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| Western North Carolina The Mountain Region including Asheville |
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11-10-2007, 08:54 AM
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A friend paid me a gret compliment recently, she said "Wow, you really live your dreams" My decision to look into a second home in WNC came about when many of my successful clients talked about their homes in WNC. It sounded wonderful to me and since I love to read I spent 2 1/2 years reading online and looking and dreaming about owning a home. Everytime I clicked for more info it was apparent that I had a thing for farmhouses! I didn't start out w/ a dream of owning a farmhouse but it was clear that was what I wanted
 After 2 1/2 years I saw a farmhouse that interested me enough to book a flight, rent a car and see it in person. It was not my dream house. My wonderful Realtor suggested w/ see another 1 that was for sale. OMG....LOL...I was blown away! I LOVED EVERYTHING about it! It needed work but it was just the project I was looking for at the time. We put in an offer that I was comfortable w/ and we ended up signing a contract. There was not 1 minute thru the entire process that I questioned my decision! I started reading This Old House (back issues purchased on Ebay) Country Living, Country Home, beautiful books about farmhouses. I couldn't have been any more excited! I closed on my house over 2 years ago. My Realtor gave me the name of a respected contractor and we met and discussed what needed repair, what was in fair or poor condition (everything...according to the inspection report) and what my dream house would be! I admit I got a bit carried away and I got my DREAM HOUSE!!!! My house is over 100 years old and on a beautiful piece of property. If I won the lotto I would not trade my house for another! It is PERFECT and charming and a joy!!!! Someday it will be my full time residence! Dreams do come true! Annie
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11-10-2007, 05:41 PM
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Andy - I LOVE that house....absolutely gorgeous!!
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11-10-2007, 07:09 PM
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It's funny...in the Long Island forum I wrote a very similar thread like the one you wrote. I hear people bitchin', moanin' and whining about LI. then I read posts in some of the California Forums...same thing...then in the NC Forum...same thing. I started thinking that so many people just don't get it. Really smart intelligent people too..even successful people. Some people don't get it till is too late. In my post..in the LI forum...I spoke about whats within you and without you. How its more about the honesty within yourself not about your expectations so much. People look too much towards expectations and not enough within, "what is"...right here and right now. Its when they get sick that they may finally come to realize that it wasn't nearly as bad as they thought it was...and they come to realize that honesty...true honesty, not expectations was what it was really all about. We are our own best doctors and psychiatrist's if we would only slow down and listen to what really goes on inside. Its all within you, without you. If you can quiet yourself inside...I mean REALLY quiet yourself and listen...then no matter what your situation, you WILL find your way. I think I learned that when I started my meditation practice many years ago. All the noise that goes on inside us only puts up road blocks and confusion. People don't take the time to really listen anymore. I think I want to move to the mountains but its not set in stone...who knows what situation may pop up tomorrow...I do have thoughts and dreams. After all thats how I got that ramshackle of a house into the shape it is today...slow and steady. It started with a dream. The "expectation" was to finish....I set my expectations real low...something obtainable...something with some real truth in it. I knew there might have been a possibility I wouldn't get what I wanted for it....so...I'm not devistated...a little dissapointed but I'll live and I'll learn from it and whatever I walk away with..I'll figure out how to proceed in a good place with what I have....not cry about what I don't have. As long as I wake up tomorrow...its a great day...and if I don't...well...it'll still be a great day...within me...................or without me~ namaste
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11-11-2007, 05:50 PM
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Thanks, Jan, for bumping this thread back up. That’s why I started it to begin with -- to hear others’ reasons and motivations for why they choose to live where they live. Maybe I was wanting to validate my own reasons/desires as well. You see, from the time I was a little girl, I have been enthralled with nature, landscapes, beautiful scenery, mountains! I fantasized about living in the mountains, but I was 28 years old before I ever beheld with my own eyes the beauty of the mountains that I had dreamed about living in! That was while driving from Dallas, TX to Grand Teton/Yellowstone National Parks. I was in awe of the majesty of the Rockies. However, a year later, we drove from Dallas to New York and decided to take the Blue Ridge Parkway from Great Smoky Mountain National Park to just beyond the Virginia state line before deciding to get off the beautiful, windy, scenic Parkway to get back on the interstate to make better time. However, we drove through the entire state of North Carolina on the Parkway and I knew then that I wanted the Blue Ridge/Appalachian mountains to be a piece of the puzzle that would complete my life’s picture. I believe this desire was a part of my being that God placed within me. You know how some people say with regard to some “thing” (e.g., a painting, a rug, a piece of furniture, a house, …), “I don’t really know what I want but I’ll know it when I see it.” Well, that’s what I said when I saw the Blue Ridge Mountains!
However, when I talked about my desires and dreams of living in the mountains, I would often be met with criticism, even ridicule, as if it was some “childish” or “immature” thing to want to do. I would hear comments such as, “Why on earth would you want to move to the mountains -- it’s such a hard way to live.” or “Now you know, that’s such a silly thing to want to do -- you know you can’t make a living in the mountains.” And you know what, I allowed those people to influence me and I suppressed my desires and longings for many, many years. In fact, I allowed other people to define who I was and what I wanted and it wasn’t until my divorce in 2003 when I realized I didn’t even know WHO I WAS! But later I realized that those people were operating from a position of selfishness or ignorance, or both. These past few years I have been rebuilding and re-charting my life and guess what, the desire to live in the Blue Ridge Mountains is still there and, by God’s grace, it looks like it may become a reality very soon! I have spent quite a bit of time the last several months in those mountains (Blowing Rock/Boone), and I can't describe the feeling I get when I'm by myself just driving the Parkway and I look out over those majestic mountains. I'm sometimes so overcome with emotion that I just bawl! Now you can't tell me that is not something that's divine in nature. You know, everybody is different. We are each a unique creation with different desires, passions, likes, dislikes, etc. and that’s what makes the world such an interesting (and, yes, sometimes frustrating) place. But what I have learned from my experiences is to NEVER “pooh, pooh” someone's desires and dreams just because they don’t mesh with my own or even register in my radar. I think FEAR is the biggest deterrent to achieving one’s desires, goals, dreams, happiness….
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11-11-2007, 06:38 PM
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This was a quote I came across on a blog I read often:
“Sad is the continual postponement of life.” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882 For those of you who like looking at beautiful pictures of landscapes/scenery, this blog offers that along with quotes to match the picture. From These Hills
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11-11-2007, 07:24 PM
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Clgrimes...I totally relate! When I told friends I was buying a farmhouse in the mountains they thought I was crazy....over 2 years later I've proved them all wrong, this summer when I bought my horse, everyone thought it was great except 1 friend who said "you are nuts" Guess what!!!? I REALLY let her have it!
When people try to thwart your dreams they are jealous, plain and simple!
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11-11-2007, 09:29 PM
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11-11-2007, 09:50 PM
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Amen to that!
Those pictures are exactly what I hope to be taking when we get there. I love photography and I love Wisdom. That page does it all. Until then, my feeble attempts are like these:  
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11-12-2007, 06:34 PM
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Hi Carolyn,
Thanks so much for bringing this up. And so glad to see it bumped to the top. I didn't see it before. I think this is something that many of us may have wondered about, but didn't think to address it as you did. It seems to touch a nerve in many of us and I also appreciate the replies. What you say about being carried along, and the different circumstances and situations makes sense. It is easy to unknowingly let other people and situations help determine these things and not even realize it till later. It is a wonderful thing to to be able to say, I chose to live here because this is what is best for me, not just a set of happenings. It seems that many choosing the beauty of NC, have been able to say this. For me, I want to be closer to the beauty of nature. I want more greenery, more water, a more moderate climate, and a smaller town with a better sense of community There is alot of concrete and asphalt and pollution here now. Summers are longer and hotter and it is more and more traffic and congestion. Most here barely, if at all, know the neighbors. BTW, the neighbor across the street has his house up for sale and I think it has been about 3 wks. Not sure if there has been much activity. Hope it goes quickly and for his asking price. As you may know, I am in AZ now. The desert has its own beauty, but now I feel done with it, as Father John has also pointed out. I grew up in ND, and yes it has very cold, long winters. The prairie also has its own beauty and I love to see it when I go. When I came here, I was starting my junior year in college. I was tired of the cold. I wanted to go to FL, and my mom was adamant that I come here instead. My parents knew people here (that I rarely if ever saw) and for some strange reason she had an idea that AZ wasn't as far as FL. Well it isn't quite, but what's the difference at those distances. Also had relatives in FL. So that is still a mystery. Anyway, AZ turned out to be fine for me for my school and work years. Now it is time for a change. I wonder if I had gone to FL, I may have gone through NC on the way and seen it years ago. So I have seen the extremes of climate. I am one of those that is affected by surroundings. I need pleasant surroundings and light. I have moved out of apartments, when younger, that were too cruddy and depressing looking. I lived in New Orleans in the 70's for a short time, and found it exceedingly gloomy grungy and yes depressing. I know that Seattle or Portland would not be for me. So I have also been keeping an eye on how many sunny days there are. When I first told my hubby that I wanted to move from here and start researching other places he wanted no part of it. Now he has come around and seems as excited as I am about making a change. I think this past summer might have done it. And he started realizing we could go elsewhere and someplace nicer. We don't have the ties here that we used to have, and the ones we do have, have changed. We are both retired and in our 50's so our jobs are not a factor. We can go where we like, provided we can afford a place. We have drifted from some of our friends. Hubby has siblings and nieces and nephews here but we are not that close with them. One of my sisters was here for awhile, but now my sisters and mom are in ND, and my brother is in FL. The girls don't see why we want to go to NC and are wondering why we are going "so far" away. We are already. Duh. My brother is happy about it though. Hadn't really thought seriously about NC till recently after doing some reading and digging and map looking. And then remembered the dream home on HGTV that was in Lake Lure. I couldn't believe the beauty. I have seen the Rockies, (not till my teen years) but this is different. I never used to think I would want to leave AZ, but now I do. I've had it on my mind a couple of years or so. Anyway that's my story about wanting to move and hope it isn't too long. Last edited by marian2005; 11-12-2007 at 06:41 PM.. Reason: poor sentence
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11-12-2007, 08:18 PM
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Believe me, you won't have difficulty getting what you are worth, and then some, in WNC. People with the resources will seek out your craftsmanship. I know of a couple of beautiful farmhouses in Yancey County (Burnsville) where you could work your magic.
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