Do you guys ever get house lust? I think it's a major component of apartment living. Yesterday, after Mother's Day breakfast, my grandpa asked Tim and I in not so many words when we plan on starting a family, if we plan on starting a family. (Tim and I already consider ourselves a family, so to clarify, my grandpa was asking about us having kids.) We did our usual awkward song and dance around the subject, because we don't really know what to say when people ask us that question. We've been married for 11 months so far and so far we are enjoying being newlyweds.
(How long am I allowed to use that term, btw?)
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| At my sister's wedding |
So, back to the awkward when are you getting knocked up conversation... I tried to explain to my grandparents that I really can't imagine us having a baby in our current living situation. We live in West L.A. and while we love it here, it comes at a price. That price is multiple thousands of dollars a month. In rent. We currently are living in a two bedroom / 1 bathroom, 1000 sq foot apartment with TWO parking spots and we consider that somewhat of a success. But really, between Tim, me and our 5 crazy cats, it's not enough room to add children into the mix.
I don't know how anyone affords a house in L.A in their twenties. Unless they're celebrities, have rich parents, or have EXCEPTIONALLY high paying jobs.
I have house lust. I see so many blogs, pins, etc. of people with huge living spaces. Big dining room tables, two stories to themselves, multiple bathrooms, hall closets with real storage space, a back yard, and I get a little bit jealous.
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I know that the tradeoff is living someplace else. We may be paying a ton of money in rent each month, but we have great weather year round, the beach 15 minutes away, great job opportunities, fantastic restaurants and bars, etc. And I love it here. I really really do. It's home and it always will be.
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| Home Via |
I just sometimes wish that we had a house. Nothing crazy like the home I grew up in, but a nice little place where I could maybe have a dinner party or host Thanksgiving dinner. A place where we could feel comfortable raising children one day, with a backyard for them to play in. Space to grow.
Until then, I am grateful for the amazing setup we have now. I'm grateful to live in a beautiful part of town and I don't mind being cozy with my kitties and my hubby.
But doesn't a wrap around porch sound nice?
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What's your living situation like?
Are you in your dream home?
How did you get there?
If you have a wraparound porch, can I come visit?
9 comments:
Oh my gosh, how awkward that your grandpa asked that question!
I really love our apt since we're only a block from the beach. All the homes in this area start at half a million and up. So I know we'd never be this close to the beach if we had a house. For now I'm pretty happy where we are. :)
-Sharon
The Tiny Heart
We are currently renting a house. It is about 900sqft, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, but has a big backyard. This is definitely not our dream home (10+ acres, wrap around porch, ranch-style home), but it is a good starter.
I love that y'all consider yourselves a family already- the easiest way to trigger my rage is when someone implies that my husband (of 7 years!), our two dogs and one cat, and I are not a family- and we don't intend on having human kids. I maintain a family is what you make it, no matter who's in it!
Also, I get crazy house lust, but mine's more lusting for a permanent house. We move a lot because of my husband's job, and while that's led to some great houses, I want a place to plant trees (and watch them grow) and build built-ins (and use them forever), etc. Wraparound porch? Definitely!
Ahh, the lovely "when are you going to have kids" question. H and I are the same way, we try to find a reason to give people when they ask that question, and then it seems like we have to argue our side of why we haven't jumped on the baby-making band wagon.
I don't think I'll be able to complain about our cost of housing here in NE anymore after reading this post. What you pay in rent would give you a huge acreage with a nice big house out here. Although, you wouldn't have the nice beach that you have out in LA. :)
haha! It's always about the next thing! I know exactly how you feel about house lust :) We're renters too... it would be nice just to be able to paint things the colors we want. Our dining room is red. Our landlord won't let us paint it a different color, because she likes the red. lol!
I was lucky enough that my hubby already owned a home when I met him. Unfortunately you aren't quite mature enough to own a home at 20. The roommates he had kind of trashed the place. So we are still trying to fix the damage that has been done and we've been married for 3 years now.
In some ways I'm very thankful we own our own home. In others I wish we didn't. I never got to go through the exciting hunt for my first home. This is not the house I would have chosen if given a choice. It's home to me none the less and I can't imagine moving anywhere else. This house will do for the time being. If in another 5-10 years if we are up to 3 kids (we have one right now) we'll probably consider moving.
I'd love a wrap around porch as well! I've always thought a huge porch would be wonderful.
Haha! I love this! Question of the year right?! We've been married for 11 months too, what is your anni?
We have a similar story of living in a [somewhat] uncomfortable situation, but it was awesomely worth it.
In fact, I can relate to this post so much, I think I'm going to write about this same topic. I will make sure to link up ;)
I love hearing another voice of a newlywed (I think even at almost a year we are!) around these parts. In fact, would you like to do a button swap? Ya know, keep that newlywed voice going? Lemme know...
I feel you on the living situation. We live in a 2 bed/2 bath right outside of Seattle but it is like any city- you live in a box in the city with no light for a million dollars. Ridiculous.
Hey just be glad that you at least have the sunshine to go along with the steep rent and not rain, rain, rain! :)
we lived in a shack for about a year as we put my husband through the fire academy (meaning we lived off only my salary for 5 months). WE now rent a townhome in Orange County, and while it is expensive, it's so much better than the shack! I also don't know when we'll be able to afford a house...hopefully one day!
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