Stress-Free Living

There are numerous advantages to apartment living- having a pool without the upkeep, no yard work, no maintenance, not having to sell it when it's time to leave, etc. However, there are disadvantages as well- hearing your neighbors, living on the second floor and having to carry your infant (in the car seat) and all the groceries in one trip, no attached garage that would be oh so handy when it's pouring and you are trying to juggle the aforementioned infant and groceries in addition to an umbrella, etc. The majority of the time we are so thankful to be living in an apartment and not own a house anymore. Mark is completely free of honey-do-lists when he's not at work and can just enjoy being at home with Jake and me. Sometimes we get bummed about not having a house. It would be so nice to be able to walk or run in my own neighborhood and be able to do more than a 0.3 mile loop- this gets old VERY quickly:) Mark would love to have a grill and an attached garage. The key to keeping things in perspective is realizing that all of our listed disadvantages are simply wants and not needs. There is a big difference:) We are definitely thankful for what we have.

Yesterday the advantages of apartment living definitely trumped the minor disadvantages in a big way. I was incredibly thankful to be in an apartment and have a maintenance man. In the two hours that I was gone to bible study yesterday morning, our air conditioner broke. The temperature read 80 degrees when I came home (thank goodness it's September and not July). I called Lanny, our maintenance guru, and within two hours everything was repaired. He replaced the relay switch and had a man come out and add more freon to the outside air conditioner unit. The best part (in addition to the fast repair time)? It cost us absolutely nothing! Thank you, Lord, for providing us with a wonderful home!