Oklahoma!

So, we moved to Oklahoma about 3 weeks ago.  Yep, Oklahoma! Jeremy took a 6 month contract job out here and started the Monday after the 4th of July.  He is working for Conoco Phillips 66 as an administrator in the business intelligence department, and so far LOVES it.  It took less than one day for him to establish himself as the expert he is and make himself a know name to the ones that count, and they love him back...their IT Superhero!

We had less than 2 weeks to find a place to live, but were blessed to not only find something, but find the perfect something!  Both of us were less than thrilled with the town his office is in, and felt much more at home in the next town south of there.  We began looking into rentals in both areas and found that we definitely wanted to be in a house, but that getting a 6 month lease was going to be either impossible or extremely expensive.  

Enter House Nannys.  There is a local business here that puts qualifying people into nice houses for really cheap rent as "house managers."  The houses are for sale, so as managers your job is to stage the home with your pre-qualified furniture, show the home as needed, and cover utilities and lawn maintenence until the house sells.  In the event the house sells they will give you at least 45 days notice at which point you may be offered another House Nannys property or you can do what you like.  Conversely, should you be ready to leave before the house sells you need only give 2 weeks notice and you are out.  

Intrigued, we went to see this house (which is now the one we are living in).  The owners are trying to short sell it, so even if they did find a buyer, the chances of us having to vacate prior to 6 months are slim.  After 6 months we will either move, or have a more long-term plan for Jeremy's employment- so it worked out great!

(Oh, and the house does have a matching mailbox- I got retarded and took the picture to include our neighbor's box instead of ours.)

So, with no further adieu..... the photo tour!

When you walk in the front door this is what you see if you look slightly up and to the left.  The staircase is to the left of the entryway, if you are standing in it, and the hallway in front of you goes into the family room.

From the base of the stairs looking past the front door and to the right of the entry (if you were standing in the doorway..) is the dining room.

If we walk into the dining room, we can see into the kitchen and breakfast nook.

Walking through the dining room into the kitchen, you can see that the sink looks into the family room as well as the breakfast nook.

Looking from the sink, behind you back into the dining room you can see the other half of the kitchen.

Standing in the breakfast nook looking into the family room you can see the laundry room (open door) that has garage access.  The little hallway past that leads to the mainfloor master bedroom.

Walking into the family room and looking back at the breakfast nook and kitchen areas ...

 .. if you turn a little, you can see the hallway that goes back to the front door.  the door in the hallway is the mainfloor guest bathroom and the closed door in the family room is the oversized coat closet.

Here's a better shot back to the front door.

Here is standing in the opening to the family room from the entry hallway.

Now if you walk over towards the master bedroom and look back into the room you can kinda see how the main level all fits together.

Here's a peek into the laundry room.  The outlet in the garage that the freezer plugs into got fried in a lightning storm, so until Jeremy replaces it, we have a lovely extension cord running out to the freezer :)

This is looking into the master from the doorway.

This is looking into the room from the bathroom doorway.

If you turn around you can see the bathroom (and my lovely jetted tub!)

Moving on to the upstairs... This is a shot from upstairs looking back down to the entry.  The hallway at the base of the 2 stairs leads to another hallways that ends at the playroom and Hannah's room.  The 2 stairs go up into a loft.

Here's looking back at the loft from that hallway. If you walk in front of the loft, that hall takes you to Nathan's room!

This is peeking over that half wall into the loft.

This is from behind the piano, back out into the loft.  The door in the loft leads to an attic storage space and the door at the base of the 2 stairs is the upstairs bathroom.

This is a peek into the storage area, now packed with our Christmas stuff, extra suit cases, etc.

Here's the upstairs bathroom.

From outside that bathroom door if you look to the left you can see the loft, and straight ahead is Nathan's room.

When you walk into the room the first thing you see is off to the right, the firetruck bed :)

After you walk in past the door and look to the left you see the Thomas mural :)

Looking back from that side of the room you can see his closet.  I love the closets in this house.  Both doors open outward to expose lots of usable space!

So, if we go back out, past the loft, then down the hallway past the bathroom we get to the hallway leading to the playroom (on the left) and Hannah's room (on the right).

It's easy to see why we designated this a playroom... it's miniature!  But, the kids both love it, and feel like it's a sort of club house with all their toys in it.  Perfect!

The best view of the cul-de-sac is out the playroom window.

Last but not least...Hannah's room!  Hey, I see a baby peeking up from that bed :)

Good morning sunshine!

Looking back from the crib you can see the closet.

This is the smaller of the kid's closets, but still fits all the extra clothes, diapers, etc.  LOVE it!

Here's one more shot of the pretties on the wall :)

One last note about the house...the windows in the common areas are all quite large, almost floor-to ceiling.  Hannah loves that they are just her size and spends a good deal of time watching the birds outside :)

We feel so blessed to be in such a lovely home that fits our circumstances so perfectly.  So far, showing the house has not been a big deal at all (3 showings in 3 weeks, 2 of which were on a Sunday while we were at church).  I can't complain.  The area is awesome, our neighbors are really nice, and we feel we are in the right place.  We do miss being near family, and that has been an adjustment all it's own.  On the bright side- there is lots of room to come and visit, so to one and all: we have an open door policy and you are ALWAYS welcome!