oh hell

So in the end...you need to sell your soul to sell your house.  After the realtor open house, where 6 distinguished realtors stopped by.  There seemed to be one common theme...get rid of the chalk-board wall (too progressive) and ditch the canoe (too earth friendly).  There was also one realtor who thought if I used nails instead of my ultra-sleek gallery tracking my house would look more "eligant."  Holy cow.  Grave spelling error aside...what about my house allowed her to assume I was going for "elegant?"  Or that elegance is in style?  I believe the term for that motif in the 21st century might be luxe or formal.  Elegance is for Downton Abbey.

I hate myself for admitting this...but I took their suggestions (minus the "eligant" one).  That is how badly I want out of this weather pattern we're in.  You see, like the weather this year in the north land, I feel my trip around "greater Minnesota" has been the never ending winter.  We spent 10 years in southern Minnesota, educating ourselves to the tune or $100,000+ dollars, hoping to contribute to society in a meaningful way.  We then moved to northern Minnesota because this is where Jahred received his first job offer (and after aforementioned accumulated debt we NEEDED that first job).

Jahred has spent 2 years wiping and kissing ass (not in the same sense...the wiping and the kissing) but has really worked through the trenches as a new grad and has accomplished a remarkable reputation and is well respected in his field.  Respected and experienced enough to have finally secured the job he wants in the city we wish to live in.  We are finally financially secure, carrying very limited debt and can afford something respectable.  The only problem?  This perfect carrot, this spring to our winter, is dangling in front of our noses and the only obstacle is to sell our house.  We're SOOO close.

So considering my 10 years of experience with the culture of greater Minnesota it shouldn't come as a surprise that when it comes to the feel of a "home" the rurals and I just don't speak the same language.  I mean this in no disrespect to the people who call this area home – everyone does seem quite happy here...it's me that's the fish out of water.  I have truly tried to make myself love this area and have found pockets and people that will be missed dearly.  I wish I could love the safety of this community, a peaceful life without traffic and nights where you can see the stars from every house in this city.  It just isn't working for me.

Did I get a bit offended at the comments by the realtors?  YOU BET YOUR FROZEN BUNS I DID.  I took it hard.  I repainted that wall with every once of venom I had.  I painted over my artwork, I took down the canoe that we rescued from the county park and I retrograded every aspect of my house to fit the cookie cutter mold that will inevitably sell in this area.

I staged my house and now I'll wait for the phone to ring.

This morning I typed "house staging" into Pinterest.  One of the first images to come up was an image of an entire chalkboard wall.  You can lead a horse to water...but in the end it's just best to ditch the horse and head for the land of public transportation.