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Enron Mail |
I swore I would be one of those people who said never and really meant it.
Well, I guess "they" are right . . . Clay and I have some news. (No, I am not pregnant.) But, we are buying a house in Dallas. We close on it two days after my arrival in London. Thankfully, Clay will still be here. We will rent it out over the next year while we are away. Our move in date will be sometime next summer, depending on our tenants' situation. So, about the never say never part. The house is in south Highland Park. Gasp! We never expected to buy a house this soon. And, I NEVER--I repeat NEVER-- expected that we would move to Highland Park upon graduating from law school, if EVER! In fact, it was a condition of our marriage--I knew that we were going to end up in Dallas, but I made Clay promise that we would not have to settle in the Park Cities. He promised, crossed his heart, hoped to die, and the whole bit. All summer, we have been neighborhood shopping in Lakewood and East Dallas, an area that is close to downtown with wonderful homes and a sort of Austiny-feel. We spent some time checking out real estate cites on the web during our down-time at work, on a strictly just-for-fun basis. We loved looking at older homes. We dreamed about eventually getting something that was very livible for the time being but that would be really fun to update and restore. Independently, we both came across a house in south east Highland Park (near the McKinney and Knox Henderson area) that was built in 1925 in the Craftsman style--our favorite. We drove by it and checked it out on the internet for about three weeks. Finally, we decided to call up a realtor and go see it. We immediately fell in love--wood floors, beautiful original fixtures and "rookwood" fireplace, 9 foot ceilings, great backyard, etc. During the three week period, I had a huge and slightly dramatic internal debate about living in this area. Would this mean I was destined to a life of suburban-driving, PTA morning, bubble head-ism??? Would we ever be able to escape our parents who live merely 5-7 minutes away? Was I, deep-down, really a total snob? If not, would I become one? Would I have to go to the neighborhood Tom Thumb? Would I become my mother? The bottom line was that we loved the house--the craftsman style lets us to combine Clay's desire for traditionalism and my love for modern design. (In other words, it's a place where my red leather couch and his stuffed deer head might live comfortable together.) Also, we really loved the location (6 minutes from Downtown; right by our favorite restaurants and bar spots; and very close to the Katy Trail--Dallas' jogging biking trail). So, I decided that we could make Park Cities life work. . . I would just have to concentrates on the things that I always have said I WILL do, rather than the things I have said I would NEVER do. I will invest in the lives of needy people; I will keep painting; I will remember that people, instead of things, make the world go 'round. After much prayer and consideration, Clay and I put down a REALLY low-ball offer on the house. We negotiated for about a week, and the sellers finally accepted our offer. We feel terribly blessed, and our prayer is that our home can be put to use for God's purposes. (And, perhaps, a TX-OU party??) I am thankful for a husband who was fortunate enough to save every penny he ever earned and every little birthday check he ever received--and for a father-in-law who helped us get an excellent interest rate. So, that's the news . . . let the making fun of Jessica begin . . . I certainly deserve it. Too bad I am leaving the country in a matter of days!!! Hope you guys are doing well. I will have email in London, so shoot me one whenever possible! You can reach me via Clay's cell phone until Friday (214)649-6914. Sorry this message was so long. Much love and big hugs to you all. Bate :)
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