Good Morning! We are finally getting back to our school and work routine this week which feels good to have some structure and to lessen my role as entertainment director :) I hope you all are settling back in too.
Today I wanted to share a little about what we've been up to over the passed few months regarding our home. Both my husband and I grew up in a small town, went to college and moved to the Houston area 16 years ago. We lived in our first home (before blogging) for 10 years and then bought our second home, which is the home you've seen on this blog, for almost 5 years. We loved our home. The size was good and it had all the rooms and space we needed. The piece that bothered us is that the schools are very large. They are good schools, just big. We are in a suburb west of the city and people move out here for the school, so they just keep getting bigger. The elementary schools have been great and our kids have done so well with school. But as they get closer to junior high age we can't help but think about all the advantages of a smaller school. Our neighborhood junior high that we are zoned to has about 2000 students and the high school is near 4000 (and is one of 8 in our ISD). There are private schools, but paying for college already is hard to wrap my head around $$. The area we live in has had so much growth over the last 10 years that new schools are built every year to keep up with the booming housing market. It has changed a lot since we fist moved out here 15 years ago and is difficult to avoid traffic just going a short distance.
For a long time and more seriously over the last couple of years, we have talked about moving to a smaller town mainly to get in a smaller school system, but to also have a little more land and all the little things small towns offer. I want our kids to go to the county fair, collect candy at the home town parade, run around at the Friday night football games, and bust loops :) Our oldest is a fourth grader this year, so we really want to make a move before next school year to give him time to settle in before junior high. So back in September we started looking and thought we found a home, but decided to let it go and keep looking, all the while trying to sell ours. After turning down the first offer, we finally got a good offer so we decided to take it and move into a rental hoping that after the New Year and into the Spring, homes would come on the market. So the Fall and holiday season was been way busier then normal for us. We closed on the 23rd of December and had to be out by the 28th making for an interesting Christmas. As if that wasn't stressful enough on top of already busy work schedules, kids' activities and the normal hustle and bustle of Christmas, we also hosted Thanksgiving, I took on a lot with my blog including two Christmas Home Tours, we celebrated two birthdays (my son is 12/25 and mine is 12/26), had a baby shower, a college graduation, and traveled to our home town twice to have Christmas with our extended families all in between packing up our home. But we did it and we are as settled as we can be with most of our belongings in storage.
With all that said, I still plan to continue blogging just as before, but with more recipes, fashion, home inspiration post and of course house hunting updates! We are actively looking for a new home and excited about finding our future home. We have built our last two, but we are thinking a fixer upper might be the way we go this time, but we haven't ruled out building either. Our goal with this one is all about location, so if that means a fixer upper we are ready to take on the challenge! We hope to make this one our forever home and I hope you all will continue to follow along on this adventure with us!
Before I go today I thought I would do a little look back at our now old home...
Dining
Living
Office
Lyla's Room
Playroom
Patio and Backyard
She was a good home and we made great memories here, but I feel like she was a stepping stone to our forever home. I won't lie, I have had a few moments where I've panicked a bit through this process thinking about whether we are making the right decision. It's so hard with kids and I worry about them, but I strongly feel in the long run this will be a good decision. I'm prepared that this will be an adjustment for all of us, but we will come out on top. We want to find that home and community that feels right and that is a good fit for our family. On to the next adventure and new memories!
Wow, that was a lot to tackle with Thanksgiving and Christmas. Congrats on the sale of your home and good luck finding the new one.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Marty! It's a little scary, but excited as well!!
DeleteYour home is beautiful and congrats on the sale of it. We lived outside Houston for 8 years in The Woodlands and positively loved it. The schools are the best and the community is so warm. Great place to raise a family. Good luck on your search.
ReplyDeleteThanks Katie! Love the Woodlands too! From what I've been told their schools are similar to ours...good, just big :) Thanks for the well wishes!
Deletehow exciting!!!! wishing you the best!
ReplyDeleteThank you Cassie!
DeleteCongratulations Becky! What a big move for you guys, and during such a busy time. Can't wait to see how things turn out for you all!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Tiffany for the encouragement!!
DeleteWow, Becky! Praying for peace and the right house to present itself...it can be such a stressful time, so try not to get too overwhelmed. It will all be worth it in the end! We just moved- for mostly the same reasons you are- and it was definitely a risk worth taking, older house and all. Nothing a little time and a few cans of paint can't fix. Best of luck to you all! =)
ReplyDeleteSo good to hear Bethany! Makes me feel better when I know others did the same and are happy with the choice.
DeleteWow! How did you not have a complete nervous breakdown over the holidays? That's crazy! And here you still participated in my Christmas tour too - what a trooper you are! Can't wait to see where you end up and what you do with it. There is a certain appeal to starting fresh, with new projects and everything, but ugh, moving is such a pain! I can't get over how huge your high school is! I went to a large high school (~2500 students) but 4000 just seems insane to me for some reason. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny! I seriously took it day by day and we ate out A LOT :)
DeleteI love your home SO much but I'm excited for you and your family and looking forward to following along on your new journey!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah! Love yours as well!!
DeleteI am so impressed at what you did all through selling your house! I don't think I could have done that! Well done :) Congrats on the sale of your house and good luck house hunting!
ReplyDeleteGirl, when I look back at everything we did I'm not sure how we did it all either :) Thanks for your sweet words!
DeleteCongratulations and way to listen to your heart! I'm excited to follow your journey! I love your style and your photography is beautiful!!:-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement and kind words Tamara!! Means a lot!
DeleteWow! What an end to 2015 y'all had. So looking forward to seeing your next adventure and watch you work your magic in a new home this spring! xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Elise! It was a bit crazy, but we survived and we are excited about finding the next one!!
DeleteOk, I definitely missed this one! A lot to take on at once, but with faith and God it will all work out in the end. Praying you find that forever home soon. Looking forward to follow you on this new adventure. I applaud you both for taking that leap of faith and staying true to what you feel is best for your family knowing so much change comes with it.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, that is so exciting!!!!!!!! We always talk about doing this, but I'm still pooped from our last move. Maybe in 5 years??? I know when the time comes, we definitely want to go west from here. It's so pretty out there!
ReplyDeletewhat a stunning home you left, no wonder it sold quickly... but getting over Christmas is your full time plan at the moment I am sure... you are a real trouper to do all that and Christmas!! I hope you find your forever home soon and that we can all share in the adventure!!! hugs from across the pond.. janzi
ReplyDeleteBecky I am catching up on all of this. I saw you mention somewhere, maybe Instagram, that you had sold your house. Wow!!!! You've had a lot going on!!!! I'm so excited for you on what the future holds and wish you luck as you house hunt! The perfect house and town and out there for you I'm sure!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog. Your house looks lovely, it's so modern and clean, just like a show home. I hope you can find a new home soon. I agree that living in a smaller town would be a nicer childhood for your boys. I wish you and your family good luck with everything in the future.
ReplyDeleteElton Rousseau @ Hancock And Partners
I really like how you have kept everything very simple and clean. The house flows so nicely together. You go into some homes and it looks like they had a different person decorate every room or like the husband got half of the house and the kids got the other half. I also love your use of plants throughout everything.
ReplyDeleteJefferson @ T.J. Lamb Real Estate
It must be difficult to say goodbye to that gorgeous home. After all of those years, you have really made it so beautiful and comfortable. But the move sounds like a great idea as well. It is so much nicer to know there is a small school in the neighborhood for your children to go to. Best of luck!
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