We had a great weekend. Conference weekend is always a little like Christmas; we eat a ton of yummy food and never change out of our pajamas or make our beds. Of course the kids don't appreciate President Monson the same way they do Santa Claus, then again, once they find out the truth about Santa, that will probably change.
When we lived in Florida, Noel would bring cinnamon rolls over on Conference weekend and we would snack on them all day. Since we moved here, I thought it would be fun to continue the tradition. Especially when I found an awesome recipe using my bread machine (Thanks Tricia!). Seriously, these are yummy. You can find the recipe HERE. The kids had a good time helping me (Damon rolling out the dough, Allie mixing the cinnamon and sugar together, then spilling half of it on the kitchen floor), and we enjoyed them Sunday evening.
President Monson's talk about change was an especially meaningful one to me. I felt like he was talking right to me when he mentioned the fingerprints that cover every surface and the stacks of laundry that need to be washed (please tell me I'm not the only one!). I really loved how he encouraged us to make the most of today so we don't have any regrets when the children are gone. I know I want to do better with that. But I have also been reflecting on all the changes that have taken place just since Jeff and I got married and how our lives continue to change.
When we first got married, we lived in a tiny apartment close to campus. It was great and perfect for us. I made the comment early on that we would never live somewhere smaller than that, but would need more and more space as the children came. Even when we moved in with Jeff's parents the first time, we had just as much, if not more, space in the "love loft" as in our Cambridge Court apartment. When we moved to Ohio, we bought a 2 bedroom condo for $42,500. It was just under 900 square feet and sported the tiniest kitchen I had ever seen. And we were happy there. Damon was two months old when we moved in, and when we left, four years later, we had added Allie to the family. We were definitely beginning to outgrow our little condo, and I was anxious to get into something with three bedrooms before we thought about another baby.
In Jacksonville, we were lucky enough to rent from the best landlord ever--Jeff's dad. He bought a 3 bedroom house (our first time not sharing walls with anyone else!) and we thought we were moving into a mansion. We had plenty of space, even with baby Kyla, and I never felt crowded (well, except that one time my ENTIRE family came to visit. That was a great time, but it was crowded). And back here in Springville, in the basement, we have just as much living space as we did in Florida (and here we even have an "extra" bedroom for Kyla, aka, the storage room). It's perfect for us now, and really, we would be fine to stay here for quite a while, even if we were to have baby #4 join us (don't tell Jeff that, though, because I told him I really want to be in our own house before we have another baby. That gives us over 9 months, though, so hopefully that will happen).
Now, though, we are contemplating the biggest move yet (maybe ever). We want to buy a house that we can grow into, possibly staying in forever, if we love the neighborhood, schools, ward, etc. This is a big commitment, but I have talked to so many people who planned on being in a house for 5 years or so, but are still there because as kids get older, it's harder and harder to move. So I would prefer to buy a house that we can grow into, and won't feel small in a few years. And, while that's very exciting, it's also very scary. I don't know if I'm ready for that. I mean, I'm ready for the house, but I don't know if I'm ready to clean it.
I have never been the perfect housekeeper. My mom was quick to warn Jeff about how disastrous my bedroom was as a teenager (to be fair, Heather and I did share a small room and most of the mess was always clothes), and not to expect too much out of me. But for those of you who know my mom, you know she is a big time cleaner. She can scrub and scour with the best of them. And she always did her big cleaning on Saturday, especially Saturday night, so the house was spotless Sunday morning. She said she liked to start the day off right by inviting the Spirit to be there. It makes sense, and it was nice to wake up to a clean house, with Janice Kapp Perry playing in the background.
But I have come to realize that the messiest my house gets is always Sunday night. No one wants to clean on Sunday (when I say no one, I mean myself, of course), and long days with everyone home mean things get trashed. So, the most logical day to clean is Monday. That way I don't have to worry about how messy things get on Sunday, because I know I'll take care of it on Monday. So, I decided to make a change and do all the cleaning on one day. I also wanted to prove (to myself) that I will be able to handle the kind of house we are trying to buy (oh, and the fact that I want to keep my in-laws basement from getting destroyed helps out in my motivation). I hope that I'll be able to. Cleaning just the basement (and doing the laundry) takes, on average, five hours. But I'm usually okay with that, because I don't have anything else planned on Monday and I love the way the house looks (and smells) when I am done. I'm not sure that proves that I am ready for my own house, but hopefully it is a step in the right direction.
If I have to give myself a grade on how well I am doing in the cleaning department, it would be a B. Is that enough to get me the new house? Will that translate to a C in a bigger place (or worse)? Right now, today, I am feeling very grateful that we are here with the Trapnell's. Not only are we saving a lot of money, but I can rest easy knowing I don't have to worry about things like house payments. And scrubbing one more bathroom.
p.s. We are still looking at two houses in Springville. Both are brand new, never been lived in, and are short sales, which we are learning a lot about. Really, when listing a house as a short sale, the realtor should add in parentheses (there's nothing short about it. You'll be waiting for weeks or months to hear anything). At least then you wouldn't get your hopes up every few days. But we're hopeful that one of the two houses will work out, and that we won't be here until next fall. :) I'll let you know when I know.
12 comments:
I am worrying about the same thing! My sister in law promised me that it's actually easier to keep a bigger house clean because you're not on top of each other with no where to put all the stuff...it just spreads out. I hope she's right b/c right now I go crazy when our tiny house is a mess. Good luck house hunting.
AND ps-- a house for $42,5oo! I've never heard of such a thing :)
I know what you're talking about with the short sales!! Porter and I put bids on quite a few (even though Justin Cook gently informed us it was basically pointless...), and months went by with no word. The nice thing is that you do have some time to wait if you needed to. Our house now is almost triple the size of the apartment we were squeezed into for 4 years. I won't lie, the cleaning can be a bit more than I like, but it's true that there is so much more living area. It takes longer for things to get gross. :) People who are A+ housekeepers are cheating (ie: they have A+ housekeepers for them) or they're not having any fun!! :)
This is an important time, then. I still have 1 1/2 more years here and then we'll move. Where? Who knows. I hope it will be a house. And I hope we won't have to move again for a long time. I love having a house now and feel like it is easier to keep tidy than our tiny condo.
I really enjoyed this post. We are now living in a house that we should grow into (5 bedrooms). It is a PAIN to keep clean and I'm not a great cleaner either, but I find I'm more motivated to clean since I know I'll be here a long long long time and it is my place and I want it to be nice more than I ever have wanted an apartment to be nice.
I think naturally having a bigger house will be easier to clean because everything will have it's place. I want a new house someday soon as well! How exciting! I wish you the best of luck in your house hunting!
Can I just say, "Amen" and "Amen" to everything you said? Good luck with the house purchase. And I think no matter what the size of the house...it will always get messy (after all, you do have 3 mess making machines, as do I, so I speak from experience).
Can I just say how much more I notice the dirt and grime and mistakes when its my own house? not that it's necessarily messier, but I just see it more. But that being said, I appreciate cleaning more, it makes me feel like I'm investing in my house
That talk really touched my heart too. I felt like the whole confrerence was directing us to take joy in the little things, the important things, the eternal things.
Cleaning the house is a never-ending journey when you have little ones, isn't it? It never fails that when my house is messiest the Martha Stewart queen type friend stops by. Don't you love that??? :)
1. Yes, our room was always covered in clothes and...more clothes.
2. Yes, your Jacksonville house was a great size, until we all filled every spare space of it, but good times anyway.
3. With the bigger house (and we all know I'm NOT talking from experience) maybe you'll have to turn into the "do 2 things" every day person instead of "all at once" (although I agree, everything clean at once is awesome!) But I also have to add that I don't think there is a SINGLE thing wrong with having a monthly, bi-monthly, or weekly cleaning lady who comes by to take care of some of the things you don't want to deal with. As if you won't be busy enough picking up after the kids. And it's always more fun to clean someone else's house, so let the cleaning lady enjoy it, and make a buck too. I fully intend to implement this someday. And that's what I think about that.
I think what is tricky about cleaning is that it is different for every person. We all have our own style, but for me, it has taken years to figure what is most important and how I really want it done. (And then erase all that because the kids are going to do whatever they want.) I have finally now realized that I need to have my whole house clean at the same time at some point in the month so that I can feel like I had a good starting point - and the only way that has realistically happened is having someone help me clean. It is worth the sacrifice in other areas of my budget for MY sanity - but not true for everyone. I also have to have the kitchen spotless before bed - but can let the dishes pile up all day before hand. Anyways, you get my point. It doesn't all magically happen and it is ok to do whatever works for YOU!
You should have tried living in a dorm room with your mother! She never let anyone sit on her bed after it was made, so they all sat on mine! When you get old like me, it's nice to not have a mortgage. Then, you can have a cleaning lady! It's the best!!! (Also a ginormous walk in closet takes care of all of those clothes!)
I really enjoyed your long venting on cleaning. I also enjoyed Monsons talk and have already implemented it. Laying like a vegetable at night instead of cleaning. One day I'll miss the mess. I'm also the same way about cleaning on weekends. I always put it off until Monday. But weekends are our family time and I don't want cleaning to get in the way of any fun. I too worry about a bigger house but I'm looking forward to the day when I have a bigger house and a cleaning lady to come do the things I can't get done or the things I hate to do.
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