I am a city mouse. I am also a country mouse. (Please tell me you've at least heard of these books?) And for the past year or so, my husband and I have been talking about possibly moving out of the city. But every time we dangle our toes into the water of suburbia, I shiver and we hop right back into our city life.
The cafes! The restaurants! The culture! The parks! The arts scene!
Sigh. How can we leave?
The noise! The traffic! The insanity of real estate!
Sigh. How can we stay?
We have been wavering back and forth on this topic since before our son was born. However, over the past eight months or so, the scales have started to tip in favour of leaving the city.
We crave a backyard, and that small town feel that we grew up with. We crave square footage and a basement. Cole's Nana & Grandma are anxiously waiting for us to remove the "toy ban" so that they can buy him things for Christmas (larger than the size of an orange.)
So. We did it.
We listed our trendy and adorable little townhouse, and we went house hunting east of Toronto. I was convinced there was nothing for us there. My husband and I actually had this conversation:
Me: "But no one cool lives in Durham."
Husband: "That's not true."
Me: "Yes it is."
Husband: (typing on computer)
Me: "What are you doing?"
Husband: "I'm googling to see which cool people have come from Durham...(pause)...Look! Sid Ryan, President of the Ontario Federation of Labor is from Whitby!"
Ummm. I think my husband and I have different definitions of the word "cool."
Anyway....I begrudgingly went to check out some open houses with him two Sundays ago, and guess what happened? We met some people. Cool people. They were nice, and friendly, and had children. They invited us over to carve pumpkins with them that afternoon (I'm not kidding.) Gotta love small towns!
And then guess what happened? We stumbled upon the most adorable little part of town with huge tree lined streets where neighbours waived to one another while raking their leaves. And what's even better? We could afford these homes without selling organs on the black market! Without robbing a bank or starting a meth lab in our basement!
So what did we do?
We found a house that we loved. We called our realtor. We put in an offer. And we bought the house. And then we sold our townhouse. All in the span of 7 days.
I can't believe it's all happened so fast, though it's been a work in progress in our minds for the past year or so. My husband and I are giddy with excitement, and keep high-fiving each other randomly throughout the day.
As much as we've loved the city, we are very excited to start the next chapter in our lives..IN THE SUBURBS!
*It's crazy to even say that out loud*
So tell me—where do you live with your family, and why is it the right choice for you?
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