A big decision

As with any part of life, big decisions come and go.  This is another one we had in front of us - do we give up on our dream mountain house and settle life in the suburbs (not that there is anything wrong with that), or do we keep looking, make a few sacrifices and find our dream house in the perfect location.  Will Liam be happier in a house with close neighbors and friends, or waking up to deer outside his window and a backyard that will be way too big for him for some time?  Will I be happier closer to things, stores, people, etc?  Will we miss out by being where we are?

Well, I guess those questions kind of give away our decision, which was to put an offer in on a house that is located on a great mountain lot, but much closer to the city than we are, cutting about 40 minutes off of my commute time each day, that means 40 more minutes I can be with Liam or Burton or Sean - NOT in a car.  It's exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time.  I mean, a house, another house we will have to pay for.  Our house in IL is getting there - someone is renting to own it, which is great - he seems excited to buy it and I'm trying not to let the past situation affect how I feel about about and I'm also trying not to get too excited that it will sell and get my hopes up, trying to stay even keel.

So, the house - well, it isn't perfect, but I think we discovered that we aren't going to find the perfect house, even if we had more money right now.  The location is where we want to be, the lot is almost 2 acres of mountain side.  We can make our own mountain bike trail, which I would love to do.  We have a small shed that we will probably take down and either put up another one or a swing set.  There is a fenced area that we are thinking might be great for our new chickens and maybe ducks (The guy at the Big R told us that he eats duck eggs, makes me cringe a bit and seems weird, but then again, we decided againsst the normal so many times!) or for Burton.  There is a great patio all around with room for the hot tub.  The space inside has so much potential.  The fireplace is amazing and thinking we can use that for heat in the winter...I best brush up on my chopping of wood for that.  The rest is an open canvas - well, not really, but in our minds it is.  The house even has a lukna (which is a space under the stairs for storage, my grandparents house has one in thier basement, we always loved it as kids for some reason - the spelling on that might not be right).  Sean took time to look at the bones of the house and he was happy - so, we accepted the offer they countered back to us and we are going to get a house!  A house that will become our perfect house over time.  Of course, one bathroom is pink and the other is teal, but I like splashes of color!  

I just got really excited about this house, about the potential, about how it is just another step on our journey to live our dreams, in the mountains all while still being a part of the real world.  (But trust me, if we didn't have to work, we would be MUCH more secluded!)  Anyways, we are hoping for big things, we are looking forward to many changes coming up - meaning we are moving in about a month, argh! 

We also were able to sneak in some adventure, climbed about 500 feet on our hike to a great wall of stone for climbing - something we plan on getting very much back into.  Looks like wall on our deck could be nice for bouldering as well.  So, more adventures, more things to do to make our dreams a reality, but we are getting there...and I couldn't be happier!