Options

As some of you may have heard, Jim and I are discussing the possibility of moving.  It won't happen anytime soon but we've decided to explore some options now. 

I love our home; Jim has customized it to fit our needs and the lay-out works perfectly for our family...with the exception of the (very) small kitchen.
I love our backyard; It's a fenced in, fun, safe place for the kids and dog to play. We spend TONS of time out there during the Spring, Summer and Fall months.
I love our neighbors;  They have been nothing but kind, caring and loving to us and to our children..and have very much become a part of our family.
I love our friends who live near us;  It's great to go for a walk and pick up a kid (or two, or three!) along the way and bring them back to play! 

But over the past few years our "wants" have changed and with Jim working SO hard all-the-time it would be nice to live in a place in which his wants could become a reality (as well as a few of my own, too!) 

Our combined wants include a garage, more land for a bigger backyard, a wood stove/fireplace, a (much) bigger kitchen and owning a house that is not located right on top of other houses.  While we don't consider ourselves to be private people, by any means!, it would be nice to have a little more space inbetween the houses.  Despite the fact that I've always lived in the city I am not a city girl by nature.  It's one of the many reasons why I love Vermont so much  -- it's peaceful & the community is small & tight knit.  Everyone is friendly and respectful.  Most of all...Jim has to commute 45 minutes each way to work.  It would be nice to live somewhere a little closer to his work, especially since he has such a stable, good job now.

The city of East Providence (Riverside) has changed drastically since when we first moved here.  It's bankrupt & corrupt.  Taxes have gone sky high & the area has gone downhill.    Houses continue to go up all over the place, crowding an already crowded city.  The school systems are failing terribly, although thankfully we're able to homeschool...

So we've started to get the ball rolling - ever so slightly & slowly.  Jim is going to meet with our Real Estate Agent next week to discuss our options...if we even have any!!  With the economy being as poor as it is, this is neither a buyers market OR a sellers market - so who know's if or when or even where we'll move.  The area's we're targeting are Seekonk, Swansea, Rehoboth & Norton but there are many others that are appealing to us as well.  We're looking for big, but cheap - and those two words don't exactly go hand in hand when you're purchasing a house!!  In the meantime we'll continue on  as is - we love our home here & again, we're not in a major rush -- but we do feel as though we'll never be able to financially get ahead unless we move out of this city.  We're paying too much for too little..and it's starting to leave a sour taste in Jim's mouth...understandably so.