This post is part current apartment reveal/part what are we up to right now.

One of the reasons I swooned over our current apartment was the view and the outside space. Our prior two apartments faced courtyards and had tiny balconies so there really wasn’t a place to sit outside. This location was all about the view.

Over the years we’ve really maximized this space with a grill, custom-built bar, custom built plant stand and ever growing container garden. We’re tucked in under another apartment and the space feels cozy. We added twinkle lights and spent many a night pre-Luke having a drink outside and watching the city lights. (Kat, take note, I still have the sea shell hanging for our first trip together out there and will find the perfect place for it in our new home as well.)

One of my favorite memories in this apartment is coming home from a business trip just before I got pregnant with Luke. I was still sad from losing our angel baby and had asked Eric to make sure he watched the plants while I was gone. The morning after I got home he said, hey have you checked your plants, how’d I do. I walked out to see the plant stand he had built and painted just for me.

For all the reasons I’ll miss this space, we gain it 10-fold in the house. Our kitchen has a deck on the back that is nearly double the balcony size. We have a balcony off our room plus the front and back yard. It’s such a huge jump that it feels like an embarrassment of riches.

And, the use of the outside space is truthfully one of the only things I can wrap my pea-brain around right now. Luke and I sat down last weekend to plant seeds for tomatoes, peppers and basil that we’ll take to the new house for planting. I suspect I’ll do container gardening this season, build some raised beds and hopefully plant them for fall.

Luke did much better with the planting than I expected but playing in dirt is fun for a little boy of any age. He was incredibly careful to take one seed from my hand and gently put it in the holes we poked with our fingers. He even helped clean up afterwards.

I never really expected gardening to become something I loved so much. But, there’s something to be said for watching things grow. Having something new to check on and tend to. Watching my lime trees new buds, the succulents flowers or waiting on my tomatoes first fruit is the best part of summer.