A few nights ago I dreampt that someone gave Richard and I their house. There was more than one floor, and so much room for Anna to play around. It was beautiful. I didn't want the dream to end. Eventually I had to wake up and content myself with the apartment that I love (most of the time).
Just before that, a friend had asked me if I was ready to settle down and put down some roots somewhere. I told her that it was still kind of fun to not know where we were going to end up and to always be meeting new people.
But when I woke up from my dream, I realized I that I had been neglecting a longing that had been growing for some time. A longing to belong somewhere, to have a house and a yard, to have a kitchen that admits more than one person, to be able to have neighbors that aren't just across the wall from me, and to gain a familiarity with a place and a community. Out of curiosity I counted the number of apartments I have lived in since graduating from high school, and in the last decade I have lived in 10 different apartments, and that doesn't include the almost two years I lived in Michigan serving a mission.
10 apartments in 10 years. It makes me feel tired.
Yet, I know that someday I will have a house and a home. So, until then, I will count the blessings of renting a small apartment:
1. It takes almost no time to clean
2. There are no stairs so there is less danger for Anna
3. There are only so many places Anna can hide from me.
4. We don't need a baby monitor.
5. The amount of furniture we have is just perfect for this space
6. It has a very warm, cozy feel to it.
7. This is Anna's first home, and her room is the best in the house.
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2 comments:
settling down is so far off for us that I can't even imagine it. We've lived in our condo for 6 years now and I doubt we will live in another place as long as we've been here until mark retires which is crazy to think. oh well it doesn't matter to me much. i always feel at home when i'm with my family and that will have to do.
not that we had a huge house in dayton, but i'll tell you, moving to a 2 bedroom apartment that's got a whole lot less square footage has almost been a relief to me. and that's with 2 kids!! you are right about the not taking long to clean part. another thing is that when you have more rooms, one room inevitably becomes the "dumping" room. when you don't know where to put something, it goes in that room and keeps piling and piling until someone comes to visit or (heaven forbid!) you move. life is a lot simpler with a smaller space and i'm really liking it. especially with so many great places to visit here. i'm sure it's the same in seattle. here's to living in small spaces!! (and i'm sure it won't get much bigger in japan for us!)
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