A home of our own
The place we never expected feels like a vacation home.
The rain sounds different from here.
I’m sitting on my balcony, my new stoop, listening to it fall through the trees surrounding our condo. With the windows open, the rain sounds almost like I’m camping in a rainforest. It’s peaceful. Serene. And every so often, I catch myself looking around and thinking, How did I get here?
I never planned to buy a home here. I never dreamed about it. I never even really considered it. But on June 26, I stood inside this place after closing and felt something I still have trouble putting into words: disbelief.
The two-bedroom condo sits just outside Chicago, in a neighborhood I never expected to call home.
But the more I pictured our life here, the more it started to make sense.
Parker has gone to school just about across the street since third grade. She’ll attend the same junior high, located in the same complex, for seventh and eighth grade, too.
And she’s genuinely excited about it.
She’ll tell me some random fact about the neighborhood, point out something I didn’t know was there or fill me in on the history of a place we’ve driven past a hundred times.
She knows this area. She’s comfortable here. It’s part of her world already.
That matters. A lot.
Then I started noticing how much this place fit my life, too.
The balcony. The trees. The garage I always wanted. The views from our bedroom windows. The bathtub I waited nearly nine years to soak in.
I gave the place a 10/10. Parker gave it a 1,000/10.
My balcony has become my new stoop, which was easily my favorite place in Chicago. I don’t have to think about my surroundings the way I have for the past 8 1/2 years. I don’t have to circle the block looking for a parking space. I have an assigned spot in a garage.
Almost everything I need is within three miles: my new gym, my preferred grocery stores, the bowling alley where I joined a league. I’m spending far less time in traffic, and everyday errands have become remarkably simple.
Those little things have made life feel lighter.
Then it hit me.
I hadn’t simply found a home. I’d found a place that finally gave me the space to do what I’ve been trying to do all along: parent, write, think, create, invest and live intentionally — with a little more peace.
The more time I spend here, the more this place feels like a vacation home.
Except I get to come home to it.
And that might be what I love most about it. Not just the condo itself, but the way it fits into our lives. The way Parker gets to stay rooted in a neighborhood she already knows and loves. And the way I get to find a rhythm that feels more natural.
It’s not the plan I had.
It’s better.
Our new home has become a place where I can settle in, exhale and be more present for the life Parker and I are building together.
We love this place.
And that feels like a pretty good way to begin.
House Hunters Chicago!
Nestled along the bustling boulevard, this enchanting multi-family home boasts a striking blue brick façade that exudes character and charm.
I almost talked myself into too much house
Two days before my life got flipped upside down, I almost bought a condo.
What money says: When you buy a home
Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a four-part series, “What Money Says,” looking at how life’s events — from becoming a parent to starting over after divorce — can reshape our relationship with money. | Part 1: Becoming a parent