Moving Update
We'll we've gotten our RFO (Request for Orders, for the non-military), we should get official orders in the next couple of weeks, so it is definite--we have to be in Fort Hood July 1, with early report authorized as early as May 1.
Things are going OK on the house front. We've had a bunch of showings and a lot of positive feedback, so now we're just waiting for an offer. We keep hearing, "Your house is in their top 3" and "They are down to your house and one other" but for one reason or another (things we can't exactly help, like having a one-story or a bit of a slope to our backyard), they've chosen the other house. It is a buyer's market right now with a lot of listings, we just have to hope someone will fall in love with our house. We're praying the right offer will come along soon--we really don't want to have to cut our price, since we're not making a profit at our current number, but we aren't taking a hit either. We really don't want to have to pay closing costs (or more) out-of-pocket if we can help it.
We recently stopped in Fort Hood to visit the new housing area we would be assigned to. It is great--brand-new homes that have garages and nice backyards, a rarity for on-post quarters. We even met some of the residents--we stopped to ask directions, and ended up talking to a couple for about 30 minutes. They told us to stop by and say hello when we move in--a couple of friendly faces in the neighborhood already! This is why I love living on-post: the people are so welcoming and helpful, and you make friends so quickly.
There is a drawback to living at Hood, though. As Brad and I were driving around, we were struck by how brown the post is! The buildings are all beige or brown, and being central Texas, the grass is brown in both winter and the heat of the summer. There aren't many trees, but there is a lot of beige rock. Everywhere you look, you see the color brown or some variant of it. I think I'll be planting a lot of colorful flowers in front of our brown and beige rock-and-brick house to give my eyes some color to look at! We were spoiled at our last assignment at Fort Bragg--there are huge trees and pine forests everywhere, dogwoods and azaleas in bloom in the spring and summer, so you don't really see all of the brown and beige military buildings. I shouldn't complain, though--if the worst thing I have to deal with is a boring color palette, I should consider myself lucky!
Aiden is very excited to live on post for one reason--all of the outdoor museums on post that display huge tanks, guns, cannons and helicopters. He is so excited to see them all and tells everyone he meets we are going to live at Fort Hood with a bunch of big tanks. I'm starting to think he believes we'll be issued one of our own and that he'll driven to school in a Bradley or an Abrams every day, off-roading and rolling over cars that get in our way. Isn't that every boy's fantasy?
Until the house sells, though, we're in a holding pattern. I spend hours each day cleaning and vacuuming. I'm glad we invested in the Dyson a few months ago, but still, I HATE to vacuum!! Brad has been assigned a bunch of TDY all over the country (temporary duty, or travel for work, for the acronym impaired)--he'll be gone 3 days every week for the next month, so I'm going to be stuck dealing with all of this solo. Say a little prayer for us that it sells soon!
Things are going OK on the house front. We've had a bunch of showings and a lot of positive feedback, so now we're just waiting for an offer. We keep hearing, "Your house is in their top 3" and "They are down to your house and one other" but for one reason or another (things we can't exactly help, like having a one-story or a bit of a slope to our backyard), they've chosen the other house. It is a buyer's market right now with a lot of listings, we just have to hope someone will fall in love with our house. We're praying the right offer will come along soon--we really don't want to have to cut our price, since we're not making a profit at our current number, but we aren't taking a hit either. We really don't want to have to pay closing costs (or more) out-of-pocket if we can help it.
We recently stopped in Fort Hood to visit the new housing area we would be assigned to. It is great--brand-new homes that have garages and nice backyards, a rarity for on-post quarters. We even met some of the residents--we stopped to ask directions, and ended up talking to a couple for about 30 minutes. They told us to stop by and say hello when we move in--a couple of friendly faces in the neighborhood already! This is why I love living on-post: the people are so welcoming and helpful, and you make friends so quickly.
There is a drawback to living at Hood, though. As Brad and I were driving around, we were struck by how brown the post is! The buildings are all beige or brown, and being central Texas, the grass is brown in both winter and the heat of the summer. There aren't many trees, but there is a lot of beige rock. Everywhere you look, you see the color brown or some variant of it. I think I'll be planting a lot of colorful flowers in front of our brown and beige rock-and-brick house to give my eyes some color to look at! We were spoiled at our last assignment at Fort Bragg--there are huge trees and pine forests everywhere, dogwoods and azaleas in bloom in the spring and summer, so you don't really see all of the brown and beige military buildings. I shouldn't complain, though--if the worst thing I have to deal with is a boring color palette, I should consider myself lucky!
Aiden is very excited to live on post for one reason--all of the outdoor museums on post that display huge tanks, guns, cannons and helicopters. He is so excited to see them all and tells everyone he meets we are going to live at Fort Hood with a bunch of big tanks. I'm starting to think he believes we'll be issued one of our own and that he'll driven to school in a Bradley or an Abrams every day, off-roading and rolling over cars that get in our way. Isn't that every boy's fantasy?
Until the house sells, though, we're in a holding pattern. I spend hours each day cleaning and vacuuming. I'm glad we invested in the Dyson a few months ago, but still, I HATE to vacuum!! Brad has been assigned a bunch of TDY all over the country (temporary duty, or travel for work, for the acronym impaired)--he'll be gone 3 days every week for the next month, so I'm going to be stuck dealing with all of this solo. Say a little prayer for us that it sells soon!
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