Vintage on line

We've finished our first month in the Village. The first weeks were spent adjusting to the change and letting go of our old lives. Every night for a week after we closed on our house I had dreams that we would sneak in during the day while the new owners were at work and they would come home early and catch us and make us leave. You don't have to be Freud to analyze that one.

Fast forward 1 month. We're really embracing the lifestyle. We walk everywhere. I've hardly used any gas since we moved here. Life seems simpler. Maddie got a new job in the Village that she can even walk to. I said can, not will. Emma made a new friend whose grandmother lives next door.

I try to stay real with you guys. We've all visited blogs that present their lives in such a way as to make you think they are magazine perfect. While I find them lovely to look at, that's not how I roll.

A lot of you have told me that you've been encouraged by our move, to make your own life changes. I would not discourage you from doing that ever, but I want you to know that it's not all rainbows and butterflies. There are hard things. But...it's all been worth it. I want to update you about how we are adapting to show you our reality. 

-Our yard alternates between crabgrass, weeds and dirt. It's hard to grow anything under all these trees and on top of that the yard has been neglected for 3 years

-The lack of decent appliances

-The upstairs gets uncomfortably warm in the afternoons in the summer heat

-Bugs...I've never seen or killed so many bugs/spiders in my life. Another result of the house being empty for 3 years?

-THE BATHROOM

-The house being so close to the road and these thin old walls

-Stained wood trim everywhere

-Lack of storage

-Few cabinets and little counter space

-The lack of outlets

-I miss my old house

-I miss my old neighbors

-Sometimes I feel guilty for making this change when we could have played it safe and stayed where we were

-Spending so much money eating out because it's so hard to resist and so convenient

-Renting is hard when you've been a homeowner since you were 21

-The kitchen is light and bright and our additions are making it work pretty well for us

-It turns out I like hand washing dishes (shhh)

-The front porch

-The back porch

-Emma having a playroom

-Maddie having so much space and privacy being upstairs by herself

-My reading corner

-The Farmer's Market

-Saturday morning scones at the Coffee shop

-Pulling our wagon to the library several times a week

-Playing lacrosse in the park

-Walking with our friends to the playground

-Exploring all of the nature within walking distance

-Our favorite shops and restaurants are just steps from our door

-All of the trees lining the streets and filling the parks

-So many friendly people

-I'm glad to be away from the prevailing attitude of "Keeping up with the Jones'" in our old town

-The value of the houses in our old neighborhood have dropped again since we sold and we would not have been able to make this change if we had waited any longer to sell our house

-Something is always going on in our little town

-No longer living our lives wondering what if

I ended with the Good List because that's what I want to focus on when all is said and done.

I promise to have some pictures for you of our cottage very soon. I feel like I'm finally starting to get back to normal. By the way, I loved hearing about what you guys are cooking. I was very inspired. Wanna do that again some time?