The Good Life

When my sister came to visit she kept commenting that she couldn't get over how calm and slow-paced our lives here were. I am glad she pointed it out -- to us it was just everyday living but because she reminded me of the normal pace of life in the States, I have since been really appreciating just how slow everything is here.

Kyle hates that we throw money away renting and is anxious to buy a house when we return to the States. Although I know logically we are wasting money by renting, I still love renting. I love being able to call the landlord with any problem. Yes, our bathroom has seen better days, but since it is not ours, we don't feel the pressure to re-model it. I keep trying to remind Kyle that as soon as we buy a place our weekends will be spent on never ending home projects. Because of all of this, I wanted to document our weekend because I have a feeling once we have kids and own a home, I will look back on this and think, "We actually had this calm of a lifestyle?!?"

Saturday we got up early to take Meredith to the airport. We got home and I read for a bit while Kyle was on the computer. Since I had nothing else to do and it was pouring rain outside, I took a three hour nap while Kyle read and did a crossword puzzle. After I got up, we had lunch together and talked for a while and then got ready to head outside (where it was finally sunny). We walked to a local bar that specializes in Belgian beers and sat outside for two hours eating cheese, drinking beer and playing Cribbage. By 7pm it started to get cool so we walked to dinner and ran into a few friends along the way. After dinner we walked home and watched the movie Troy on TV.

We slept for 11 hours and this morning we have gotten up, read, watched the news and I am now piddling around the house cleaning up a bit while Kyle is reading. Even if we wanted to do a household project, all the stores are closed because it is Sunday so we are subtly encouraged to just stay at home and relax. This afternoon we are meeting up with our church friends at a park to hang out and let their kids play. Afterwards we are going to a meet a friend for dinner and then probably just read and hang out a bit more before bed. Even though I have been missing the States recently, I sure don't miss going to Wal-Mart, Target, Publix, the mall and Home Depot this weekend.