Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Jennifer's House Fettish

I love my wife. I do. I love her so much that it only makes sense that I recognize her problem with real estate. :) She has been looking for "the perfect house" since we met 13 years ago. I give her all the credit on every house we have ever lived in. She has hand picked the houses that we've lived in over the years. From the renovated garage in the back of an alley, to the german cottage style house by a trailer park. From our dead-end dream home in town, to our country home out here in the sticks. All of the credit goes to her, and she knows that I know that because I tell her all the time. I don't know where I'd be living without her knack for quality living.

So I guess the real question is: What makes a perfect house?

This answer would be different for almost everybody that you ask. Some might say "open floor plan", while others might say "nice view" or "central air" or "downtown". To me however, it has nothing to do with the location, structure, or subtle amenities inside. The perfect house is the one I'm in right now, at any point in time. As they say: "Home is where the heart is". I understand that now that I'm older and have children. I believe that I would be just as happy in a 1 room hut down by the river with a dirt floor and no mortgage; as long as I had my Jennifer and our girls along with their simple child-like innocence to keep us company all day.

So again: What makes a perfect house? You do. The only reason I know this is because I grew up in the perfect house. My parents are strong-willed and family-valued people. There were times when my parents had to choose to downsize and move my sister out of our current school district and away from our friends, or stay and fight to keep what was theirs. In hind-sight the actual house had nothing to do our happiness. Sure it helped, but the happiness was derived from the fact that we were all together.

While I feel like we are raising our family in the perfect house, my wife is convinced that there is another place out there that is screaming our name. If she feels this way, then by golly I'm gonna follow her because she is my home. A new house with different surroundings won't change that. Her latest find is about 5 miles up the road and is about 50% more expensive than this place. I love my wife. I do. :)

7 comments:

My-Happy-Nest.Blogspot.com said...

Love this Lucas. I'm going to keep this in mind as we're constantly considering moving, fixing up, remodeling, etc. Thanks for the added perspective!

Jeff Hawkins said...

You're a good man. I may plagiarize that someday and write something like that for Heather and make her think it's mine. No wonder God blessed you with a super great family...

Luc said...

Sara - You're very welcome. :) Thanks for reading my post. I didn't even know you knew about my blog. Say hi to Tom for us.

Jeff - Feel free to claim it! :D I'm sure you feel the same way I do. Thanks for your kind words.

My-Happy-Nest.Blogspot.com said...

I follow you on Twitter. @TimberRun Plus, I think you post it on Facebook. I enjoy the motivation for the running too. I figure if you can do 13 miles in your training, I can train to run 13 miles in a race!

pathfinder said...

Funny how women are, My wife wouldn't move for any reason. The house we are in is the only one our kids ever knew before going out on their own (I say that loosly as they seem to keep coming back periodically.

We have lived in the same house for 32 years. I would move in a flash....my dream is a log cabin in the woods somewhere...hers is to live in our huge 5 bedroom house for ever.

So.....I guees I am staying put!

Mark Carroll said...

Awesome post Luc!
Every words rings a bell for me. We moved 5 years ago against my howling protests and...once again...Jenny was right. The place is great. Good luck with the decision!

Pop said...

I couldn't have said it better son. I'd move west in a heart beat but i couldn't call it home without Cheryl or you kids to come home to.