There's no place like ...

HOME! After a very hectic and long weekend Phil and I found a house we love. The house went under contract yesterday and we plan on closing April 30. This is all very exciting, frustrating, and scary.

The drive to Oklahoma was what some would call comical and others would call a nightmare. The 8 hour drive turned into a 13 hour drive after being stuck in traffic for 1.) A semi that broke down in the middle of the interstate 2). A woman who was hit by a car on the interstate 3.) Fort Worth rush hour 4.) Road contstruction and finally 5.) A major car accident that required a helicopter to land on the interstate. So when we finally arrived at the base hotel (at 11:30 p.m.) we were exhasted. Little did we know there was a 6th surprise for us: when we walked into our room we noticed it was a bit warm. The thermostat was not working so Phil went to the front office to ask about getting a different room. To his (and my) dismay, the desk clerk (who was a very nice older woman) said, "Oh, dear there is no air conditioning in these old buildings." Yah.

The day of house hunting was a bit long and boring. Once we were done looking at homes we nulled over the 3 we found to be most suitable. One was brand new (still under construction) but in a horrible neighborhood. The other was in an okay neighborhood, but needed lots of extra work for the price. The one we finally went with is a classic 57 year old home. Everything is traditional from the hardwood floors to the brick exterior. As soon as I walked into this home I was in love. It's charm is only one of it's many qualities although it is the most important one. Simply put, this is more than a house it's a home.

We quickly put down a bid and went out to dinner. Right before dinner we were told that the first bid was rejected and we quickly countered. They, however, were not so quick to get back to us so Phil and I called it a night with some cocktails at a local hotspot we used to visit during pilot training. We went back to our room early to get some rest before our big drive back to Texas. We got our 7th surprise at 4 a.m. when the train came. It sounded as though it was coming into our room ... and neither of us could get right back to bed. Let's put it this way, if I am about to get hit by a train in the future I will know how loud it can get before I need to jump out of the way.

The drive home started off a little rough. Things started looking up when we heard back that the sellers had a counter offer. We haggled over the phone for a while and agreed on a price before we even got to Oklahoma City. We were (are) both ecstatic. Unfortunately it didn't make the drive go by any faster.

To conclude this very long blog, I'm posting photos of our new digs. (Note: the stuff inside obviously isn't ours.) Enjoy!

Front of the House

Living Room

Family Room

Kitchen

Breakfast Nook

Master Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

Guest Bath

Dining Room

Florida Room / Sunroom

Backyard