36/365

Grandma and Grandpa Fuessel love watching Leila on Saturdays...we are so lucky! It's great to have some time to ourselves, they are the best. 

To start our day we headed back up to Daybreak so we can finish checking out the rest of the model homes. Last Saturday we were gung-ho about Daybreak and were ready to buy soon, however, today we left unsure. We really want a single family home, but there are some town homes that we fell in love with that are gorgeous and in our price range! Today we learned that HOA fee's for a town home are $200, for a single family its $100. Guess what the extra $100 gets you: 

you don't have to mow your lawn...whoopty freakin' do. $200 in HOA is ridiculous! 

A large town home and a single family home are similar in price...so at that point we feel like we should just buy a single family. Also, the average person spends $10,000 in upgrades. We added up the upgrades we want and it totals about that. 

Buying a home is such a big decision. We are on the fence about many things and we're still trying to decide whats best for our family. Obviously, right now is a great time to buy a home, but we want to make sure its the right home in our price range. After seeing every model home in Daybreak, we went to dinner at Zupas to talk it over. 

We chatted about life and our future. 

1. Do we buy a home?

2. Do we wait and save $$$ to get the home we want or settle for what we can afford and get something smaller...in Daybreak.

3. Find a home not in Daybreak...nah, I'm pretty set on Daybreak and all of its wonderful amenities.

 If we suck it up and stay where we live a little longer we can put more money in savings. Although, we are pretty ready to get out of the storage business...especially so Leila can have a room of her own. Currently, she sleeps in the laundry/water heater/furnace room. Yes, its big enough for a crib and dresser but it worries me. Here's a picture of it. (The curtains hide everything and make it feel more like a bedroom).

We aren't ready to take the plunge yet...we have some more thinking to do.

Next we hit up the movies...its been a while. Going to the movies is a luxury now.

We saw The Dilemma. Loved it...its a comedy with depth. 

29/365

Our goal this year is to buy a home. We've dreamed about settling down in Sugarhouse. I'm drawn to the tree lined streets and unique, quaint homes with character. It reminds me of back home, Palo Alto specifically. I love the urban vibe of Sugarhouse, its artsy, cool, and doesn't feel like Utah. But most of the homes in our price range are old and need a lot of renovating. Eric and I like the idea of renovating a home and customizing it to how we want but we don't really have the time or energy. New construction is so blah...and BEIGE! Cookie-cutter homes in BFE (beyond freakin Egypt)are not for us.

And then we discovered Daybreak! This is new construction at its finest. What I love about Daybreak is that the homes are mixed in with other things that make life flavorful: lake, trails, shops, restaurants, good schools, swimming pools, community gardens, "beaches", kayaking, trax (in august) etc.

We checked out daybreak right after Leila was born and knew it was the place for us...although I can't believe we are going to become west sider riders...blah. I never wanted to live on the other side of the freeway again, but this place is different.

We've had our eye on some homes and have a real estate agent. We hope to move to daybreak by the end of the year! We can't wait!

Later that night we met up with some friends we haven't seen in ages, Danny and Alex. They introduced us to this uber authentic Thai place. The owner came to our table and talked our ear off. I love when owners of restaurants do that too. She told us her whole life story, how she moved here from Bangkok, met her husband who served in Thailand, has several kids in med school, works 90 hours a week, makes ALL the food from scratch daily at 5am, etc., etc. etc.. She is one sweet lady and a hard worker...but we hardly got to chat with our friends. And the restaurant was happening too.

Oh, and she said the coolest thing to me. She asked me if I was still nursing Leila. I have no idea how she knew because I didn't whip it out at the restaurant, I asked her know she knew and she said Leila looks like a very healthy baby and she can just tell. Wow. That was a huge compliment to me. We will definitely make the trek to Sandy for that orgasimic massaman curry and pad thai. Best. Thai. Food. Ever. Period. Check it out: Simply Thai.