In with the new

Plenty of people warned me that with marriage comes change. And I listened, I did. But really, kind of with one ear only. ("in one ear and out the other" comes to mind...) I figured, with 4 years under our belts, and having lived together for the past 2, what, really would change?

There was nothing particularly spectacular about this past weekend, but it sure did kick off a wave of change.

On Friday, there was this:

My old desk chair was so uncomfortably worn out that it was time for something new. This one has padding in all the places, where sadly, I do not (if you catch my drift..) and a full back that supports my neck when I start to nod off on conference calls. Um, that never happens...

This chair is SO much better.

On Sunday, it was this:


This tea is all the rage in the healthy-blogsphere. Since I haven't been able to win it in any giveaways, when I saw it at Cost Plus last night, I decided it must be worth the hefty 7.99 price tag. 17 bloggers can't all be wrong, can they?

Actually? Yes, they can. I should've saved my money and bought 3 more boxes of my old favorite:


Don't get me wrong. It's not like it was awful, but it sure didn't live up to the hype. Oh well.

Sandwiched between all that, we unofficially started house hunting. I'd say we've probably looked at 30-40 houses over the past 2 years, just to get an idea what is out there and how far our housing dollars would stretch. But, this weekend something changed.

We found the first house that I think could actually be a contender:


And it is comfortably affordable. Like, wouldn't-blow-our-nest-egg comfortable. Like, one-income-family comfortable. I didn't think this existed.

I've been daydreaming about it all day. Can you imagine cooking in this kitchen?


(Probably my favorite room in this house, but really, the whole thing is beautiful.)

But there's a catch. I don't love the neighborhood. I mean, the immediate neighborhood within a 2-3 block radius is freaking adorable. But, the major streets bordering the neighborhood? Kind of dumpy. Supposedly it's an up-and-coming area, but, what if it never quite gets there? And how long is it gonna take? (Patience is not one of my strong suits...)

So here is my question:
Is the trade-off worth it? How much does the neighborhood matter if you love the house, and love the price even more?