A Place to Call Home

Shortly after graduating from college my soon to be wife and I had two full time incomes and we suddenly had money coming out of our ears compared to what we had been used to.  4 or 5 years earlier I was happy living in a closet of a home. I had even spent two summers living homeless in the woods.  But now we had the ability to do so much more. In fact it felt like our duty to buy a home of our own. After all, this was the American dream.  

We searched for a house to buy.  We didn’t want much, just a place to call home.  When we spelled out what we wanted to the realtor our main concern was to have some land.  We wanted at least an acre and we wanted to be in the trees.  We didn’t want to live in town next to a bunch of other people.  We wanted our own space.  After looking at a number of homes located throughout the area, we narrowed the field down by deciding we didn’t want a mobile home and we wanted a road and a driveway that wouldn’t be too difficult in the snow.

We purchased a hexagon shaped home located about 35 minutes from Durango on one wooded acre.  The home was built in 1978 and had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a large walkout basement.  It also had wood paneling, an avocado green kitchen sink, and carpet in the bathrooms and kitchen.  It was everything we needed and more. It was reasonably priced and the payment would fit comfortably within our new two income budget.  Ironically, the banker had approved us for more than we wanted to spend.  He even offered to loan us money to buy the empty lot next door since we didn’t spend enough on the house. We chose to be responsible and keep our payments low.

The home we chose had previously been a vacation home for an elderly couple from Texas.  They didn’t bother coming up for the closing and left all of the furniture.  The home was fully furnished with beds, couches, a TV, pots and pans, and even cleaning supplies.  We basically showed up with our clothes and settled in and made it our own.

This home was everything we had ever wanted or needed.  We spent evenings sitting on the deck enjoying a view of the valley below, took the dogs for walks right out of the backyard and into the forest, and assembled groups of friends for small parties where everyone had a great time.   We had it all.

Then things slowly started to change.  I was working for a small local bank at an entry level position.  I was kicking butt and earning higher commission levels than anyone else.  I had dollar signs in my eyes and I was making more and more every month.  Suddenly, I wasn’t happy with the avocado green kitchen sink.  I felt like I deserved better.

Soon I was putting the skills I had learned back when I lived out of my truck.  I started remodeling my perfect little home.  I completely remodled the kitchen. I installed a slate tile floor, new cabinets, granite countertops, stainless steel sink, added an island, stainless steel refrigerator, and dishwasher.  Then I completely remodeled a downstairs bathroom, put new flooring in the upstairs bathroom, added a new wood stove with new slate tiles on the wall behind it.  I even changed the railings on the deck and added a new staircase to the deck.  But it wasn’t enough.

I wanted more. Not because I needed it, but I felt like I could afford it. Maybe I just wanted what the Jones’ had. Whatever it was that caused my sudden change out heart, It took away my simple view on life. I forgot who I was and what I believed in. Somehow the voice inside me said “More, More, More”.

I now have so much more… But I am not as happy as I was the day I moved into my little mountain home.

Tags: Simplicity, simplify, Take life into your own hands

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 6:26 pm and is filed under The Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.