So our house is still for sale, but we've been trying to get our ducks in a row on where we're headed so we can move quickly when (if) it does sell. I've got a bun in the oven and I do not want to mess around when the time comes to start packing. Time is not on our side in this situation -- the clock is steadily ticking down to a TBD date in mid-August and its making me sweat a little.
Billy and I have literally looked all over the greater Kansas City area, leaving no stone unturned, for the next place/area we're going to call home. We've looked at big, new houses and heard all of the arguments for buying a house in the suburbs. We've looked in Liberty, Brookside, Lees Summit, Leawood, PV, OP...we've truly considered and have been 100% open to every option.
What we realized, and this might be childish, but the things we want most in a home have nothing to do with square footage/dollar or neighborhood pools. Although I see the value in those things. When we talk about our dream house our conversation usually turns to the way we would live in the house rather than the attributes of the house itself. We start by discussing the number of bedrooms we want and the need for an attached garage like grown-ups, but we always seem to wind up discussing our ideas of strolling in a neighborhood with tree-lined streets and living in an area where you need nothing more than the energy to walk down the road for a great meal and a glass of wine.
We also want another house that has as good of a personality as our current one. Sounds kind of ridiculous, but yes, we feel like houses have personalities. Especially old ones. We love our Brookside house like its a part of our family. There are reasons why its not practical to raise our ever-growing family here, but we love it. I love the squeaky wood floors and the old windows and even the picture rail in the bedrooms that I really disliked at first. Just thinking about these things makes me want to run outside and pull the sign out of the yard.
We've thought hard about whether we wanted something big and new or smaller and old. And we decided, after looking at a few dozen homes, what we really want is to live in a house where its always easy to find each other. A place that feels cozy and charming. A neighborhood that has the feeling of a community in the old school way. I know not many other people would come to the same conclusion we did but we are who we are.
I'm also really glad Billy and I agree. It's funny, we are more alike now than we were the day we got married. People always talk about husbands and wives growing apart over the years and I was warned on multiple occasions that getting married young was a precarious move because you don't really know who you you are yet. It's true, we've both changed so much in almost 6 years of marriage, but we are more on the same page now than we ever have been. That's either really lucky or I actually did know what I was doing when I said "i do" to this Irish hooligan.
My heart can barely contain the love I have for this man. The challenges and changes that have come our way this past year have been the best thing to ever happen to us. Our relationship feels so solid. Not that it's ever been less than that, but lately I can feel the actual bond between us like a magnet. I know now more than ever that nothing will break it. And, yes, I know we still have a long way to go :) I can picture us old and weathered many, many years from now sitting on a front porch somewhere and being so set in our ways because we're constantly validating each others opinions. Its a scary and heartwarming thought at the same time.
Anyway, back to the house. We're still on the hunt but I think we've narrowed down the things that are at the top of our list. I'm sure now that I've laid all this out there we'll end up in something totally opposite of what I described. Especially since combining our "grown up" needs and our childish desires all under the roof of one home would make for a very pricey piece of real estate. Oh well, I honestly will be happy as long as we're all together with a roof over our heads, food on the table and maybe a little red wine in my glass.
It feels strange to write a whole post without the focus being on the Maxman, so I'm going to include some pictures of him with our dear old house and all the things he loves about it...
Max loves: the feel of the wood floors beneath his feet.
In the morning.
In the afternoon.
In the evening.
Max loves: all the places we can walk.
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