A while back I wrote a post about my turbulent (at best)
housing situation, and despite my good-intentioned attempts to stay positive
about the changes in my life I was bested by the stress of it all. But now that
some time has lapsed, as well as my *ahem* monthly
cycle, I'm pleased to be writing from a much better place, both literally
and emotionally. We moved into an apartment a month ago and despite my initial
depression about going from my dream home to what I'm calling a
"transitional home", I'm loving the simplicity of our new living
arrangement. Our possessions have been reduced by nearly half and our monthly
living expenses by almost the same. There is no yard work to keep up with
or maintenance repairs, and the only bills coming in are for rent and electric.
It takes only 20 minutes to clean the entire place, and even though it lacks
the charm of a 1920's bungalow I'm not freezing my ass off because of drafty
windows, or walking down three flights of stairs to do laundry in the basement.
I can honestly say that I'm relieved to be walking away from everything that
big, beautiful house would have ended up being: a lot of work, time, money, and unnecessary possessions. This process has changed our perspective -
or maybe it just clued us into what we really value - and we're now looking for
something smaller and simpler to call home. We don't know what that will be
yet, but for now home is this undemanding apartment with a great view and the
people we love.
{quote via Corina Writes}
Hello! Long time, no see. Life has been crazy these past several weeks and I've been too overwhelmed to write about my life or try to explain it. There was a brief moment when I thought I could just keep sharing my life in photographs, like a year-long August Break, but I quickly realized there are some things that just need to be explained in words. Here goes....
1). Our landlord told us back in August that she wants to sell the house we've been living in for the past nearly-two years.
2). We LOVE this house.
3). We made her the very best offer we could.
4). We want to grow old in this house.
5). She accepted. We celebrated.
6). House was appraised at less than we offered.
7). To put it simply, everything fell apart and now we have to move.
8). Cue lots of tears and disappointment.
9). Suck it up. Realize this is a good thing because this house would have wiped us out financially.
10). View this as an opportunity to downsize and simplify.
11). Become euphoric with the purging of possessions.
12). Make an offer on a great house in our price range.
13). Get rejected.
14). Tears. Anger. Despair at feeling like I'll never be a real, true grown-up because I'm a 32 year old going to community college and waiting tables at night. This must meant I don't have my shit together.
15). Looking for a new place to rent or buy, or something, and finding the options bleak.
16). Still feeling like a failure but also realizing how ridiculous that is.
17). New favorite quote: "Not all those who wander are lost."
18). Insert a full and ordinary life where the sum of its parts make something great. I hope.
19). Still don't know where we're going to live but have packed most of the house and reduced our possessions by nearly half.
20). Watching. Waiting. Wine.
Sniffle. Sigh. Soon he'll be off to college...
