Moving?

So... the time has come where living in a cute little house in an uber-hip neighborhood no longer is...cool.  We have LOVED living in our house, and we have especially loved living where we do - where you can walk to almost anything you need, take a short stroll to delicious restaurants, cool bars, fabulous boutique stores... you name it.  Some weekends we really don't have to drive anywhere at all!  The area, the people, the places... we've loved it all (and we've totally been spoiled).

What we have grown to not love quite as much is the whole not having a yard and barely having storage thing (i.e. no garage, tiny closets, and a shoebox basement).  It didn't seem to bother us quite as much (well the yard thing was obviously not as fun for Lincoln), but once Benjamin came along, we quickly realized that more space was needed.  And not just for him.  For me and my sanity too.

Once we decided we needed to move, several questions arose.  Important questions.  Questions we still don't have any answers for.  How long will it take us to sell our house?  Will we get the price we want/need?  Where will we move?  Will there be any houses out there just for us!?  The market in Denver has been crazy this summer/fall with very little inventory but lots of buyers... and homes are going quickly.  I mean, seriously.  Two homes we really really liked were under contract within days of being on the market.  And yesterday, a house I was starting to fall in complete love with, (you guessed it) went under contract.

There are lots of unknowns ahead for us.  The past few weeks have been full of cleaning, packing, moving some things to storage, working on the yard, taking pictures, and generally just getting the house ready for (hopefully) someone else to love and enjoy.  {this is no small task with a crawling baby on hand!} But even with all this work, we are nervous that it won't work, or we won't find something we love, or our house won't sell, or that things will go wrong... In my prayers with Benjamin lately we pray for peace about all of it (and also for finding a wonderful new home that he can grow up in...) :)

where does this go, mom?

more sod over there, dad!

here, dad, i can unplug that for you...

And where will this home be, many of you have asked?  We don't know.  Honest.  This, too, has caused a lot of stress as we talk about where we want to be, how long we want to be there, and what we can do there.  There are benefits to so many areas, and limits (obviously) due to money.  Do we go where we want to be in the near-term, or do we go somewhere with better long-term potential?  Do we go closer to Matt's work to shorten his commute?  What are we willing to sacrifice: proximity to friends, things to do, parks, etc.?  Do we simply go wherever we can afford?  AHHH!!!  The idea of moving back to my hometown has crossed our minds numerous times, but the reality of it is still a little scary (what?  not live in the city??).  But the thought of moving to a neighborhood we may not love in the city, just to be in the city, doesn't sit quite right either.  I suppose the bottom line is that we no longer care quite as much about what "we" (individually) want, and we now care more about what "we" (as a family) want and need, and most importantly, what will be best for Benjamin. 

In short, we don't know what we're doing.  :)

Wish us luck.