Life Lessons

Brace Yourself. This blog may come across as me venting and have nothing to do with working out... but writing has become somewhat cathartic for me. So here goes.:)

Many of you know that we sold our home last month. It was a beautiful house in a wonderful neighborhood, but I wanted more. I take great pride in my home, so with the market the way it is, I thought it would be a great opportunity to move one last time before our children start school. This will mean we will have bought four homes in the past six years. Yes, I know we've lost it.

Ya see, my hubby and I have worked hard to finally make it back to Loudoun- where all of my family is. We know we want to raise our children here, and I personally see nothing wrong with wanting a beautiful house. With that being said, I also feel there is a fine line between wanting a house you love and having to "keep up with the Joneses." And for me, I think that since I've been losing sleep on how I'm going to convince my hubby that I need those level five glazed kitchen cabinets, I might be starting to cross that line. I mean seriously- I've been having dreams about granite and I've been pining over a coffered ceiling. But then again, this is coming from a girl that could get off from finding a fabulous apothecary jar at Home Goods.:)

*Random rampage inserted here. While I'm on my soapbox, can I just ask all of you what the h-e-double hockey sticks people in this area do for a living? I know that we're a single income family and we refuse to get into a mortgage that is over our heads... but I really would love to know what all of these homeowners do in this area. I realize there are some CEO's, some business owners, and the likes... but really?!? Is there a hidden drug cartel I'm not aware of? I look out at a sea of homes and just don’t get it. Fill me in- What do these people do!?! Tirade over.*

After my son's little league practice, instead of continuing our househunt, we decided that we just needed to get away. We packed our bags and headed down to Smith Mountain Lake to see our family, and it was just the breath of fresh air we needed. On Sunday, we went back to our roots and visited Blacksburg for a baseball game. It couldn't have been a better day- The weather was beautiful, the Hokies won, and I even relished in the moment between innings hearing "Cheap Seats" play over the P.A. system. Man, if only I had a beer flat as can be.:)

During an inning, my daughter needed to run around a little, so we walked to my old dorm. After walking through the halls of good ole' West A.J., I found my beloved dorm room- that now houses stinky boys.

I wasn't able to stir the guys in my room, but I was able to get a picture of my girls Kim and Tanya's old room across the hall:

It was then and there that I had a realization. For almost an entire year, this cold, small, cinderblock room was home to me. It also dawned on me that it was almost fifteen years ago that this room was home. I got depressed about how old I am, but then I snapped out of it. This room was small. I had to walk down the hall with shower shoes and a shower caddy just to shower, but yet this was one of the happiest years of my life. I slept on a tacky, sponge painted loft with an egg crate from Wally World. I used a ghetto microwave to sometimes heat Dinty Moore meals, and yet, this was home. And I would bet you money that the huge flourescent light never bothered me one bit- unless I had a hangover.:) It was my home, and it was nothing short of wonderful.

I got to thinking about other places we’ve lived. Like how we loaded everything we owned into a Penske truck and drove to Oklahoma the day after we got married. We had the dinkiest apartment ever- But I will have you know that we had the best vaulted ceilings. I LOVED them- until I realized no one in Oklahoma wanted the second floor because of tornados. Our apartment in Oklahoma was the size of the kitchen I want now- and I couldn't have been more proud of that place.

I think this weekend came just at the right time. I was able to destress and think about what’s important in life. I really needed to just wake up and get over myself. Anywhere can be a home. It's what you make of it. I'm sure I'll still bicker with my hubby when it comes to choosing options... but I'm really going to try my hardest to take a chill pill and to remember, "The greatest things in life aren't things."