Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Settling In

These are all out of order, but here's some pics of our new place: Living room, Sassy lounging Topher's room (we put a twin bed in there as well as the crib in case we have to lay down with him at night...the dresser will go in his closet and we'll have a shelf up for his radio soon.) Our room, looking into the bathroom and closet, Sassy's bed
Topher's bathroom
Our bedroom...we love the vaulted ceiling
Living room
Living room, happy dog
Kitchen
Topher checking out the neighborhood
Topher and Sassy
Here we are, in our new townhome in our new town. And I have to say that we LOVE it here. It's a humble home, but it's everything we need. Honestly, it might be small and cozy, but as we unpacked, there was room for everything we own. Our stuff just fits here, and it doesn't feel crowded or crammed. Turns out you don't need a lot of different rooms when you don't have that much stuff. It's a lofty feeling, living up off the ground, and the neighborhood is shockingly quiet. We never even know that we have a shared wall. And because we're surrounded by hundreds of nearly identical units, there's no pressure to compare ourselves to the neighbors. It feels very equalizing, which is appealing when you're on a budget.
I thought that leaving the old house would just immediately lift the giant weight from my shoulders, but it hasn't really happened that way. Instead, every morning I wake up here, I feel a little lighter, like the stress is coming off in layers. It's hard to believe that all the stress of selling and moving is over, just like that. And we have our dog back! (She's been living out at Terry & Kathy's farm for months so we could keep our house show-clean and we've missed her.)This is a pet-friendly complex, so there are a lot of dogs here for Sassy to socialize with (she just needs to work on her leash manners a little bit more!) Everyone we've met so far has been friendly and welcoming, and there are even several young families from our church that live in this same complex.
I'm not trying to brag and I hope it doesn't sound that way! This is pretty much the cheapest living option in all of Ankeny (even cheaper than rent!) so it's not like I'm saying that we have some grand, impressive new home. I'm just trying to say that after our last home, we're so grateful to be here. We feel safe and settled and just so fortunate that our family fits here so well. Topher seems to like his room, we love ours, and the pets just sleep all day. I think we're all more relaxed here in general. Maybe we've down-graded in size, but we don't feel it. We weren't using half of our last house, so it feels like an upgrade to us because we use every room here. We gave up a yard, but Sassy seems deeply satisfied to go on her daily walks.
All the work, all the stress, all the tension...it was all leading to this. And now we're here. It was all worth it, as awful as it was at times. Even though we no longer have any spare guest rooms, our home is open and welcome to visitors. And if you want to spend the night, the living room is all yours and we'd love to have you! :)
--KC

3 comments:

  1. The house looks absolutely beautiful! I so want to come see it. Congratulations and I am so happy that everything worked out so well in the end. Enjoy your new space.

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  2. I'm so so so happy for you guys! It already looks like home. When I was looking at your pictures of the place all decorated I was thinking to myself, everything seems to just "fit".

    I think you guys will be very happy here. :) Topher seems like he is already enjoying it. I love the photo of him standing at the window, so cute. :)
    Congrats you guys! You really deserve such a wonderful cozy home.

    Love
    Tina

    p.s. you have complete bragging rights too (which i don't think you were even bragging, you are just excited, there's a big difference.) :)

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  3. Hey...it is beautiful and I can sleep on the bed in Topher's room...it looks great! Love and miss all of you but I am so happy for you too! Hugs and kisses...mom

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