Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Places of residence...

After listening to a series of voicemail messages from my sweet friend Leah, I've been thinking about all the places that I have lived...and tonight I want to share with you my journey...maybe not all of my journey because I do have Bible study at 7 p.m.  So I had better get crackin'...

Rome Road, Addison, Michigan
(Blissful sigh.)  My childhood home will always hold very dear memories for me.  The 0.1 mile long driveway where I learned to ride a bike...the same driveway where I practiced flag corps routines with the red broom's handle...the basketball hoop where I could never master the sport...the pond where I spent countless hours fishing and forcing my brother to remove the fish from the hook...the pond - also - where I learned to swim and then later where I got creeped out when the fish would bump into me (READ:  try to eat me alive...they weren't piranhas...I just thought they were).  We had a fire pit and countless fires with family and friends.  I miss the annual October fire.  The creek behind the house where I caught crayfish.  The 4 acres of grass that had to be mowed which when I was a teenage I appreciated the farmer's tan.  The bus stop where I got accosted by red-winged blackbirds.  The large trees which shed their fall foliage followed by snow! snow! snow!  And more snow...  The pond when it would freeze over in the winter and my Dad would turn on floodlights and we would skate until late into the night.  Rome Road...I miss you.

Pensacola Christian College Dorms, Pensacola, Florida
Oh the inter-personal relationship experience I learned while living in the dorms...from my favorite freshman year roomies to Bah-renda! who would set her alarm for 4:30 and press snooze for 90 minutes...6 minute intervals.  You do the math!  She slept in the bunkbed above me -- a couple days of shooting (read: sending her airborn!) her into the air and she stopped setting her alarm for such a ridiculous hour.  Bah-renda...goodtimes.  Ol' Girl was her nickname.  Ol' Girl.  I forgot about being roomies with her.  Making friends with some of the sweetest people...  Talking to the boy and then declaring my love for him (outloud) only to realize his sister was in the next room visiting my suitemates.  Learning to love coffee...hot chocolate plus coffee = a slippery slope to loving the "juice."  Roadtrips with Mandy.

Glass Drive, Pensacola, Florida
I was able to live off-campus during my last year at college.  Many - many lessons learned.  I lived with the "nuns" who weren't nuns at all...they were the sweetest friends I had & still have to this day.  We aren't geographically close...but we are kindred sisters in Christ.

Church Street, Hudson, Michigan
My time living on Church Street was brief - just a year.  I lived here with my brother after I graduated from college.  We baked.  We laughed.  We learned about paying utility bills and keeping enough money set-aside for rent. 

Donna Drive, Rockford, Illinois
A lovely 2-bedroom apartment that I shared with my brother as we embarked on life in the big city.  We had the loveliest Christian landlady.  She was a gem!

Normandy Drive, Rockford, Illinois
I learned to carefully read lease agreements!  I had lovely neighbors who were quiet.  I had my first walk-in closet...(sigh)...so much room!!!

Amy's Place, Rockford, Illinois
8 months with a roommate and her silly little Buckeye-eating dog!!!  Petey-wheaty (the puppy-wuppy) would dance and do tricks every single time he saw me.  His human thought he loved me.  Both Petey-wheaty and I knew the truth...peanut butter balls covered with dark chocolate.  I'm surprised the little guy does not have diabetes.  If only Wilfred Brimley (is that the diabetes, "You check your blood sugar and you check it often" guy's name?) knew...  He would have tough competition with Petey.  I enjoyed my 8 months with Amy.  It was a lesson in interpersonal relationships.

The Cottage, Rockford, Illinois
A small 4-room cottage with 6-foot doorways and a lovely secluded place of residence.  The shade of the surrounding trees keeps the cottage comfy in the spring and early-summer...and in the fall, the leaves are just glorious!  Window boxes full of impatience (although - confession, I am on the every-other-year flower schedule...)...  Deep windowsills that afford me places to set nick-knacks.  A large bathroom with ample storage.  Use of the half of the garage offers protection for Rosie from the elements.

And soon...one more place to add to my list.  My Jeffersons' Apartment.  It's on the top level (the second level).  It has a small balcony.  It's in a safer part of town and close to the highway.  It has 2-bedrooms with ample storage.  It comes with a washer & dryer - theirs not mine which means no maintenance for me.  It, also, has a dishwasher.  {Insert Jeffersons' theme song..."'Cause I'm movin' on up...to the east side...to a deluxe apartment in the sky...}  There is a garage - another blessing.  I will be in the city limits which means....LIBRARY CARD PRIVILEGES!!!  It seems small - a library card - but living on the county side of the road and not having that small card to check out books has made me realize it is a blessing to have a library card.  :) 

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