We’ve lived in #thecozycottage for almost five years and, for the most part, we enjoy the house. But lately, I’ve had the feeling that it’s time to move, a feeling that only intensified two weeks ago.

There’s a house for sale around the corner, on a block we love. It’s large, but not overwhelmingly so, with a nice backyard. I really want this house. It would need a lot of work but nothing pressing and, if we bought this house, it would be one we’d live in for 20 years, like the owners who are currently selling it.

The problem is – and this is a major one – we don’t have the money to buy it (ha!) and the cozy cottage is nowhere near ready to be put up for sale. To be honest,  I’m super bummed about this.

Five years is kind of a long time to live in a home and not have done any of the major fixes needed to sell it. Right? Or am I just affected by what I see on Instagram and the pace by which it seems people work on their projects?

I have to recognize three things: 1. We’re not rich. 2. We don’t have amazing DIY skills and my confidence to try more is thwarted by the fact that we have plaster walls, which makes everything hard. 3. We haven’t been sitting by doing nothing. We actually have done a few things and I need to remember that and respect that.

We updated the layout of the upstairs so that it flowed better to create three distinct bedrooms, and then we added a closet to the master. We improved the layout of part of the downstairs, and created a much prettier and more comfortable powder room and laundry room, aka the beautility room.

We also fixed a couple of things that no one would notice but needed to get done, like proper venting for one of our chimneys and putting on a new roof.

So, we’re moving forward. And that’s good, right?

But I stayed up all night thinking about this house around the corner that would be perfect for our long-term needs and it’s kind of depressing me.

My biggest fear in life is feeling stuck or being stagnant. But now I feel stuck.

Sorry for this confessional, but I’m just keeping it real. Are we behind? Do we need to start doing more? Is it time to move? Should we just be happy with what we have?