'round here

I've been here a week, where to begin? I have many thoughts swirling around my mind and I think the best way to break this period of my life down is through a pros and cons list, so here goes...

PROS:

*my house
*my neighbors
*how friendly folks are
*cheaper groceries
*cheaper gas
*lots of sunshine everyday
*new appliances
*having my in-laws here to help paint, fix things, install things, etc.
*putting B's big girl room together
*watching B sleep in a big girl bed for the first time (and she didn't even fall out the first night!~ the second night however...)
*going to church and having David Crowder lead worship -HOLLA!!
*having a master bathroom
*all the goodies that neighbors bring to welcome us to the neighborhood
*living by the Peters
*having an excuse to get a new toaster oven (ours was gross but it worked, new house, new toaster :)) (which I guess this could fall under "new appliances" but oh well)
*having Sonic on every corner-HOLLA!
*the newness of everything, fun to experience a different place for the first time
*seeing how happy my husband is

I could go on but I'll stop there for now. :)

CONS:

*Tillamook cheese is more expensive (long way to go to get to Waco)
*no Tillamook ice cream (whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa)
*sales tax, boo.
*they don't pump your gas for you here like they do in Oregon (although, truth be told, sometimes thats a drag too)
*the INSANE August heat (its been about 107 every day w/ lots of humidity -yowza!)
*being new and not knowing my way around and using my GPS for everything
*walking into church and not knowing a soul (but David Crowder was essentially the first person I saw and thats just pretty darn rad if you ask me)
*the butter comes in weird packaging and isn't the "right" size -that bugs
*no C&H brown sugar at the store!! (what the ?$%@#$^@?)
*how hot my car seats are when I get in the car, HOT!
*the leak in my ceiling that is going to require a plumber to come out and fix
*the fact that my air conditioning is on ALL DAY long and will cost a fortune and really, doesn't get the second floor that cool...sigh.
*sweating all.the.time.
*having to pay for window coverings (yikes...thats gonna be rough!)
*the geckos that show up in my house, so not cool.
*how many times I've hit my head on the ceiling in the master bathroom b/c its the top of the house w/ the roof line, OUCH! (the toilet is in a look nook, a photo for another day :))
*spending a whole day picking out a paint color only to come home and paint nearly the whole room to realize I hate it and having to start all over (don't even get me started, this is probably the most painful...needless to say, my mother-in-law has the patience of Job!) (and to all the folks who ask if I'm going to paint the built-ins, etc. the jury is still out on that one, won't be anytime soon though).

I'll stop here. Really, I'm not complaining, we love it here and are thrilled to be here. Its just been a whirlwind of a week and lots going on. There are definitely more good things than bad but home ownership does bring lots of bumps! We're tired and happy, not a bad combo! More pics coming soon, haven't touched my camera in quite a while, no time just yet. More to come. xo