The Best Parts About Having A Home

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we have officially had a place of our own for a total of 12 days now and all i have to say is “wooohooo!” it feels better than i anticipated and so good to be back in Portland, OR. of course we have had a lot to move in and it was a process in itself.

allow me to go on a tangent for a second and say that the moving process to get here was one of the most inefficient configurations thanks to lack of places to park a moving truck and only having access to 1 elevator that everyone else in the building is using too and getting mad at us. oh, and it also takes 58 seconds to get from the elevator to our apartment. yes, i timed it. thankfully, previous residents have stolen shopping carts and these are available to haul things in. hilarious and helpful (and still takes 58 seconds unless you get a running start and jump on the cart as my husband is prone to do).

wife blog shopping cartobviously the very best part about having a home is who you are sharing it with so i am acknowledging that naturally my favorite part about our new place is the fact that i live in it with my husband (duh). now let’s get into my other favorite parts about our new place (and Ravery gets full credit in selecting it).

a toaster oven.

i am not even kidding.

wife blog toaster relationship blogwhile we were/are on the road, i missed eating peanut butter jelly toast probably more than the desert missed the rain (hopefully you are singing that song and followed that sentence up with “and i miss yoooUU”). i am so happy to have access to my very favorite peanut butter again and a brand new toaster oven that really does have 30% more even toasting!! i am totally kidding- i’d say it’s like 17% more even toasting.

our new world map!

wife blog world mapwe have little red pins in all the places we’ve traveled to, green pins for planned trips and then we each got a yellow pin to put in the destination we reaaaally want to go (mine is Ireland and my husband’s is Peru). it was so fun to take 20 minutes and reminisce about all the amazing places we’ve been and where we want to go. it’s also great because it’s canvas and on a wood frame you put together yourself so it fits through your door and pins fit nicely in it.

my very first washer & dryer in my home!

wife blog washer and dryer chelsea averyi am going to turn into a stereotypical 1950s housewife and gush over how stinkin’ fabulous it is to have one of these directly inside of your home! i am in charge of laundry in our marriage (my husband despises it but i actually kind of enjoy it) so the fact that i can wash my clothes at 8pm and not worry about anyone taking my clothes or removing them (like in my last apartment where we had communal coin-operated laundry) brings me more pleasure than i anticipated. it is also spectacular to hypothetically warm up your towel for a few minutes and pull it around yourself as you step out of the shower.

i somehow forgot to mention (thanks for the reminder Frank) that the whole reason i took the picture from this angle is that so i could brag on myself about that pink painting painted! we went to canvas & cocktaisl in Denver for part of my bachelorette party (i know…we are wild) so we each have a similar painting depending on how much wine you consumed that night.

ice cube maker!

wife blog ice cube makeri didn’t even know we had one of these until 4 days after we moved in and i literally squealed with delight as i put that silver lever down in ‘on’ position.i loooove ice cold water so this makes me very happy. yes, our Russian vodka is its new best friend. you better believe i’m now reckless about how many ice cubes i put in my water.

the neighborhood

we live down by the river (thankfully not in a van) and we can walk to cute coffee shops, brunch places and the post office! win-win-win! (portland friends…these photo was taken last weekend since you all know it’s only been raining every day this week).

wife blog ryan avery husband portland

wife blog chelsea avery ryan avery portland oregon

the view from our couch.

wife blog sunset picture portland oregon

the above photo has not been color enhanced, no filters used..the sky was just that intense (this also occurred last week and if you follow me on Instagram @the_new_wifestyle you already know that). i also took this picture at 4:30pm because that is when the sunsets after only being awake since 8am.

it feels magnificent to have a place of our very own again! we had a workshop in seattle earlier this week so we stayed a night there and we both totally missed our place like you would miss a human. it was strange but oh so wonderful to walk through our own front door filled with our things.

2014 is off to a great start!

the new wifestyle: your home is your space so be thankful for a good one and create a great space together!

questions:
1) what is your favorite thing about your home? 
2) who is in charge of laundry in your home?
3) how’s your 2014 going so far?

9 Comments

  1. Heather Hawkins

    January 10, 2014 at 4:34 pm

    1) This one or my actual home? This one I like because everything is all so close together. Its much smaller than our house so I have less area to clean. My actual house, I like that you can turn the air conditioner off in select rooms if you want. So if I’m upstairs, I can turn the downstairs off, or just put it in the living room, or whatever. Plus it has a HUGE red door. I do enjoy the oversized door very much.
    2) I wouldn’t say I’m in charge of it, but I’m the one who usually does it. Most of the time, its like in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld with the wizards and the city, “The wizards would be willing to pay taxes so long as you never actually ask them to pay taxes.” So, Nick would be willing to do laundry, but i’d probably never ask him to do it. I also don’t really take the trash out unless I’m going near the dumpster and he’s not coming on a trip with me.
    3) Its okay. I need them to still approve my baby’s visa so we can go back to Australia. But its okay at the moment.

    • Nick

      January 10, 2014 at 4:37 pm

      on 2) this is partially because heather would go motherbear if i dared mess with the clothes. She is very particular about how she wants things done.

      • chelsea

        January 11, 2014 at 2:27 pm

        hahah love that we have the husband Nick’s actual response to the laundry statement! 🙂 i am sort of that way too…

    • chelsea

      January 11, 2014 at 2:26 pm

      ah yes…the more space means more cleaning (or more dust in my case) and that is such a great feature to only use the AC in the room where you are in your other home. i also loooove brightly colored doors and it sounds like yours has a fabulous one! haha i like your example of the ‘willing’ to do laundry! trash isn’t my fav either.

      fingers still crossed for you and your family Heather and that things will all come together sooner than later!

  2. Sarah Alvey

    January 10, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    1. I love my built in bookshelves in my living room. Now I have a place to store all of my books and movies and little ones cant reach them.
    2. I am in charge of laundry. Jeff is rarely home so I take care of it.
    3. So far its great! Started a new job that I love and we are all happy and healthy.

    • chelsea

      January 11, 2014 at 2:28 pm

      ohhh built in book shelves are a dream of mine someday!! i always think they look so cozy AND super smart you can store your things so your little one (and yay oneS) cannot reach it! also really happy to hear you are loving your new job Sarah and appreciating the happy and healthy aspect of your lives-yay!

  3. Travis A.

    January 11, 2014 at 5:02 am

    My favorite thing about Shelly and I’s current home is being in it together with our pups. It is tiny, somewhat smelly due to old plumbing, not the greatest lighting and gets really cold in the cold and really hot in the heat. BUT…I’ve never loved a place more because I get to use it as a tool to share one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in my life with my little family. Fortunately we do have a washer…although driers are a rarity in south america so we hang dry everything…which is sweet if you like leaves and pollen on your clothes and super stretched out tee-shirts. 🙂

    We both do the laundry and 2014 has already had its ups and downs. We had a great new years in Valparaiso to see South America’s largest fireworks display (allegedly), Shelly got mugged a few days ago, and we just got back from Mendoza, Argentina to hop over the border so I’m legal again (#sorryimnotsorry) and also to bike around and sample wine at the vineyards. Got to go to Trapiche, one of my favorites to have in the states.

    • chelsea

      January 11, 2014 at 2:43 pm

      yay! it’s a comment from Travis! i really admire the both of you and the adventure you are on together. makes my heart smile to think about you all under a pile of blankets in the cold cold and creating lifelong memories. incredibly inspired and proud of you both!

      wow 2014 certainly does sound like it’s had it ups and downs and so sad (and utterly terrifying) to hear that Shelly got mugged and got some irreplaceable things taken from her. amazing that you are traveling to fun locations and totally envious that you just bike around and drink wine all day in your stretched out, leaf-covered t-shirts 🙂

  4. Vivien

    January 11, 2014 at 11:30 pm

    1) I’ve lived here for so long that (most of the time) I know what noises are normal (the usual creaks and groans when someone is walking over a particular part of the house) vs. what is not (racoons are trying to climb up onto our roof…not good).

    2) I agree, washer/dryers inside your own place are the way to go! I’m starting to get more in charge of doing laundry nowadays which is oddly addicting to throw dirty clothes into a machine, press a few buttons and then it does the washing for you. I’ve only shrunk about two t-shirts and tie-dyed another (so far) so I feel like I’m doing very well 🙂