Now Available On an Island

We found the ultimate Home Dipo and in one month, it's going to be ours!

Morgan, Chipson and I are moving to Bainbridge Island, WA, a suburban paradise 7 miles off the 'coast' of Seattle. There is a ferry that runs regularly between downtown Seattle and Bainbridge basically making this little island "walking distance" from the heart of downtown, while maintaining small-town island charm. It is home to one of the state's top school districts, and a few pristine state parks. Just a few years ago, CNN Money named Bainbridge Island the second best place to live in the nation! We happen to agree, this is the PERFECT place to live. 

Oh and we forgot the best part: Bainbridge Island is my hometown, home to many loving friends and Mom. We are very happy to be moving to a place where we have a permanent dog sitter, right Mom, riiiight?!?! 

Now for the house. Morgan and I have been house hunting for close to a year. We explored all the various suburbs, spent hours pouring over school districts and high schools, drove through thousands of neighborhoods, and even test-drove a few commutes at peak traffic times. Our dream home included a big private yard, lots of space and situated in a beautiful family-friendly neighborhood in a top school district. After searching for so long, we began to believe that we would have to sacrifice one of those preferences until we found this home. 

Let me tell you folks, dreams do come true. 

Located in one of my favorite neighborhoods on Bainbridge Island, Hidden Cove Estates, our new house sits on 1.2 acres surrounded by gorgeous family homes, acres of forested trails, and a few community parks.

This is going to be the piano room - yes I said that right, I'm getting the piano back!! Plus look at that adorable dining room in the back, hello dinner parties... for people who want to come to Bainbridge for dinner... please?

I already have about fifteen remodeling projects in mind including a total kitchen overhaul, painting, and putting in hardwood floors throughout (sorry Morgan!!!) but we will do those over time. For now, it couldn't be more perfect for us.

 Chipson will have space!!! No more city life for the Dipos, bring on the croquet, and somebody had better teach us how to use a lawnmower. ;) Also, I think this yard calls for a hot tub...

Bah! So exciting. Now we just have to sell our townhome or rent it out, and hope that nothing goes wrong with this beauty between now and Nov 28!!!

Oh, and if you want to learn about real estate in the suburbs around here, definitely talk to me - I've done a lot of learning along the way, and I would love to impart my knowledge.

Zoink!!!!

New Job!

After 5 years as a Portfolio Manager in commercial banking at U.S. Bank, I am moving on!  It became official on Friday that I will be starting as a Relationship Manager (also in commercial banking at U.S. Bank) sometime in October.  What is the difference, you as a non-banker might ask?  In one word - sales.  Although my incentive plan as a PM was based largely on loan and revenue growth, the focus of my day-to-day duties was very defense-oriented: trying to protect the bank's capital by making sure i's were dotted and t's were crossed in our underwriting process.  As an RM, I still want to make sure good loans get booked, but I can leave a lot of the underwriting/structure/credit details up to my PM brethren and sistren.  As an RM, my duties will be much more around pounding the pavement and drumming up new revenue for the bank.  I'll get out in front of clients a lot more, which was my favorite part of my job as a PM anyway!

Every day I feel grateful and lucky that I got such a great job at such a great time with such a great bank.  If I had graduated just one year later, I probably would have been competing with hundreds of former WaMu employees left high and dry by their employer's risky activities.  I am extremely proud to say that I am a banker, and that I work for U.S. Bank.  They have invested a ton in my development, and the people there have lifted me up and made me successful.  I keep thinking that I've been getting the better part of the employee-employer relationship at the bank, but when it came time for me to change jobs, they actually had a few different options for me that were very real possibilities, and I got to choose the one I liked best.

Anyway, our target market is companies that make between $20 and $500 million in annual revenues....so if you know anyone that owns a business like that, tell them to give me a holler!

Changes

The Dipo's are going through some super changes and as I had all but let the Chipson Dipo blog (formerly I Wanna Be A Dipo blog) die a miserable death, I decided a change was needed in this regard as well. So folks, welcome to The Home Dipo (ba dum chaa)!

Changes you say? (Insert David Bowie's ch ch ch ch CHANGES!) Well yes, many changes - but let me front this by settling any and all worries about aliens growing in my stomach. Perhaps I eat too many brownies, and seriously people, today's styles are all about loose fit and high waists, but there is no baby on board this vessel! PHEW. Let us all breathe a sigh of relief.

Now moving on to the important things like puppies.

Change number one:
Chipson is still alive. This is only a change if you had been following my blog last year and assumed the death of the blog indicated the death of the dog. Unfortunately - er uh - fortunately, the dog is still around and as she ages she is getting a little better. She does bring us a lot of joy and has SOOO much personality we just can't help but love her. She is our special needs pup and has taught us a lot about the important things in life like patience, budgeting and carpet cleaner.

Change number two:
We put our house on the market! Morgan and I decided it was time to move into a place with a backyard and privacy, and a bit more of that wholesome neighborhood feel most Seattle areas lack (yes, we are so boring). Right now we are all over the board in terms of where we will move, but we are looking at Bainbridge Island, Woodinville and Issaquah (more on that later).

We will both miss this place a lot; there is no better location in all of Seattle, with the best commutes to both Seattle and Bellevue. We walk to Safeway and there is a beautiful park two blocks away which will double in size by the end of the year. We're only a mile away from Greenlake and a half mile from the proposed Lightrail stop. Yes many things we will miss - but change is good and exciting.

Change number three:

I got a new job! I am no longer doing PR for Microsoft Education at Waggener Edstrom and will start next week at a different agency called Porter Novelli where I will actually lead a team of PR professionals for HP's consumer practice. I will primarily be working on PCs so I have a lot of learning to do... and perhaps a new computer to buy... but I am so excited!

Change number four:

Morgan also has some exciting news but I'll let him share that in his own post. But needless to say, big changes all around for the Dipo family - and we like it. 

Thanks guys for stopping by and checking out our new home at The Home Dipo. Now for a little corn:

More loving. More laughing. That's the power of Home Dipo. 

Oh that just makes me squirm in delight.