we had a great trip, IMO. got to really see what the area was all about, experienced some typical and atypical summer weather for the area (heat, clouds, more heat, thunder/lightening storms, sun, more heat...). learned a whole lot about why the homes there are built that way, and learned more about basements than i'll ever probably need to know! ate at some great local spots, sushi, mexican, breweries. found our dreamhouse. hopefully it will still be there when we're ready to put an offer, or at least something comparable. checked out downtown, and why the city has its nickname. drove a LOT. encountered great service, and lots of super friendly, nice people. so different than california.

i didn't think i'd ever leave my home state, but the more i explore other parts of the country, i realize that cali has my parents and most of my friends, but other than that, doesn't have all that much going for it. i think i'm ready to experience the 4 seasons. i want to be enveloped in orance, yellow, red. i want a white christmas. and spring showers making way for all the flowers. even sweltering heat is okay every so often, to remind you that it's summertime. california is great, but it's not the only great place to live. i'm ready to experience something else. and if i hate it, at least i can say, "oh yeah, i lived there, and i hated it!" haha... life is about experiences, and that's what this will be. as we were flying back, it suddenly hit me that we don't have that much time left...if we do go thru with this (and it looks like it's about 90% now), we could be leaving as soon as 3-4 weeks.

holy crap.