THIS OR SOMETHING BETTER: MANIFESTING OUR DREAM (TEXAS) HOME
“THIS… or something BETTER.”
Over the past year while looking for our first Texas dream home, it’s a phrase I repeated to myself (and to my husband) often.
We’d find (+ get excited about) a house we LOVED – for various reasons:
gorgeous pool.
open and bright (yet spacious) floor plan.
home office.
updated interiors.
cul de sac (MADE for biking, scooting, mini Range Roving, and sidewalk chalking).
green grass for days.
an ORANGE tree. (!?)
We’d be all gung-ho, then dig a little deeper and find a dealbreaker:
history of termites.
previous foundation problems.
CURRENT foundation problems.
open and bright, but no office.
great pool, no grass.
too far past our ideal price range.
We could’ve easily settled and gone with “good enough.”
Compromising on what we both knew we REALLY wanted.
Sign the papers, check the box.
But while that certainly may have been easier in the scarcity-based, never-gonna-find-one-better short term, it would’ve sucked for the long run.
We weren’t goin’ out like that.
As I always say, “REALLY GOOD is good enough.”
Not meh – not fair – not just “close enough.”
REALLY GOOD.
We were committed to THIS or something BETTER.
Even if it took a little longer than expected.
Even if we needed to rent for a little while.
As tempted as we were to say “SURELY this is as good as it’s gonna get!” every “close enough” house was proof that a “REALLY good” one could be out there.
All of the elements we were looking for and most excited about DID in fact exist, not just in the physical world, but in our hometown. Validation.
And yet – antsy pants.
In early January I fell in love with a house online – it was updated, had a pool, an outdoor shower, even a slide!
Sent my sisters and parents to check it out for me via Facetime.
Not the one. (No backyard grass for the boys to play in.)
Then another – pool plus grass AND updates I loved!
They went to check it out.
Not the one. (Foundation issues so obvi it felt like walking through a fun house. The updates must’ve been there as a diversion.)
Real estate rollercoaster.
I decided to express my feelings (about the “I thought you were a sure thing” houses) via song.
“If you’re not the one” by Daniel Bedengfield, to be exact.
While I was in the zone, I decided to find a song that described how I wanted to feel about the RIGHT house:
Figured that if our house could talk / sing, it would choose this one:
“Here I am (come and take me)” – because it loves to jam to UB40 too.
The last audio-step of our musical home-buying experience would be the song we’d play once all the boxes were unpacked, the boys upstairs asleep while we relax on the couch, admiring the view.
✨I’m REALLY happy to report that (after starting this home-buying process in January) it’s finally time for Etta this week.✨
You see, just a week or two after I set my “musical” vision board, I got a text from my sister.
Her friend was putting her beloved house up for sale – and it was just down the street!
not JUST a gorgeous pool. a gorgeous pool with (a way cooler) slide. and waterfall. and a mini GROTTO, for Pete’s. << my transition to the little mermaid is now complete.
open and bright (yet spacious) floor plan.
home office. with doors!
the price was JUST right, so we’ve been happy to make our own (fabulous) updates to the interior.
cul de sac (MADE for biking, scooting, mini Range Roving, and sidewalk chalking).
green grass for days (set apart from the pool area with a brand new safety fence).
instead of an orange tree, we’ve got lemons AND limes.
never-would’ve-dreamt-it BONUS: it’s within close walking distance of a lake, two of my sisters, and four of the boys’ cousins.
(Although after living in Hawaii for a decade, I’m excited that ALL of North and South America is technically within walking distance.)
Bottom line(s):
THIS *is* something better.
And as I sit here typing from my new corner (of the couch) office admiring this tropical thunderstorm view while Deke naps upstairs… I’ve gotta say:
I’m so glad I didn’t settle for less.
And in case you need the reminder: You don’t have to either. ✨
#naptimeempires
#texaschapter
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