The Decision

During our trip to Vegas in September, a few things came into sharp relief.

1. It's just too much. There, I said it. There's too much to do in Vegas. We have many things we love doing so much that we feel like we HAVE to do them every time we're in town. But we also want to try all the new things that invariably spring up in the city. On this trip it was apparent that we'd reached capacity on our average 6-to-8-night stays. 

2. The Badger was tired of vacationing in Vegas, largely for the reasons mentioned above. This sentiment had reared its ugly head on a couple of previous trips, but usually it followed a hangover or bout with dehydration. But this time was ... different. 

We've always ventured past the strip, but this time we found ourselves driving through neighborhoods and developments. One of us (I don't remember who) saw a sign for open model homes and said, half-jokingly, that we should go check it out. When neither of us could come up with a better way to kill time until whatever plans we had later that afternoon, we parked and went in. 

It was super fancy and really beautiful and WAY out of our imaginary price range. We took their floor plans and walked out fantasizing about the cookouts we could have on the patio with the giant outdoor fireplace.

Then we went to another model home. This one was still out of our price range, but it was closer. The joking manner of the afternoon changed.

3. I really... really.... REALLY did not want to come home. I haven't told many people this, but I had a panic attack on our last night. It was my birthday, and we had had a really great day. But the tiniest detail was out of place at dinner, and out of nowhere, the anxiety hit.

We got back to the room and talked some things out. It wasn't a pleasant conversation, overall. But it was one of those that needs to take place. 

It was during that talk, and another the following morning, that the discussion of moving became real.

"Don't mess with me on this one," I told the Badger. "If you don't really mean this, we need to stop this right now."

Decision made.

We weren't going to be in that $500,000, six-bedroom house in Summerlin, but we were going. And it was going to be amazing.