here's the thing

As of Sunday night, our house is no longer for sale.

We're staying in Lawrence--hurray!

I'm so excited to not be in "ditch this house" mindset. I get to start living here again. The first thing I did once we had decided was to start decorating Elise's room. I was pregnant when we put it on the market, and never in my wildest dreams did I think it wouldn't sell, so we just painted her room, thinking it unwise to invest in decorations that may not work in our hypothetical new house. I guess I just thought that there would always be someone, like me, who appreciated the space for the money, the large yard, large trees, neighborhood, etc. Guess not...but its cool, I was worried about how my soul would fare in Topeka anyway, because its not somewhere I've ever wanted to live. No offense to Topeka; in fact, sometimes I feel guilty that I earn my paycheck there but then run home and spend it in Lawrence. Talk about a drain on an economy! But, now that I've tried to move there unsuccessfully, that guilt is mitigated somewhat.
I was looking forward to living in Topeka for a couple of reasons, though; Topeka is a "real" city, with people just living their lives, raising their families, doing their thing. Lawrence, in my opinion, has a population skewed to the 18-22 year olds, and people who wish they were 18-22 year olds. I am definitely not saying everyone who lives here is a wannabe college kid; certainly there are people here who were born and raised here and have built businesses here not associated with KU. But I think few people would argue with me that the population and dynamic of Lawrence is not always conducive to raising a family. Me having to drive to Topeka to earn a decent living is a prime example of this, and me not being able to sell my house despite a ton of lookers is another. Homes are overpriced, but jobs to afford them are few.
But, I love downtown. I love KU. I love the hills of my neighborhood and Lawrence in general. This is my home, this is where my daughter was born and where I married the man of my dreams. Let's embrace it as home and start living in the NOW!!