Monday, March 26, 2012

Update on the "big move"

I've been meaning to post pictures of the house and all the little things we're doing to it as we make it home... but I suppose you can add that to the list of things I haven't had the time/energy to do. And probably won't for a while.  But day by day, this place becomes more "ours".   The exciting thing about this house is that it truly is "ours" forever.   I wanted to write about our new home (despite the lack of pictures I have uploaded) because of a conversation I had with Peter just a few short days ago.  I shocked my husband by candidly telling him that I miss Toronto.  And I do.  A lot.  Yes, the girl that pined over this move back "home" for years, misses the city.  But let me clarify...

Yes I miss the city. I miss my friends, I miss our old house, I miss wandering on many of the Toronto streets I have long loved, I miss the restaurants, I miss the shopping, I miss my job,  and some days I just miss the possibilities.  In Toronto I always felt there was an answer to everything if you worked hard enough and kept your eyes open.  And I know the same opportunities are here for me to explore... Toronto was just comfortable to me.

But if you strip all of the superficial stuff away, what I am left with, what we are all left with, is family and loved ones.  And THAT is what brought us here.  A house is not a home. The way you furnish or decorate it doesn't make it a home (not even the new fireplace, book case built ins, and custom curtains I dream of). It's the people in your home and the life you make together there.  We walked through this house on a total Thanksgiving whim. More out of curiosity and long weekend boredom than any true real estate search.  What we found was a house that oozed "family" to us.  Staircases, mouldings, windows, and bedrooms that we instantly, both of us without saying a word to each other, saw our growing family in.  A dining room that I pictured welcoming my children returning from university around. A fireplace that we could hang our family stockings each Christmas. A backyard that we could see our littles ones run in,  and a porch that I could picture drinking wine on as I sat with my husband and watched the river go by.  We saw a house that had a familiar charm and history.  And before we even knew what we were doing, we bought it.

Don't get me wrong, I get carried away when I think about all the possibilities for renos and decorating I could do here. I am addicted to Pinterest and online window shopping.  I love dreaming about all the things  I could make pretty.  But then I sit on that same front porch that made us buy this place with Peter, and I am reminded that we didn't buy this house to kill ourselves with renos and a quick re-sale (like our Toronto home) in a couple of years. That we are not in a rush. We bought this place to grow old together, to give our family a different life, and most importantly to watch our children grow along side our village of loved ones.

So if you hear me saying I miss Toronto... know that it is true.  But also know that I am incredibly happy about this move our little family has made, and the years we have ahead to continue to transform this house into our version of a happy home and our happy life together.

Until then... we are ready for this baby.

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