We're Aren't Building a House Anymore

Those of you that know us in real life already know that our house has been on the market and we were days away from breaking ground on a new house in a neighboring area of town.  WELL....that's not happening anymore. 

So the story goes...we've known for a while that we are outgrowing this little house of ours.  We love it but we would also love it more if it had more storage space.  Our closets, the attic and every spare nook and cranny are stuffed with some sort of belonging (read: Lego's).  Then there was the school system issue.  Aidan was headed to Kindergarten and the school system we are in is just awful.  Well CMS as a whole is awful.  We had plans to start Aidan in Catholic school (I'm a Catholic school kid and I turned out OK) and then when the house was finished, if we felt good about it, would move him to the new school. 

If there is one thing anyone knows about me, it's that cookie cutter homes are not for me.  I love an old home, with history and character and creaky wood floors.  Buying a brand new home, with fresh paint and clean and never touched by anyone but us? That would be too easy!!!  This should have been the first indication this was not a good plan.  The other thing is that I'm a city girl.  I love being close to uptown and the convenience of being 20 minutes to everywhere else.  I like going to sleep to sirens at night.  Second indication. 

We picked out a great corner lot and started driving by on a weekly basis to see if they had made any progress. I just wasn't get excited.  I think I was wondering in the back of my head the whole time if I could make this work.  The space and the school system were pulling me in.  I could live anywhere as long as my boys are with me.  

Then a few things happened.  We made the decision to send Aidan to TK next year instead of Kindergarten.  He could have gone either way, but I was getting the opportunity to keep my ONLY child home for half the day for another year! And he was excited about it? Sign us up!  TK it was.  The school system situation was fixed for the time being. 

I started to work with the Design Center on picking out options for our new house.   I guess the problem with me is, I know too much for my own good. I know about cabinets and hardwoods and the quality of windows and the builder came back to us and said in not so many words...your trying to build a house that is nicer than this neighborhood.  And you never want to own the nicest house in the neighborhood unless you want that house to be yours FOREVER.  And we didn't.

We put the brakes on the process and took a few weeks to think it over.  We knew before we even asked ourselves that this was probably not the right move for us.  Our excitement about a bigger house got the best of us.  We signed our termination letter yesterday. 

The pressure to be in a new house before the summer was over is off of us.  We're enjoying our patio and not getting stressed if we don't have a showing scheduled.  Our house is still on the market and now we are looking for a great re sale with the same amount of space, closer to the city that maybe needs a little work.  Turns out we know a cabinet guy so remodeling kitchens and bathrooms is easy for us.  I'm excited to see where we end up and one thing is for sure wherever that is it will have been well worth the wait. 

For the record, I'm also feeling EXTREMELY blessed that my husband has worked so incredibly hard so that we are able to have the opportunity to buy a bigger home. I'm always so thankful for how well he takes care of us!