Our First Home!

This week is such a monumental time in our lives....we bought our first home! We don't close until October 9th, but I know that time will fly! We were really hoping to move directly into a house when we moved to Wichita, but, unfortunately, we didn't have the time to "house hunt" while we were still living in Dallas. We hooked up with our awesome real estate agent the first week we got here, and we started looking at houses online right away. After seeing about 12-15 homes "in person," we decided to make an offer on this home in NE Wichita. It's in a great location because it's very close to shopping, restaurants, the highway, and even Super Target! (This is our closet grocery store...about 1 block away from the front of the entrance to our housing edition). The neighborhood has a small lake/pond and is a great place to go walking. Click here for a"Virtual Tour" of our new place!

Things I Like About Wichita...

Well, Jason and I have officially been "Wichitans" for 1 month! We are still adjusting, but things are going great. I have really enjoyed my job thus far, and Jason is on his way to finishing up school. Our primary focus recently has been looking for a house, but we've also taken the time to "tour" the area quite a bit. Here are a few things that I really like about Wichita:

1) The traffic....or lack thereof...
- It only takes me about 15 minutes to get to work, and I don't have to get on any
interstates! We really enjoyed Dallas, but not the Dallas traffic. I love being able
to go places without having to get on an interstate!

2) The weather
- I'm sure I will retract this statement in the winter, but for now, I LOVE the weather!
Even though it's the summer, the evening are beautiful and cool!

3) Everyone goes walking
- One of the first things I noticed after we moved here is how many people walk
outside in the evening. Not just in the small neighborhoods, but even along main
streets (well, on the sidewalks). Every night, we see families out walking dogs or
going on bike rides together.

4) The Chisholm Creek Park
- This is a wildlife reserve in the middle of the metropolitan area. The entire area is
wooded, and there are trails that weave throughout the reserve...most of which are over
a mile in length. Some of the trails turn into bridges to go over the wetland areas. I love
going walking here. So far, I've seen a mama and baby deer, ducks, a possum,
fish, turtles, and a skunk (don't worry, we weren't too close). I've heard that it's common
to see muskrats, but I haven't seen one of those yet.

5) My job at the VA
- My new job is at the Dole VA Medical Center. It is acutally a historical monument, so
it is a really pretty building (see here). My co-workers are awesome, as will as my
supervisor. All of the pharmacy staff is super-friendly and they were all sooooo
welcoming when I first came. Today, they had a Farmer's Market for the VA employees
out on the front lawn. It was so neat to see all of the vendors. I got some produce,
homemade pastas, and bread. Very fun!

6) The friendly people
- The people here remind me a lot of the people in Oklahoma...very friendly! They
always wave when we walk by, and those people we've met when were are "out and
about" have been very kind! We're met and visited with our postal carrier, the
maintenance guys at our apt complex, local restaurant owners/workers, and, as
I mentioned above, the people at the VA.

7) The close proximity to Enid
- It is so nice to be closer to home! Last weekend, we decided to go to Enid on the spur
of the moment. It takes about 1 hr and 45 min, so we were able to go there in the morning
and come back that evening. This definitely beats the 5 and 1/2 hour drive from Dallas
to Enid. I wish we were closer to Jason's parents too, but it's about the same distance
from Wichita to Norman as it was from Dallas to Norman.

These are just a few of the things that have really made an impression on me since we've moved! I hope that things continue to go well for us, but I feel as though we're made a good start.

JAMAICA!!!

These pics are definitely overdue, but I promised to post them! We had such a great time in Jamaica with our friends, Amber and Kurtis. Amber was a high school friend, and we were college roommates for 5 years!! Amazingly, we are still the best of friends and love to spend time together. This July marked Jason and I's 3-year anniversary and Amber and Kurtis' 5-year anniversary. They went to "Couples Swept Away" in Jamaica for their honeymoon, and wanted to celebrate their marriage milestone with a return trip! Luckily, they decided that it would be more fun with friends, so they invited us along!

Enjoy the pics! You may want to start at the bottom and work your way backwards. For some reason, I can't figure out how to reverse the order of how Blogger uploads these.

20) We had such a great time!! Thanks Amber and Kurtis for inviting us!!

19) It was a lot of fun...the water was freezing at first, but we adjusted! There were underwater tunnels we swam through, and "natural jacuzzis."

18) Mayfield Falls...this is a view of one of the many small waterfalls. We hiked/swam up the whole thing

17) At Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville in the Jamaica airport. See my hat on the floor? US Customs took it from me when we got back :(

16) He was a friendy guy! :)

15) Jason befriending the bartender at the "Captain's Reception"

14) Sign at the front of our resort, "Couples Swept Away" in Negril, Jamaica

13) Ready for yet another meal!

12) Beautiful beach at our resort

11) Jason with the ladies on Lobster Night

10) I saw this little guy on our way to dinner one night!

9) See the slide? We went down it into the ocean....scary, but FUN!!!

8) View of our resort from the Catamaran

7) Jason in the ocean after going down the slide from the second level of the catamaran!

6) Our friends, Amber and Kurtis, on the Catamaran Cruise

5) Jason and I on the Catamaran Cruise

4) Our room was in a building like this

3) Of course, we had to get a drink...the swirly drink is my Pina Colada...yum!

2) Once we arrived at the resort, there was champagne and cool towels ready for us! :)

1) At the "Couples Resorts" lounge in the Jamaica airport...waiting for our shuttle

Starting the Home Search Process

Today was a big day...we started looking at homes with our realtor! We really would have preferred to move directly into a house in Wichita (after moving from Dallas), but we didn't really have time during my residency to check out the neighborhoods, best parts of town, etc. We decided to get a 6-month lease on an apartment, but as soon as we were moved in, I was ready to be in a house. Apartment living is great from the "no maintenance" viewpoint, but it is not good from the "space" viewpoint. We have several items in a storage unit right now, so I am thinking of various items on a daily basis that I would like to use, but they are locked up in a unit about 5 miles away. Anyway, one of my new co-workers and her husband just bought a home here, and the had great things to say about their realtor. Once we met her, we really thought she would be a good resourse and she had a fun personality. We have decided that we want to purchase a home in Northeast Wichita or Andover, a small suburb just east of Wichita. Andover is known for having excellent school districts (not a concern now, but might be in the future) and the biggest YMCA in the United States! (here is their website...check out the waterpark!) The good thing about NE Wichita is that EVERYTHING is so close and convenient!

Tonight, we looked at 3 houses in Andover. One was really nice, one was moderate, and one is a "no!" I can tell already that this is going to be a stressful process. There is so much to think about and so many pros/cons to weigh. I guess I just need to be patient. I was hoping to find the perfect home tonight (since we liked the homes online), but they are so different in person. Oh well, we'll just keep praying and I know that God will make the best option available at the right time.

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will direct your path."

Update!

I promise to do my "Jamaica" post soon, but for now, just a little update on our "Buying our First Home" venture. Last week, we met with a mortgage lender and were pre-qualified for our loan. Then, we met with our realtor to go over the "process," and discussed what kinds of things we might want in a home. We will probably start seriously looking at homes in a few weeks, so that should be exciting! On another note, I start my new job at the Wichita VA on Monday, and Jason is getting his school situation worked out. It's nice to finally get settled!