A Big Year

I had spectacular plans for 2014 and, specifically, for this blog.  Unfortunately, I find myself up against the final weeks of the year and having only written my New Year’s post in the past 12 months.  My absence certainly hasn’t been for lack of enthusiasm or out of laziness.  In fact, 2014 has been a rather big year for my husband and myself.  

Beginning in March, we learned that we were expecting our first child in November.  This realization put us both in a tailspin - we were renting a townhouse that would never work for our needs as a growing family.  Our house hunt went from casually enthusiastic to aggressively anxious.  We looked at building a new home in a development, a bit of the lazy man’s approach to getting more home in an ever-expanding region.  (Seriously, I fear that Northern Virginia is quickly becoming the next Southern California).  Our hearts were never truly sold, even after walking through the perfectly antiseptic model home several times.  Yes, the layout and execution were ideal - but we’d be on a street of similar homes with mere inches between them.   It was all too cookie cutter for my taste.  

With every early morning dog walk I became more sentimental about our town, small and quaint with a rich history including such characters as JFK and Jackie, Elizabeth Taylor, Bunny Mellon, Linda Tripp (for real!) and a Hitchcock film (Marnie, if you’re curious).  As much as it would be easier to raise a child on street full of other small children, I’d rather raise a child in a place with character and history, eccentrics and the infamous.  

As time ticked by, we became ever more nervous.  We looked at homes in our neighborhood in a goldilocks fashion - too small, too much work, too restrictive.  There was that one home, though, that was just right except for the price.  It was slightly out of reach for us at that very moment.  “If only it were a year from now,” was a constant refrain.  Each morning we’d wake and check for our Zillow alerts as the price began to drop but not quite as much as we needed.  And then it did.  And we jumped on it.  On my husband’s birthday, we officially made an offer and a month later we were moving - literally across the street from our rental.  

Because of the baby preparations, we haven’t made much headway in decorating and finishing the home which would certainly be featured here.  That excitement will come in the new year as we adjust to life with our little man.  So, while 2014 was certainly a big year for us, it was a very personal and intimate one.  

You likely think me crazy for attempting to refocus my attention on my “extracurricular” creative endeavors with a new baby and I probably am (as I type this one-handed while cradling a hiccuping newborn) - but if his birth impressed anything upon me it was that I want my son to be imaginative, brave, bold and a maverick.  I can’t expect any of that if I don”t embody that spirit myself.  Here’s to new beginnings!