Moving from Burleson to Bowie

Back in September, I read my posting about finding some land and feeling like it was the best place we had seen thus far. Shortly after I wrote that post, the realtors involved were playing their little "game" with us which, if it had worked, would have forced us into making a decision quickly on buying the place. We were not happy with being played with that way. We still really liked the place, and we had actually contacted the owner of the property to speak with her directly, but she directed us right back to the listing agent. She was under contract and was not allowed to come in between us and them, so we could go no further with her. Still to this day, though, I love that piece of property the best of all the properties we had looked at for over a year and a half. Who knows? Maybe some day the owner will contact us again - as her contract was only for a year at a time.

In the meantime, we had a very bad storm in Burleson at the end of September, which nearly flooded the little farmhouse we were in. The yard got up to a foot of water in it. A week later we realized that there were a few areas on the floor where it felt squishy - and it gave a little bit when we walked on it. The bathroom door would not long open all the way either, which caused me to think that the whole frame of the house was shifting. We certainly did not feel safe living there anymore. We knew we needed to find somewhere else to live where we would have room for our horses, dog, cats and chickens.

I was on Craigslist in mid October looking for houses/ranches to rent. We wanted to buy, but decided that it wasn't time to invest that much money into our own place at this time. I found a listing for a ranch for rent in Bowie, complete with furnishings. I was interested and called the number listed. I made a tentative appointment for Byron and I to go up there later that day to see it.

It didn't take very long for us to realize that this house and land we had found to rent was the best place for us at this time. It was perfect - 30 acres, mostly hayfields, crossfencing, a double sized shop/barn in the back, a garden area, and full of western furniture (which I love!). We sold all but a few pieces of our furniture. We moved out on October 30th. Lots of wonderful friends in Burleson helped us load up a 32 foot trailer and many new wonderful friends in Bowie helped us unload it. It was an exhausting day. The next week, while I was working at the university, Byron went by the old house and picked up the remaining items we still had there. It was a busy week and we were very grateful to finally get to spend a whole day at home a week after we moved.

Our ward building is 30 miles away in Decatur. We instantly felt right at home in the ward!! There are all kinds of country people living in it - cowboys, horse trainers, horse auctioneer, ranchers...many people wear cowboy boots to church! I certainly was glad to see that, as I wear mine all of the time - church and work both!

My job at UT Arlington is now 75 miles away, not 26 miles as it was before. Although the drive is long, it is beautiful and relaxing most of the time. The worse part of the is the last 22 miles prior to arriving at the university. Gas prices aren't coming down, so we've had to increase our transportation budget.

I am still trying to figure out how to post pictures within the blog itself. I will post pictures of our home and property as soon as I figure it out!