We Bought a House!

After 4.5 years of renting, we are finally re-joining the world of home ownership. We close on our new residence in The Woodlands on June 20 and will hopefully have our belongings delivered soon after. I have to say that this in between time- the time between when you know you are leaving but you’re still lingering in your current location- is not my favorite. 

I get anxious about moving and sort of have a ‘let’s rip the band-aid off’ kind of mentality. It’s excruciating to count down the days we have left and to feel such a sad pressure anytime I hang out with my sweet friends in California. 

Jonathan asked what I wanted to do this weekend and my answer was: I just want one more weekend where we pretend this isn’t happening. We’ve had an offer accepted on a house. We’ve set up our packing dates. We’ve picked out a preschool. We are making plans for Samson to get from CA to TX. All the really pressing matters are squared away so let’s just be blissfully in denial for one more weekend…. We will have plenty to occupy our minds and time in the coming weeks! 

But let’s talk about the good stuff: househunting! We were a little overwhelmed by the inventory available in The Woodlands. It has grown so much over the past decade or so and has housing at every price point you can think of. The town itself is made up of 13 different ‘villages’ all with their own unique style and amenities. Though we knew we wanted to be in The Woodlands, we really needed some time to narrow down our focus. 

Luckily, Jonathan’s trainings in Houston gave him a free weekend to scope out the real estate scene before Forest and I arrived. Over his intensive weekend with our realtor, he really narrowed down a price range and two neighborhoods for us to focus on. We blocked off 4 or 5 days to house hunt as a couple and Jon’s parents drove up to help us with Forest so we could focus on the task at hand. 

Well it turned out Jon did a really good job at narrowing it down. We started early on day 1 and ended up seeing about 8 houses among the 2 different neighborhoods and had a clear favorite by that afternoon and made an offer that evening. By the next afternoon we had closed the deal, which left us with a few open days to just explore our new hometown and visit parks and preschools and even meet up with my very dear friend Jillian and her two new additions. 

Forest loved swinging with the twins:)

I felt much better about the move from being on the ground and getting a feel for the community there. There is just so much to do for kids. It is really a childhood paradise (except for the mosquitoes and heat!). 

But about the house! It is gorgeous. I was a bit surprised that the bulk of our life savings couldn’t get us everything we wanted in the Houston suburbs (which are notorious for their affordable McMansions) but we realized quickly that The Woodlands is a microcosm in itself. Several big name companies have their main headquarters there and there is currently a mini-medical district being built which will boost the economy there even more. 

So while most Houston Suburbs are made up of commuters, a good bit of the population of The Woodlands actually works there (lucky ducks!). If Jon ever gets relocated to Houston, he will have to commute via The Woodlands Express, a bus system that runs between The Woodlands and Downtown several times a day. If you have to commute in Houston, this is one of the best ways of doing so and luckily the bus station is about 2 minutes from our house. 

Sorry, I’m rambling (again). Back to the house. The house itself is fantastic. It’s very close to being my dream home. I feel like we compromised on the lot size a bit. There is a pool which takes up much of the yard. Jon is excited about it but as the mother of a ‘has no fear of water’ 2 year old, it makes me nervous. We plan on getting a fence or net installed first thing, but I still wouldn’t feel comfortable just letting him loose in the backyard without my hyper-vigilant supervision. 

Plus, it eliminates a lot of play area for him. But there is a grassy area off to the side and behind the pool as well so it’ll work. It’s just not my dream yard or anything. And the only house we saw with a nice sized yard backed up to one of the busiest roads in The Woodlands and after playing that game in San Ramon, we just couldn’t stomach that thought again. 

The location is not perfect either. The neighborhood itself is great, but a little farther west from the interstate than we wanted and a good drive to Forest’s preschool. I couldn’t find any Christian preschools in our actual village though, so no matter where he goes it’ll likely be more than a 10 minute drive. We thought we wanted to be in Creekside Village but once we started looking there it just seemed a little too cramped. And to put it in perspective, our Village (Sterling Ridge) is only about a 10 minute drive to all the cool parks and amenities that make Creekside so desirable so it’s not like we can’t hop in the car and drive over any day of the week. 

So those are really the only 2 ‘not perfect’ things about the house and it's being pretty nit-picky. Among the properties I saw, this one blew away the competition so any compromises were small by comparison. The house itself is so pretty and I anticipate years of lovely memories being made there. Here’s a tour: 

Gorgeous curb appeal in a quiet and lovely neighborhood.

The view when you walk in. Formal dining ahead and kitchen through the hall to the right.

I love all the windows and natural light.

Butlers pantry connects kitchen to formal dining room.

  

Master bedroom that leads into sunroom.

Master bath with rain shower. Yay!

I have wanted a sunroom all my life. So excited about this perfect coffee/reading spot.

Flex room. We plan on making this into F's playroom.

We love that the home feels very custom built. It gives it a little personality among a sea of cookie cutter houses. The people living there now have gorgeous taste that match our own style. I wish we could move in and take all of their furniture with us. I found myself taking pictures of their décor and storage ideas just so I can refer back later. There were 3 kiddos living in the house and you couldn’t even tell! Amazing. We can’t wait to put our stamp on it and really make it into a home for us. Finally. We are so ready to have a place to call ours again!