There and Back Again

Grrr... I am married to a LOTR enthsiast and I can't change my post title now because I don't know what else to call it. But I want to because I'm in no way trying to refer to LOTR. If you don't follow me, good.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't like LOTR. I just don't know all the ins and outs of it. I don't read the encyclopedia of arda so I can understand it better and know everything there is to know about the world J.R.R. Tolkien imagined.

Oh...this wasn't even where I was going to go with all this.

This post is supposed to be about our trip to Texas.

I was off the radar for the last few days because we took a two day trip to scout out our new home.

That wasn't easy to type. I'm still struggling to grasp this.

To grasp the fact in several days my physical home is moving to Texas. 

My daughter could possibly be a Texan. By the way, I don't think that's bad. Just strange.

I'm packing up our belongings here to take them to Texas.

Texas. Texas. TEXAS...

As if the state isn't large enough to take up a majority of the southern portion of the U.S. it has now taken residence in my brain.

I don't like change. Even if it is for the best. And I completely believe that it is.

Well, how is this for being transparent on a blog?

Alright...I'm gonna get this done. I'm gonna tell you about our trip.

Ok, so on Thursday we left for good ol' Texas where I immediately found out, as in within the first  5 minutes of crossing state lines, Ben will likely wear out the old adage "Everything is bigger in Texas." And I must say, there really are many aspects that seem bigger.

We arrived safely and in good time.

After a quick lunch we began our search.

Unfortunately for us, we started out at the top pick. It was like telling a dog he can have a bone but setting it where it's just out of reach for him. It was within reach until the gal handed us the paper breaking down the cost. They require their residents to pay for cable and for valet trash. We don't want cable and we can walk our trash to the dumpster ourselves (not that it wouldn't be nice to have someone do it for me). We left with our heads hung and attempting to crunch numbers down to the wire to see if it would work. We also left trying to remain open minded if we couldn't.

We went to two other complexes. One was too expensive. 

The other. Oh, the other. I thought we were resigned to living there though I was not happy about it at all. I knew it would be a humbling experience for me if that was where God provided for us. Because I had no clue how on earth our belongings would fit in there.

But I chose to hope and pray that that wouldn't be where we would be moving.

By the time we had viewed those three properties it was too late to go to another.

And my hopes were coming close to being shattered. I was very deflated.

We woke up hoping we might possibly strike a deal with property #1. But also knowing we would go to look at two more properties.

The first property we went to was a breath of hope. Not better than #1 but only a slight notch below in that we would lose around 100 sq ft, the kitchen wasn't open like at #1, and the rent was only about $15 more than #1 if that darn property wouldn't tack on stupid extras.

The final property we went to...well, it was pretty beat up and no cheaper than all the others. Without so little talking my mom (she went with us :]) thought maybe we shared an ESP moment.

So we headed back to property #1. Hoping for the best possible outcome. They refused. Apparently a lot of people hate that stipulation and try to get them to cut those options out of the lease. However, their company wasn't the orignal leasee and "[they] have to pay it no matter what."

Adios to #1.

We went back to #4 and filled out an application.

Pretty sure we have it in the bag, but I'm still nervous. I guess because for now I'm not 100% sure of where we will be laying our heads.

Anyway, that is how our trip went. I'm pretty sure we will enjoy living in Houston. I'm just trying to soak it all in.

And by the way, our baby did B-E-A-UUUTIFUL on the trip. I'm talking max of an hour total fussing in the total of 10+ hours in the car. She was such a trooper. I was so proud of her especially knowing she isn't the biggest fan of being in the car for ours. I will say my mom helped a lot and Zoë loved having a backseat mate for the ride. I love my little girl. to. pieces.