Love grows best in little houses
This Summer our family started our next big adventure. And by adventure I mean the 5 of us moved into a 1 bedroom house originally built in the 1800’s.
The move had been both a long-time coming and a total surprise.
A surprise because I don’t think we ever imagined leaving the ranch where we had been for the past 10 years. Only 3 years ago we added on and partially remodeled (I’m still mourning the loss of my closet and master bathroom). We had been planning the next phase of the remodel when surprise, someone came to Luke’s parents and offered to buy the ranch. Nope, it was never on the market; and I think it’s fair to say that it caught all of us off guard. That’s the thing with opportunity though, right? When it knocks you have to open the door.
I say a long time coming though because this all first started way back last Fall. It’s been a very long, drawn out process, and filled with a lot of uncertainty in so many aspects. Would it all come together? There were so many contingencies and maybes that we knew there was the possibility that the sale would fall through. We didn’t have a definitive timeline to schedule around. It was months of limbo. And where in the world were we going to go if it did happen?! This was not just a matter of finding a new house to move our dishes and clothes into. There’s all the animals, heavy equipment, horse pens, barns, arenas, tack rooms… Finding a new place for all of that, in central California no less, was at times overwhelming to think about.
But as with basically everything in life, things have a way of working out and leaving you wondering why you worried. We looked at so many places. Explored so many scenarios of the wheres, whens and hows. It started feeling like we were running out of time and options. I always try to remind myself that when things feel like they’re all up in the air, it’s because they’re about to fall into place. And they did - and in pretty remarkable fashion.
We moved to the new ranch at the end of July. Rather I should say that we started moving at the end of July. About a month after Luke’s knee surgery - guess how much help he was! J/K (kinda). That’s an ongoing process but the end is finally in sight. Our long term plan is to build a house on another area of the property but for now we’re living in the main house that was here.
It is such a cute place (the yard is GLORIOUS), and the previous owners did a great job of renovating but maintaining its incredible charm. You can feel the 200 years of history when you walk through the doors and the love that has filled that little house in its lifetime . However, ‘little’ is the key word here. We technically have only 1 bedroom. Are you laughing? Ever want to truly grasp how much stuff you’ve accumulated as a family of 5? Just move into a home with ONE closet. It’s probably a less than half the square footage we had at our other house. We had space there, and boy, had we Filled. It. Up. It certainly added an extra layer of challenge to the already taxing job of unpacking. We’ve found some creative solutions, said goodbye to some of the excess, and exiled much into storage.
We’ve only lived in the house for about a month, and we’re in the honeymoon phase where you don’t remember what drawer you put the silverware in & still think it’s cute that all 3 boys share the sunroom as a bedroom. *side note: the boys bedroom was originally a porch that was then enclosed to become part of the house, but it still subtly slopes downhill for runoff. You don’t really even notice it until you lay in their beds for awhile and then the blood starts to rush to your head - not to be concerned, I think it’s just going to make them smarter.
The biggest surprise for me though has been how nice it feels to just have less. Less cabinet space equals less dishes. Less dishes means the dirty ones don’t sit in the sink because there’d be nothing to eat off of for the next meal. It’s things like that, in 50 little ways, that have felt like they’ve simplified & streamlined our lives. We all pared back in little ways (Except my clothes. Don’t even think about it). In no way would I ever have described myself as a minimalist but I have to say I am kind of understanding the less-is-more hype these days. It’s an intangible but life feels a bit more peaceful here.
Don’t get me wrong, we’ve all had our moments of frustration over the lack of space and its challenges. I still don’t know where to put the boys clothes with the absence of a closet, and Luke is sorely missing the central a/c we had only recently installed as we ride out this current heatwave. We are all still getting used to having to go outside to get to the dining room - which is on the porch. Oh and let me tell you, little boy messes can take over even faster with limited floor space. But day by day this place has started feeling more like home. No growth in life comes without a few growing pains. A smaller house does fill up faster; with love, with laughter, and with memories that I am really excited to start making.