Trying New Things

A few weeks ago we celebrated our one-year anniversary in this apartment, which is a big deal because for the first time in the history of our marriage we've hit the one-year mark without any plans to move elsewhere. From the get-go, we've always felt the urge for new scenery, new surroundings, every time that one-year lease came up. Sometimes it was a little move down the block, or to the next state, or halfway around the world... We certainly haven't been too keen on being tied down! But now that we're in a more permanent state of mind, it's had me thinking a lot about what "home" really means. And I really want to document my feelings somehow. So I've finally decided to take the plunge and try out my first scrapjournal. I'm easing into it with this downloadable kit from House of 3 - I just love the images! They just happen to be offering 40% off all their downloadables this weekend, so I figured I may as well give it a shot. Wish me luck! 

Oh, and since we're on the topic of home, I found this pic of our very first apartment in China, back in 2004.

That was us on the bottom right. It was small, and had some not-so-lovely odors from the bathroom pipes, and a teeny tiny rat problem. The problem, not the rats. The rats were huge. Well, actually the problem wasn't all that teeny either. But we were just so happy to finally be in China, that it really didn't matter. Except for that rat problem. That was bad. They ate my birthday cake. And one ran around my living room while I chased it with a broom. Those sheets of sticky glue paper that they sell to catch rats? They work great - except that then you're left with a giant live rat stuck to a piece of paper that you have to now somehow pick up and take outside. Did you know that rats can hiss like a cat? Ask me how I know this. Wait, where was I? Oh, yeah, this was our first China apartment, and we loved it. But we loved the next (rat-free) one even more!