The Kansas City House

The one about the Kansas City House.

As if writing about the flip house project didn’t get me all up in my feels enough- this one really takes the cake. And is also why it has taken me nearly two years to share about it as well.

There were so many hopes, dreams, and excitement about this home.

We were finally- after 13 years, returning to our home town, Kansas City.

And the number one thing on our home buying wish list was a location that Jim didn’t have to commute to his new office. His office is on the plaza, so it gave us a pretty small radius, but lots of options to choose from when we were house hunting in the winter of 2019.

We found our home in a blizzard (truly). It was the most dramatic and insane experience. And then we filmed a House Hunters episode about it all just to really put the cherry on top of the dramatic and crazy.

But we found it.

This home was a dream.

I was so, seriously, so sad to be leaving our Joplin home. I. Loved. That. House. and when we pulled up to this one- it just gave me all of those same vibes. And when we walked inside- I just knew. This was it.

And it was close enough for Jim to walk or ride his bike to the office.

And it was beautiful.

We could walk to a park, we could walk to a coffee shop, an ice cream shop, and the plaza.

We wanted to take our babies to the art museum and the science center and the zoo and to sporting events and to plays and shows and fun places to eat and to shop and to give them so many special experiences. We wanted them to fall in love with Kansas City the way that we did when we were children.

And for a few weeks, we got to do that.

We shopped at Ikea and The Container Store. We walked to the plaza and ate at Shake Shack. We visited the park daily and Jim and Abigail would get up together before he went to work in the mornings and walk to the coffee shop together and would bring me home a latte. Jim rode his bicycle and sometimes he could come home and visit us during lunch time! and when he left the office at 5, he was home only a few minutes later!

It was bliss.

And then it was March 2020.

And everything closed.

And the world gave us our “new normal”

And it has been that way ever since.

Jim and I saw the writing on the wall really quickly. And we knew we wouldn’t be staying.

Why would we pay a premium to live in a place where we would never be allowed to participate or do any of the things that used to be available to us?

How could we continue to live as if the entire paradigm of the world hadn’t shifted and not prepare for a different future to come?

We spent an entire weekend in June listening to sirens and helicopters circling as a BLM protest raged just a few streets away.

As the election crept closer and more and more political signs popped up in neighboring lawns, the message was clear.

In addition to that, the kids and I found ourselves driving AWAY from the city as often as we could to find freedom and more like-mindedness, so finally Jim said, we’re going. I’ll do the commuting instead.

So, that’s what we did.

We found 5 acres out of the city, Jim now commutes, the kids have had fresh air, normal lives, and freedom.

But gosh do I grieve this house. and the dreams we had. and the things we have given up.

If you get it, you get it.

If you don’t, well, I guess lucky for you.

Or, maybe, if you don’t yet, someday soon you might.

So, here was our Kansas City house. I loved it so much. We had worked so hard- selling our Joplin home, selling the flip house, and purchasing this KC home right off the plaza. It really was a dream come true for me.

At night- when it got dark, you could see the skyline lit up from Abigail’s bedroom and it was just….magical.

A beautiful couple purchased the home from us- their very first starter home. I have talked to the owner a few times since we left and she has sweetly shared photos of the work they have done (new light fixtures, repaint, refinished the floors- it all looks so good!) I love seeing a new family fall in love and make it their own.

This house was so good to us and I so desperately wish it could have been more.