A lot has changed in a year. We went from a 2,500 sf home with a 2-car garage, storm shelter and LOTS of space (storage and otherwise) to a 2 bed, 2 bath 1,200 sf condo with a 1 car garage and 1 covered parking space. More storage space than you might expect for the size but we did need to add a little more to it with a storage bench in the bedroom and another bench with storage under it in the closet. Still, it turns out it was enough.
We sold the house and moved into the condo to make certain we could actually live in a 1,200 sf space because that's what we're planning to do once we retire and move from Oklahoma to Alabama where we already have a 1,200 sf condo on the beach! We've been there plenty of times for short trips... rarely longer than a week... but living in such a space all the time, day in and day out, was an unknown to us. Not anymore. And you know what we found out? We can do it and do it easily. Whew... what a relief. :)
It wasn't easy getting rid of everything we had to get rid of in order to move into the condo last year but we put our minds to it and did it. Honestly, we haven't looked back. We have loved living downtown... we've had more fun in the last year than in the previous 5 years probably... and I always thought we had a lot of fun. Just nothing like we've had since moving downtown.
I realized this morning the last time I posted anything on this blog was the end of May... right before my busiest time of the year at work and also a busy time for us in our downtown lives, too. I didn't intend it to be that way but, looking back, I can see how it was easy for it to happen that way.
I think it's good to end this blog with today's post, one year into our great downsizing experiment, with the wonderful results that downsizing can be done -- it can be affirming -- it can be liberating -- it can be cathartic. If you're thinking about doing it, do it! What are you waiting for?
