It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything – sorry about that. I was in NYC with my bros weekend before last, and then after that I got obsessed with finding a new home and couldn’t really focus on anything productive. Our current home is a cute little number, almost perfect for Tim, Lucent, and me. It has tons of character, nice bones, and beautiful hard-wood floors. However, as you know if you read this blog, I kind of like to cook. And I rather like having people over to eat my cooking. Our 791 sq foot house is not very conducive to this, however. We have a galley kitchen that is a tight fit for Tim and me, much less any company. We only have 2 bedrooms and one bathroom, which works out fine except for the fact that ALL of our relatives live elsewhere – anywhere from Monticello 1.5 hours away to New York City to Phoenix, AZ. As a result of our dispersed family, we have visitors staying with us at least 4-6 times per year. Within about 2 days, it gets to be quite cozy (aka overwhelming).
I added up all these thoughts, tossed in my life-long desire to build my dream home, and decided to meet with a local builder who builds quality, well-built houses. I’m still not sure if it was a good idea to meet with him or not. We discovered that we can, in fact, build exactly what we want. However, it will cost us at least $50,000 more than we really want to spend, and we will have to sacrifice our excellent location in central Davenport (close to the bike path and within walking distance of the grocery store, parks, and restaurants). So now I’m even more confused about what to do. Options are my bane.
To further complicate the issue, Tim and I looked at existing houses for sale over the weekend. In the neighborhoods we like (central or east D, close to the River Drive bike path or Duck Creek bike path), the houses are all either super expensive ($190K for a house from the 1950s that needs new windows, siding, etc.), or smelly (cat pee, anyone??), or oddly put together.
So we are back to square one – spend $50K more than we want (but can technically afford) or stay in our little house that is perfect for us pretty much 80% of the time. My www.mrmoneymustache.com-reading self says this is a no brainer. Stay here, pay off this house in 7-10 years and enjoy decades of NO HOUSE PAYMENTS. My recent philosophical readings of The Power of Now and A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy both dictate that instead of focusing on how nice it would be to have a bigger, better, more functional house, I focus on how much I love our current house, how cute it is, what a great location it is, how comfy it is. I recognize this with my brain, but my stupid heart still wants its 3 bedroom, 2 bath, open floor plan house painted in lovely shades of chocolate and grey with cedar shake siding. It would be all kinds of adorable and awesome. So, which Heather will win?? I’m thinking the brainy one, because Tim is more on her side. Maybe some day a long-lost relative will leave me a bazillion dollars, and then I can have my perfect little house. If there’s one thing Stoicism has taught me, it’s if you just get the one, last perfect thing that you really, really want, you will be happy. 😉
In between looking at janky expensive houses and trying to figure out how frugal I could really be if it meant Hlo getting a new house, I tried a couple of new recipes.
Buffalo chicken egg muffins: These little bastards were all sorts of delicious and easy. Make them post haste. This recipe will definitely stay in my repertoire. My only note on this recipe – I added 2 full chicken breasts, and I ended up with 10 muffins instead of 6. So be prepared.
Everyday Paleo Chile Verde: I made this yesterday, and Tim was a huge fan! He really liked the flavor. It was very limey. I thought it was good, but it didn’t blow me away. It seemed to be a lot of work too! The kitchen (the small, galley kitchen with very little work space, remember??) was a disaster, and I literally got a blister on my finger from cutting up the pork. I think I need sharper knives. It also gave us verde poop. All in all, though, I would make this again. I’ll just make Tim cut up the pork next time.
And that’s been our past week or two. Exciting stuff, eh?? Well, I better sign off so I can start doing some internet research about how to start making money on the internet in my spare time. 🙂