I was staring at this math problem today, and I began to wonder what you women out there thought of it.

Well, we have come to an agreement with a seller to purchase her house.  What does this mean?  Well, if all goes well, we will have the keys to our house on July 28th.  Now for some details....The house is 2588 sq feet above ground and has a 1450 sq ft unfinished basement, for a grand total of 4015 sq ft.  It has 3 bedrooms, plus a study, 3 full baths, and a 3 car garage.  The family room has speakers built-in to the wall, and the entire house is internet ready with rooms pre-wired with ethernet cable.  It has hardwood floors in the entry and through the kitchen.  It was built in 2004.  It has a huge master closet, and the master bath is huge as well.   The other two bedrooms have a jack n jill bath.  The house is in a community in Highlands Ranch called Firelight.  I feel like we got a good deal, but only time will tell.

One big problem, Marisa and I have enough furniture to fill about 1200 sq ft, considering that was what we had previously.  There will be a lot of emptiness in some areas for awhile...Eventually, I would also like to finish the basement, which will be a significant expense, however, it would be nice to add a bedroom, bathroom, media room, playroom, and storage room down there.  That will be a ways down the road...

Well, i will leave you with a couple pics...

The family room....with our agent and Inara's new friend Addison

Master Bath...

Front of house, I dont like the color too much, but will paint later on.

How do you know what you want, and what is a good deal?  I have seen probably 50 houses online, and I have officially visited about 10-12 now.  I must say that house hunting is stressful.  Can I please mesh the positive things of all the houses I've seen into my one perfect house?  The first thing I learned is there is going to be some give and take unless you have money to burn (duh!).  Maybe that is the exciting part of house hunting, finding the one that fits into your budget and you have to "give" the least.

Well, there were two houses we have seen that are at the top of the list at this moment.  The one we like has a decent size back yard, a mountain view, 3-car garage, and was built in 2004.   I also really like the speakers built into the wall.  Who likes to run speaker wire to the back of the room?  Not me.  I wish it had a finished basement, granite counter-tops in the kitchen, and a loft on the 2nd floor.  Well, if had all of those things, it would probably be out of our price range.  The good thing is, those are all things that can be done later (with exception of adding a loft).

Well, my brain is going at 100mph right now, if you get a chance, check out my photo gallery as i have added some new pics of Inara, pics of house hunting, and some others!

Well, I figured it's about time I do my top six (sorry, couldn't think of ten) things I miss about California.  Here we go....

6.  The ocean.  Although I hadn't gone to the beach in 2 summers, I do miss looking at it.
5.  The air here in colorado is very dry.  It has been a tough adjustment and I miss the humidity levels in California.  Once I get used to it, I think it will be okay. 
4.  California Fish Grill.  One of my favorite places to eat.  I am still looking for something similar here, but have yet to find anything.
3. Frozen Yogurt.  Marisa and I both love frozen yogurt, specifically, Golden Spoon and Yogurtland.  We can't find anything like that here.  I bet a yogurtland would thrive here in Highlands Ranch.  They do have ice cream parlors.
2. Winter Golf.  Winter golf will be difficult here, although I do see people out at the driving range even when there is snow on the ground. I guess I will have to replace it with skiing and sledding.
1. Friends and Family.  I think this goes without saying.

I am still confused after reading this one...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23595533/

Marisa's uncle passed away on Feb. 21st.  I met him a couple of times, but never really knew how important this man was to his community.  He was a firefighter (Capton of Station 15) for 27 years, serving the community and putting himself in danger to help others.  His memorial service was held on Wednesday March 7th and over 700 people attended.  They closed freeways, had helicopters, and much more.  By the sound of it, it was an amazing service for an amazing man.

In hindsight, I wish I could have talked to him more.  I also wish I could have been at the service to show my support for the Tomaselli family.  In any case, I feel honored to be married to a Tomaselli so that I can be apart of this great family. 

I have posted pictures of the memorial service in my photo gallery, please check them out!

I went to the doctor today to get a cast for my ankle, and after un-wrapping the splint they discovered it is too swollen to cast.  In addition, the foot is very black and blue, and it looks pretty bad. I saw concerned looks on the doctor's face, which doesn't give me a lot of confidence.  The doctor said I will need physical therapy for 8 weeks to nurse it back to 100%.  They may not cast it after all and they may just put a walking boot on it.

I keep wondering if it will ever be the same.  I am going to do my best to make it fully functional.  Maybe I will call T.O and see if i can use his hyperbaric chamber.  He seems to recover from busted up ankles quickly.  I may post pictures of the ankle soon.

The run is officially over.  I sold my Honda Accord yesterday and it was a little sad to see it drive off.  I purchased the car right after I graduated high school and it had 19,000 miles on it.  As of yesterday, it had 162,000 miles and still going strong.  I am a big fan of Honda's, they last forever with little maintenance.  The car was good to me and I am going to miss it.  I can take comfort in the fact that I sold it to a family friend, so it is going to a good person.  I hope it continues to run well for years to come, which I am sure it will.

 The most memorable moment I had with the car was in Bear Valley.  I drove to mike's cabin and there was a bunch of snow.   I tried to drive up the long driveway without chains and I made it about 80% up the driveway when I totally lost traction and slipped all the way back down the hill into a snow-bank.  I then dug the car out of the snow bank, put chains on, and drove up the driveway.

 Here is the last picture before it was driven off.  Enjoy!

After months of delay, I have finally put up a new blog on shawnandmarisa.com.  I am using blogengine.net and it works pretty well.  I will be posting information about our move, Colorado, Inara Grace, and of course Marisa and I.  Please check back frequently!  Enjoy!