For over a decade the Diamond family have been living the acreage life outside the city limits in Sturgeon County. While they raised their young daughter it was perfect. Lisa and Jerrold Diamond could spend time in their yard and let their toddler run loose without worrying about traffic or noise. They could just live what most would consider a quiet country life.
But as their daughter got older, her own social life was in the city. She was going to a school in the community of Crestwood which was perfect when she was smaller. It was right where both Lisa and Jerrold worked and it was easy to drop her at school on their morning commute. But as time went on the commuting became more than Lisa could handle.
“It was good for a long time. When she was a baby life wasn’t as busy. We could be in the yard and we were. We had a pool so our time was spent there. We had people come to us. But as she got more involved in things, everything was a drive and it was just endless for me. We were never home. We were eating on the go – always in the car. That was the breaking point for me,” says Lisa Diamond.
That’s when Lisa talked her family into listing their home and making the move closer to where their life actually was.
“Jerrold and our daughter didn’t want to move,” says Lisa. “But I was desperate to move. I just kept saying to them, ‘Just trust me.’”
They listed their country home many times but it didn’t sell and Lisa was growing more exhausted with their commuter lifestyle. That’s when they searched for a new realtor.
“Kerri-lyn Holland came on board in the fall of 2017 and we just clicked,” says Lisa. “She was so confident she could sell our home. It wasn’t if she was selling our house – it was when. She just didn’t know how long it would take. She was very honest with us – we had a modern acreage with a pool. We had a lot of things against us. But she did it. We listed in the fall and it sold by March.”
The Diamonds moved into a much smaller newly built home in Crestwood on October 28th and the changes in all of their lives are something Lisa Diamond still can hardly believe.
“I wanted my daughter to live in the neighbourhood where she was building a life, close to her school and near her friends - but now we have a whole community. I needed us to downsize and we wanted to find something that was perfect for the three of us with a lot less manpower and we have. I can’t even tell you what this new life feels like. My daughter is walking to school. I walk to the bank. My husband is five minutes to work. I used to put on at least 200 kilometers a day in the car. Since we have moved here, I’ve maybe put on 400 kilometers and filled up twice in two weeks. We have never had this. We now have the freedom of time and simplicity. It’s just awesome,” says Lisa Diamond.
This will be the very first Christmas in the Diamond’s new home. Lisa and her daughter were so excited to decorate it for the holidays and are looking forward to living in a community that celebrates Christmas with passion.
“Christmas here is fun,” says Lisa. We’re going to walk down to Candy Cane Lane and do a family sleigh ride when my parents come for the holidays. We are a ten minute Uber to any holiday party. Our daughter’s friends are coming to decorate gingerbread houses and I won’t have to drive into the city and back to drop off and pick up. Christmas here is just easy and that’s all I wanted – was for us to be together and it just be easy.”
Even the design of their new home, with an open concept living space of a large galley kitchen bookended by the dining room and living room, means they are always together.
“My daughter sits right there at the kitchen counter to do her homework. She used to be in her room at a desk, behind a door in our other home. We now eat at home together. I never knew that just changing the design of our house would change the way we are together but it has been the most pleasant surprise.”
While there are many old traditions the Diamonds know they’ll miss this holiday season, for them, Christmas has come early – with a simplified life, in a new home that brings them together with the gift of time better spent as a family.
“My family was nervous about moving, but now that we have, we haven’t thought twice about the decision – because it is perfect for us.”
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