After almost four months of apartment living, we are now preparing to move into a house. You may be familiar with the old saying, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” That is certainly the case with me. Although Mark and I lived in four different apartments during the early years of our marriage, we have been in a house for the last 20+ years. Not that any house is perfect, but compared to apartment living, a house does offer many benefits that one can get used to and maybe even take for granted.
First of all, I have learned that living in a small loft apartment is a little like living in a tent in that there would seem to be little or no insulation keeping the cold air from penetrating the walls. Of all the winters to be in an apartment, we chose this one! I am looking forward to being in a house that keeps the outside temperature at bay.
I didn’t realize how fond I had grown of having a laundry room. Stephen is currently the host of my laundry area, which consists of a small closet just large enough for the two appliances to face each other. This means that when transferring clothes from the washer to the dryer, I must stand right up against the dryer, while bending forward to open the washer door and scoop the clothes out into a basket and close the door. Then, while holding the basket, I maneuver around to stand against the washer, bending forward to open the dryer door and dump the wet clothes in. Of course this is still much better than the years I remember hauling laundry to an outdoor washer and dryer load by load.
Another thing I really miss is having trees to look at through the windows. From our apartment’s back door, there was one rather lovely tree positioned just next to the large garbage container belonging to the business behind us. I tried to seriously focus on it for the few weeks it had lovely bright red leaves. However, before the leaves had fallen off, the ice came and went, leaving the tree bare and quite deformed. So I’ve uncharacteristically kept our shades closed for the duration. Normally, Mark and I play a little game with our windows. As we each go through various rooms, he closes the blinds, I open the blinds, he closes the blinds, I open the blinds. Not to be contentious, we just like different things in that department. I enjoy the sun beaming through the windows; he doesn’t like the glare, so we adjust according to whoever is in the room. (This also keeps dust from accumulating on the blinds because they keep moving all the time.)
I miss having a two person kitchen. Mark is so helpful in the kitchen and I really enjoy it when we can do things together. In our apartment kitchen, even one person is crowded and must be strategic in the opening and closing of appliance and cupboard doors and drawers to avoid frustration or even disaster.
That’s just a few things I have learned (or remembered) from apartment living. I am very thankful for God’s gracious provision for us wherever we live, but I am looking forward to being back in a house soon with a renewed appreciation for all the benefits that go with it.
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