From Suburbs to City (Part 1)

After 10+ years out in the burbs, we’re moving back inside the loop (what we Houstonians define as the city). When we told friends and family we were house hunting, I never fully explained why. Well, here’s the why…

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I bought my house in Pearland, a rapidly growing city just south of Houston, right after getting out of the Air National Guard and becoming eligible for a VA loan. This was back when my parents and grandparents were still mobile and visiting often, land was cheap, the commute to Downtown Houston was relatively short, and my dogs (Dana and Ginger) still loved to play chase. I was also single and still struggling through my geology degree, so this house became a stable refuge out in the quiet country.

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Fast forward 10 years to the present. I’m married with no plans for kids (we’re in our 40s, please stop asking), I’m a runner, I travel often, I have multiple degrees, my family rarely visits, Dana and Ginger have passed (Tegan and Amelia prefer to play inside and only use the yard for pottying), and the worst thing…288 is a construction shit show and a traffic nightmare. And to avoid 288, I’ve even been taking alternate routes to work, only to be stuck at trains and see a wide range of road kill along some terrible back roads. You see, distance in Houston is measured by drive time, and Pearland just became too far from our life in Houston. So I’ve been miserable with my “during the week life” for at least 2 years, and too tired on the weekends to fit 7 days of living into 2. We didn’t outgrow the house, we simply just have no reason to live there anymore.

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Once I made up my mind that it was time, a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, and I had something to look forward to (mainly 8-10 hours/week back and a close proximity to work, friends, and our favorite Houston haunts). The home search had its ups and downs: we fell in love with a home in EaDo (east of downtown) only to lose it to an aggressive bidder and slimy listing agent, lovely homes in shitty neighborhoods, incorrect listing features in great neighborhoods (where is the yard that’s listed here??), beautiful homes lacking a necessary master bathtub or wasted space in a walk-in closet sized shower (above), and everything in between. After 30 something home visits, we finally found “the one.”

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We found a freestanding town home with a wee yard in a great location. We had our final walk-through yesterday and we close tomorrow. We are so ready to say goodbye to the suburbs! We’ve downsized our kitchen, given away a full room and a half of furniture, and donated hundreds of pounds of clothing. And for those of you lucky enough to regularly get jars of preserves from me, don’t worry, I’ve successfully propagated 6 cuttings from our very productive fig tree (above), so hopefully one of these babies survives infancy and will begin producing figs in our new back yard.

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Send good vibes and espresso because things are about to get chaotic up in here! Stay tuned for Part 2 after we get settled in. And for my plans for downsizing, organizing, and decorating the new home, follow my Pinterest board From Suburbs to City.

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