Yesterday, we lived in a house that was too big for us, filled with my dreams of our house being the home where my children and their friends would come to play. I constantly daydreamed of a sparkling pool in the backyard and a fence to keep the dog and kids contained.

Our home was a beautiful home where both of my sons were brought after they were born. A home filled with years of hosting friends and family members for birthday parties and holidays. Our home was surrounded by the best neighbors I could have asked for or dreamed of. The view from the street looked like a husband, wife, and two sons who were happy.

But the view from yesterday wasn’t true.

Yesterday and many days before those days, I spent cleaning a house that was way too much for a mother of two young sons, especially a single mother. The beautiful garden where my sons and I planted carrots, cucumbers, and strawberries became filled with knee-high weeds when it was time to close on our home.

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Inside the house, I was always trying to keep up with the dirty floors, the smell from the boys’ bathroom, enough toys to keep a toy store in business, and the constant feeling like I wasn’t doing enough. When you have a big home, you spend more money constantly filling up the spaces. It was an ongoing struggle of improvements, guilt, and apologizing.

Today, our view is a lot different than yesterday’s. The corner sink in the kitchen with a view of endless acres of Midwest farm fields is replaced with a new view of our small family room in our tiny apartment.

We downsized tremendously, and I don’t mind it one bit.

Today’s views are filled with honesty, less stress, life lessons, and happiness. Our small apartment has taught me a lot in a short time. While I miss our neighbors dearly, I’m excited for our new chapter.

Moving into an apartment that is a fifth of the size of our previous house taught me a lot about minimalizing. The material possessions that matter most to us will be found in our homes or tucked away in a storage unit.

The size of a house isn’t important. Home is where you make it. Big houses, trailers, houseboats, or townhouses can all be filled with happiness, love, and special memories.

Having a smaller to-do list means more time with the people who matter the most. Living in a smaller home means I spend a lot more time with my sons inside and outside of these walls. We became tourists seeing the sites, trying new foods, learning new cultures, and having new experiences.

I’m spending a lot less time trying to maintain a monster-sized house which allowed little to no room for self-care for me.

I’m also finally accepting that it’s OK to rest. Whether it’s the shady trees near our apartment or the mental and physical exhaustion from life’s challenges, I have slept in more over the past few months than I have in a very long time. I’m feeling less guilty about sleeping in or taking a nap. Our bodies and our minds need to rest in order to heal physically and mentally. It’s OK to step away from the laundry or dishes and rest, free of guilt.

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Regardless of the size of our home, there will always be mounds of laundry, dishes in the sink, and dirty floors. What matters most isn’t found in the size of a house, it’s found in the people who make a house a home.

Sometimes, the view from yesterday isn’t what it really seemed to be from the outside looking in. The view from today and hopes for tomorrow are looking a lot brighter every day. Yesterday’s views are replaced with a fresh start to reinvent ourselves with first impressions, new experiences, and hopeful beginnings.