Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Texas

Last summer, Cody was looking for jobs within his company. The job he had then was very difficult for our family. He was gone a LOT, and even if he had to be gone for a week only 2 hours away, we weren't allowed to come be with him.

One of his jobs was in Arizona, and he was there for "an indefinite period." He was working at a nuclear plant, and didn't have authorization to actually do anything there. So instead of him being able to fix a problem quickly, the people that actually worked for the plant would have to do it and it took much, much longer. There would be days that nothing actually was accomplished because they were writing up how they would have to fix the problem instead of doing anything about it. (Not because of choice, but that was policy.)

I hated it. He was gone for over a month and we didn't know when the end was in sight.  And even worse, he worked nights. So instead of being able to talk to him or text him throughout the day, he would be sleeping. Then he went to work around 7 pm so I could "talk" to him for about 3 hours before going to bed myself.

That was one of the worst experiences for me of having him work that job. He, honestly, loved being able to work with his hands, having the freedom of just getting in his truck and going places, which were always changing and new, being able to work with lots of different people and not just always the same old, same old in an office. But I think it was hard, too, especially to know how miserable I was. (Or at least have to deal with me being that miserable!)

So, last summer he found a job opening in Texas. (Well, first he found one in Australia, but it would be the same job as he had then, AND more traveling. I'd love living there, but not alone!) He did some interviews and found out he had gotten the job. Then began our house hunting.

We flew into Dallas on a Friday afternoon. We grabbed lunch and met with our realtor. Over the next 2 days, we saw over 35 houses.

It was INSANE.

We were overwhelmed, exhausted, so stressed, and a little shocked at what we were getting ourselves into. We had finally narrowed it down to three homes. Two were in the town we now live in, and one was a little farther south. We decided the home south of here was too far away from things. Being from middle-of-nowhere-Illinois, I'm used to being far away from things. Heck, our church was 45 minutes from our house! But after living in California for the better part of 5-6 years, even the Target that was 1 mile and 6 stoplights was too far.

The other two homes were hard to pick between. One was brand new, not even completed yet, and the other was..used? I liked that the pre-lived in home had the master on the same level as the other rooms, which means a lot easier access to the kids in the middle of the night, but according to our realtor that is home-suicide. No one wants to be on the same level as their kids. I guess Texans would rather have their sleep than care about sleeping children…Who knew?



I didn't mind this kitchen, and would've painted the cabinets, but I didn't really like the floors in the kitchen. I wish they would've kept with the hardwood.

But holy smokes, do you see the pantry?! This wasn't even the whole thing. It has a window! I almost had to buy it just for this. 

Apparently we didn't take pictures upstairs, but in the master, they had a HUGE walk-in closet. Honestly. It was the size of the room Charlotte now has. 

The second home:


This is the view from the dining room/kitchen

Master bathroom with me going into the closet

Charlee's room - wouldn't this have been nice as a closet???


In the end, we decided to buy new. It was a lot easier for us to not have to hire someone to come clean (I didn't even see our house fully finished before moving in.) and fix things (like the broken fence in the backyard).

We signed the papers on Monday (3 days after starting our house search) and officially bought our first home! We're still getting used to Texas, and I promise to do a video tour of our home soon!

4 comments:

Karen M. Peterson said...

It's beautiful! I think you made a good choice.

Lesli said...

Hey! So I don't know if you remember me or not, but we were in the same ward as you back at BYUI. WE served in the nursery together! Anywho I read your blog and saw that you moved to Dallas. I live here too and was wondering what part? We live in Carrollton and have been here in Texas for about 5 years now! Anyways just thought I would throw a lifeline out to you in case you need anything!

barlow.stephanie said...

I can't wait for a video. I think the one you chose looks amazing and just screams "Stacey, please live here."

Christine said...

I'm so glad you're posting again! Blogger is the only social media I do anymore, and it's fun to see your updates. I loved this post. It was like watching house hunters! :)

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