Back In The (House) Saddle Again

It's official, we are under contract on a house! Again!

It has been a pretty stressful week with the back and forth of negotiations and new offers popping up all over the place, but we are officially under contract.

This house is in much better shape, with much nicer finishes, in a MUCH better area... and a much higher price tag than the last house.

It's oddly comforting to be under contract again. Which is odd considering the amount of money we will be spending.

But it feels like I am getting my life back into gear again. I am moving back to the place that I "belong", and it feels amazing.

Over the years, I have lived in a variety of places, but none have never felt "right". I lived in Kansas City for over 10 years, but in my heart I was always an East Coast girl.

I've lived here in my parents house at the beach for what will be six months (we take possession on the actual 6 month anniversary ironically), but the entire time I missed being near the city.

And it's not just any city, there is something special and unique about DC for me. It's the energy, the gentility, and the beauty.

It's the way the monuments look at 2 AM, when they're shrouded in a little bit of haze, clean white beacons against the dark night skies. It's the soft pink cherry blossom petals that drift in the breeze every spring, like some kind of magical, iridescent fairy snow sprinkled all over the city. It's the way that you can drive down the street and see leaders who control entire nations, buddhist monks in their orange robes, Hollywood bigwigs, and extremely passionate individuals striding along with fierce determination to make a difference, all on the same block.

It's the way that the soil itself is steeped in generations of change and power. There is a never ending optimism in DC, a belief that anything is possible with enough enthusiasm and determination to get it done.

Photo courtesy of the amazing Anita Schrage

And because there's so much diversity, there is also an incredible level of acceptance. Not only am I a minority in DC, but I would be hard-pressed to tell you what the majority was. It's a great feeling to be surrounded by all that culture.

In DC, I find that not only can the cashiers at the grocery store discuss politics and world events, but may even share some thoughts on their doctorate work in astrophysics if you are interested.

I have heard people wax poetic about New York, and I've never really gotten it. But for some reason, DC speaks to my soul.

Every time I go back to the metro, I can feel some little piece deep inside me relax and settle in, a little voice whispers "home".

I will be honest and say that I am not letting myself get truly excited about this specific house until we actually take possession.

But I have started arranging furniture in my head.

And I have to be honest, in my bones I feel like this is the right house for us. Ironically, this morning the house that we had originally been under contract for came back on the market. They are asking about 70 thousand less this time, I am guessing to offset a lot of the issues. But oddly, I wasn't even tempted.

In addition, this morning another house that we had been seriously considering also came back on the market. Again, not even tempted.

This house speaks to me. It has almost all the features I would want in my dream house. In fact, the only real lack is no in-door water dispenser on the refrigerator. Instead, they went for one of those funky freezer on the bottom models. Not a major issue :-)

I guess the old saying that when a door closes, a window opens has some merit here. This house meets a lot more of our immediate needs, and is much more beautiful than the original house. Add in the fact that the schools are better, and clearly this window was waiting for us.

So I am happy to be moving back to the metro in a couple of months, cannot wait to get my stuff out of storage and be back near so many wonderful friends.

Please send thoughts that it all moves quickly and easily, September 17th I can't wait!