Friday, September 08, 2006

Livin' With My Sister


I wasn't quite sure what to expect when my sister moved in with me last month. I mean, I've been living by myself for 6 years now, how hard was it going to be to change that??

There were some things I was looking forward to...namely, another person to help pay those house payments! So more income for ME is always a good thing! :) I was also looking forwad to having some accountability at home: someone to help keep me accountable to make sure I'm having my devotions, not watching too much TV, and eating right and exercising. And also I was looking forward to having someone else around to go along with me to various events and to help share in my activities.

But there were some concerns I had...namely, how much will I have to sacrifice with someone else in the house--wanting to watch her own TV programs or eat her own type of food? Or how much am I going to have to be the "big sister" and remind her to get her oil changed, check her antifreeze, pitch in around the house, or pay the rent? Will she want to be totally on her own and never want to be around me at all?

Some of the things I was expecting from a roommate have pros and cons, of course. I wanted an incentive to have more people over and be hospitable and do more with reaching out and getting to know others. But since that area is a stretch for me, having a people person such as Sarah who LOVES those kinds of activities may be a bit of an area of growth. Plus I've learned a lot about myself in the last few years--how I work, what the habits I naturally fall into are, what I like and don't like. And are those habits bad or good? Is it all right to enjoy a Saturday lazily cleaning the house and maybe taking a break for a few hours to read a book or watch TV if I really enjoy that, or do I need to be out going somewhere and doing something?

I tend to be an old-fashioned, stick-to-the-schedule, I-always-do-it-this-way-what's-wrong-with-that? type of person. Sarah's the spontaneous, let's-go-shopping-right-now-even-though-it's-9:00-p.m. type. So that's good for me; I should be spontaneous every once in a while. It's okay to have change, but it's not always my favorite thing. I guess where I'm at right now with that is, Is it okay that I feel that way and don't want to go out driving in the middle of the night or is that something I should be trying to work on and not live by my feelings? Is it okay for me to want to stay home and spend some time with this new dog that I got since I really do enjoy that?

But, overall, I can say that things have turned out even better than I had expected. I had remembered us as being pretty different in our likes and dislikes, but we actually do have a lot in common. We do like a lot of the same types of food (although I'm not a big fan of Chinese and that's Sarah's favorite). We both like to eat healthy (although we both have our own areas of splurging!) and I've discovered (thanks to Sarah) that I'm a fan of tuna with relish. I've also discovered (from Sarah) what a great idea peanut butter and banana on a BAGEL is! We both pitch in and clean on our days off. Sarah's been a great help in loading and running the dishwasher, doing laundry, and occasionally vacuuming. One thing that I thought might bother her is my messy coffeetable, but she leaves stuff around the living room TOO so it's all good!! We love to watch movies together since we have a lot of the same taste there. And she has encouraged me to do Tae Bo with her, too, which is a good stretch for me. And Sarah has a great love for people and has a real heart for wanting to reach out to others. I love her taste in decorating, too. She has really grown up into a lovely young adult and I look forward to having her around to get to know better.

It's great to know that we can always be growing and changing, and I've had lots of new opportunities this past year with both the puppy (trying to be more scheduled) and with my great sis!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

well, wow, your sister sounds like a pretty amazing person...oh wait, that's me!! And I AM AMAZING!! haha...okay, not really!! I enjoy your company too and am glad that u offered me to live with u (Even though it's because u wanted my money) and that I didn't have to live in a cardboard box somewhere b/c i don't have a lot of money...right now...wait until i win the lotto and then I can be rich..but since i don't play the lotto i guess that could be a problem. and we've kind of been slacking on tae bo lately b/c i've been jogging the past few days..but don't u worry..it will be coming again in the near future.
..anyway, love yah, and peace.

The Two of Us said...

I'm sure it is awesome to live with your sister. I live in the same area with my sister - at least that gives me some fellowship on a regular basis. No worries about the flip-flop thing - that's why I was asking for volunteers and not just sending them out.

Troy & Sherry said...

i'm glad your sister is able to stay with you - and i am glad our sisters were able to spend some time together - thanks for coming out the house a few weeks ago :)