Cozy Quarters

We are preparing to move in 2 weeks. This will be our 6th move in 8 years of marriage. Our current place is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath 650 square foot flat. Our new home will be roughly the same size. In preparing for the move we've been measuring every sqaure inch and plotting like a jigsaw puzzle to maxamize our precious space. While there are moments when being up high (our news place is 35 stories up!) with two little ones leaves me longing for the spaciouness of solitary confinement, there are also distinct advantages to having a small place.

So, in the spirit of optimism, here are the pluses of cozy quarters
- simplicity: you can't and don't accumulate too much! I love that I can pack up my entire house to move in one evening. We say "no" to lots of things simply because there is no space. This good because we want our lives to be about relationships, not "things".
- sharing: because we don't have much space or storage we share with our friends a lot; baby bouncers, books, clothes, balls, bikes all get borrowed and passed around. As soon as we outgrow something we pass it on.
-easy to clean: it doesn't take long to clean the house (unfortunately it doesn't take long to get dirty either!)
- Togetherness: makes us literally a close family. I also enjoy knowing Josiah is not far away since he has an "explorer" personality

p.s.- If you think we are cramped, the Chinese family moving into our flat has 4 adults and 3 kids, yikes!