Being Thankful For My Townhouse

Hubs and I lived in our old apartment for 16 years.  For about 10 of those years, we were heavy smokers and had heavy smokers visiting constantly.  Everything in the apartment was coated in nicotine.  The carpet was stained and nasty from spills and things over the years.  Honestly, I wasn’t crazy about anyone coming to visit and if I took a photo in the apartment, I had to take it very strategically to show as little of the stains and messes as I could.

Combine that with the fact we were in a lousy neighborhood that was continuing to get lousier.  When we moved in, it was a decent area, but at the end of our 16 years it had really gone downhill.  I refused to go outside alone at night anymore, and was nervous even during the day.  No one made eye contact, no one was friendly.  We had one family we knew in the entire time we lived there.  I had been ready to get the hell out of there for years, but Hubs job was within walking distance, so we stayed.

In January, Hubs found out the store he worked at was closing.  He was able to transfer to another store, but it wasn’t anywhere near walking distance and we knew we needed to move.  We honestly didn’t think we would get lucky enough to find another place within walking distance, namely because the new store was in a very nice area.  We had a friend that lived within walking distance, and there were some townhouses for rent in her complex.  So we spoke with the owner of the property and found out we could rent a townhouse from him for more than $150 less than the rent at our old place.  We would have to pay utilities here, but it was and has been well worth it.

I was thrilled when we started to move over here.  The neighborhood was nice and the townhouse itself was lovely.  We brought most of our old stuff, cleaning it up before moving it in.  Once we actually started to sleep here, it felt like a dream.  I didn’t worry so much about being alone at night, and wasn’t ashamed of what things looked like.

Some days I get kinda bummed that we don’t own our own home.  But that’s just not in the cards for us right now, and when I feel sad about it, I clean up my townhouse and remind myself how lucky I am to live here.  I really am happy here and love my place.  Sometimes I don’t want to clean, but after I’m done, it was totally worth it.  Here are a few photos of our new abode.

As you can see, nothing in my home is especially fancy.  It isn’t going to end up on any magazine covers.  But it’s warm and inviting, and while not particularly large, it is cozy and comfortable.  Most of the things were purchased frugally from thrift store or other sources, so we didn’t put ourselves into debt for any of it.  So whenever I’m feeling down or sorry for myself, I get up and clean something.  Something always needs cleaning!  And I always feel much better for it.

Hope everyone is having a Happy Hump Day!