"Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin' ..."

Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream? Everybody comes here; this is
Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on
dreamin' - this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin'.

A Happy Guy at the End of "Pretty Woman"

My “Verrado Dream” started back in 2003 or so … before we had Christian … before we were even married.

I came out to Phoenix to visit my sister Liz that year, and our favorite thing to do was check out model homes near her house. The real estate market was really booming back then! She told me of this new community called “Verrado” in the “Far West Valley” – neither term meant anything to me at the time. "What is Verrado? Where is the West Valley?"

She drove us to Verrado, and it was a LONG drive. There wasn’t much to be seen along the way … just vast desert. I couldn’t believe anybody would live out that far! Here is the description of Verrado from their website:

To view the many, many model homes in beautiful new Verrado, we had to check in at the impressive visitors center, and then we walked down a long, beautiful street with model homes from several different builders. The streets were lined with trees and grass … and each house was very different . It was a far cry from the typical “pueblo revival” style I had seen (and grown bored with) in New Mexico all my life.

Yes, there was something very special about Verrado … and I was in love! It was an oasis in the desert!

Though, at the time, the price tag was much too steep – especially for this dreamer. Homes in Verrado were starting off at $400,000+ (ouch!!) … and that was for a SMALL house. And of course, the prices were even more steep on bigger homes. But, oh how I loved Verrado! It was very “Mayberry,” very “Leave It To Beaver.” Very … dreamy! So way back in 2003, I proclaimed that if we ever moved to Phoenix, I’d want to live in Verrado (and I'd just learn to live with the intesely hot summers).

Flash forward a few years to 2008. I would have never imagined Jonathan would get a job in the Phoenix area … a job that is in the “Far West Valley” (or, that we would currently be renting a home that is 20 minutes / 16+ miles FURTHER out west than Verrado).

Welcome to Hollywood Verrado! What's your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood Verrado, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on dreamin' - this is Hollywood Verrado. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin'.

Jennifer as She Prepares to Share Exciting News :)

Wordless Wednesday - July 15, 2009

Look and listen closely ...

Check out this video ... and look and listen closely to find out the latest excitement in the Lucero Household! :) The official announcment with all the juicy details is coming very soon.