Officially...

We officially entered the Real Estate market some time this last week. That doesn't mean we are putting any offers down in good old Dallas, but it does mean we actually contacted a Real Estate Agent and are narrowing down the "where do we want to live" and the "what do we want in our house" kinds of things. John and I sat down and rummaged through the files and clippings I've saved over the years to kind of lay out the rooms we want to have and began the "large yard vs. lots of kids" debate that we always go through when we buy homes. Funny we've done this enough to have those types of conversations. John says he feels like we've bought houses but never gotten it "just right". I know he refers to my incessant desire to have things just to my liking; white trim and white cupboards in the kitchen. A terrific mud room and great neighbors. A huge yard that somehow doesn't need huge maintenance. Poor John, my handsome prince feels like he's never delivered on these dreams, that he's never gotten the house thing "done right."

But in the scheme of it all it has been "just right" every time. What would Dallas have been like without our awesome neighbors Evans and Judy helping to grandparent while we settled into life away from family? I wouldn't be a complete person whithout knowing Laura Asay. What would we have ever done without our Hobble Creek neighbors and friends? Life just wouldn't have been right without the Rush Triathlon girls or Diane Day at my back fence. How could I manage this life without Jenna or Susie or Linda Moss? How could I have ever been happy in Salt Lake City without Holly or Macy or Annette or DeAnne or Judi or any of our great neighbors there(Natalie, Trish, so many others...)?

I know we haven't had perfect white trim, amazing natural light or lovely window seats in our homes so far. Perhaps the architecture or the ceiling heights or the yard sizes haven't been a dream to me. But what is a house whithout friends to visit it? What is a yard without someone to chat in it?

I think my handsome prince is wrong. We've had it just right every time.

The worry, then, is how to get it right this time. Do we want 4 acres and a pool, or do we want to live where the kids can run to a friend's house in a tight fitting sub-division? Do we want a short commute with sketchy schools and a ward that might not have youth programs to match the ones we left, or do we want John to drive that long 45 minutes home so our kids live in a haven of scouting programs and achievement days? It is always the question-what do we trade, which things do we set aside in favor of which others...

It's usually the white trim and window seats that lose out. And that is well and good. Now that it's official, I wonder where we'll land and what kind of house we will make into our home.