Our "Room" of Requirements

Okay - first of all, I'm such a huge nerd for naming this post what I did. And if you don't get the movie reference then you have not seen Harry Potter enough!

Anyways, T and I have been talking more and more about some things that we want when we do move out of this town. And we've come up with a bunch of requirements. So the right "room" for us will meet a lot of these. Some of these are more wants and some of these are definite must haves. But here's what we've got so far:

* A Children's museum w/ fun programs and classes

* An ice rink w/ classes for kids

* Dry heat climate w/ LOTS of sunny days - I'd actually be okay with something a bit wetter, such as Oregon area, but hubby is set on a non-rainy climate. He thinks too much rain will be dreary and depressing. So that rules out the NW part of the country. Neither want of us want to be in a humid climate, so that rules out much of the South and particularly the SE part of the country. That leaves us with West and SW. Not very many states left!

* Affordable housing, able to rent something decent for under $1000/month...at least 2 bedroom also. That takes out several major cities that might be nice and pretty much cuts out all of Southern California!

* Hiking, national parks, camping, etc...close by - pretty much any part of the West and SW is going to have this!

* A city that's charming with character of it's own and not just a created product of strip malls that all run together. This makes sense in my head. Don't know if it will make sense to anyone that reads it!

* Laid back, relaxed pace of life. We both want to be away from "Type A" personality living!

* Focus on outdoors

* Great homeschooling laws - i.e. not bogged down with tons of monitoring and regulations

* A state where licensed professional midwives are allowed to practice. This is important because I'm considering this career path once we're done having children and they're a bit older.

* A Borders and/or Barnes 'n' Noble - Okay, I admit. This is commercial and will likely be found in a strip mall area, but living without a huge bookstore close by is like living without water for me. I've spent soooo much money on shipping fees for books since we've lived in our current small town. Granted, if a local shop has it or can get it I'll order from them first. But it's good to have the big bookstore if that's not the case.

* A museum that has a lot of scientific kind of exhibits. I think this will be a great resource for homeschooling.

* A planetarium. Who doesn't love looking at stars?

* A zoo nearby.

* Good dining selection - you know, for all of those times we can't afford to eat out and do it anyways...lol!

* Great coffeeshops

* Great tattoo shops - this isn't as crucial as I'm hoping to get any future tattoos done once my BFF is trained and ready to start tattooing...but still, it's nice to have options.

* Local Le Leche League chapter - LOVE La Leche League!

* Local Attachment Parenting group - I'd love to find a place where I can be part of a group of like-minded moms

* Local homeschooling groups

* Lots of things to do with children

* A good job market - as good as it can get for this economic climate

* Outdoor markets - I just think they're fun!

* Ethnic diversity - Puuulllllease!!! Diversity just makes life so much more interesting!

* Good theatre

* Growing population and economy - as opposed to dying!

* Nearby skiing

* Trader Joe's and/or other natural foods stores

* Yoga places

Well, who knows if we'll find a place with all of that. But we'd like to find much of it. We have a few places we're mulling over already.