We have decided with the state of the economy and the state of our checkbook - that we will be staying in our little rental house until March, next year. I wouldn't have been that happy about this a mere 6 months ago - before Sarah was born - as I couldn't imagine all of us in this little place, but somehow (with a lot of toys being rotated thru the basement and some organization) we make it work (not to mention the kids are small and they wear small clothes that fit in their closet). Today we found out that our request for a dishwasher will be granted!! I couldn't be happier, I do dishes at least 3 times per day, but on most days more than that! Woohoo!
We absolutely love our neighborhood and would love for Jakob to attend school here, so we will be staying put until we can buy a place or afford to move to an even better neighborhood.
Reasons we love our neighborhood -
You can walk to 2 grocery stores, 2 awesome parks, many coffee shops, pubs, restaurants and unique shops.
The elementary school is supported by the community (you still have to pay out of your pocket for full day kindergarten, free for half day, anywhere in Portland). But, the school offers free art and Spanish classes after school, is connected to the Boys and Girls Club and/or community center for after school care and the school has a good teacher/student ratio.
The weekly Farmer's Market that we can walk to (May-Sept)
The summer concerts in the park (that we can walk to)
The river/beach (that we can walk to)
The community pool at the park - where Jakob and Sarah will be taking swim lessons in August.
So, our house might not be the greatest (1 old bathroom, not well insulated, a scary basement, a dilapidated garage, crazy bamboo constantly growing in our backyard, plants that are always refusing to grow in our front yard, squeaky floors, a sloping floor in the dining room and everything else that goes with living in a small Portland home) but we love the neighborhood and so we will stay! It feels so good to me to know that we will be here and have a plan for awhile, we will hope that 09 holds a great housing price decrease, and many a raises for us, so that we can buy a great house - We can dream!!
After typing all of this, I realized that I should just be thankful that we have a flippin roof over our head and actually have the ability to make a choice/decision on where we want to live. Not to mention, the thanks I have for our happy, healthy, wonderful little family of 4 in our house!
2 comments:
That is so great! I know that dishwasher will make things so much easier especially with another eater in the family. You are so right about your neighborhood. I have been exposed to a completely different side of Portland with you being there and its made me love it even more! We can be good couch sleepers for a little while longer if we can even afford to come visit with gas prices the way they are.
We do have a large couch for everyone and anyone to stay on!! We also, can fit both kiddos in our bedroom, so there is a big bed in the guest room!
Just an FYI for all our friends, who might like to come to P town!
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