That's right, another brand new house! Why would we move again so soon, only two years after buying our first new house in Tupelo?
The main reason was that Carley started a new job at University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) earlier this year, and the commute to and from Tupelo was nearly 2 hours round-trip.
So, we moved to Oxford, which is right next to Ole Miss! Oxford is a small city (more like a big town) of about 19,000 people - half the size of Tupelo. It's been named by USA Today as one of the top six college towns in the nation, and it's included in "The Best 100 Small Towns in America".
Cultural life in Oxford centers around "The Square", Oxford's historic downtown where the landmark Lafayette County Courthouse sits in the middle of a large traffic circle, surrounded by boutique stores and locally-owned restaurants.
Being a college town, Oxford features a decent live music scene with half a dozen small and mid-size venues for nationally touring artists to play...
...including Proud Larry's, a very small and intimate room where we've seen some excellent concerts over the past few years.
Every year on the last Saturday of April, the downtown streets are closed, and stages and booths are set up for the annual Double Decker Music and Arts Festival.
Also here in Oxford is the former home of legendary southern literature great William Faulkner. The estate is named Rowan Oak, after a type of tree.
These days, Rowan Oak is a tourist site and national historic landmark, just about a mile from downtown Oxford. In addition to the legendary Faulkner, best-selling author John Grisham also owns a home here in Oxford.
Home prices are very high in downtown Oxford, so our house is in a newer subdivision out on the edge of town. We have practically no traffic at all passing in front of our house, thanks to our location at the end of a small cul-de-sac.
Much of our house is still full of boxes that need to be unpacked, but at least the kitchen is done! Our cute little breakfast nook works as a great dining room...
...which allowed us to convert the actual dining room into a very practical office.
Our back yard is bordered by lots of trees and a tiny creek runs behind it. We're planning to have a fence built to keep Kina in and any water snakes out. Meanwhile, Rowan's already feeling right at home with his swingset!
While our shady back patio is considerably smaller than the big wooden deck we had at the other house, it will still be quite comfortable for hosting friends for back yard parties. The housewarming party is tentatively scheduled for the end of July!
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