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.

Stop and Smell the Roses....or build with rocks

It's been a long couple of weeks.  John has had visitors in and that means he leaves earlier and gets home later than usual, which makes for long days for me and Z. He does try and sneak home, even for a few minutes, to see us before his evening activities if he gets a chance. Zane has had the chicken pox so that has limited our outings and interaction with others and has totally goofed up our routine! We, and by that I mean me, are very much about our routine so when it is disrupted it can be challenging.  

Zane is feeling better now.  John's visitors start leaving tomorrow and life will return to normal....well as normal as it gets around here. It has been so humid the past few days that our time outside has been limited to early morning and late afternoon.  I can only imagine what it will be like this summer when it is REALLY hot! This morning, since we were up early anyway, we decided to just take a walk around the path at our apartment and then we wandered around in the courtyard.  The courtyard is beautiful and the buildings block out the harsh sun, but there is a lot of water to attract the Tiny American's attention, so we don't spend a lot of our time there.

One of Zane's favorite things to do is play with rocks.  In the courtyard there is a flower bed that is full of bamboo plants and the base is full of these big stones, just the right size for his hands, but not small enough to go in his mouth.  He loves to stand there and build with them and just throw them back in the pile. We stood here for 20 minutes today, just piling rocks up and then throwing them back in the the bed.  He couldn't have been happier! 

Sometimes I think my need to be busy, to have things planned out and scheduled gets in the way of just being.  As a mom I don't want to  push our days in one direction, making sure to get it all done, that i miss these moments.  I want to make sure that we take the time to just stop and be present.  I want to make sure that we stop and build with rocks, pick up every leaf that he sees, or enjoy whatever he is thinking about.  I want him to know that being with him is what is important, not what we are doing or how quickly we do it.  

So today take the time to stop and smell the roses or whatever it is that makes you happy.  Today don't let life get in the way, just enjoy the moment.