The first time I set foot in Lakewood, I had no idea I would eventually be living here. I was in highschool and traveled here for a Religious convention with my family, we stayed with a family who lived near Steilacoom lake.
Even then I remember being entranced with the beauty of the place. I went walking with their daughter and I remember going over a bridge that went right over a lake. Trees were every where and their home was actually on the shore of the lake. That trip had an effect on me and I remembered in detail how peaceful and beautiful the area was.
Fast forward, after that I got married, lived in 4 states and had moved nearby to Tacoma and lived there for quite nearly 20 years. When we began to look for another home for our growing family the Tri Lake area in Lakewood was on the top of our wish list along with North Tacoma. We were not sure however if we could find the type of home we wanted in Lakewood in the area we wanted. However the more we looked the more we leaned towards Lakewood....and then it happened, after 2 months solid of shopping, after making an offer that was turned down just the day before....we found it.....and it was perfect. Not only was it in exactly the area we wanted, had a lay out that was perfect for our family.....it was exquisite AND not only in our price range, it was a full $30-50K LESS than anything like it in North Tacoma, we did not even go home, we went straight to the Keller Williams office and made an offer.
Now every home we had ever purchased before, after a few weeks we found a few things that we were unpleasantly surprised by. Not this time. While my husband IS still nervous about more to care for ( larger house, 1/4 acre yard) not only have we found we love the house more and more the longer we live here, we are also finding we love the AREA too. We liked it before moving here and now we love it.
So here are a few of our pleasant surprises
1. It's so quiet. The trees and lakes make for a more quiet area.....not only are our neighbors quiet, the landscape itself lends to a quiet atmosphere. From the first night here I have rested better than I had in almost 20 years.
2. It's even prettier than I remembered. Likely I feel this way since we spend so much time outdoors in our neighborhood....and it is still true. Overall through out the entire tri lake area the yards are beautiful, there are majestic oakes living among an amazing array of other trees and everywhere you go, even in the areas with out public access there are glimpses of water.
3. It's even more convenient than we thought. Of course we knew we were close to alot of things, and until we lived here we did not know how much. Being near the
Towne Center means everything is close. I did not realize just how much time I invested driving places until I lived closer to them and believe me we were close to alot at our old location. Better yet we are also closer than we realized to the freeway. We just had to drive around a bit to realize we were getting there the long way.
4. Great neighbors. I mean really great neighbors, and I have not met them all yet. ( have not been here long enough) Already neighbors have helped me fix things while my husband was out of town, tutored my kids for free, invited us to their homes for delicious meals and much more. When I go running everyone is friendly. They often inquire on why I am running "so much" especially on my long days on the weekend. Now that many of them know I am training for a marathon I have my own official cheering section.
Every day we are finding more things to love. Below is a picture I snapped of a neighboring yard on my walks....
I will be sharing our favorite activities, restaurants, locations and more as I continue to blog about Lakewood Living. Look forward to sharing and hearing from you too about what you love.
