Walk this way...

So we're in!  And I have to say, my list of "I hope life includes" is mostly coming to fruition.  It's funny how when something IS right, it just kind of instantly makes you feel more calm.  Walking around Sunday morning - just me, Adam, and H - Adam looked at me and asked if everything was alright.  I'd been uncharacteristically quiet and calm.  I simply said, "No, I'm just content."  And nothing could be more true.  It's a fact that some of the realities have not yet set in (like how bad our street will smell tomorrow on trash day or how UN-glorious our walk to work will be when there is a foot of snow on the ground) but all in all, I feel more calm, like I can take advantage of life and control my time so much more.


Here are two snapshots from my (currently) glorious walk to work:

Love Park

Fountain at Logan Square

Other fun discoveries we've made:

• We will HATE the ice cream man by the end of summer.  He comes - no joke - a minimum of 3 times per night.  Thank goodness H doesn't yet know what the constant music is.  She just thinks it's a cool looking truck that drones on and on.  I hope to keep it that way for as long as possible...
• Walking to work is great exercise.  It also cause sweat - therefore I will now not wear a jacket if the temperature is above 55.  Bad news if I do.
• Waiting for buses is a lot like waiting for the train.  If you miss one, you're equally as pissed and it feels like it takes equally as long for the next one.  That being said, the plus of a bus v. a train?  The ride is an 8th of what it was.
• Philly loves it's festivals.  We've become devout readers of Uwishunu and can't get enough of the awesome things our new home has to offer.  While many are free though, it is going to be tougher to keep to our budget than I thought.
• It's harder to get rid of stuff than I thought.  We did purge a TON before we moved.  But I am now finding myself looking at old momentos and finding no room for them but not really knowing how to part with them.  I wonder where the line is between simple living and extremism.

All in all, I have to say that I'm a pretty happy camper.  Although once my inlaws are out, our stuff is away, and H is asleep, I want to really just sit down and think and soak it in.  For now, I'll just bask in the light of one giant step in the very right direction.

he made the world to be a grassy road beneath her wandering feet.  

~ w.b. yeats

Small on space, big on joy.

Feeling like we had completely lost our TOV, Adam (the hubs) and I took a look at our life and most importantly the way it was making us feel.  The bottom line?  Generally fairly blah.  Don't get me wrong, we had lots and lots of good things in our life, like good jobs, a super happy kiddo, and good health, neither of us really felt fulfilled.  As former residents of the fair city of Seattle, we thought back to those times and asked ourselves why we felt "so much happier" there.  Aside from the fact that we were DINKs at the time (I'm glad we have H but let's be honest, wee ones are HARD WORK!), we both had activities that we were really interested in like dodge ball and book club, we rented a tiny apartment that was sparsely furnished so there wasn't much housekeeping to be done, and living in such a bus-friendly city, we were able to get around very easily, spending minimal time getting to the things that interested us. On top of that, we had a fulfilling church community, we volunteered, and we could easily take advantage of nature.  

Our happy little rowhome :)

Our paralyzing commute here in Philly (1.5 hours each way) has now made much of these activities very tough (although I have no doubt that just our own inertia keeps us from a lot of things at times).  We miss the amenities of a city, and we also had a house that was 3 times the size of our Seattle apartment.  The obvious choice to begin restoring balance in our lives was to get ourselves back into the city.  For over a year, we carefully selected the neighborhood that best matched our personalities and needs.  Fairmount it is!  And so at the end of this week, we'll move into this beauty of a house: 

Here's the idealistic view of what we think we're getting ourselves into:

• Half the square footage (this is a fact, it's just that we're going into this thinking it will be a very good thing)
• WAY shorter commute
• More time to do activities that mean something to us
• More time with H
• Better access to amenitites
• No increase (or perhaps savings) in our spending
• A community that feels passionate about its well being
• More "people like us"
• Better Thai food
• A more complex process when trying to buy food groceries as well as dry goods (WHERE DO YOU BUY TOILET PAPER??)
• Higher wage taxes (again, this is a fact, although we'd love to figure out a solution)
• A more multicultural upbringing for H
• A more violent school system to contend with
• Street hockey (please, oh please, I hope kids play this!)

If you were moving from the 'burbs to the city, what would you expect?  

Check back next week for an update on how the move went and any early findings.