progress

since this last post, i haven't been talking a lot about the new/ old house because, for lack of a better term, i've been scared out of my mind. for christmas one of our gifts was a set of house plans from my uncle. we worked on revising them a bit so the house would really fit our lifestyle without too much change. because i fear change. but i like having multiple bathrooms. when we met again about the revisions we were given our first lesson in how it is when you remodel a 100 year old home. those plans would almost double our budget. confirmed by a contractor. back to the drawing board...and a second double the budget deal breaker. our choices: scrape to the foundation and build an entire new house for our budget with everything we want, remodel in phases, or update the house cosmetically and enjoy togetherness and family time in our single bathroom. at this moment, it's hard for me to balance the value of this place with my own personal greed for space. aahhh....much like the lessons many americans are working out right now. i am not in love with our current house, but i do like the size and i appreciate the convenience of the city. however, i savor the idea of scaling back in order to make room for some of the intangibles that are lost with size. when i begin to worry about all of this, i recite to myself...catching tadpoles in plum creek, grades k-8 in one school, riding bikes on a dirt road, the train whistle, stars at night, the house my grandparents worked to keep their whole lives and ever after, the end of lives and the beginning of lives all under my new/ old roof. i envision my dad and my grandpa playing cribbage in the great beyond chuckling over my self created dilemma and what a princess i am and i know they will be so thankful that i could never stomach a scrape.

this is my little idea board via picassa collage. please, please, please don't get me in trouble for using all these great pictures and not giving proper credit. i swear i am not trying to pass them off as my own, but alas....i can only think of several places where they may have come from most of which are on my sidebar. heather bailey, pearl soho, sundance, inspired room, flikr, whatever, nesting place, restyled home, ck interiors. and i'm sure there have been ample pictures lifted from between the covers of domino sniff sniff, country living, bhg, martha and coastal living to name a few. whew. but i heart this collage and i love dreaming big about my new/ old house...even without a second story added on (or a second bathroom for that matter).