him!

So, obviously we will be saying a very heartfelt goodbye to life here in Cali. We have LOVED living here and are so happy we had the opportunity to spend 4 amazing years exploring it together. We have made the most amazing lifelong friends here that will be missed greatly...BUT we have a lot of reasons to visit! The hardest part about leaving CA will be leaving Joe's parents behind. Neither one of us want to think about it at this point, but with their full support it makes the move much easier.

Joe and I had never been to Savannah, GA, so our first visit was a few weeks ago. I personally have always dreamed of living in the Carolina's...and South Carolina is only a few miles away! Hilton Head Island is probably the most visited/known area there, it is only 20 minutes or so from Savannah. The winter temps range in the 50's however the summers are going to be HOT! We are super excited about being able to live by the beautiful beaches still...and no snow is a little bonus too :) Probably our biggest perk will be buying a house that we will be ECSTATIC about! We will have extra guest bedrooms and most importantly a BACKYARD!! Obviously housing in CA is beyond difficult, we had been looking for the past 2 years and just haven't been able to pull the trigger, so luckily we didn't!! We are flying out this weekend in hopes to find our new home...VERY EXCITING!

I will keep you posted on the move as much as I can...hope to see you all in Savannah one day! :)

XOXOXO
Jen and Joe