Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Truth about 768 Square Feet

They say "everything is bigger in Texas".... Well, 'they' weren't kidding! When we bought our home in Texas I was shocked at what I would be able to call home! I'm not kidding, at 22 I found myself on my new back patio staring at my new lawn thinking... in this exact vernacular, "Omigosh, Oh MY GOSH, seriously... I'm not supposed to have a house like this... my parents have a house like this... PARENTS!"

Over the course of 5 years, we grew quite comfortably in that house, welcoming Caleb and then Logan, spreading out... a place for everything and everything in its place. We were the epitome of suburbia... living in a neighborhood that had a name plate out front... neighborhood pools, block parties, and SUV's... the whole shabang.

When looking for housing in the DC area we decided early on that we'd sacrifice square footage for location, desiring to be closer to the action and knowing we'd only be out a year lease if we hated it. Our house hunting trip confirmed location would require just that... SACRIFICE... or so I thought.

I cringed internally and externally when we agreed the condo in Belle Haven, coming in at 768 square feet, just about 1/3 of the size we'd grown accustomed to, was our new home to be... So much so that when people asked about the size.... "It's a little under 1000 square feet" I would say... let their imagination come up with just HOW far under.

Well, now 7 weeks into our adventure, below are the list of Pro's and Con's of being "The woman who lived in a Shoe... box"

Pro: At any point in time I can hear every member of my family
Con: At any point in time I can hear every member of my family

Pro: I can clean my entire house in about an hour
Con: A tornado (AKA a 2 year old) can destroy it in 5 minutes

Pro: We cleaned house literally/figuratively shedding the unnecessary and raking in some dough at our garage trail.
Con: In 768 sq feet, even the 'necessary' is TOO much stuff!

Pro: Our King Size Bed/Frame FIT!!! Hip Hip Hooray
Con: Our bed room doubles as my 'home office'
Pro: That King Size bed makes for a VERY comfortable 'cube' some days!

Pro: There is only one bathroom to clean... and I HATE cleaning bathrooms
Con: There is only one bathroom

Pro: No stairs with which to worry about as Logan learns how to crawl
Con: Boys sharing a room = difficulty in working the 'cry it out' method to get Logan sleeping through the night. **Solution** Logan's now in a pack n' play in the kitchen at night :)

I'm sure I'll discover many more as the weeks turn into months, but thus far the sacrifice for location was definitely the way to go! The neighborhood is FANTASTIC, with so much right outside our door who would ever want to stay inside!

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