Saturday, January 1, 2011

A New Year and a New (Old) House

Well here it is, January 1 and we are officially in our house and out of our apartment. We actually turned the keys in over our lunch break on Thursday. I cried. It may be silly and sentimental, but it was a good home for us. We had a lot of happy memories there and very significant life events happened there. But it was also a huge relief to turn in those keys and be done moving and cleaning in there.

We are slowly getting settled in here. Little by little boxes are getting unpacked, pictures are being hung up on walls, things are finding new homes, rooms are becoming functional. Not having internet or TV for a few days was probably not a bad thing!

I tend to not really set too many New Year's resolutions, but I do have some goals for myself. I think of them more in connection with the house than the new year, but they do coincide.

Most importantly, I want to get organized and try to stay free of clutter. In our house mail becomes a huge problem. Mark and I are both prone to making piles of things, and then those piles start adding up and creating a huge mess. My idea for dealing with this is to get a very simple writing desk and a few colorful file boxes where important papers can go and everything else gets tossed or shredded or filed away.

I also really need to purge my closet and dresser drawers. I have a lot of pre-baby clothes that I just need to get rid of. They were bought pre-baby and even if I lose these 15 lbs that won't go away, I don't think they are going to fit me right anymore. Even if they do I'm not sure they are going to be in style anymore. I just need to clear them out and buy some new clothes that fit the way I need them to.

Also, and I was doing pretty good with this the last few months, I need to menu plan and cook most of our meals. The kitchen being in boxes and the moving threw a wrench into December, but I can get back to this now and it is time I do. Mark got me a new cookbook for Christmas so I have a new source for recipe ideas, I just got another box of frozen local meat, and I have a new kitchen to cook in.

About that kitchen: it is small. It isn't the kitchen I always dreamed of, but it is actually really nice. For being small I still have a lot of counter space. The appliances are all relatively new (even the older ones are MUCH newer and nicer than what I've used in past apartments) and the space is totally functional. I'm having fun cooking in it! I even like the red counter tops.

Anyway, it is so good to finally have a house and be in our home. It is a work in progress to make it really ours, but this does feel like fun!