Abundant Gratitude

Wow. Our new home blows me away constantly. I can't believe the space! It is a bit unsettling for this creature of habit to be out of her routine, but at the same time it is such a gift; I am completely savoring every minute, finding myself struck by surprising little joys everywhere. And I'm realizing how much my environment impacts my mindset. In our apartment there was always clutter, and it felt like the work was never done. In our house, there is open space and it feels peaceful. I can feel the change in my body and in my mind.

Some of the joys so far:

• Sitting on the floor of our 3-season porch, watching our cat gaze at the oh-so-close birds
• Plenty of counter space for preparing meals
• Running our dishwasher for the first time
• Taking showers with better water pressure and a better shower head
• Sore calves from walking up and down our stairs so many times during the move
• Admiring the small stained class window in our dining room
• Watching less TV - because there is space for so many other activities
• The feeling of moving air from the ceiling fan while laying in bed - love it
• And this... my favorite room in the house (below). It is a small "sleeping porch," which overlooks the backyard and colorful little garage roofs down the alley, has windows on 3 sides, and was apparently used back in the day for sleeping on hot days. Now it is my favorite place to read and to stretch out my back every morning. Such bliss.

Let the wild rumpus start!

It is moving week. And as is so often the case, when it rains - it pours. As if the home-buying process isn't enough of a run-around with so many hoops to jump through, we've both got very busy schedules at work this week, spilling into several of our evenings. Our apartment is 75% filled boxes and 20% furniture and remaining stuff. The other 5% is made up of narrow walking paths to get from room to room, which is not quite enough to keep us sane. ;) Only 3 days to go, though! Surreal. But our now-empty pocketbooks prove that it is REALLY happening - we cut the check and in a few days and signatures we will actually be homeowners.

Lots of hard work and fun and photos to come!