Reflecting back on 2008

As I sit here on my back porch in my new house (ok, it’s been over 6 months so I guess it’s not THAT new), I think about all the great things Manuel and I have done over the past year. Right after the new year, we started touching-up and de-cluttering our old house on Millwood to prepare it for sale. We enjoyed living at that house and we loved the huge great room, but after 5 years we were ready to upgrade to a newer and bigger home. We put it on the market in mid-March, and we had two offers the first day! The offer we accepted worked out, although there was definitely some stress and some monetary concessions we had to make to sell that old house. But considering the market was starting to head South, we felt we did pretty well in the deal and made a reasonable profit. And as luck would have it, we turned around and found a house we loved the day after we accepted the offer on our old house.

I of course came up with an analytical approach to identifying the required and desired features of the house, complete with a rating system, which we used to rate each house we viewed and to take notes. Luckily the one house we had as our #1 interest turned out to meet all of our criteria the best, even having a neighborhood pool and being located literally right in the middle of both our employers. We feel lucky to have found a house we love, and we are grateful to have good jobs here in San Antonio. Hey, it’s in the low 70’s and sunny on a December afternoon and I’m sitting on a comfy couch on my back porch – what more can I ask for : )


So, the next project on our list is starting a family. I guess we’ve done enough partying, traveling and enjoying life without kids for the past 30 plus years, plus we’re getting older and need to be sure we’ll have energy to chase kids around, so hopefully soon we’ll have a baby Mejia running around. That’s our next major ‘project’, but of course we have other little projects going on around the house. The house we bought is about 13 years old, and we agreed right off the bat that some remodeling and wallpaper removal would be required. We’ve made progress with painting most of the first floor, and we’re currently working on the kitchen. We’re not gutting it, but we are replacing countertops, adding a tile backsplash, updating appliances, and re-facing the cabinets. Home Depot is helping us out, but I wouldn’t recommend them because they have so many different contractors/departments and they don’t seem to communicate nor work together. So I feel like I’m responsible for the overall coordination, which is not a role I intended to play because I’m definitely not an expert in this arena. Anyhow, I just try to remind myself of how nice it will all look when it’s over. We have new countertops and a sink that’s not yet connected, so one step in the process is done. I’m pretty sure that all the rest of the details will be done by Christmas because I’ll be on the phone nagging all my Home Depot Contacts.

We’re looking forward to spending the holidays here at home. Manuel’s parents will be staying with us for a few weeks, so we’re looking forward to spending some time with them and with the rest of my family here in San Antonio. Wishing you and your loved ones happiness over the holidays,

Sincerely, Michelle & Manuel Mejia