Dreamin' and Wishin'

Last night after dinner the boys begged to go out into the 6 new inches of snow that fell throughout the day. I thought, why not? I turned on the dining room lights to give them a nice glow on the otherwise lightless backyard, and after I made sure they were properly tucked into the their snow pants, waterproof gloves, hats and coats, I picked up my paintbrush and Powder Sand-hued trim paint and watched them as I painted the dining room window. They chased the dog, and slid down the slide on top of each other, running to the window to tell me things every few minutes, their hats caked in wet, thick snow, their cheeks as red and wet as can be. I felt warm inside, so thankful we are going to move to Minnesota where we'll still get snow. I love snow, and so do my little Wisconsin-born boys. By the time they came in and made a wet pile of saturated clothes on the kitchen floor our dining room windows looked as great as they did when I painted them 6 years ago, pregnant with the thought of Ben in my belly, filled with promise of making this house a home. Here we are. Home accomplished. A family. In transition again. But so very blessed.

I painted, filled holes, and sanded all day yesterday. I had a lot of time to just sing along to the country radio channel on the TV and let my thoughts wander. I thought about where we'll end up. While I can't be picky, our credit is still mending, and our income isn't huge, I know so much more about buying a house this time than I did last time. I know our home repair limitations, I know so much more about gardening, I know what we can afford to do to a home, and what we can't. I know what I wish for in our next home...

-a woodburning fireplace, no matter the front, which I am certain I can alter to suit our decor
-hard wood floors! I can't wait to clean them! Something magical about cleaning a hard wood floor and making it shine. So much better than cleaning an old faded piece of vinyl tile that looks worse once it's clean.
-a bathtub I can bathe in, not one that is so ugly/old it stresses me out just to sit in it.
-more than 2 bedrooms because our boys are ready for their own space. Ideally 4 bedrooms and even more bonus space like a sunroom/porch/den/finished basement/attic for a playroom etc.
-real ceilings
-big windows
-main floor or in-the-bedroom laundry room, because my back can't handle hauling laundry up and down 2 flights of stairs anymore
-mature trees
-close to a body of water for fishing within walking distance
-lots of room for playing and gardening outside on a quiet street
-newer siding, windows and roof
-heater vents in the bedrooms upstairs
-lots of wall space for my collection of cool furnishings and art
-within 10 miles of the boys school and Theo's workplace, so we don't have to spend $400 a month on gas.
-in a perfect world, the tiniest bit of acreage so Theo could hunt or fish on our land.

Have a dreamy day!