Well, it definitely seems more real now. I went down to Houston and found a place for us to live. The city is sooooo amazingly huge. I know everybody says that, but I couldn't fathom it until I saw it. It just takes a long time to get anywhere! And there seems to be traffic at all times of the day. I came back to Salt Lake City, and marvelled at how small it seemed.
The Temple there is GORGEOUS! Breathtakingly beautiful, only you wouldn't know it was there unless you happened to drive by it! It is so dang flat, and the trees are so high, that you really can't see anywhere except where you are! I kept trying to get a glimpse of the area from up high. Occasionally the freeway went up on an overpass, but all I saw was trees! There are some really nice neighborhoods nearer to the Temple, and within about 25 minutes or so of Brad's office, but unfortunately the rental homes in that area were too much.
I got pretty frustrated the first day: even though I stayed outside the 1960 loop like everybody said, the first FIVE homes on my list were either yucky themselves or in yucky neighborhoods. Finally, I moved north to The Woodlands, which is farther north, but actually takes less time because of the freeway. I found two houses I liked, and called, and the lady said that BOTH had been leased out the day before!!!! AUGHH!! I asked if she had any others and she said there was one for about $50 more than we had wanted, but it was nice and was in the Woodlands area. So I went there and fell in love with the house!!! The yard needs some work, but she said she'd have the ground crew work on it before we get there on May 1st. This home is one story, one year old, and around 1650 square feet. Three bedrooms and a study. Two baths. Great kitchen, breakfast nook, dining room (although we don't have a dining room table--I thought we could make it a reading nook), and a great big master bath with a great big walkin closet. Plenty of storage space, two car garage...it's definitely the nicest place we've ever lived. It doesn't have tile and granite, etc., but it's still great for our needs!
So...without further adieu, here is our new home on Woodhollow Drive.