Big Changes Pt. 2: Home Renters

We are now home renters! It's very strange and came about very unexpectedly, but so far we love it! Our apartment building kept demanding long-term leases, which we really never felt comfortable with since Ryan is still looking for a job. We would have to talk them down to six month terms every time, and with every new lease they would raise the rent. We were living our lives in six month increments just waiting to see what would happen. Last June, we decided that we had signed the last six month lease - especially since the end of the lease would be our two year anniversary of moving here. Come hell or high water, something was changing at the end of the six months. In our minds, that meant either saying sayonara to the Texas experiment or maybe moving to the other side of Houston so that Ryan wouldn't have such a long commute.

That decision was the easy part. The hard part was figuring out which option to take. We talked and talked and talked and prayed and fasted and talked and prayed and fasted and we still felt absolutely no direction. It felt like a stupor of thought about leaving and a stupor of thought about staying. Meanwhile, time was a ticking. The weeks and then months passed and we felt no closer to making a decision. October came, then NOVEMBER (our lease was up December 2) and still no closer! It was probably one of the most difficult decisions we had ever faced together. In a way, much more difficult than moving to Texas. Back then, we had hopes that hadn't been crushed by life experiences. Now, we knew where a bad decision could lead and we were scared. Finally, after one discussion in November where we talked in circles and realized that we were no closer to making a decision, we decided to call in for reinforcements. We started meeting with a member of the stake presidency who has always been very kind to us and interested in our life; he's also a pretty knowledgable businessman, so he could give us counsel concerning that, too. He really helped us refocus our goals and thoughts for the direction we wanted for our family.

A third option opened up for us that we hadn't really considered seriously before. Willa's former babysitter and her family moved to Denver a few months ago. Their house has been sitting vacant since it's a really tough market right now. She had called about two months ago to see if we were interested in renting, but at that point our future plans were too unsettled. I contacted her again, and now we're renting their house! I love it because it's a mutually beneficial decision. We are helping them by filling the house with renters, watching over the house, and taking better care of the house than possible random renters might. They are helping us by giving us a very generous rent (about the same as our apartment) and allowing us to be in their nice house with a month-to-month lease! We hadn't planned on staying in this part of town, but it feels like the best decision for us right now. It feels so relaxing to not worry about being here 3 months, 6 months, or more. Ryan and I both feel very peaceful and good about staying. It's hard because I wish the right thing had been to move to Utah, I think neither of us love it here, but we do feel good about our decision right now.

We're still surrounded by a lot of boxes, but it is amazing having more room! We've never really had more than 850 sq feet and it is life-changing. It's not a huge house, three bedroom and two and a half baths, but it feels palatial right now. I miss having the small and easy apartment space - my keys could only be in a few places, it was very easy to clean, but it was so difficult to make it a nice and relaxing environment because we just have so much STUFF. If we had a nice and cushy income, I think I would like being in a small space. I could just throw away all this stuff that I only randomly use, or that I am saving for the future because I know that I can buy it again when I need it. Ever since we've been married, we've kind of been hoarders. Keeping wedding gifts that have no real purpose at this time (maybe in five years they will). In the house, there is space to store it all and also space to use it. I finally used a tablecloth for the first time that we received from our wedding. I hate that I held onto it for five years, but now I'm glad to have it! Before, we never had a table big enough to use it. Also, it was annoying to dig into our one linen closet and having to move the extra toilet paper and paper towels, cleaning supplies, towels, beach bag, extra sheets, pillow, inflatable mattress, food storage, etc. just to find one tablecloth. I was filling the upstairs linen closet here and almost started crying as I was able to cleanly place sheets on one shelf, towels on one shelf, and just have everything orderly and accessible. I've even been cooking more and excited to cook because I don't have to climb up on a stool, empty a cupboard to find that one appliance I need that is behind all the other appliances, pull it down, have it clutter the counter while I cook, etc. I honestly don't know if I should have tossed so much of the stuff that crowded our apartment, or held onto it. I'm glad to have things now! I know that if I had thrown stuff out, I would be wanting to buy it now and not have the money to do so. If we had been renting a storage unit, that would have been a different story - I would have tossed everything and just saved the money we would have spent on the storage unit so that we could buy new stuff later.

Anyway, those are our big changes! Nothing huge, but definitely something different. We feel very optimistic about the future and feel like our faith has been much stronger lately.

It's so fun to have a yard! It's so easy to go outside and play with Willa! I don't dread coming home with groceries and figuring out how many trips it will take to get them and Willa up to the apartment!