Where we live we don't have easy access to extended family. We have to carefully plan and pay for every encounter we have with grandparents, cousins, and the dearest of friends.
Where we live the town is growing. We used to live on the edge of town. Now there are houses and another elementary school and a gas station and too many apartment buildings and storage units (why! Why the storage units??) all around us. The last field standing is going to be developed this year, and we aren't going to live on the edge of town anymore.
Where we live doesn't count as "real Iowa". It's a proper suburb, and there are more people flocking here every day. More cars, more kids, more noise. And every day I think I'd like to move away from them all.
There are a lot of acres of nothing not too far from here, and some days we think we'd like to own some of them. But that would mean committing to life in Iowa, wouldn't it? Although I guess we've already done that...
Where we live, our neighbors are too close. Not Ivory Homes in Utah close, but close enough that I can hear music and conversations and dogs and basketballs that I don't want to hear at hours of the day that I don't want to hear them.
Where we live, we love our house. It's a Goldilocks house- not too big, not too small, but just right for our family, for now. But what will we think when it's a house full of teenagers? Or an empty nesters house?
Our trees are growing, but we won't be able to build tree houses in them or hang swings from them before our kids are too old to appreciate such things.
It's usually too windy. We still can't get a trampoline for fear of causing property damage again. That plus broken bones, of course.
Where we live, we share holidays with neighbors, we celebrate milestones together, and we know each other well. We know each other's garage codes and we cheer on each others kids and we shake our heads in disbelief at how quickly the years are flying by. We aren't besties with all of our neighbors, but it feels exactly like I think a neighborhood should feel- friendly and kind and mostly considerate.
Where we live, we can bike to school, the pool, ice cream shop, the library, the candy store, the grocery store, and a dozen different parks and playgrounds. It's easy to stay away from the busiest parts of town where we live.
Where we live... I don't want to live forever. It's a beautiful place where we live, but my heart and my mind wanders to our forever home frequently these days. But there are still too many unknowns about what the immediate future holds. Even as a military brat myself- or maybe because of it- I can hardly imagine starting all over again in a new town. New schools, new teachers, new friends, new neighbors, new church, new everything.
There is no reason to think that that would happen anytime soon, and most days I'm okay with that. Because boy, it would be difficult to say good-bye to where we live.
But just in case, Adam made up a list of things he would like to see in our next home.
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