MattandSally.com

As some of you already know, we recently moved from Amarillo (1.5 years), to lovely Fort Worth, Texas. Previous to Amarillo, we lived in Chicago for 8 years. Well, 12 years if you count the four my husband spent at Notre Dame (an hour away) and I spent at Wheaton (about 30 min. away). But who’s counting? My point is, Chicago is the closest thing to home. There have been adjustments, some good, some…a wee harder, but finally I feel like we have landed in a home and a neighborhood I think we’ll call home for a long time… hopefully forever. For this army brat, that’s saying something.

We bought a 100 year old home in a neighborhood just south of downtown. Some folks might say it’s a bit rough around the edges, and I can’t hardly argue with that, but prefer to describe it as “up and coming.” In fact, Southern Living featured it as one of the “South’s Top 10 Come Back Neighborhoods” in the nation, just this past January. So there. It’s official.

We are not new to owning an old house. We had a 96 year old brick four square in Oak Park, just outside of the city (across the street from Chicago city limits.) We did quite a bit of work, the biggest project being a kitchen that I’m certain decreased my lifespan by a few years. But thankfully, our new home in Fairmount has very little to do in the way of major remodel. Paint and tile are the main issues and even that… at least the tile isn’t falling off the wall, it’s just personal style differences. I am very thankful for that. With three small children, I will be lucky to get even that done.

As far as the transitional aspects of our neighborhood, well, that’s not new to us either and honestly, it’s not for everyone. Our previous neighborhood had it’s quirks but the upside was diversity and that’s something we really wanted our kids to experience and be shaped by. Truthfully, that’s something I need to experience and be shaped by as well. So, we lock our doors and don’t leave our bikes in the yard.

So, here it is. Home Sweet Home. I couldn’t be happier and more ready to get started with this new chapter.