In July of 2003, we moved from our big house in West Jordan to this small house in Sugarhouse. When we moved, I looked the house up on the county records and I remember it saying that the house had 950 square feet. Our previous house had 3500 square feet. We gave a lot of furniture to The DI that year.

We’ve lived here for over two years now. We’ve had three Halloween parties here. This is our third Christmas in this house. We’ve gotten used to the size of the house and found ways to fit the treadmill in the corner of Mike’s office. We live with my bicycle on its trainer in the living room. We live with both our bikes in the living room in the summer since we can’t lock them up on the porch anymore. We’ve grown accustomed to this house and its size.

Since we’ve lived here, the house has actually felt bigger than the county records said. As far as I know, the county assessor isn’t allowed to come onto the property to calculate the square footage. They have to make an estimate from the curb. That makes their job easier, but it also leads to errors. Most of the time, the errors are in favor of the home owner and the estimate is lower than the actual square footage, so the owner doesn’t have to pay as much in taxes. I had good reason to believe that this house was bigger than 950 square feet.

We’re only renting here, so we’ll eventually have to leave. It’s only inevitable. We’ve looked at the floorplans for potential new living spaces. I found one with 901 square feet that has a similar floorplan to this place. I was trying to convince Mike that it would be a good place for us, but he didn’t like that it was even smaller than the place we live now.

I was worried that the floorplan showed a place that was MUCH smaller than our current place. I was curious and I wanted to know the actual square footage of the house. I got out the tape measure and forced Mike to hold the other end. When all the measuring was done and the calculations were made, I was shocked: 873 square feet.

Even now, I don’t believe it. I measured it with my own hands. I made the calculation twice. Mike checked my work. All of this, yet, I feel like this house is so much bigger than 873 square feet. A home is so much more than the amount of floor space. A house is so much more than its walls and placement of the bedrooms. A mansion can feel cramped and a closet can feel spacious. A home grows or shrinks based on how much love is in it.