Tag: apartment life

Posted in Moments and Musings

Move with Me: 5 Weeks to Go

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

Annoyance. I love my current home but little things I once found so endearing are starting to annoy me.

Like every time someone goes out the side door and lets it slam shut rattling my patio windows.

Like listening to those stupid geese each night.

Like listening to my neighbors talk on their cell phone loudly in the courtyard at midnight.

Like finding other people’s underwear in my laundry.

Like paying $2 to wash one load of laundry and $1.75 to dry it.

Like walking from the parking lot, which is located at the opposite end of where my unit is, just to get into my own home.

Like people not picking up after their dogs.

All the things I won’t deal with in my new home. Of course, being a homeowner brings its own set of challenges. I’m ready to face those because I won’t be doing it alone. It’s a comfort to me not to be the sole “adult” in my living situation. I haven’t had that since my mom died.

Any-to-the-who….I’ve regained my sense of organization where this move is concerned. The office is now completely packed, except for essentials so now, all boxes can go in there. I may move my desk into my bedroom to completely clear out the office.

I’ve also started the “things to move by hand” box. Anything delicate goes in there. My bedroom closet and the office closet is all cleared out and packed also. I like being able to look around and know there’s nothing hiding away waiting to be boxed up.

Shelby and I also took the kids (aka Percy, the dog, and Natasha, the cat) to the vet to ensure they were all up to date on their vaccinations. Not only for their continued good health but also because we’ve booked their overnight stays in a pet hotel for the move weekend. Percy would only bark his fool head off and Natasha would hide where we wouldn’t be able to find her. I have to say I’m still nervous about this as this will be the first time I’d be leaving Percy overnight with someone I didn’t know. But the reviews are excellent and it gives me peace of mind not to have them underfoot.

As excited as I am, however, I’m also taking the time to slow down a little. With 5 weeks to go and 60% of the apartment packed up, I can afford this. My walks with Percy are longer now that the weather is nicer. I’m noticing the buds on the trees. There’s a pink tulip bud about to open in the tulip bed in front of my building. I’ve noticed more growth on Grandmother Willow and the grass is started to get greener (well, what’s not covered in goose poop, that is).

The weather is typical Spring Midwest weather. The kind where you need hat, scarf and gloves in the morning and shorts and a tank top in the afternoon. We’ve already had temperatures up to 75 degrees accompanied by storms. And this weekend, they’re calling for 1-3 inches of snow. Very typical weather.

Each year since Mom passed has brought some huge change of one kind or another. And it’s all been good. I’m really looking forward to this one!

Posted in Moments and Musings

Move With Me: 6 Weeks to Go

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

Six weeks to go.

All the lasts are starting. Last time I’ll see the lake transition from winter to spring. Last time I’ll see baby geese toddling around (even though I hate geese). Last time I’ll see Grandmother Willow sprout her buds. Last time I’ll witness the emergence of tulips as they line the pathway to my building.

I was reminded again not to rush to the end of this season. One year ago yesterday, my baby girl moved out. Earlier this year, I started a new position at work. So many blessings. I don’t want to miss even the little ones I know are still coming as these last 46 days start to wind down.

The apartment is in disarray. My organizational system has broken down somewhat and I have stuff from every room packed away. All the wall hangings are down. The curtains, with the exception of some sheers for privacy (my apartment faces another building so there’s no privacy at all!) are all down. It’s looking less and less like a home each day and I’m starting to feel a little sad.

I realize, with this move, comes the end of my independence. These last five years have been the only time I’ve ever had my very own place. Maybe I’m being repetitive but then it bears repeating. I’ve gone from living with my family to being married and living with my husband (no place with him ever felt like home to me) to living with my mom. These last two apartments were the first I ever chose, decorated, etc, all on my own. I’m proud of myself.

But all good things must come to an end and I’m so glad this great season is giving way to an even better one. I can’t wait to feel more like part of a household again. To have people to talk to, cook with, dream with….I’ve missed that since Mom passed. Not that I haven’t been able to do that with my girls – I have done all this with my girls however, it’s different when there’s a generational difference.

I feel like I’m saying this all wrong but I’m sure someone out there understands what I mean. Haha!

So, I’ll reconstruct my organizational system and get back to packing, ever so grateful for God and His goodness and all  He’s done in my life and all He’s about to do.

As my pastor is fond of saying – my story doesn’t end here.

Photo by Phil on Unsplash

Posted in Moments and Musings

This New Season

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

A few short years ago, both my girls were planning to get a place of their own. I sat looking through apartment listings (just for fun), looking at one-bedroom places and dreaming of how I would decorate it without any input from anyone else. I pinned meals “for the single gal” to my Pinterest page and thought about how grand it would be to have the whole TV all to myself.

I could do what I wanted when I wanted. The ultimate single life.

We moved in here and shortly after, Emilie got married. And then there were two.

Emilie has always been my “big idea” girl. Big dreams. Bigger plans. So full of sparkling conversation. She outwardly expresses everything and this lead to hours upon hours of endless chatter. She filled my days with talking. I honestly can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t talking. So many late night talks, some full of fear but most filled with faith and a lot of tears.

But Shelby isn’t like that. She doesn’t have huge dreams.

Shelby works an overnight job and sleeps during the day. She has her own set of nerdy friends she prefers to spend time with, which is very normal for a girl like her. I want to give her that
space. I don’t want her to feel like she’s her mother’s entertainment committee. The few times she’s decided to spend her day with me has been a gift and I’ve made the most of it. Her big ambition right now is to work, make some money, and play video games with her friends. Even when she is with me, she’s quiet. There’s never been a ton of conversation that’s
happened between us.

So, my home when from being loud to being very quiet.

In the beginning, I took advantage of it. But it wasn’t long before conversations with Jesus
turned into mindless chatter with either myself or with the dog. (He doesn’t ever engage. He usually just licks himself and finds a new comfortable space on my chair.)

Now, that season is ending. I just bought a house with my sister. And my other sister (there’s four of us girls in my family) will be moving in with us along with Shelby. My very quiet, boring existence is about to be replaced with conversation and activity once more.

I can’t wait!

Moving to my current home was a huge blessing. We moved right in the middle of 2020 from a super small apartment to this one. My old apartment was only a mile away from the home we shared with my mom for 12 years. It was the home that healed us from a painful divorce. It was my mother’s house and for 12 years, we were secure and stable.

Then we lost her and everything changed.

The two years we spent in that first apartment after she died were so full of grief and pain and adjustment and just emptiness. We had no family nearby. My girls and I clung to each other and together, we held onto Jesus. But that grief – it was so hard to heal. I remember when we moved into this place, it almost felt like I was leaving my grief behind. So much closer to my sister, this place gave me breathing room, and not just literally.

It changed everything.

Being close to people who I loved and who loved me was the healing balm I needed. We healed together, in a way. God blessed us so much in this place and in this current season.

God gave me this season and I have not squandered it.

But now it’s time for the next step in my life. To go back to living in a space where I can put color on my walls and have my own laundry (it’s the little things). I won’t just be close to family; I’ll be living with family and closest I’ve been to my dad and stepmom in decades.

The challenge now is to stay in an attitude of gratitude. I’ve got just under 2 months until we move into our house – hopefully, our forever home.

Seasonal transitions are hard because the closer you get to the new season, the less tolerant you are of the season you’re in. It’s easy to get edgy and start to dislike what once was a blessing.

I’m determined not to let that happen to me. I love my home. I love every minute here. And before I leave, I want to pray over it, touch each wall and walk its floors one more time. I want to leave a bit of Jesus here. I want the next family to feel peace, love, comfort, and healing when they want through the door – just as I did.

When I get to my new home, I’ll do the same. Touch the walls. Walk the floors. Speak Jesus to it all. This home was a home of healing but the next home…that will be a home full of joy!

Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash

Posted in Moments and Musings

Apartment Life vs House Life

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

This time next year, I will be happily moved out of my apartment and into my forever house – or what I hope will be my forever home. At almost 55 years old, I sincerely hope the next move will be the last one.

The last time I lived in a single family home, it was 2006. Since then, I spent 12 years in a townhome and the last 4 years in an apartment. So I’m looking forward to single family home life.

I admit, there are things I love about apartment life. Things I’ll always love. Like the low maintenance. Should something, like the AC unit or the dishwasher break, I call someone. There’s no stressing about how to pay for it all. There’s also a sense of community. At least there is where I live. Everyone looks out for each other, greets other and helps each other. We meet up in common places like the front foyer to collect our mail, the laundry room and the elevator. We talk about our lives, our kids and our pets. (I live in a very dog friendly building.)

However, there is a down side. Such as lack of privacy. Even though my complex is quiet, not many are. I still hear thumping from above. One step in the hallway and I could tell you what my neighbors are cooking for dinner – an odor that every once in a while invades my home. The building across the way makes me feel like I’m a character in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. And just last week, someone decided to sneak their laundry in with mine. (EW!)

Will I miss it? Perhaps. I love the grounds, the lake and the compactness of it all.

As always, there’s pros and cons of house life. I know there may be times when I may fret a bit over a broken appliance or a roof shingle that’s been dislodged. I know the grass will need to be cut and the snow shoveled which are all things I do not concern myself with now. I’ll still have to park outside (although, it won’t take 2 walks down long hallways and an elevator ride to get to my car). I know a house is a huge expense and when you buy a house, you essentially buy a neighborhood.

Would I choose it over apartment life? Absolutely.

I can’t wait to cut my own grass. And my Pinterest is full of decorating ideas for my bedroom with walls I can actually paint. If I don’t like the floor, I can change it. I can’t wait to decorate for all the holidays. I pray our neighbors are kind, gentle people with whom I can share a cup of sugar or some cookies. I plan on sitting outside on Halloween night, dressed as something fun and passing out candy. I dream of a backyard with a patio/deck that I can sit out in with a hot mug of tea on a crisp autumn morning wrapped up in bathrobe and wearing my birth control glasses. I look forward to long walks throughout my neighborhood.

Most importantly, I cannot wait to share my life with not just my daughter but my two sisters. God help whatever house we get! Four grown women, all very independent, strong-willed and with our own personalities under one roof. I suspect much hilarity, fun, tears, comfort and lots of food.

One last thing you can’t always have in an apartment is a garage. I can’t wait for a garage. My first big purchase will be a bike with a basket on it. I plan on riding throughout the neighborhood with flowers in my basket and straw hat on my head. You know, over my safety helmet.

Less than 300 days to go. Nine more rent payments to go before they morph into mortgage payments. These are the days I look forward to, among so many others. These days will be blessed.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash