Filming Day 3

 

House #2: Daybreak

We filmed House 2 in Daybreak because in our actual house hunting days we seriously considered buying our home in Daybreak; see posts here and here.

Re-reading those posts reminds me how excited we were about Daybreak. I'm so, so glad we didn't buy there. Reality set in and we realized (thank goodness before we bought a home) that Daybreak wasn't for us and we wanted an older home. I've only met one couple that has lived there that loved it. I've heard many other horror stories about buying in Daybreak and not being able to get out.

The community offers great things that would entice anyone to move there, but for us it felt too much like the Truman Show, Stepford Wives, etc. And Daybreak won't be completed for another 10-15 years, it'll always be under construction and newer/better neighborhoods and homes will be built. The main reason we didn't purchase a home there is because if we ever wanted to sell, why would someone want to buy our home when they could custom build their own instead? There were always tons of homes for sale in Daybreak, but we wanted the upgrades we liked, not ones someone else had picked so we didn't really look at homes for sale, we looked at homes that were going to be built. Also, it made more sense to consider building when pre-owned homes were listed for more than new ones! Our friends that lived in Daybreak had to pay 20,000 to get out of their house. No thanks. If we bought there I'm sure we would have been happy, because we could be happy anywhere, but I'm glad we decided to settle our roots in Murray.

In fact, the film crew even mentioned how eerie Daybreak was, they said it feels like you're stuck here and can't get out. Ditto. Funny how they felt the same way after only being there for a couple hours. 

Our pickings for lunch were slim, so we ate at Tio's. A horrible Mexican restaurant in Daybreak. Everything about the this place was awful, the food and the service. We should have known better with how empty it was. Susan even got fiesty with the server. It was pretty funny. Never mess with Susan. She's a very strong and intimidating woman, but boy do her eyes light up when she smiles.

After lunch come the confessionals: the part I dreaded everyday. At the end of the tour we always had to share our thoughts on the house. This was so hard for me because Susan would always ask us a question, and we would have to answer it by mentioning the issue, and getting out the answer she was hoping to manipulate out of us. Example, "Cynthia, you aren't loving this house. It's far from Eric's work, there is no backyard, and you can't comprehend why he is so crazy about this place.  Tell me how that makes you feel." I swear I felt like I answered each question a dozen times, tripping over my words and forgetting how I really felt by the time I got done answering! Susan was pretty dang good at getting the answer she wanted, by the end of my confessional I couldn't even remember what I ended up saying that finally made her happy, since it was all a bunch of jibberish in my head.

Day 3 was so. much. easier. It went so smoothly and we were so much relaxed because we all knew what was going on that everyone was more easy going and less tense. It was a perfect day of filming and we even wrapped up early. 

Julia was free to go home but Eric needed to film his commute to work. Easy peasy.

What car was Eric driving on the show you ask? A Nissan Xterra...the film crew's rental car. We couldn't drive Eric's car because it wouldn't fit all their gear.

So glad we ended early so we could spend time with my mom and Leila. My mom flew out from California for 4 days just to tend Leila while we filmed. She is the greatest and I couldn't believe she would do that for us...well actually I can because she's just that amazing. Having my mom here allowed me to focus on what we were doing 100%. I wasn't worreid about Leila for one moment because I knew she was in good hands with my mom.