Project 52 Date Nights: House Hunting

We didn't have a "real" date this week, per se. But if you count spending time together {just the two of us}, then I would have to say this week was the first of many House Hunting dates.

We just began our fourth week of living in a 170-sf camper. We chose to live in a camper while we waited for TVA to make a decision on funding for the Bellefonte plant {where Daniel works}. August 20 was the decision day and we found out that instead of fully-funding the project at this time, they are going to fund it for a year. They will reevaluate the decision in June of 2011.

This was not an unexpected decision, but it is not a particularly helpful one. We are ready to live in a house again, but are unsure of where we should buy. We could buy in Chattanooga and Daniel can commute {1 hour each way to Bellefonte} OR we could buy closer to the plant {but if they pull funding next year, we will own property that may be difficult to sell if we end up having to move}. 

And then there is decision of whether to buy 1) our dream house; 2) a smaller property to use as rental property in the future; or 3) land on which to build a house. 

Monday night we decided to drive by a couple of properties on Lookout Mountain and grab dinner at Guthries while we were there. We are also considering downtown Chattanooga, Signal Mountain, areas around Nickajack Lake as well as land in Alabama. 

Cute house. On the upper end of our budget. 

Yard would need to be fenced for Sophie.

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The main things we cannot live without is a garage {for Daniel}, a dishwasher {for me} and a fenced yard {for Sophie}. Beyond those things, we can renovate or build to our heart's content. It will be interesting to see what we end up with...

Great price for Lookout Mountain. Great winter views.

No yard and an HOA is a negative.

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Project 52 Date Nights: Discovery

One of the best things about living in a new city is that there is so much to discover. We get to search for our new favorite Mexican restaurant and decide who serves the best barbecue or desserts and where the best coffee house is. We get to explore and try out new eateries and find new haunts. 

Monday night I had a headache and did not feel up to the task of cooking in our itty bitty kitchen, so we opted to go out for dinner. Since we live at the Lookout Mountain exit, we chose to look for a restaurant on the mountain {with the back up plan to go down to St. Elmo's}. 

I googled "best places to eat on Lookout Mountain" and Cafe on the Corner and Guthries Chicken popped up. Guthries looked like a local version of Zaxby's so we decided to go with Cafe on the Corner. This was a good decision since Guthries closed at 8PM.

Cafe on the Corner was quaint. We wanted to sit outside and the early evening temps were conducive to that. We decided to get the Grouper sandwich with homemade chips and a Black-and-Bleu Burger with fries {we like to share so that we can try new things}. The food was delicious. 

I can't tell you how nice it is to go out on a week night together. Five months of separation during the week really robbed us of simple pleasures like getting to eat meals together and sharing how our days went.