Living the American Dream?

I never thought I'd live in a condo. It was not part of my life plan. When Darling Daddy and I first started looking at buying a house about 6 years ago, condos were not in our search. We looked at house after house after house. (Our poor real estate agent - I think we looked at like 25 houses...) Because buying a house with a yard is the American dream, right? We both worked really hard at our own separate careers, we deserved this dream. We had offers accepted on two different houses that both fell through. What was God trying to tell us?

At the time we were looking to buy, the government was still offering the first-time homebuyers $8,000 tax credit and we really wanted to cash in on that. Free money! We had been told that it would probably be going away soon, so we should act on it sooner rather than later. So, to make a long story short, we added condos into our home search so that we could buy something. Anything. We figured it was basically like renting, except for we'd have an investment at the end. And, here we are still living in a condo over 5 years later. Was it our dream? No. The American Dream? Not really. But it's our reality and to be honest, we really don't see ourselves going anywhere anytime soon. 

It's taken me a while to get to this point in my life, and a lot of prayer, but I feel as though I'm finally content in where we live and I'm no longer constantly searching for that next perfect house. I've given up on that. I know that God has a plan for our family and our life. We just need to trust Him and let his plan unfold. 

"Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

I'm not sure why I was against condo living 6 years ago, but I will say that it was pre-kids and also that I was blissfully unaware of all that goes along with housekeeping and home maintenance. However, God knew what was in our best interest and He had a plan for us. He knew we'd have our hands full with active little ones and be quite busy with them ;)

First off, let me say that living in this condo is what has allowed me to be a stay-at-home mom! I'll take this quality time with the kids while they're young in our 1,400 square foot condo, over having a real house any day.  

We've got an eat-in kitchen, living room, basement family/play room, 1.5 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms. The bedroom situation has proved to be the most challenging part. And really only when Ginger Boy was a baby learning how to sleep and while Curly Girl has been learning to leave the room quietly due to overnight potty training. But they love sharing a room and do it really well. There is silence in the room for 11-12 hours a night, so we obviously make it work :) 

[Note: the plan is for the two of them to eventually share the bunk bed, but Ginger Boy is quite hesitant to leave the crib, and he doesn't try to escape, so we're keeping him there as long as we can :) ]

Now, some of the major benefits! Tons of yard space to play on (probably more than we'll ever have with a single-family home) and lots of pavement space to ride bikes on.

Our "backyard" - it's technically all considered common area, so we can go wherever we want! 

A walk-out basement onto our own patio and a mini deck that doubles as a garden space.

A small walkway and stairs that need to be shoveled when we get 300 feet of snow. The rest of the area gets plowed. 

Throwing out stinky trash & recycling whenever we want or need to. Can I also mention this has been HUGE in helping us live a more minimalistic lifestyle. Cleaning things out and getting rid of junk is just so easy. 

No outside maintenance. I repeat, no outside maintenance. Leaky roof? Ice damns? Call the property manager. Paint chipping or peeling? It's taken care of. Yard work? None! (And remember we have a HUGE yard to enjoy!) 

So while we have young kids, Darling Daddy and I have actually embraced condo living. It gives us so much extra time with the kids and we don't have to worry about watching them or entertaining them while we tend to the outside maintenance of a house and yard. We still have the inside though and sometimes, that's enough ;) 

So no, we're not looking to move anytime soon. It's kind of the anti-American dream, but we're a family with young kids who don't mind living in a condo. We know God will let his plan unfold for us and we're happy and content just waiting for that to happen :)