Housing

Today we went and visited our new house. Yes, because moving every two or three years wasn't enough, we've decided to try doing it more often.
Actually, it's been a long decision and an even longer process.
When we found out we were coming to Brasilia, one of the things we were super excited about were the houses-- with backyards! After spending 2 years in an apartment in the middle of the city in Shenyang, and then another 9 months in one in Arlington, we were excited to move somewhere with perfect weather year-round, where our kids could play outside, I could plant a garden, and we could enjoy God's green earth.
Then we got our housing assignment: because we were moving to Brasilia in January and because of availability, there were no houses for us at that time, and we were assigned a nice apartment in the city.
Now here's where the dilemma comes in: it is a nice apartment! It fits our family perfectly, with a couple extra bedrooms when guests come. We have windows along the entire length of the apartment, giving us a beautiful view of the tall trees outside. I can walk to the grocery store, which has been convenient, since our car still isn't available. There are two schools, each about 5 minutes from our house, for Penny to attend. There is a lot to be said about our apartment.
Having said it, though, the final decision was to appeal our housing assignment and move into a house. Even with the extra work and expenses associated with living in a house, it is the better choice for our family. We live in a beautiful city with perfect weather year-round. And as we are right now, I take my kids outside to play about once or twice a week. Usually they just play inside all morning, then we eat lunch. After lunch it is nap time, and Penny plays inside some more, or else watches a movie. Then it's time for dinner and then bedtime. Sometimes we go out in the mornings, but that requires packing a diaper bag, snacks, and generally making an outing of it. We can open our windows and get some fresh air, but it's still a shame to be missing out on Brasilia.
When we were in China, we had the opportunity to move outside the city. We weighed the pros and cons, and finally decided to stay in our apartment. The deciding factor was that I'd made some friends in our apartment already, and I didn't want to leave them. And I'm incredibly happy we stayed with them! But here it's exactly the opposite. All the families I've met live over in Lago Sul, so when we move over there, we'll be closer to all my friends and the kids' friends. I'll be able to have kids over and ask people to watch my kids much more easily and without it being such a burden. As it is right now, we're a 20-minute drive away. So we either ask people to drive all the way over here, or else we take a cab, which is about a $40 round trip.
I can hardly wait for our car to be here! (But that's another post for another day.)
So we're moving. It won't happen for several months-- mostly because there's already a family living there, and they don't leave for a few months. Then there are some repairs to be made, but then after that, we'll be moving... again.
I'm really excited, though. There is a beautiful yard-- but not so beautiful I can't do some gardening to make it better. They have mango, avocado, pina, and Brasilian cherry trees in the backyard. It will be awesome to have a place for the kids to ride their bikes and just go play-- without my having to pack everything and everyone up and go out for an outing. We have a baby monitor, and I intend on using it daily!