Damn, we never go north on 25. Perfect place for me would be about Pueblo or Trinidad

Same thing I was going to post earlier and deleted it. But we live only 20 mins from there so we can use it regularly. And I guess we'd probably stop on why to Cheyenne or Montana

The trifecta of HEB, Buc-ees, and Whataburger in close proximity to where I live in Denver would be a beautiful thing.

I'm pumped about Whataburger, but I don't get the HEB love. I probably go to HEB 2-3 times/year when visiting family/friends in Texas, and nothing seems remarkable to me. I did love Central Market when living in Texas.

I've never been to Buccees.

proudaggie02 said:

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I'm pumped about Whataburger, but I don't get the HEB love. I probably go to HEB 2-3 times/year when visiting family/friends in Texas, and nothing seems remarkable to me. I did love Central Market when living in Texas.

I've never been to Buccees.

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BBQ smoker wood, crawfish boiling outside, roasted catch peppers, Texas beer and everything else you need for a river float or backyard party. Need I say more?

Although nostalgia is a strong drug and neither seem the same or as good the last time I was in Texas. Maybe both sold out a bit.

^
At Buc-ee's? I'll try it out when it gets to Colorado, but I don't ever see myself making a 35-40 minute drive one way.... like I'll probably do when Whataburger opens in the Springs (I'll at least schedule more frequent work down there and eat Whataburger basically every time). What sandwiches are best? I heard there's a cheesesteak burrito.

This may cost me my Texan card (though I think I lost it when I moved here in 2009 and declared loyalty/never leaving/etc.), but I don't really like crawfish & don't think I've bought a Texas beer since moving to Colorado. Smoker wood at a gas station is cool though.

There actually aren't many Texas beers sold here from what I can tell. But with all of the Colorado beers around, I'm with ya.

I think NASA was referring to HEB. They do have some excellent house brands and things at awesome prices compared to hear. Miss their seafood selection the most.

proudaggie02 said:

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This may cost me my Texan card (though I think I lost it when I moved here in 2009 and declared loyalty/never leaving/etc.), but I don't really like crawfish .

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Haha, as a 3rd generation South Louisianan, this makes me chuckle.

I have never heard that Texas lays claim to crawfish.

Texas can have brisket, and a slew of other things, but it does not have crawfish!

Louisiana owns the farms but Texas eats a **** ton of crawfish

Just received an offer for a job in Lakewood. I am an Upstream O&G guy potentially taking a job with more EPC/mid stream company.

I have twin boys at 20 months old
I have another boy due end of the month.

They want my start date to be March but I'm going to chat with them on that.

Denver has always been a pipe dream but now that it is in front of me I am second guessing everything.

Both us grew up in Houston. Both set of parents in Houston and help with child care currently.

I know 62strat and Chiken recently touched on some things in regarding to moving but this is a long thread and didn't see much stuff in last 6-8 months.

Going from Upstream to this, my offer letter was 5% under my current base salary and I am not putting much weight into bonuses. Denver is obviously more expense than Houston, but are we talking day care = second mortgage? How do schools stack up to KATY isd, Fort Bend isd, etc? Outside of money, my concerns are snow (just so used to hot), new location without support group (other than aggie network), and moving a young family.

I can post email if easier. Any advice appreciated and sorry for the repeat questions, I tried to look up information before posting.

tukAG22 said:

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Just received an offer for a job in Lakewood. I am an Upstream O&G guy potentially taking a job with more EPC/mid stream company.

I have twin boys at 20 months old
I have another boy due end of the month.

They want my start date to be March but I'm going to chat with them on that.

Denver has always been a pipe dream but now that it is in front of me I am second guessing everything.

Both us grew up in Houston. Both set of parents in Houston and help with child care currently.

I know 62strat and Chiken recently touched on some things in regarding to moving but this is a long thread and didn't see much stuff in last 6-8 months.

Going from Upstream to this, my offer letter was 5% under my current base salary and I am not putting much weight into bonuses. Denver is obviously more expense than Houston, but are we talking day care = second mortgage? How do schools stack up to KATY isd, Fort Bend isd, etc? Outside of money, my concerns are snow (just so used to hot), new location without support group (other than aggie network), and moving a young family.

I can post email if easier. Any advice appreciated and sorry for the repeat questions, I tried to look up information before posting.

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Daycare = second mortgage anywhere doesn't it?
For reference, for our two boys born in 10/2014 and 1/2016, we paid about $125k in daycare up until they were both in kindergarten (which happened in august)

Pick the right direction facing house and snow comes and goes quickly with our hot sun here. I shoveled the last storm about 9am and the high that day was about 15 degrees, yet my driveway was totally clear and dry by 2pm. That is how awesome the sun is. It literally will melt snow and dry up the concrete even when it's 15 degrees outside. My driveway faces due east. Have it face east or west for front and back yard melting. Or face it south for more melting potential, but backyard will be full of snow, and vice versa if you face north.

Douglas county district is in total shambles right now. I'd hardly recommend it, but still probably not bad compared to many. My wife is heavily considering leaving after this semester after 7 years.

Last words of advice - you can always move back, probably really easily (and might make $100k or more on your house.. we're up $300k in 8 years lol)
But, you can never go back in time and say I wish I tried it out.

agdaddy04 said:

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Louisiana owns the farms but Texas eats a **** ton of crawfish

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per capita, you think more than LA? I'd be willing to say it's less. Even dividing tx up into say the eastern half, per capita, LA might give it a run for its money.

It is ridiculous at tikes how much more expensive Denver is than Houston.

Can you work from home? We looked at Lakewood when we were looking to buy but it was largely too expensive in the areas with decent schools. We settled in Lone Tree. According to Zillow, our house has increased in value by almost 200K in less than 2 years.

I would suggest looking at home prices online, and also understand that most homes are going for above their listed price. This is where you'll see the biggest cost of living difference compared to Houston in both actual cost and percent difference. If you are comfortable with the price for a decent home then the rest should be doable. Gotta say that unless your family is living very comfortably in Houston, a 5% pay cut here will likely mean your life looks pretty different. Not trying to scare you out of your dream, I've lived here since May and have loved it, but it ain't cheap (especially houses).

I don't have any kids so can't comment on daycare.

At least in Denver you aren't spending $1k a month on property taxes….

htxag09 said:

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At least in Denver you aren't spending $1k a month on property taxes….

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property taxes would be about $1500 more a month for my home if it were were I used to live. Offset that with about $600 a month in state income, I'm still coming out ahead.

Snow isn't an issue IMO on the front range (unless youre a degenerate golfer like me). Just don't get a house that faces North. Buy a single stage snowblower and you're good. WFH when the 3-5 storms blow through.

Any way for your wife to stay at home for a bit? Ours are 8 and 4 and just now she's thinking about going back part time. Child care is very expensive compared to Texas. And not really any church day cares like in Houston. We moved when they were 5 and 2, so our youngest went from being in a good program to having to stay home for a year because she was too young.

But man, when is this opportunity going to come up again? I think it was good for us to leave family for a bit. Now my parents are talking about moving to Colorado as well.

Driving home and seeing the scenery is like being on permanent vacation.

Move and don't think twice. Yeah, certain things are more expensive (mortgage), but many are less (property taxes; free outdoor life; eating out less because less tex-mex and bbq). And I can't begin to tell you how much value the weather adds to your life. Not to even mention the addition by subtraction of Texas angst. (Maybe it's the heat? I dunno but it's real.)

Email me (in profile) if you want to chat. We know a fair amount about O&G in Denver. Cherry Creek Schools and former Primrose Schoolers for day care.

Haha yea, we've moved finances around a ton. Our former eating out bill helps to pay for our increase in mortgage for sure.

agdaddy04 said:

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Driving home and seeing the scenery is like being on permanent vacation.

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man the sunset and Mountain Views tonight was unbelievable.

Of course… in Tulare right now with a nice haze from all the harvesting going on.

62strat said:

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proudaggie02 said:

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This may cost me my Texan card (though I think I lost it when I moved here in 2009 and declared loyalty/never leaving/etc.), but I don't really like crawfish .

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Haha, as a 3rd generation South Louisianan, this makes me chuckle.

I have never heard that Texas lays claim to crawfish.

Texas can have brisket, and a slew of other things, but it does not have crawfish!

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What makes me chuckle is how the overwhelming majority of people I know in Texas love crawfish and are all about crawfish boils. Everyone knows it's a Louisiana thing, but Texans seems to love it.

agdaddy04 said:

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There actually aren't many Texas beers sold here from what I can tell. But with all of the Colorado beers around, I'm with ya.

I think NASA was referring to HEB. They do have some excellent house brands and things at awesome prices compared to hear. Miss their seafood selection the most.

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My wife likes HEB too, and she said the house brands is the main reason. I think I automatically think of how much I disliked their seasoned fajitas when I think of their house brands, so I'm biased against it. I did see some sweets that looked good the last time I was there.

Schall 02 said:

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Move and don't think twice. Yeah, certain things are more expensive (mortgage), but many are less (property taxes; free outdoor life; eating out less because less tex-mex and bbq). And I can't begin to tell you how much value the weather adds to your life. Not to even mention the addition by subtraction of Texas angst. (Maybe it's the heat? I dunno but it's real.)

Email me (in profile) if you want to chat. We know a fair amount about O&G in Denver. Cherry Creek Schools and former Primrose Schoolers for day care.

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I agree. I was in Houston for two days earlier this week because my mom is being treated at MD Anderson. I can't imagine moving back, not just to Houston (lived there for 5 years before moving to Denver) but to anywhere in Texas.

As Schall said, the weather is amazing. The trend for several months seems to be 1 "ugly" day every 10 days or so. The sunny weather and great views is hard to beat.

I'd see if the company will pay for you to bring the family up for a weekend to check it out. There are a ton of Aggies in the Denver area, especially in O&G. I'm a landman but have transitioned into mediation with the exception of working a few projects here and there.

As far as snow, I bought a used snowblower form neighbor last year after having lived here for 12 years. I still haven't used it. It seems like I used to shovel about 10-15 times/year (half for 5-10 minutes, half for 30 minutes), but it has not been as much the last few years... with the exception of last March when we get 20" in less than 48 hours.

proudaggie02 said:

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Schall 02 said:

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Move and don't think twice. Yeah, certain things are more expensive (mortgage), but many are less (property taxes; free outdoor life; eating out less because less tex-mex and bbq). And I can't begin to tell you how much value the weather adds to your life. Not to even mention the addition by subtraction of Texas angst. (Maybe it's the heat? I dunno but it's real.)

Email me (in profile) if you want to chat. We know a fair amount about O&G in Denver. Cherry Creek Schools and former Primrose Schoolers for day care.

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As Schall said, the weather is amazing. The trend for several months seems to be 1 "ugly" day every 10 days or so. The sunny weather and great views is hard to beat.

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Might I point out the sunny 60 degree day today.

It literally feels like May.

18 days last month were 50*+. Add another 4 that were 40s and sunny, which is still pretty nice, and that's 70% of the month.

And 60 here, with no humidity, feels like 75 in Texas.

Stop telling people the weather here is good. Everyone should have the preconceived notion that the front range is worse than North Dakota in the winter.

I used to live in Montana. Pretty nasty winters there too.

NColoradoAG said:

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Stop telling people the weather here is good. Everyone should have the preconceived notion that the front range is worse than North Dakota in the winter.

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Just have them talk to my wife.

There is no convincing her the weather here is good lol. No leaves on anything from sept to may, blizzards in oct or may and anytime between, can't swim when the sun goes down in the middle of summer, dry skin for days, etc etc.

She's not wrong, I just hate hot humid days so much I deal with all of these things.

The dry skin is really getting to me this winter. Hands are staying cracked and bleeding.

agdaddy04 said:

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The dry skin is really getting to me this winter. Hands are staying cracked and bleeding.

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Do you have a whole home humidifier? They definitely help with that and keeping the static off your clothes.

Sure do. It's definitely helped, especially with the static. It's keeping the house at 36%, which is what we were advised to set it to. Although it has me a little worried, as really cold nights produce some moisture on the inside of some windows.