The Aster

And so we began to do our time at The Aster.  

J thought we could do it for years.  I was less optomisic about our tight quarters but thought we could last the six or seven months until the house was completed.

We lasted two months.

There were several times I thought about getting in my car and just driving away (not forever but maybe a few months).  I KNOW it's possible for two adults, two small children (and all of their crap) and two dogs to live in a two bedroom apartment but we found it quite difficult to go from over 3000 sq ft to 947 sq ft.  It was horrible.  The time we spent in that apartment was almost right up there with suffering through all of the showings at the last house.

The boys had to share a room for the first time which also doubled as the "play" space because the living room and kitchen were one space (which as I look around now, my masterbedroom basically equates to the communal living space in that apartment) and there was no dining area at all.

The last two weeks we were there Jack was sleeping with us (see exhibit 1 and 2 below) because Leo still wasn't sleeping through the night and was waking up Jack.  It is truly amazing how this little boy could spin a full 360 degrees throughout the night.  No judgement to others but we don't do the co-sleeping thing in our house.

September 2014, the universe finally cut us some slack...a three bedroom townhouse became available at same complex so in order to save our sanity and our marriage, we moved (AGAIN).

While the townhouse was not the answer to all of our problems, it was exactly what we needed to get us through our limbo.  There was 3 bedrooms, 2 levels, a tiny kitchen, a place for a sofa/TV, even space for a card table to eat at and an attached garage.  We lived on a courtyard with a little playground right out our front door.  There were tons of families (many waiting for their homes to be built as well) with kids in the 2-8 year range and everyone was super nice.  If fact we made couple of really good friends while living there as did Jack.

It was absolutely perfect for the boys.  In fact, part of me knew that I would be sad to leave purgatory just for the social factor and the convenience of opening the door to let Jack out to play with all the kids.

The hardest part for me was my inability to keep the place clean and organized for more than an hour.  I am a stay-at-home-mom.  My house is my "office" and since I spend so much time in it, I prefer my home to be clean and orderly.  In my mind everything item has a "home" and that is where it should go.  I realize with kids that is an outlandish concept but not entirely impossible.  However, I quickly discovered I was fighting a losing battle in the townhouse and I needed to lower my expectations.

We tried to keep ourselves busy.  The boys and I went to Illinois for Labor Day, there was a trip to Florida in October, back to Illinois for Christmas and a few long weekends away in the mountains in the new year.  Having things to look forward to helped to make the time go faster and offered a distraction for our anticipation.

The new house was within a mile of the apartment so just about everyday I would drive by to see the progress.  It was very exciting to see it all come together.  Our time at The Aster went relatively quick until the last month, then the walls started to close in on me.  It was hard to pack the minimal amount of stuff we had in advance and I felt like a in a holding pattern surrounded by half empty boxes. (The photo below was of Jack's room and a packing area.  If you know me, you know this mess sends my anxiety through the roof.)

While updating the blog, I have been looking through all of my old pictures.  I take a lot of pictures...or at least I did.  During this time, I clearly needed a distraction so I remember that I was really working on my photography and trying to teach myself new things.  I am far from a professional but looking at these photos reminds me that I need to pick up the damn camera again.

Trip to Illinois over Labor Day 2014
- Boys saw their first Theresermans Parade, Jack visited the farm and rode in a tractor the first time

October 2014- Longboat Key, FL.  I could have an entire post of just pictures.  My "happy place" always turns lots of great photos.)

Fall 2014

Christmas 2014- Traveled back to Illinois to make the family rounds.  This trip exhausting at the time but I think that years and years of having to divide our holidays three ways has become the norm in my sub conscience   The off years when we stay in Colorado for Christmas or Thanksgiving always seem too quiet and anticlimactic.

And last but never least, our sweet boy, Leo took his first steps in December 2014!

Lindsey

The Last 15 Months...

...Have been tough. (This was written in the Fall of 2014.)

So long story, (kind of) short...Novemeber 2013 we decided to build a new house.  We had several reasons which at the time sounded reasonable.  We put our house on the market in early November.  By mid January, we had had over 50 showings.  Yes I said 50+ showings...if you have ever sold your home you know that is a TON.  Mind you, during this time, I had a brand new baby.  

Every day for 10 or so weeks I had to keep my house spotless and relatively toy free.  Most showings were the same day as the request was made and often times within an hour or two.  For 10 weeks, I had rush to get the house in show condition and then get my two kids and two dogs out the door for at least an hour.  

By the end, I was resentful of every single phone call.  I knew I was just wasting my time and I wanted these strangers to get the f*ck out of my house.  

Jack's colic was probably one of the most stressful times of my life.  This was worse.

We had one last "out" of our contract to build a new home so we pulled the plug and took the house off the market.

Fast forward to April 2014.  Inventory in the neighborhood was up and houses were flying off the market.  The idea of making a good profit on something we had owned for less than two years was very tempting so the house went back on the market.  

Three weeks and 20+ showings later, we finally had an offer!  After a little negotiating we had a deal and a good deal.  But after 70+ showings and enough stress to push me over the edge (a few times), our good reasons to move became blurred in both of our minds.  

Over the next few months we looked for a new home but all of cookie-cutter-crap for sale in our desired neighborhood wasn't the right fit.  Which lead us back to building.  Our original builder was going to take over two years so we went with our second option.  

Our new home would be done in 9 months and in the meantime we would need to find temporary housing.  So I began the process of packing up our house, deciding what would fit into a two bedroom, 947 sq ft apartment and what we could go 9 or so months without.  You know, cause life wasn't already stressful enough.

We were fortunate enough to be able to store the vast marjority of our belongings at J's warehouse for free.  So every night for two weeks, J would bring a van home from work, we wold load it up after the boys were down, he'd unpack it the next day and repeat.  

We left our home for the last time on July 16, 2014.  A new chapter was beginning and we both cried as we drove away.  

                                           

Funny when I look back now, the stress of this time was like childbirth.  You remember that it was a horribly painful experience but it's become dull with time.  Looking through pictures of this period it's happy memories like the ones below that make me think "shit I could totally do that again!" 

Just like childbirth!

Lindsey 

Hello, Hello

Is there anybody out there?

Besides my amazingly articulate BFF, does anybody blog anymore...or read blogs?  I kind of hope not.  I have found that the older I get, I become less and less inclined to share my life with the outside world.  However, I have always found writing to be very cathartic and I have often thought about returning to my blog since I stepped away a few years ago.

There has been one recent development in my life that has encouraged me to get back at it but I'll save that topic for later.

Since my last post in 2015, I have a few unpublished posts which I feel are pertinent to our journey leading to present day. So, to remember the years gone by, I am going to go back and clean up those posts and publish them before I move on to where we are today.

(In the meantime, this is life at this very second!)

Lindsey