We Moved!

It's already March and I've got lots to catch up on! Most recently we moved! We are still in Managua but we moved across the main highway to a different house. Our new house is a little bit smaller than the last one and we are excited about that. When we started downsizing 2 years ago it was so freeing! Even before we left Utah we began to realize how much energy and stress is involved in maintaining a house full of stuff. I remember clearing out unneeded items in droves 2 years ago in preparation for a big yard sale. Our 3rd garage was FULL of stuff for 3 months. I never once went digging in all of that stuff needing any of it. It was a big eye opener for me. We have tried to keep things simple here but even still we have accumulated things over time. Some things are meaningful and will bring us joy, other things are just clutter and we will try to push those things away. For us, simplicity is wonderful and we enjoy a noticeable decrease in stress as well as a huge increase in personal time.

We really like our new house so far. I measured the square footage and we have 6 people in 1,100 sqft. It's just enough. It was a total whim and a whirlwind decision to move! Mitchell and I have tossed around the idea of moving pretty much since we got here. We realized very early on that the condo we chose initially was pretty expensive compared to other (also safe and comfortable) places we could live. I even looked around last summer but nothing I found at the time seemed worth moving for. A couple of weeks ago I went to our bishop's house on a Friday afternoon to spend time with his wife and another of our friends. We had such a fun time! Between the 3 of us moms we had 8 little children running around and while the kids played we baked cinnamon rolls and chatted. I mentioned to my friend how fun it would be to live closer and do this more often. She took my suggestion and ran with it! She found 3 homes for rent in her neighborhood the next day and on Monday the next week Mitchell and I signed the contract and started moving in on Friday. The bulk of the move happened that Saturday. From the first mention of moving to everything being final was 9 days! It was a lot of hard work but we're happy we did it.

Our house was recently remodeled and though it's a small space for the 6 of us it is layed out well and has some beautiful finishes. The front has 2 covered parking stalls. We park in one and have a couple of rocking chairs and patio chairs on the other for a relaxing place to sit if there is an evening breeze.

As you walk in the front door you arrive at the dining room, it is meant to be a living room but it is the only place our kitchen table fits.

The kitchen is a long galley style kitchen and our pantry shelving fit perfectly along the wall where a smaller kitchen table would go.

At the back of the house is the living room/office. Behind our sectional is a little grassy area with an open roof. We don't know yet how rainy season will be with an open roof but so far it has been very pleasant since we often get a breeze in the evenings.

Adjacent to the grassy area at the back of the house is an amazing laundry and cleaning work center. It has large upper and lower cabinets, a long counter top for folding laundry, 3, yes THREE, utility sinks and a full bathroom back there. It's awesome and so useful.

Isn't this a dream laundry room?!!?! Tons of natural light, plenty of storage and that long folding counter! I can fit 6 laundry baskets on there! The only bummer is that the owners built the counter to the dimensions of a smaller front loading washing machine. We have a larger capacity top loading machine so it doesn't slide under the counter out of the way. 

To complete the circle back to the front door is a hallway with the master bedroom and on suite bathroom with walk in closet, 2 kid bedrooms and a full bathroom. We love it!

Master. The owners of the house included a king sized bed with the house. On one hand we are very grateful because the cheap IKEA mattress that we inherited from Mitchell's company when we moved here is in bad shape and has a huge canyon on one side. On the other hand, we might be the only people around who hate king sized beds! It's way too big!

Redick and Reid's room

This window was part of the original house before the remodel. It used to be a window to the backyard, now it's a window to the kitchen. The kids think it is hilarious to order their breakfast from the window as if it was a restaurant.

Audrey and Layne's room

Even though we are slightly farther away from work and school our morning commute time stayed exactly the same. We are now able to take surface streets on the morning commute and avoid the major traffic backups on the highway.