Gosh, I just looked at my blog and reread my post from 6 months ago. I promised to write again once we got settled in to our new place. I guess it has taken a really long time for that to happen...and even now I feel like this place, this stage of life is still new. So here's the story:
About six months ago we were looking pretty hard for a new, cheaper place to live. Turns out that when you have student loans as big as a mortgage payment it's actually impossible to pay a mortgage (or rent for that matter). So we thought we'd scale back and rent an apartment for awhile until we...I don't know...die. That's how it felt at least when we tried to even fathom how on earth we would crawl out of the hole we dug for ourselves.
In the mean time, Bo thought I should apply for a job he saw in the want ads for a Resident Manager position at an apartment complex. Initially I was very reluctant about the whole thing...mainly because I love being a stay-at-home mom and not having to figure out day care and all that goes into being a working mom. I just never thought I would be able to juggle both...and I like my kids too...even when they're making me crazy. However, we learned that there is such a thing as having the best of both worlds. The Resident Manager job is a work from home position. No day care. All the crazy. Perfect.
So I applied and they decided to take a chance on us. The packing and simplifying began. Moving from a 4 bedroom house with family room to a 2 bedroom, 1000 square foot apartment with a kitche-offi-dini-livingroom is no easy task. We participated in several garage sales (thank you girlfriends for letting me freeload and bring my junk to your garage sales) and got very acquainted with Craig's List. Purging feels good...especially those boxes that we moved all the way from Buffalo and never opened. (Sorry good friends and family who helped us move--we completely wasted your time and muscles on those boxes.)
What we didn't know is that the property that we moved to was...."in transition"....you could say. I have stories to share but will fast forward to present. To make a long story short, big mess, lots of vacancies, suspected drug dealer our closest neighbor, long hours, crazy kids, a pang of regret, a bucket of overwhelmed....is NOW...great community, full apartments, more balance, crazy kids (in school every day), no regrets. Love this job. There's hope for us. Our hole feels shallower now.
Phew!
So are we "settled in" yet? This is definitely home for now. I even put one of those sayings on the wall...like actually on the wall...not just on a sign that can be moved to the next place. It says, "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all!"
I think that about sums it up. We're together...(very close together in our kitche-offi-dini-livingroom I might add)...and that's amazing to me. God worked it all out. Thanks God.
