Weblog

Nhu and I have been looking at homes for the past few months. At first we started out looking at new build options, but there really isn't much in the northwest Denver metro area. There are basically only two communities being built at the moment: one at McKay, and one all the way up at Anthem. We did find a floor plan we liked in Anthem, but we decided it was too far north. We also found a floor plan we liked at McKay, but we decided it was too expensive.

So, we started looking at resale homes. We found one a few weeks ago that we liked enough to make an offer for, and we made it under contract. However, after finding foundation issues, we had to cancel the contract. So we kept looking. Well, this last weekend, we found a home that we really liked, we made an offer on Sunday night, and it was accepted Monday morning. So, it looks like we'll be moving soon! We're scheduled to close in the middle of June. Nhu and I are very excited. The house is a ranch with a walkout basement, a three car garage, and it backs up to the Broadlands golf course. The view is really great, and the house looks like it's never even been lived in.

Time to start packing!

In mid-February, I took a new job. I now work for Healthgrades as a web developer in downtown Denver. Numerous factors prompted this change, but number one on the list is that I now get to see my son Felix every day. I could not be happier about that!

Certainly I will miss travelling for work, and especially all of the perks that go along with it. My "going away" present from Hertz was a very nice Mercedes SLK 250 as my last rental in L.A. I made 1K status with United last year, although in the last few years upgrades on United have become almost a myth, so the status doesn't mean what it did just a few years ago. I also made Diamond status with Hilton, which always has and still does treat me quite well. So, I will be saying goodbye to all of these niceties, as well as all of the points that have afforded me many a free vacation. Fortunately, I still have plenty saved up.

I will also miss the people I worked with at Avanade and Accenture. My project in L.A. lasted longer than any project I have ever been on, and I developed some great working relationships while I was there. I can't say I will miss L.A. much though, especially the mind-numbing traffic. The one exception is the always fantastic Blue Crab Hand Roll from Irori Sushi.

Now, I feel like it's time to plan our next vacation.

Well, I just closed on a refinance of my house on Friday. My new rate is 5.25%, which is substantially better than the 6.5% I had previously. I refinanced through the same broker that helped me with my initial loan, Trent Peaker of Megastar Financial. I got a fairly good deal, and the cost to refinance will be paid for in only thirteen months.

Perhaps more importantly, last month I finally got around to purchasing some real living room furniture to replace the folding chairs I had been borrowing from my parents. I bought a reclining couch for the "dining" room, which was already home to my 52" Samsung LCD. I got a sleeper sofa and a loveseat for the living room, along with the requisite coffe table and two side tables. I also bought a matching server to go by the stairs. All of the couches are leather; brown for the living room, and black for in front of the TV. Everything came from Sofa Mart, which had a pretty good deal going; I have two years with no payments or interest.

Seeing that the painting is done and I finally have most of my furniture, I thought I'd take some time this weekend to take some photos of the inside of my house. I have posted them to the photos page.