Home is where the heart is

We own 20 acres of beautiful property south of town. We plan to build on the property and move there in the next few years. I thought it would be fun to track our progress. I'll be posting pictures of the property soon, but I also thought it would be a good idea to document where we are today. After all this blog's name is "From There to Here." So let's start with "there." This is where we live now.



I realize that this looks like a pretty nice house to live in and you'd be right. It has been a really nice house. We built it in 1986, which means we've been living here for the past 22 years. Both of our children were born while living here. We have so many wonderful memories in this house. It is very conveniently located. It is a couple blocks from our grocery store, Home Depot, gas stations, the dry cleaners, several fast food establishments, and my favorite coffee store. Sometimes Dan and I look at each other and ask do we really want to leave this ideal location to move 10 minutes outside of town. Do you realize how much more driving that we will have to do? Have you looked at the gas prices lately? We don't really have a good answer for each other, but we also know without speaking that we are going ahead with our plans. One of the most compelling reasons is that our house is located less than 100 feet from Dan's childhood home.







See that house behind the trees? That is the home that Dan grew up in. See the driveway in the foreground? That's our driveway. Dan's parents lived there right up until their deaths and his brother Tadd and his family now live there. For some the idea of living on the same piece of land for decades signals stability and that you've established roots. In Dan's case, however, it signals stagnation and boredom. He just wants to live somewhere new. I can't blame him. I had the experience of moving to a new city, in a completely different part of the state. He hasn't had that opportunity. Granted we'll just be moving 11 miles from our current location, but it really is far more rural and beautiful. There aren't any grocery stores, fast food restaurants, or gas stations. It's just us, the sound of the wind, and a panoramic view of the coastal range, the valley, and the foothills of the Sierras. The kids are less than thrill about the proposition of leaving the only home that they've known. But, chances are that by the time we get the house built, 3 years will have past and that's just about the time that Chelsea will be graduating from high school and moving on to college. So, hopefully the trauma of moving will be tempered a bit.