Monday, August 9, 2010

Secret House Shopping


We live outside Washington, D.C. The rest of the family - and I mean both my side and hubby's - live about a four hour drive away in beautiful Southwest Virginia.

While I'm glad family doesn't live on the other side of the country or any place that requires air travel, having them four hours away still feels far. Especially when you need something.

This past week I had a project I needed to get finished for work and hubby was expecting a busy week at work. So Emma and I packed up the car and headed to my family's house...4 hours away...so that I could have someone watch Emma while I finished up my project.

Each time that I'm home with family - I have 2 brothers with 7 kids between the two of them, plus my mom and hubby's mom - it makes me want to move closer to them. While I adore Washington, D.C. and all that the area has to offer, it doesn't offer me the convenience of family.

The addition of an exersaucer and highchair to our tiny condo this past weekend also highlights for me the need for MORE SPACE!

So, hence the "Secret House Shopping."

I'm ready to move. Hubby wants to move. But the biggest glitch is figuring out his work situation (I'm able to work from home).

In the meantime, I'm doing some fun online house shopping. In fact, I even found a house and had my brother go through it for me and report back. Thankfully my brother loves house shopping, too, so he is constantly sending me links to houses and telling me what the best areas are to live in.

Here are pictures of a few of the ones I love...




The crazy part is that none of these MASSIVE houses would end up costing us much more each month than our current 2 bedroom condo. On top of our regular mortgage, we currently pay a ridiculous $400 monthly homeowners association fee.

I have no clue what I would do with all this space...but I'd like a chance to find out!

6 comments:

  1. Having family close by is so nice and convenient. You should move out to my neck of the woods (Winchester). You can have a lot more space! We commute in to Tyson's, but if you're hubby has to go into DC, that might be a little rougher (although my neighbor across the street does it).

    I hope you are able to find a good compromise between more space and close to family!

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  2. Ohhhhhhhh. . .Those are beautiful homes. I hope you guys find a way to make it happen. Having a child makes me realie how much more important family is.

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  3. More space is all well and good until your in-laws fill up your basement with furniture as the older generations pass away. But I'm sure that won't happen to you. Really. :)

    Have fun with the online house shopping!

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  4. Um, you could invite me and the twins to come visit! That would solve your extra space problem for a few days! Ha! Love the houses. I hope your house hunt goes well and that your hubby is able to find the perfect solution for his work too. :-)

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  5. wow!!! I'd totally move if those houses were in our future!!! They are beautiful. I also think it is wonderful to be close to family, particularly for the kids (cousins). What a great way to grow up, you know?

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  6. Boy can I relate to this post! There's something about family being oh-so-close that makes wanting to move very tempting. I always daydream about closing the 2-hour gap between us and my family in Louisiana, but my husband loves his job here and we are otherwise pretty happy with where we live in TX. I sure do miss home and family, though! I get the feeling that one day we'll be back in LA.

    Hope it works out for you to move! I find that middle house particularly charming. :)

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