Living in this house

I will warn you now...this is not a post that is going to be particularly interesting to anyone.  It's going to be long, and it's mostly just so I can get my thoughts down on, and reflect back upon them from time to time...especially as our life changes.  This post is simply a summary of living in this house vs. living in our old house, and things I'll want to think about IF we ever move again.  The nice thing about this house though, is that while it's a nice size for us now with plenty of space, it isn't too big where it will be too much for us when the kids are living on their own.

To begin, the lot here was one of the biggest selling points.  Our old house was on 1/8 acre and mostly covered with house or driveway.  There was VERY little yard...perhaps the smallest I've ever seen!  We didn't even own a powered mower...just the little push reel kind!  Here we have over 1/2 acre and lots of mature trees.  My kids actually have a yard to play in!  We've commented many times over the last year how we wish we would've had this when they were little, but we shouldn't live life with "if's".  I sometimes miss being in town, but I love the neighborhood feel here, and I love how absolutely quiet it is.  I love having neighbors without having strangers walk just feet from my living room (our former house sat right up against the sidewalk).

While this house has less than 100 sq. ft. more than our old house, it is so much more functional.  This house has three living spaces (if you include the sunroom) so we are all able to spread out and have our own space.  Unfortunately, the extra living space comes at the expense of the kids' rooms, which in Catherine's case isn't really an issue.  It's much tougher with the boys sharing a room, but we are making it work.  On the upside, their closet is twice the size of their old room, so that replaces the dresser that didn't fit, and all of Thomas's Lego's are in the sunroom which also helps the space in their bedroom.

Overall, the closets here are amazing.  People probably laugh because I point them out to everyone when they first visit.  Our old house was built in 1865...any closet in that house had been added at some point.  Andrew's closet in our bedroom is twice the size of the closet in our old bedroom, AND I have a large walk-in closet!  At our old house, my dress clothes were either in Catherine's room (so although her closet size is still the same she gained space) or in a portable closet in our garage.  Yes, you read that correctly...garage.  It made the most sense when I became a SAHM because I wasn't wearing dress clothes very often and Andrew was getting dressed every day at 5:30AM.  So the closets here are fabulous!

I'll be honest, I really miss having stairs.  I know that in the long run, a ranch house has huge benefits.  After watching my father struggle to breathe for 17 years, I understand the advantage of NOT having steps in the house.  However, I miss having an "upstairs" that isn't necessarily "open" when company comes over.  I liked the fact that there was rarely a need for visitors to be upstairs, and it didn't really matter what the upstairs looked like!  It's also an issue with the bathrooms.  In our old house, we had one really large bathroom upstairs.  It had two sinks and lots of floor space...plenty of room for everyone.  We also had a cute little half bath downstairs that was rarely used and perfect for guests.  Having the two full baths here is nice, but I really detest the fact that our guest bath is the one the kids use...none of them are good about keeping it picked up.  I could let guests use our bathroom, but I don't really want people traipsing in and out of my bedroom.  Having the two sinks in the large upstairs bathroom was also really nice when the kids were getting ready for school, although since Thomas is the only one getting ready at his time it works out.  Next year is going to be a MAJOR issue with all three at the same time.

Strangely enough, I do NOT love having a master bathroom.  I actually preferred the layout at our old house, where the bathroom was right outside our door...it's not like we had to walk forever, and since Andrew gets up before the crack of dawn (literally) it provided an extra buffer to the noise when he is getting ready.  I could fall back to sleep after he got up without too many problems.  Now, it's pretty much like he's still right there in the room, and I'm pretty much up when he's up.

I miss having a basement (another great space to hide junk when guests arrive), but we do have two garages for added storage space.  It's definitely not quite the same (especially in winter when there is snow on the ground) but it serves a purpose.  We are hoping that our attached garage can be more of a "hang out" space when we get better organized in there...it would be great for foosball or ping pong!  Might be a little too chilly in winter, but we can see what can be done about that.

Overall, I kind of see this house as a dream come true.  Every day as I walk out to take Thomas to the bus stop, I look back at our house and almost can't believe that we live here.  I feel so very blessed at how this house allows us to enjoy being home...which is one of my favorite places to be!