A Simpler Life

Dave and I had a great life in Reno.  We were surrounded by friends.  My parents lived right around the corner and were available to help all the time (thanks for all that free baby-sitting, Mom and Dad).  We both had great jobs and amazingly supportive bosses and co-workers.  Lake Tahoe and the gorgeous Sierra Nevadas were right there for us to enjoy any time we wanted.

Life was good, but it was full.  It was abounding with commitments – all of them good things, and all of them things we enjoyed doing, but we were busy practically every night of the week.  It was overwhelming at times.

Life in Mexico is simpler – more relaxed.  I’m no longer working outside the home.  Dave is home from school much earlier.  We spend more time just being a family.  We learn and grow together every day as we create our life in a new culture.

Life is also simpler because we don’t have as much.  Our apartment is comfortable, but much less full.  We’ve come to like it that way.  Sure, there are a few more appliances I’d like to have.  For instance, we have a washer, but no dryer.  Somehow I’ve even come to love going up to our cage on the roof of the apartment building to hang clothes to dry.  There’s something nice about standing outside, feeling the sun on my face, looking over the city and pinning my clothes on a line.  Where else can I look out over Estadio Azteca (the only stadium in the world to host two World Cups, as Dave and James often remind me) while I do such a basic chore as laundry?  Hanging clothes to dry is not something I thought I would ever appreciate. I won’t turn down a dryer when the time comes. But in this moment I’m happy with what I have.

I’m enjoying my simpler life.