The holiday blues

I'm just not feeling the holiday spirit this year. Both my kids are young and I am trying to show up for them. I even saved up quite a bit of cash to pay for toys and gifts and take some of that stress off us, but I just can't get in the mood.

I think more than anything, I'm feeling tired of Oregon and feeling the pull to move back to Michigan. We’ve outgrown our house and feel trapped due to prices and interest rates. Looking at real estate back in the Midwest looks like a bargain. The pay isn’t even that different in my field, and we’d have a huge down payment if we sold our current house to buy there. It’s even more appealing to me also because my family lives there. But I can’t convince my wife.

Take for example this house:

It’s in an affluent suburb with good schools, in a major metro area with good jobs in my field. A house like this barely even exists in Oregon, and the ones that do would cost double what this one is listed for. Here in Oregon, we live in a tiny place in a less desirable location despite being in a higher income group. It’s crazy to me what is unavailable to us given our education and income levels. We worked so hard to get where we are and barely feel we can get ahead. Why people stay here is beyond me.