In the past few years, this blog has become outdated. I have been posting less and spending more time with my family. It’s a little bit crazy realizing just how much free time you have when you don’t have kids… and yet you never realize and don’t always use that free time wisely (or at least I didn’t, when I look back on it).
I’ve done a little housekeeping to bring things back into 2017.
I updated and republished my “About” page.
I updated and republished my “FAQs” page.
I’m finding dead links and fixing them.
And I am (slowly) going through old posts trying to re-tag where I’ve missed things.
Since we’re talking housekeeping, I wanted to veer into some actual housekeeping talk.
We recently moved back into an apartment (a 2-bedroom in Princeton) from a 4 bedroom home (in the neighboring suburb).
After being an apartment/city person for almost 12 years, I could not adjust to owning a house. Does anyone else feel this way?
The housekeeping was exhausting. I felt like I was constantly cleaning and tidying up after messes appeared (ahem, small children). The sheer number of rooms to keep up with was so much – cleaning bathrooms – cleaning a dining room and a kitchen (!) – so much cleaning! Not to mention the mental effort involved in keeping track of all the places in the house.
We ended up paying someone to mow and care for the yard that we thought we’d wanted. I did not understand how much “housekeeping” the outdoor part of a house really required. Or how expensive it got if you didn’t have the time or desire to do it yourself.
Stuff seemed to collect in every room, the basement, and the garage. How does this happen? We were only there 1.5 years. And I swear I am a minimalist!
So one day earlier this year (after discussing it… basically since we bought the house), we decided to put it on the market. Not even two weeks later we were showing, we were in contract in less than a week, and we ended up closing in early August.
We moved to Princeton (our process for deciding this location is another post in itself). We’re renting. And we love living in town. Princeton is great. Our small place is a lot easier to care for and I can walk to my favorite coffee shop. I can also bike (or take a long walk) to yoga. Those were my requirements for when we moved. Bobby’s requirements were that he have space for his music stuff, which we are still sort of working on (his piano is set up, and the guitar is out, but he doesn’t have his own room for it).
I am very happy to be rid of lots of housekeeping. And the family seems to be enjoying our new digs too.
How do you feel about housekeeping? And living in apartments vs. houses?
Oh man, that free time…so different from life these days!
Loved this post Maggie. We are in a great house for our family, and with the kids and two dogs, I’m grateful for our yard. However, we are not yard/lawn people, and the upkeep is a lot. Thankfully, we live in a more urban neighborhood, and so we have that. We’re close to coffee shops, and can walk/bike to the library, restaurants, etc. Like you, I’m not a suburb girl. My rule for any house that we live in is that it must be within walking distance of a good coffee shop, and there is no shame in that. Happy to hear the family is enjoying their new digs!
We actually have access to a yard which is great for the kiddos but have not used it that much (we’re on the 2nd floor so I can’t just let them run out by themselves… yet!). Your place sounds like it is perfect for you!!
I am so glad you posted this! I am currently staying home with my first and still have less free time then pre-kids working full time… it’s really shocking but also makes me so much more efficient when I do get a spare moment. Also I am glad you opened up about rejecting home-ownership. Can’t wait for the full post on that decision & process! We are going to be relocating back to the US soon and will be making housing decisions too and cleaning is quite the chore! Being able to walk to a coffee shop would be awesome…
Congratulations if I didn’t say that to you already!! I stayed home with Kurt for a few months in between jobs. It is a hard job but very rewarding. I will definitely have to elaborate on our process… it’s taken some time. Good luck with your move 🙂 Perhaps I will see you if you end up back in this area. Do you know where you’re moving to?
Such a great post. I honestly feel so much more comfortable in a smaller space, anyway. It’s cozier and feels more like it’s mine. When there’s too much space it just feels empty and overwhelming. Your new place feels so much more like you 🙂 It’s homey and warm and cozy. I love that we can just go for walks around town now when I come visit.