Happy Space

When we made the decision to move here we struggled with what to do with our home and our belongings.  Of course we would bring some things with us but we were moving into a furnished apartment so we couldn't bring it all. We wanted to make sure that the Tiny American's transition was smooth so packing up his toys and what was most familiar to him was a big deal to me. I knew I wanted to bring lots of my kitchen, but had to make some modifications based on what would realistically work with the oven I was getting. Pictures and things to hang on the wall presented their own set of problems as most places will only let you use 3M tape to hang things, and yes you can hang a lot with 3M tape but some things just don't work.

We struggled with what to do with our house in Texas.  I LOVE our house in Texas and was really enjoying decorating and furnishing it so I was not happy with the option of selling it.  In the end we put most of our things in storage and rented the house to a cousin. I won't lie, I miss my house and I miss my things. Yes I know they are just things, but they are my things and I have spent a lot of time and energy gathering them all up and I miss them. Im not talking about TV's and things like that.  I'm talking about the old windows and doors that I have gathered up at junk sales.  I'm talking about the hutch that I had just refinished that my grandpa built me when I got married.  I'm thinking about the type tray that hung on the wall in my living room filled with the little rocks and shells we have collected from the places we have gone. These are the "things" that I miss.

The apartment we moved into when we first came to Taiwan a year ago was super nice.  It was  in a really nice building with lots of staff.  It was furnished and it was comfortable, but we never felt at home there.  It was dark and honestly a little depressing.  We had NO outside light.  No view of what was happening outside.  For people like us, that was a struggle.

We knew from the start that if we were going to live here for awhile we needed a different apartment. Finding one is a bit of a challenge.  Luckily we happened to mention it to the right person at the right time and we found the perfect place.  Well I say perfect, there were a couple of bumps in the road.  First it was not a furnished apartment,  second there were no closets, strange, but not a deal breaker.  I figured out what we would need for storage and a trip to IKEA solved both of these problems.

The best thing about the apartment was the windows.  Every room has floor to ceiling windows!  SO much light.  This has been great for our moods, we need sunlight!  The view is awesome and with us picking out the furnishing it feels so much more like home. We have found a couple of places to shop for "junk" to make it feel even more like ours.  I had a friend take some pictures of us around our neighborhood and this week I had those printed and hung them up.  I also printed some really cool pictures of Zane at different places we have visited in Taiwan and have those on the wall now as well.  It's amazing how much some pictures on the wall make it feel like home.

This is my favorite space in the apartment.  When I am in the kitchen J and Z and sit in these chairs and talk to me.

It's not perfect, it's an apartment, but with some time and a little patience it is quickly feeling more like a place we want to hang out in instead of the place we HAVE to be.