If We Moved...Where Would It Be?

Time for a fun post. I'm all back from my work trip, and fall is in the air. Don't know if that's a good or bad thing! I'll miss summer I'm sure, like every year. Anyway, on to this post of mine...

So, we are not moving any time soon. We have way too much work to do on this house and would like to live in it and enjoy it for a while after we get it all fixed up. But sometimes we think about leaving our little po-dunk town and living somewhere we love, in a house that is already new and pretty. (At least that's how I like to think :) ) We were talking the other day...It went kind of like this..."What if we moved away?"..."We should move out to Ohio.." (Some of Trent's family lives there)..."We need to get out of this town... we could find jobs there in Columbus...Trent can work with Aaron and do landscaping...." Oh, daydreaming.

So since we talk about moving away someday...even though it won't be soon, I thought I would list the top places that, if we ever moved, we would most likely move to. Ready? Here goes!

1. Port Byron, Illinois:

(Original Image from here)

I'm going to start with the most realistic option. (I mean, let's not get ahead of ourselves here). If we moved anywhere but still wanted to remain in the Quad City area, this is probably the area we would move to. Trent and I have looked at neighborhoods up here, and it still feels small, even though it's just a few minutes from the larger cities like Davenport and Moline. The main reason we (and by we I mean Trent :) ) want to live here is because it's right on the Mississippi river. A house right on the hill would be perfect, although I would settle for a newer house that's tucked away in a little addition, too. We could get a boat, and that's pretty much Trent's dream. Plus, I've always kind of wanted to live closer to everything - stores, jobs, friends...the only big drawback is that Trent's family is right here in town right now, and we would be a little further away from them.

And just for fun...What would our house look like? Maybe this:

(From here)

So cute, right? A nice little down to earth home with a yard. :) And the pros and cons of living here, to name a few:

PROS:    

1. Closer to the Cities (shopping, restaurants, etc.).
2. Closer to Trent's job (and possibly a future job for me).
3. Right by the river.
4. Closer to friends.
5. Still not too far from mine and Trent's family.
6. Still a small town feel.
7. Not as much of a transition (could still keep our jobs, etc.)

CONS: 

1. Further from Trent's family (right now they're across the street).
2. It's still in the Quad Cities. 

Now, let's look at the second option...

2. Columbus, Ohio area:

(Image from here)

We've been to the Columbus, Ohio area quite a bit now, since some of Trent's family lives there. He even spent a whole summer there when he was in high school. If we ever moved to this area, it wouldn't be to the actual city of Columbus, but to the suburbs. Trent's family lives in the Delaware/Powell area. We think the whole area is really cute, and there are soo many housing additions and new houses, restaurants, shops, etc. The malls are quite nice, too! Much better than the Quad Cities. We would be far from my family, but Trent's family would be close, and we would both easily find a job here I think. 

A house like this one would be cute:

(From here)

This is actually one of the cheaper ones I found in this area. I thought I would be reasonable. It's pretty inside, too. :)

PROS:    

1. Close to shopping and restaurants.
2. Closer to Trent's family.
3. Graphic design jobs in the city and Landscaping jobs with Trent's family.
4. Nice mall. Enough said.
5. Lots of cute housing developments.
6. Still by a river - the Olentangy.

CONS: 

1. Far from my family and some of Trent's.
2. Far from our Quad City friends.
3. Homes are more expensive.
4. Driving in the city might be a little scary.

And for our third possible option...

3. North Carolina:

This is probably the most out there one. More like a dream for us, I guess. I took the above photo in Southport, NC. We kind of see ourselves retiring here someday. :) The East Coast was pretty much our favorite vacation ever, and we all have those places we feel at home at when we're there. We loved the area in North Carolina that we visited. Trent loved it so much the first time that he wanted to go back. The Wilmington and Southport areas were so charming...who wouldn't want to live there? Yeah, it would be far away from everything we know. But I'd love to live here when we are older. Being by the ocean in a quaint little town, with milder winters sounds pretty appealing!

Our cute little retirement house might look like this:

(from here)

PROS:    

1. By the ocean and beaches.
2. Charming towns.
3. Lots of new areas to explore.
4. Nicer weather.
5. Not the Quad Cities!

CONS:  

1. Far from family.
2. Far from friends.
3. Unknown job situation.

So which one will we move to? Who knows. But isn't it fun to imagine where you might be in 10 years...or even when you retire? The possibilities are endless. I have a feeling we won't be in this town our whole lives. At least I hope not. :)