home is where you make it

As you know, we've been squatting with my in-laws while our house in Oklahoma is on the market. We didn't feel comfortable carrying two mortgages, because in this day and age, who knows how long it will take a house to sell? Plus, we're not familiar with the Dallas-Fort Worth area and with 55 miles between those two cities, that's a lot of suburb. So, on weekends the hub and I have been exploring different towns and cities to see what fits. Most importantly, there must be amazing schools and an easy commute for us both. The hub is currently commuting over 1.5 hours home, so anything less will make his day.

At first we were certain we wanted new construction. And those houses are beautiful, 3000 square feet, glistening granite, fancy mouldings, and huge bedrooms. But we started to notice something too. No trees. No yard space. No "neighborhood feel" that you can't put your finger on. These new huge planned communities were phenomenal, no doubt, but they left us yearning for more than a clubhouse and fitness center.

We got nostalgic. And instead of this...



We became drawn to that...



Tree-lined streets, lush landscaping, established older neighborhoods where you can trick-or-treat, or go caroling, and meet your neighbors and know them by name. A place you can put down roots and stay. In this market, it's not so easy to upgrade in house size, so you have to pick what works for now, and the future. Our search has taken on a different sense, spurned on by the fact that this is the first house we will buy as parents. No longer is a fancy fireplace or frize carpet going to impress us. We want established blue-ribbon schools, 100 year old trees, big backyards for cook-outs and birthday parties and playing chase and throwing a ball. The kitchen doesn't have to be state-of-the-art if there's enough counter room for Britton to make Christmas cookies with Grandma. The bedrooms don't have to be enormous if there's enough light to read a bedtime story.

So, less of this...



And more of that...



And yes, that is the house from "Father of the Bride."