Houston or Bust.

You probably have already heard the news but if not, we are moving yet again. This time back to the Texas Gulf Coast.  It's a bittersweet moment. We've only been in our new home in Colorado for a little over a year.  We've put a considerable amount of 'sweat equity' into it and we hope that we will be able to afford another home in Houston.  Foreclosures are rampant here in Colorado, thus our first true home was a foreclosure as was the condo just before that.  But, we like it that way.  We love projects (yes, we're sick in that way).  What's so disheartening is that we're just beginning to see the fruits of our labor and the house really shines (even though it still needs some loving here and there) but now we won't be able to really enjoy it.  Thus, I've immersed myself in what to look forward to in Houston. 

  

I've never really lived in Houston, just the outskirts.  Chris and I did live close to NASA at one point in a run-down apartment building that was lovingly called Casa Bonita (though there was nothing bonita about our little casa).  We just liked the vague connection to a happy childhood memory of the famed Casa Bonita Restaurant in Colorado (termed by a local Austin writer as Casa-Oh My God, I'm in Valhalla- Bonita").  From there, we lived in Bulgaria for two years on the Black Sea Coast as Peace Corps Volunteers before returning to the States and eventually moving to Denver, Colorado.  Several of our friends are happy that we're moving closer to them and several are sad that we're leaving them.  I will miss the lovely mountain vistas and amazing sunsets over the Rockies.  I will miss cool summers (seriously, I'm wearing a turtleneck for Pete's sake and it's July) and gorgeous alpine flowers.  I'll miss the eclectic, hippy mountain towns filled with gentle mountain folk and excellent breweries.  Things I won't miss: income tax, dryness, cracked lips, blizzards, and nosebleeds.

And, so the adventure begins.  Our house is on the market and showings are already rolling in (which is a good sign but not a sure thing).  We're already looking at new homes in Houston and slowly saying goodbye to coworkers and friends and our lovely home.  My new goal: to find out all I can about every corner of Houston that I didn't know before.  First things first, Houston Theatre District, here I come! http://downtownhouston.org/district/theater/