There and Here

We have come to appreciate the modern amenities that we now have available which we did not enjoy at our previous residence. We loved our home in Provo. It was a charming home built in the early 1900's with a lot of character. It did have its quirks, however, because it was so . . . old . . .

Here is a list of what we miss and don't about our Provo home.



What We Miss About Our Provo Home:

• The shade from all the mature trees around the house, could definitely use that here.

• The hand crafted windows and cabinets with glass doors.

• The garden, not that our first attempt at a garden was all that fruitful . . .
  

• The lawn guys that came around every week. We won't have that here, although our lawn here could fit in many people's living rooms, so it shouldn't be too much work, and we'd hate to pay for water for any more grass in Arizona.
• The bodega. Our storage room off of the kitchen was so poorly insulated that it doubled as a fridge/freezer in the winter. We didn't have to use precious fridge space to chill our entire supply of water and drinks to a crisp, refreshing 33 degrees . . . I'll be back in a minute, I just got thirsty.
• The quails. We got to watch three batches of chicks grow up during the course of the last summer.
• Toby. He was the pathetic stray cat that occasionally came around. He bore a painful resemblance to the dogs back in Ecuador, and without fail, caused us to make a spontaneous donation the the local Humane Society.
  

What We Appreciate Here Because of our Provo Home

• More than one electrical outlet per room. No more extension cord chains to be able to fit in our alarm clock. No more hair styling in the kitchen while looking at a mirror across the room because the "bathroom" has no power to it. Also we appreciate the fact that every outlet in the house is not on the same circuit so we can run the microwave with the lights on . . . luxurious!
• A level kitchen floor. The dining area of our Provo home was an afterthought, so the floor slanted in that area. The fridge was on this spot so the door would close with substaintial force allowing us to play the exciting game, "Guess What Will Fall Out When You Open the Freezer(R)". We had a rolling chair in there once when we had guests. That was also a dining adventure.

• The laundry room . . . or its lack of jungle wallpaper, and sea green paint . . . need I say more.
• The "bathroom." Where to start. Definitely not the selling point of our Provo home. We appreciate a shower without a window coming halfway into it. The shower here does not require the curtain rod to be installed on a slant leaving us with a slender, triangle shaped space for showering. We also immensely appreciate the thoughtfulness of our new landlord of installing a toilet in a place other than directly over the entry door/ kitchen of our neighbors. I won't elaborate, and please don't ask them to because we haven't. We appreciate the fact that there is a bathroom vanity in the actual bathroom, rather than in the kitchen outside the bathroom. . . although, come to think of it, if it had been anywhere else, Megan couldn't have seen the bathroom mirror from the kitchen outlet. We appreciate a tub that is not only spacious, but comes clean without the need for a sandblaster. We also appreciate a toilet room that does not take on the outside temperature during a Utah winter. You can rest assured that the new tenants in our Provo house will not get much leisure reading done in there between Nov. and Mar.
• We appreciate that there is a surprisingly small assortment of trip hazards around our new home. There is not a 4 inch rise between sections of sidewalk, nor completely rounded and crumbling patio steps.
• I will appreciate the fact that I will not need to watch Disney's Sleeping Beauty every few weeks for tips on how to clear the mass of blackberry brambles that overrun the garden through the fence of the neighboring apartments.
• We have come to appreciate windows that can be opened. Not that we would have dared open them yet in this springtime weather, but the fact that they are not either painted shut or missing screens will be convenient on a beautiful winter day here.

• The home's lack of narrow, steep, wooden stairs of abandon-all-hope-ye-who-enter-here doom leading to the loft upstairs. In our previous home, if you had a firm grasp on the handrailing, and an experienced belayer at the end of your ropes, you could use the provided world map wallpaper to guide your ascent to the upper level.

Becuase of our home in Provo, we do not lament too much the fact that some of yesterday's luxuries have become today's necessities.

* Guess What Will Fall Out When You Open the Freezer(R) is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley. Used with permission.