our house

We are blessed with an older home which we have spent the better part of 10 years remodeling.  I remember searching for our first house and being quite adamant that it be old and charming.  I love the idea of updating an older home while still respecting the style and age of the home...

like This Old House on PBS...          

only with considerably less money to work with.

Anyway... I still love and appreciate old homes, only I would like not to live in one anymore.  Well, that's only partly true... I would love to live in one that has been completely updated and remodeled by someone other than us.  Still, not quite true...I would love to live in one that I had complete say over the updating and remodeling minus the bills and headaches that accompany updating and remodeling.  There.


Since that is not likely to happen, I suppose I will appreciate the money pit charming little home we live in.  And, prepare to spend a lot more money updating and remodeling it.  


This house has been a labor of love, and hate I suppose.  I dream of the day we can leave it behind, yet suppress the sobs that try to escape at the thought of leaving.  After all, my sweet dog is buried in this very yard, this is the home we brought our newborn babies home to, this is the home we've been building for over 10 years.   I'm attached...and annoyed.  This house is too small, too drafty, too damp, too creaky...


I've kind of avoided blogging about our home and our projects because sometimes in "blog-land" it feels minuscule and, well,...not up to par.  But in order for me to continue this blog and reach one of my 2011 goals, I've got to keep it real.  


There was a little blurb in the Jan./Feb. issue of Midwest Living:  "What's the clearest expression of who you are?  Your home!  It tops hobbies, causes, community, brands and jobs, according to 66 percent of surveyed adults."  That's how I feel.  It's what I've tried explaining to my husband.  It's incredibly difficult for me to feel that way and have a home that has been in limbo for so long...not organized, not decorated the way I want, unfinished rooms, peeling paint...but, this is our life... this is my home.  As The Nester says..."It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful."  And, over at Clover Lane..."It doesn't have to be beautiful to be perfect."  Thank God.

The end.