HORRIBLE carpet; black appliances that don’t match the style of the house; a fireplace that doesn’t work. Those are the things I dislike about my new house.
What I love about my new house?

It’s AROUND THE CORNER from my sister’s house. Which is down the street from her ex-husband’s house. My niece will have all of her local, immediate family living ON THE SAME BLOCK.
But the number one thing we LOVE—LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE—about our new house? Perhaps you know me well enough to know it comes with a story.
A few months back, Matthew and I paid a visit to my sister Wendy. During an evening walk around her neighborhood, we noticed a couple of houses set back from the sidewalk. The first one we noticed had a huge open field in front of it.
Then we noticed the one to the left of it, a cute little white house, surrounded on three sides by open lots. “How’d you like to live there,” we said, elbowing each other.
I only realized when I walked up to it for the viewing that this is that house.
No shared walls.
None.
Sob.
Joy.
Signing the lease today.