I know it is almost Easter, but I have been thinking a lot about a Christmas movie lately:  “It’s A Wonderful Life“***.   The one scene in particular I replay over and over in my  head is the one where George and Mary are walking home from the dance and they throw rocks in the window of the old house that Mary wishes will become her home to share with George one day in the future.

On my recent travels, I drove passed a house that I dream of owning.  It’s old, not in the best of shape, and I am not even sure if it has been occupied recently as there are never any people or cars around it.  The house sits on about an acre of land with a beautiful lake behind it.

This is the front street view of the house.  Please forgive the quality of the pictures as I was using my iPhone.  My SLR camera is not working at all.

And this is the side view.

I am in love with this house.  I love the wrap around porch, the charm it exudes and all the beautiful trees on the property.  I have yet to see the inside, but I imagine there are fireplaces in every room, more than one bathroom featuring a claw foot tub and a kitchen right out of the 1940’s or 1950’s.  Sa-woon.

Of course, none of that may be true, but since the outside still retains its charm, I am hopeful that the inside loveliness has been preserved as well.  I will be crushed it it turns out the kitchen contains 1970’s Formica or that the living room has bright orange shag carpeting, but for now I will hold onto my dreams.

When I picture my life in the future, I see myself living in a home like this, one that my future husband & I have lovingly restored and now live in with our two pugs, Starsky & Hutch.  We plant a vegetable garden, some lilac and hydrangeas bushes and perhaps get a few chickens so we can have fresh eggs every day.  We host lavish clam bakes in the summer & cozy Christmas Eve dinners every December with our guests helping us trim our 10 foot tree while we drink eggnog and watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas“*** over and over until it is time to eat.  I have had this dream forever.

This is the view as I drove down the drive way towards the side entrance.

But now that dream is not so easy to have.  Ever since I sold my small house (which was only 811 square feet) and downsized to a studio half that size, I have come to really appreciate living smaller rather than larger.  I know I am not alone, as the tiny house movement has become a real cause and purpose for many people looking to live a more minimalistic life.  I made the choice to live smaller simply because I realized I was basically living in only one room of my house-the bedroom-so I did not see the sense in spending money on a multiple room apartment or paying to furnish those rooms when I was very content having everything I needed in one room.

I want a simple life.  Someone to love, a couple of dogs to rescue, several road trips throughout the year and a freedom from not having any house maintenance work to worry about.  But then I picture life in that big old house, and as idyllic as it seems, I get bogged down in the guilt of the amount of energy a house that size uses, or the carbon footprint it has on the environment, or the fact that two people and two dogs really do not need a house that big. And I love road trips and spending the weekends going to estate sales, antiques stores and flea markets. Houses of any size require regular maintenance, and an old big house requires that much more.  We may need a place to live, but it does not have to be such a big place.  Sometimes I hate having a conscience!!!

The views from the back of the property.  How great would it be to look out on a lake every day???

Do any of you get bogged down in that kind of thinking?  Or do you just push forward to make your dreams come true? I would really love to know.

***The starred links are my affiliate links.  I only share what I truly love & I am grateful for the support 🙂

I hope all of you who celebrate the holiday have a very happy Easter!!!

Until next time, fellow Vixens, happy digging!!!