One of the reasons that Chris and I were eager to move was because we had NOTHING in common with ANY of our neighbors at our old neighborhood. Most of the houses are rentals which is absolutely fine, but constitutes a high turnover of families. There were very few kids (that I'd let Jayna associate with...little hooligans) for Jayna to get to know and grow up with. The few people that we did get to know either moved away or were just not social. And when I say someone isn't social, you can know, without a doubt, that they are NOT social. I am not a social person and these people made me look like...(I could put a reference here, but then y'all will know how old I am. You get the idea though). :)
So, we moved. We moved into a neighborhood that wasn't our first choice. The more times we came to look at the house, the more we loved it. We knew that there would be lots of work involved in making the house what we wanted it to be, but we were shopping for more than a house. We were shopping for a place to call home...a place where Jayna can grow up alongside the neighborhood kids and maybe make some lifelong friends. It seemed bigger than us and we took our house shopping very seriously this time around.
"Wasn't our first choice" sounds like bad words now. It makes me sad to think that we may have passed on this. Everytime we drove through the neighborhood, we found more things we liked. Kids were always out playing. Parents seemed to be present and interacting with the kids. The yards are well groomed. It seemed quiet, but social.
"Wasn't our first choice." I just keep coming back to that. We've lived in our house for almost 3 months now. We've banged our heads against the wall trying to make it our own. What seems like 75 gallons of paint have been spread on all the walls. Flooring has been replaced. Sinks have been installed. Walls have been removed. Openings have been cut into walls. Furniture has been arranged, rearranged, and put back to the original configuration. Ugh. It's exhausting to think about.
BUT...none of that seemed to matter on this Friday night. All the painting, the fixing, the hammering and sawing. All of that can wait and will get done in due time. Tonight we knew, without a doubt, that we made the right decision in shopping for a place for our kid to grow up. For Chris and I to grow...older. And wiser, hopefully.
Our neighbors have welcomed us with open arms. They've shared their snacks and their beer and their toys and their lives with us already in such a short amount of time. We've shared too and we feel a sense of trust and a sense of community. And Jayna never wants to leave our street...she'd be content playing with the boys everyday.
Thanks, neighbors, for making us feel at home. We really needed it and we appreciate it more than you could probably ever imagine.
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