First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a HOME
When we first moved into our home 5 years ago this August, we agreed that we would probably live in it for 5 years. It was our first home and truly, we had no idea what that even meant. We were major rookies. But, at the time, we were newly married and getting started professionally. We thought 5 years was just enough time to get our little family going and then we would be off to bigger and better with more square footage.
It is funny to me now. I was going from an 800 square foot apartment on the third story of an apartment complex to my custom 1800 square foot home in a neighborhood and it already was not enough. I was already planning when I would move next.
As we moved and settled in, there was talk of “well, in our next house . . .” Why though? Why could we not just enjoy the MAJOR upgrade and permanent address of our first home without already thinking of our next?
You can pay my bills . . .
There is so much we did not know, though, as we hung our first pictures on the walls in this home 5 years ago. We did not REALLY know about the real World and its real World bills. We knew, in theory, about bills and debt. But we did not really know. Who knew how much cleaning supplies costs? And especially cleaning supplies for that extra 1000 square feet! We did not know that we would suffer with infertility and loss. We did not know how much infertility and loss would cost. We did not know that I would SERIOUSLY struggle to go back to work after having our first miracle baby. We just did not know.
But, through all of this, our first little home has been and become more and more of a sanctuary. It is where we feel safe and its been so good to us.
Let the search begin
Still though, this past Spring, as we found out that we were expecting again and we were 6 months from our 5 year mark in the home, we started looking. We started looking for bigger and better and more expensive. Our house had done its job. It had severed us well for the 5 years that we were in it, just like we thought, so it was time to go, right?
Well, as soon as we started looking, more expensive homes with more square footage in fancier neighborhoods lacked some of things we loved about our first home. We were going to have to give up the baby blue back splash that I loved for a more generic one because that would be all we could afford in the bigger and better house in the fancier neighborhood. We would also be leaving friends behind.
Why did we have to move?
We had imposed the 5 year time limit on ourselves and had no real need to move except that we felt like we were supposed to move on to bigger and better things. People in New York live in much smaller apartments with more kids than we have. Do you follow Taza? There is no amount of square footage required to bring home a new baby . . . in fact, they are pretty small at first. 😉
Home is where the heart is
So, we tabled the discussion. We are staying put. And I am so relieved. I am happy here. We have shared so much love within these walls and they have more love to give us. These walls are just fancy enough. And they sure are happy.
We are going to cook more gumbos, bring home more babies, and pay more bills all while enjoying that baby blue back splash that I love. We are going to just love where we are, because we have no real reason not to.
