Forget Regret...Or Life is yours to Miss..

Next week is 'Spring Break' here...that would mean nothing to us except for the fact that daycare is closed for the week forcing us to take a 'vacation' as well. Since we can't afford to pay daycare for the week (which is pretty customary in these here parts) and then pay someone ELSE to watch our kids on top of that...We are forced to also be 'on vacation'.
Since it's still 'winter' in anyplace within a reasonable driving distance from our home (The Wisconsin Dells, The Badlands, Mackinaw Island) and we can't quite afford a real vacation that involves air transportation...We will get wild and spend two nights in Baxter MN...(thanks to a half price gift certificate I was able to purchase from a local radio station...)

So...instead of spending what little bit of money we do have on a real vacation this spring, we've been tinkering with the idea of investing the money into our home...the never ending home improvement pit. We've had a guy out for some estimates and sometimes I'm really excited about doing more things with our house...and then I get to thinking...Do we keep investing money into the house we have now, or do we try and sell it...or keep it and rent it out...and buy something we REALLY want right now while the market is great for buyers?

If we knew then what we know now - we would never have purchased this house...Since we've moved in we've done a LOT of stuff to this place - stuff that HAD to be done, not that we necessarily wanted to be done - Stuff that has cost us more than I make in a year's salary and then some!! We have had to get all new windows, all new siding, we converted the fireplace to gas (THAT was money well spent!!), there was the new sidewalk/front step and driveway apron...








we've replaced the nasty pet stained carpets that our house came with ~

Then there are the things we WANT to do...improve the lighting in our home, knock out the goofy wall that divides the kitchen/living areas, replace MORE carpet...add a deck that more than 2 people can actually be on at one time -and maybe even fit a chair or two on it as well!! The 'master bathroom' needs a complete overhaul - the whirlpool tub, the linoleum and just overall wasted space...And who in their right mind buys a house without a coat closet? Us - that's who! For a family of four ~ that's a lot of shoes, boots, coats, sweatshirts, hats, mittens, scarves, and who knows what else with no place to go! Currently we store 'off season' stuff in our regular closets because there's no where else to put it - which then leaves less space for everything else that should go in your closet! ie: pants, sweaters, jeans, shirts, birthday presents you don't want anyone to see!

This house was never intended to be our forever house - I wish we'd of known better when we were buying - things that people told us IMMEDIATELY after we bought this place - Things my friends' realtors made sure to point out to them when THEY were buying...
Like why on earth we only got 2 garage stalls! Even without the kids' bikes, trikes' and our automobiles - it's a pretty tight fit to park two cars in there and then actually get in and out of the vehicles! We've built a shed for storing 'some things' like the lawn mower and some kid plastic but it doesn't solve the teeny tiny garage issue ...



Why did we buy a split entry house with two bedrooms upstairs and two bedrooms downstairs when all along we had hoped and planned for (at least) two kids? Hmmmm - now why didn't I think of that THEN? Instead of thinking of it now when every single night I am trudging up and down those steps at all hours of the night to check on someone or someone is trudging down the steps to check on us!! If we had bedrooms that were bigger than 10' x 11' feet maybe we could fit a king sized bed in one of the rooms and then having Mom, Dad, a three year old a 2 year old and a 100 pound dog in one bed wouldn't be near as awful as it is right now...

The hubs has asked me a few times if I 'hate my life' - No - I don't hate my life - but sometimes - sometimes I hate where I LIVE my life. I don't hate the players but I do sometimes hate the game!! I really am blessed - a fantastic husband, two adorable, healthy kids...a job, a house...
But...I am NOT a city girl - never have been, never claimed to be. Sure, it's great to have a Target store on every corner - but I would LOVE to have a few sidewalks for taking walks with the kids...or some nice big trees in our yard....

I don't know what the easy answer is here - well, there is never an easy answer...so what's the BEST answer? The house the hubs and I have is twice the size of the houses we grew up in...and then some (and my folks raised five kids in theirs!) - and it really is probably all the space we need (though not the best USE of 1900 square feet if you ask me)....

Do we keep living in the comfortable 'rut' we are in or do we push our comfort level and get into a place that we both really really like?? Or at least like much better than this one? I hate to think how much house we could have gotten if we would have tacked the thousands and thousands of dollars we've sunk into this place onto our original budget when we were first looking...
Forget Regret...Or Life is yours to Miss...