After moving a few weeks ago, we have been slowly but surely unpacking boxes, getting settled in, and making our house a home. That last factor is the most important to me - our garage might have extra boxes for some time, and we might not have pictures on the walls yet, but I want to feel at home where we are. Part of the challenge has been figuring out where to put all of our stuff because in full honesty, we chose to downsize dramatically from our last home.

This decision for me was a long time coming. I grew up overseas in a tiny apartment with 5 other family members, never having more than one bathroom. While I would not recommend that for most people we made it work, and I know that is one of the reasons we are still so close to each other. Getting married and moving to a new city was a dramatic life change for me, but one of the biggest changes was buying a condo...