2006 vs Today

When we purchased our current home, in October of 2006, I felt like I would live there FOREVER!

Looking back at 2006:
I worked in Dallas and Jon worked in Fort Worth making Keller a great central location offering both of us a manageable commute. Gas prices were around $1.97/gallon…which we complained about.
My mom lived 15 mins away, also in Keller, so I’d have close reliable loving help when we decided to start our family.
My sister and her fam had hopes of moving back to DFW from Chicago as soon as my brother in law, Mike, found a local job. They moved to Chicago from Saginaw (10 mins from Keller) in 2007 after his employer, DELTA airlines, made budget cuts. They loved their street and had several friends in that area so I was hopeful they’d land there again.
The community we decided on (Villages of Woodland Springs) was in the beginning stages offering light traffic and easy access to 3 different highways w/in 2 miles driving. There were several pools and playgrounds to choose from all with secured access for homeowners of VOWS only.
1825 sq feet: 3 BR and 2 Baths w/a 2 car garage and manageably small backyard on a corner lot was a dream in comparison to my 715 sq ft apt.
Stainless steel appliances were all the rage and Lennar (our builder) even included a nice fridge in their building package!
Blinds were our biggest expense after moving in.
Bentley, my schnauzer, was the “only child.”
We were one of the first houses on our street. I had dreams of knowing my neighbors, block parties…the American dream!

Current View:
Jon and I both work at Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth which proves a 25-65 minute daily commute ea way depending on traffic/wreck(s). We’ve tried riding together but it rarely works out w/our schedules. We’d definitely prefer to live closer to work. Gas prices are currently 3.79/gallon!
My mom married Marc in 2008 and moved to Roscoe in West Texas…3 ½ hours away. Thankfully they visit as often as possible but now, we want more room for our guests to feel comfortable! :)
Mike did find a new job…in Oklahoma City! They have been there since 2009 and are feeling quite established. Since the move, they’ve had a second son and my sister has started going to school (college) full time. So…they won’t be moving to DFW anytime soon, if at all.
Our current neighborhood (VOWS) has BLOWN up!! They’ve built a HUGE new elem, middle and High school on our main street that we turn off of to go home in the past 2 years. The pools and parks are always populated and our commute time has increased due to school zones, retail, construction, new lights and traffic.
1825 sq feet is NOT enough! Haha. And, we kinda need more of a yard and an extra garage bay. Too much to ask? ;-)
Stainless has become almost a “standard” and hard wood flooring has become the new requested upgrade!
We’re a family of 4…err, 5! Poor Bentley has become a dog rather than a child as Jude and Joel have taken over our world in the best possible way!
Our street is 75% rental property. Families are in and out before we ever even meet them. Not what I expected from my first home buying experience.

I knew my life would change, ofcourse! However, I did not know how FAST and by how MUCH it would change in really, the last 3 years! I feel EXTREMELY blessed to have such a full life and don’t thank our heavenly father enough for the blessings he’s allowed in my life!!

As I’ve blogged before, our home is currently on the market! We have had an offer but it’s nothing worth even really writing about. It did cause us to take a very hard look at things and organize priorities if we really do want to move. We have researched the housing market to an exhausting level. As a result, we lowered our asking price to a competitive $ per sq footage range against our possibly biased opinions that our house is the best in our area and deserving of a higher sell! :) The price was officially lowered on Monday and we’ve seen a heavy flow of traffic since! We had 3 showings just yesterday and the pattern has continued today. Surely something will happen soon!

We have decided to move forward on the other end of things; buying! We’ve secured a lot in a neighborhood we really like closer to work and have put in an offer with Sandlin builders on our NEW dream home complete with 3 car garage and 3500 sq ft of living space! Here’s to the future….stay tuned! :)

(Model of our floorplan. Ours will look a little different.)