The Road to Verrado - Part 2

So ... we weren't going to be building our dream home in Verrado. We just left it at that.

We didn't make any plans for a new house, and decided to just renew our lease when it expires in early 2010.

Then, in May we got an e-mail announcing a new builder in Verrado - Monterey Homes. We were intrigued, as all but one builder in Verrado had pulled out. And we didn't like any of the homes the other builder offered.

We visited Monterey's new model home that weekend, and really liked it. But still had no plans to build any time soon.

In the meantime, I had signed up to receive e-mail notifications of homes that went up for sale in Verrado. So that went on for a few weeks ... and I typically ignored the e-mails.

But one day ... it happened. The gorgeous, highly-upgraded, across from a park in the "main street" area of Verrado model home for the house we originally wanted to build was FOR SALE! I knew this home well ... I'd been to it countless times. And it was available!

I contacted the realtor who had been sending me the listings ... I contacted a mortgage broker and got us pre-qualified ... and within a couple of days, we made an offer. The house was drawing a lot of attention, and so there were multiple bids. Within a couple of days, we were told to make our "highest and best offer." So we upped our offer as much as we could ... and waited.

We knew it was a long shot ... and Jonathan proclaimed that when the deal didn't work out, we were NOT house hunting. I agreed, and we waited.

Long-story-short: we were outbid and the dream to own that gorgeous house ended. As did our house search ... or so we thought.

From that point on, we paid closer attention to those e-mails coming in that announced new listings in Verrado. They were all "short sales" and foreclosures at amazingly low prices. So low, in fact, that as soon as they came on the market, people were submitting bids - sight unseen! A home very similar to the model home we wanted came on the market ... but there were immediate bids on it, so we didn't bother.

Twice, we braved 100+ degree temps to look at a few houses. Nothing really made us want to submit an offer, and besides ... we just couldn't keep up with the rush of offers.

An example of what kind of deals are in Verrado right now: We visited on small home, about 1,900 square feet. Nothing at all special about this home - even the back yard was minuscule. Back in 2004 when it was built, the house sold for $414,000. When it went on the market as a short sale a few weeks ago, it was listed at just $161,000 (and the previous homeowners took out ALL the doorknobs, the thermostat, the stove, microwave and the garbage disposal). We didn't really care for the house, and didn't even consider bidding on it. But ... wow ... that is a $253,000 price difference in a matter of just a few years!

So, after seeing a few homes in our price range in Verrado, we decided our best option all the way around was to just build a new house. And the builder was offering some amazing incentives:

1. 6% cash back at closing if we used their preferred lender (which covers nearly all of our closing costs, and lots of upgrades!)

2. A free washer and dryer (wooohooooo! That's what I'm talkin' about!)

3. 1/2 off the lot premium (and we picked a fabulous corner lot across from a park, and with mountain views!).

4. A $50 gas card (which came in very handy today!)

And let's not forget that interest rates are still very low!

Honestly, the only downside is that we don't qualify for that $8,000 tax credit that is currently being offered to "first time home buyers." To qualify, you can't have owned a house in the past three years. And we have.

So we signed the contract on 7/11 and construction will likely start in the next couple of weeks! Currently, we expect the house to be finished in November some time (the longer the process takes, the better, as our lease in the house we're in runs through January 31).

Stay tuned! :)

The Incredible Shrinking Crib

Okay, the crib isn't shrinking - Christian is growing! I peeked into his room to check on him, and found his legs sticking out like this. What a kid!

For now, we have no immediate plans to transition him to a "big boy bed." He's still a lil' guy and needs to confines of the crib. And so do we. :)

Wordless Wednesday - July 22, 2009

The Road to Verrado - Part 1

The road to Verrado is called "Verrado Way." No, really. When you're driving on I-10, you get off on "Verrado Way" to drive into Verrado.

But, that is not the "road to Verrado" I'm referring to. I'm referring to our journey to buy a house in Verrado.

As I previously mentioned, my dream of Verrado started in 2003. The actual road to Verrado started just about a year ago when we signed a 1.5 year lease at our current house. The plan was to spend a year recovering from such a quick move to Arizona (because, wow! It was a lot of work!), and six months to build a home.

We found a builder we liked and a home we loved. We weren't in a rush to build ... we had just moved and were content where we were. But when I visited the model home (yet once again) in April, I was told the builder was ceasing operations - the economy and crashing real estate market in the Phoenix area were to blame. I was crushed! She told us of two options 1) Buy a resale home at a later day (this particular model was, after all, the most popular home in Verrado) 2) Buy the pricey spec home they still had available.

Option 1 was a possibility - sometime in the future. Option 2 wasn't an option. We weren't ready to buy a home, and weren't ready to pay the price they wanted.

So we gave up the dream. And it hurt. But, we recalled how blessed we are to have actually sold our house in Santa Fe last year rather quickly ... and how blessed we were to be renting a house rather than: 1) Owning a home in the Phoenix area which had lost most of it's value and 2) losing a house due to foreclosure, as so many people in our community had been (as you may have heard, the Phoenix-area real estate market crashed HARD ... one of the hardest crashes in the country).

We considered ourselves blessed and content ... and just moved on with our life. In the meantime, we paid off all my credit cards, which is an AMAZING feeling ... I highly recommend doing it yourself. And I highly recommend you read Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover." Seriously ... go out and buy it or check it out at your local library - and READ IT!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of "The Road to Verrado." :)

It's Haboob Season!

Yep, you heard me right - it's HABOOB SEASON?

"What's a 'haboob'"?

Thanks for asking!

"Haboob" is the Middle Eastern Term for a sandstorm. We've had three haboobs in the past three days. Happily, we were home during each of them and not out driving somewhere.

"Why not call it a 'sandstorm'?" Well, I could ... but I think saying "habbob" is way more fun. Don't you agree? :)

Check out Friday's haboob. I only wish I'd noticed it just a few moments earlier, so I could get a series of pictures of the haboob coming over the mountain:

"Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin' ..."

Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream? Everybody comes here; this is
Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on
dreamin' - this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin'.

A Happy Guy at the End of "Pretty Woman"

My “Verrado Dream” started back in 2003 or so … before we had Christian … before we were even married.

I came out to Phoenix to visit my sister Liz that year, and our favorite thing to do was check out model homes near her house. The real estate market was really booming back then! She told me of this new community called “Verrado” in the “Far West Valley” – neither term meant anything to me at the time. "What is Verrado? Where is the West Valley?"

She drove us to Verrado, and it was a LONG drive. There wasn’t much to be seen along the way … just vast desert. I couldn’t believe anybody would live out that far! Here is the description of Verrado from their website:

To view the many, many model homes in beautiful new Verrado, we had to check in at the impressive visitors center, and then we walked down a long, beautiful street with model homes from several different builders. The streets were lined with trees and grass … and each house was very different . It was a far cry from the typical “pueblo revival” style I had seen (and grown bored with) in New Mexico all my life.

Yes, there was something very special about Verrado … and I was in love! It was an oasis in the desert!

Though, at the time, the price tag was much too steep – especially for this dreamer. Homes in Verrado were starting off at $400,000+ (ouch!!) … and that was for a SMALL house. And of course, the prices were even more steep on bigger homes. But, oh how I loved Verrado! It was very “Mayberry,” very “Leave It To Beaver.” Very … dreamy! So way back in 2003, I proclaimed that if we ever moved to Phoenix, I’d want to live in Verrado (and I'd just learn to live with the intesely hot summers).

Flash forward a few years to 2008. I would have never imagined Jonathan would get a job in the Phoenix area … a job that is in the “Far West Valley” (or, that we would currently be renting a home that is 20 minutes / 16+ miles FURTHER out west than Verrado).

Welcome to Hollywood Verrado! What's your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood Verrado, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on dreamin' - this is Hollywood Verrado. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin'.

Jennifer as She Prepares to Share Exciting News :)

Wordless Wednesday - July 15, 2009

Look and listen closely ...

Check out this video ... and look and listen closely to find out the latest excitement in the Lucero Household! :) The official announcment with all the juicy details is coming very soon.

Announcing the Grand Opening of My eBay Store!

Today is an exciting day: my new eBay store is up and running!

In 2005, I became a demonstrator with Stampin' Up (as those of you who received handmade cards from me a while back might remember), and I have A LOT of inventory from those days - much of it brand new and never used.

Over time, I became too busy to make cards ... and haven't done a single thing since Christian was born. For a couple of years, I've toyed around with the idea of selling these items on eBay, but never did get around to it.

That is, until I was inspired by my father-in-law, Sir Lee (okay, he hasn't REALLY been knighted by The Queen ... but to me, he is "Sir Lee"). He's been eBaying since 2007 and has a great time with it. Click here to check out his store!

So I finally took some time to go through my inventory, catalog the items and take some pictures. I posted four items last night ... and that is just the beginning! I have lots of Stampin' Up to sell.

I certainly don't expect to make my fortune on eBay, but it helps to clear out things I'm not using ... which makes Jonathan very happy. :)

If you - or somebody you know - is interested in rubber stamping, decorating, scrapbooking, craft projects, card making, gift making, etc., then check out my store ... and keep watching for new items to show up!

Click here to check out my new eBay store!

Round and Round ...

Christian is one funny kiddo! Lately, he's taken to spinning around the room. The noises he makes and the eye movement are HILARIOUS! I honestly have no idea what we did for entertainment before Christian came along!

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

Yes, it's hot here!

"Man it’s hot. It’s like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn't take this kind of
hot." - Matthew Broderick in Biloxi Blues

Living in the Phoenix area gives a new meaning to the phrase, "the dog days of summer." As I sit here typing this blog entry, it is 111 degrees outside.

And 111 degrees is HOT. Though, happily, the humidity is only at 18% right now. The other day, it was well-over 100 degrees, and 49% humidity. Yuck!


The other night, when the news came on at 10:00pm, it was 104 degrees. As the night progresses, the temps drop into the mid-to-high 80s. But, as soon as that sun comes over the mountain in the morning, it gets hot immediately. During the intense heat of the day, the air is so hot that when the sun touches the skin, there is a burning sensation. It's crazy!

Jonathan and I discussed we've gone from one extreme temperature to another since we moved. In Santa Fe, the winters were frigid ... single degree temps in the early morning hours when Jonathan walked Bella. Summers here are well-over 100 degrees. And that is 100 DEGREE DIFFERENCE.

Happy Independence Day!

Wordless Wednesday - July 1, 2009

"... for Generation X, a Really Bad Day"

From an article on Fox News: Two Lost Icons: For Generation X, A Really Bad Day

"These people (Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson) were on our lunchboxes," said Gary Giovannetti, 38, a manager at HBO who grew up on Long Island awash in Farrah and MJ iconography. "This," he said, "is the moment when Generation X realizes they're grown up."

It was a long time coming. Cynical, disaffected, rife with ADD, lost between Boomers and millennials and sandwiched between Vietnam and the war on terror, Gen X has always been an oddity. It was the product of a transitional age when we were still putting people on celebrity pedestals but only starting to make an industry out of dragging them down.

Its memorable moments were diffuse and confusing — the Ronald Reagan assassination attempt, the dawn of AIDS, the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It had no protest movement, no opponent to unite it, none of the things that typically shape the ill-defined beast we call an American generation.

These were the people who sent to the top of the charts a song called "We Don't Need Another Hero," then figured out how to churn them out wholesale, launching the celebrity obsession that is now an accepted part of American cultural fabric.

Farrah's death was indeed sad ... and the story of her illness is heartbreaking. May none of us have to go through that kind of physical agony.

But the sudden death of Michael Jackson ... WOW! When "Thriller" came out, I became a pre-teen obsessed with Michael Jackson. I was definitely of the "MTV Generation," and stayed glued to the TV to see his videos. Thriller was a special treat when it came on TV, and I'd get up and sing and dance (I mean really ... who didn't?).

I would take pictures of Michael Jackson when he was on the TV. I'd tear out pictures from magazines and put them on my wall. I'd put my tape recorder up to the TV and the radio when his songs came on (I don't know why I didn't just ask my mom to buy the cassette tape ... or maybe I did and she declined ... who knows).

I used to brag that I could just sense when a Michael Jackson song was on the radio. Well, sure ... that is because some radio station SOMEWHERE was always playing a Michael Jackson song.

One year, Santa even gave me silver socks for Christmas! :)

Over the years, his looks changed (why didn't he just stick with the face on the Thriller album?), and he became rather odd (and even more odd as time passed). My taste in music expanded and eventually, I moved on from Michael Jackson. But for a few years, I could sing every song on Thriller, and even to this day, when I Michael Jackson song comes on the radio, I'm singing at the top of my lungs.

Despite the fact that I'm 36 years old, a wife and a mother to a fabulous little boy, the death of Michael Jackson does indeed - as the article quote above says - make me realize I'm all grown up.

For me, Michael Jackson's death is the largest pop culture event I can recollect ... with the exception of Princess Diana's death many years ago (in fact, as a child I didn't like my name because it seemed EVERYBODY was named Jennifer ... I wished I had been named Diana instead).

As I watch the news coverage, sometimes I am just hit with, "Wow, he is actually dead!" I said to Jonathan, "Last night, Michael Jackson was probably doing just what we're doing ... sitting here watching TV and winding down from his day. And bam! A few hours later, he's dead." Wow, it could happen to any of us.

And as a mother, I think of his three children who have been a mystery to the public for their entire lives. My goodness ... they've lost their father. How incredibly sad!

As a friend of mine wrote on his Facebook page:

I hope Michael Jackson is better remembered for his performance skills than his eccentric and strange behavior - in his prime he was awesome!

Indeed.

Wordless Wednesday

A Big Ol' Nuclear Reactor Head ...

As ya'll know, Jonathan works at Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station ... the country's largest nuclear plant.

He just sent me a video that you may find interesting. FOUR miles per hour!

Click on this link: Nuclear reactor head slows traffic

Wordless Wednesday

Straws and Forks

Things are moving quickly in the Lucero Household ... so you'd better not blink. :)

Two days ago, Christian amazed me when he finally figured out how to drink from a straw. I didn't think it would happen for a long time, but decided to give it another try ... and he got it!

Last night, he used a fork by himself for the very first time ... which was very exciting. Luckily the camera as readily available (as it often is) so I caught the big moment on video.

What made this moment extra special (for me) is that he was using a Snoopy fork that was given to me on Easter 1975. I've somehow managed to hold onto that fork all these years. And from that 34 year old fork, my baby took his first bite. Awwwwwwwwwwwwww!!

In case you're wondering what in the world Christian is wearing - it's a bib that he tried to take off - without success. He's shirtless because he'd been playing in the water and his shirt was soaked (and really ... who wants to sit down for dinner in a wet shirt?).

Wordless Wednesday

Thank Goodness for Washable Ink!

We got Christian his own picnic table ... and some markers! Good thing Mommy got washable markers!

A Sunday at Lake Pleasant

No ... it's not a metaphor.

We took a spontaneous drive to Lake Pleasant today, as Christian and I had been cooped up most of the week while Jonathan was in California (with the exception of going to the library on Thursday).

The lake is about an hour's drive away and is a surprising blue contrast to the neutral desert landscape. Unfortunately, there are no trees near the Shoreline and the shore itself was rocky. So, it wasn't really the best place for Christian to hang out.

Jonathan tried dipping Christian's feet in the water without much luck. So we all just sat there for a few minutes under the umbrella and then left ... vowing we'd be back when Christian was older and could play around on the rocky beach.

Desperately Seeking Sandbox

Christian is "all boy" already. He loves digging in dirt, rocks ... and Bella's dog food.

Our back patio is surrounded by the remaining landscaping rocks from the front yard. Christian loves to dig in them, and find the biggest rocks among them to toss around. He loves going after the weeds ... loves running his fingers through the dirt. He loves CRAWLING on these rocks, which are by no means smooth. If it's dirty or rocky ... he's attracted to it.

Bella has dug herself a hole to lay in, and Christian loves to make his way down into that hole and hang out. That new hideout, combined with Christian eating Bella's food yesterday, has us wondering if Christian thinks he's a dog. :) (Thankfully, Bella's dog food is all-natural and organic, so we don't have to worry that he consumed rat tails or pig snouts - or whatever odd fillers are in regular dog food).

We desperately need a sandbox! Daddy promises Christian will have one soon.

Wordless Wednesday

Our Fabulous Lil’ Guy Turns 19 Months Old Today!

The last few weeks have seen visits to a neurologist, Christian’s new pediatrician, an endocrinologist, as well as a CT scan, and various blood work … all to determine why Christian isn’t yet walking or talking (at an age-appropriate level). Calls have been placed so he can get a variety of evaluations from speech and physical therapists and a developmental specialist, too. However, it will take weeks/months to get in to see anybody. So, we are working with Christian on our own with his walking and verbal skills.

For a while, we thought he had hypothyroidism. He does not, but there is still something possibly going on with his thyroid, so he’ll be scheduled for a thyroid scan soon. And we are waiting to hear the results of the CT scan.

But to us, Christian is just a happy, curious, energetic little boy who is the light of our lives. His legs are getting stronger and he makes new noises (I’m sure the are words, in his opinion). And he’s so smart … he catches onto things almost immediately. He loves his books more than ever … and his current favorite is “Green Eggs and Ham.” I think I’ve read that book more to him in the past two weeks than I did during my entire childhood. We are so pleased that he enjoys books so much, and is able to remain focused on the books as we read to him.

His new words to read are “toes” and “chin.” When we show him “toes,” he lifts up his toes to show us. When he sees the word, “chin,” he points to our chin. He’s also recently started pointing at numbers. We have a counting book, and I can say, “Where is 5?” and he’ll point to the number 5 on the page.

Christian follows directions very well, and it’s heartwarming to see him be so compliant. I know it may not always be this way, so I am enjoying the compliance while it lasts.

It is fun to watch his little personality develop. He’s easily amused (lots of laughter around here!), and also easily frustrated at times. In the past couple of days, he’s really protested being placed in his car seat. Even when he knows we’re on our way to someplace fun (like Melissa’s house), he makes it very difficult for me to get him buckled into his car seat. I’m hoping whatever issue he’s having with it is short-lived.

Christian’s appetite has really increased over the past few days, which pleases us as we’re now able to give him more balanced meals. For example, yesterday for lunch he ate salmon, grapes, cheese, a banana and an entire cup of milk. Quite a lot … and quite nutritious!

We love that Christian is so affectionate with us … he frequently comes to sit in our laps to be read to and loved on. He’s learned to give kisses (the open-mouth wet variety, of course!). Such a lovey-dovey little lad!