Now, this might seem like a strange title for a post for those of you that really know me…because you see, I already own a house. But that house is in Florida where I obviously am not and we are currently “enjoying” the renter life. I have a serious love-hate relationship with renter life… but that’s a whooooole ‘nother post.
While the house in Florida is taken care of, we’ve set off on this mission of establishing roots here in Denver. I mean it is a pretty cool place to have a family. But it’s also still kind of this new adventure we’ve embarked on. All of the cool unexplored territory I’m constantly surrounded by is simultaneously satiating and fueling my wanderlust. I remember feeling stuck back home and I don’t want to feel that way again.
The audacity of our cross country move reminded me how young we are, how much living that we have to do, the unique opportunity that we have to share this season of life with our children. Society has a sharp checklist of expectations for family units and a very narrow perception of stability; marriage, homestead, babies, and sacrifice.
But I’m starting to think that I really enjoy pushing those boundaries.
I have loved exploring a place totally unknown to me with my kids. Hell, three days trapped in the car with them while we drove here has me thinking 12 hour flights abroad might be a breeze (they really weren’t that bad.) Denver still feels like a long term vacation for me. And I’m not quite ready for that sense of wonder to fade.
For most of our adult lives Josh and I have stayed the course. We fell pregnant pretty young and did all the right things. And we built a great life that way, I’m not knocking the traditional American dream. But it turns out that our dream is a bit different. I have always been an advocate for not ditching all of your personal dreams and succumbing to the role of mom; but rather finding creative ways to reinvent yourself through the lens that is motherhood.
Right now, more stability and financial responsibility isn’t doing that for me.
I still don’t even know which neighborhood of Denver I would want to buy in. (Because Denver is like a forreal city with like little towns within the city that get there own names and everything. – Sorry the social science scholar in me gets nerdy about this stuff. :P) Anyhoo…
While I of course feel the urge to “do the mature thing” and buy another house to store my three children (and their mountains of belongings) in… I kind of just… don’t want to either. Ultimately, buying one of these GORGEOUS hundred year old craftsman style homes closer to downtown would make my heart just SING. But alas, we are not millionaires. Also, there’s something really nice about just calling the rental company every time something breaks and then there is magically a repair man at my (rented) doorstep to fix it.
There is a time for everything. And right now… I’m just feeling it’s time to maybe re-up my lease in the fall and spend another year living like the expats in Denver that we are.
These photos were taken under this random bridge in Denver. The entire underneath is decorated in awesome graffiti murals. I just think it’s a pretty cool spot. My shirt is Victoria Beckham’s line with Target. As a hardcore Spice Girl lover I waited until 1am when the line dropped to make sure that I could buy the items that I wanted before they sold out. They were my first concert, I cried when my mom bought me the tickets. It was a big deal, okay?! My jeans are American Eagle as usual, if you haven’t caught on yet, AE jeans are my fav. My shoes are from Kohls a couple years ago, but I love them so I’ve linked some similar ones below.
