Our Visit to Dallas

Last weekend, Luis and I went down to Dallas to visit Diego and start the home search process. We had decided to keep our house in VA (and rent it out) and find a house to rent in Dallas. Our awesome, awesome, awesome realtor here, Ken Tully, referred us to a great agent in Dallas.

After some last minute confusion on our tickets, Luis and I left here on Friday (10/31) afternoon. We arrived at our hotel at the same time that Diego was returning from work. Diego and Luis had a very joyous reunion, and we had a relaxing evening.

Luis didn't get the memo that we were in an earlier time zone and was up about 6a. We grabbed breakfast at the hotel and then got in the car for a bit of neighborhood seeing. Diego had found an area called Keller Springs/Oak Cliff that he really liked and wanted to show me. We drove by one cute house with a "For Sale/For Lease" sign. We took a flier and noted that it only had 3 bedrooms (we had really wanted 4). But it was cute, so we texted the address to our agent to see if we could see it later that day.

Mid-morning, Deborah (our Dallas agent) and I went out to see 16 houses (yes, sixteen!). It was a whirlwind of a day, and I was exhausted when I got home. (Diego, who stayed at the hotel with Luis, was also exhausted, but in the best kind of way.) I saw the 3-bedroom house that Diego and I had found - and fell in love. It was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. It had recently been re-done, top to bottom. It had a very open floor plan, big bright windows that let in tons of light, high ceilings (which made the rooms feel even bigger), a gourmet kitchen (worthy of Diego), gorgeous hardwood floors, a great yard, trees, everything. Oh, and a guest house. And a garage (that was so new you could smell the fresh-cut lumber used to build it). It was perfect, but a bit pricey. Unfortunately, the next 15 houses had to measure up to this house - and none of them did. We did see plenty of nice house, all re-done with gorgeous tilework and fancy kitchens and big rooms. But they just weren't as good as The House.

Sunday, Luis and Diego came out house hunting with us. We saw about 5 houses from the previous day, and 5 new ones. Though we saw significantly less houses, we were all just as tired at the end of the day. Luis was a real trooper. Even though he melted down a bit towards the end, we really couldn't have asked for more. On Sunday, Diego saw the inside of The House too, and loved it. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. The long story made short, after a few back and forth negotiations between our agents, we signed a two-year lease over the weekend, and we take possession of it on December 1st (though Luis, Ashley and I won't be there until about Jan. 1st). Below are some pictures of my favorite parts of the house.

**The kitchen has a 5'x6' butcher block island w/ a vegetable sink

** The six-burner gas stove

**Looking from the breakfast nook towards the dining room (with the family room to your left)

**The Library (between the front entry and the dining room)

**The built in beds in the kid room (we've asked to re-paint this room)

**The big yard with TREES

**The Guest House (with a full kitchen and bath)