bybmg: Contentment

Contentment

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We live in a pretty large, suburban, area. One of the fastest growing zip codes in the nation. New houses are popping up all over the place around us. Corn fields are turning into developments.

Our home, in the middle of this suburbia, was build in 1900. It's a small ranch. One bathroom. Three bedrooms. A cellar basement. Wonderful open kitchen with the stove in the island and a cute little retro stainless oven. Even so, It can be difficult to be content in our home. One bathroom?! I mean who has just ONE bathroom?






Along with simplifying this year, I want to learn to be content in my home. With student loans, two kiddos in daycare, and unexpected expenses that just keep popping up (oh, bats in the attic, $1k of car repairs, an unexpected trip to the dentist...), we will be in our home for a few more years. We will probably, Lord willing, bring home our next baby to this house.

I read this article the other day and this statistic just hit me, "The average size of a new home in 2012 topped 2,500 square feet, according to the US Census Bureau—that’s compared to 1,660 square feet in 1973. At that time, 23 percent of new homes had four or more bedrooms. Today, 41 percent have four or more bedrooms – and nearly a third have three or more baths." I'd say that the bathroom and bedroom percentages in new homes are probably higher in our affluent area. We are definitely in the minority with the house we live in currently, but I need to learn to be ok with that. It's what we can afford.

The article also mentioned that smaller homes require less costs of outfitting and energy (duh, but a great positive). Both things I can be thankful for, though I do love to decorate. I want to work to see the positives in our home instead of the drawbacks. Yep, I'd love another bathroom. Yep, I'd love a usable basement. Yep, I'd love a guest bedroom. But, I stink at cleaning the bathroom so it's great there's just one. No one can escape to the basement so our family is always together. We make it work with an air mattress or the couches when people come to stay.


So. This year. Besides simplifying, my contentment in our space will also be my work in progress. What do you hope to be more content about this year?


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