A fresh start: I've outgrown my old place. So now it's time to find a new one - What's on My Mind - Brief Article

WHEN MY HUSBAND, Mitch, and I moved into our apartment eight years ago, it suited us perfectly. It was centrally located and affordable. But since then, we've outgrown it. I have no place to plant an herb garden, and there simply isn't room for us to entertain family and friends. So we've started searching for a new place to live.

Last week we made an offer on an adorable bungalow that reminded me so much of the house I grew up in. It needed a lot of TLC, but it had potential. Mitch and I imagined ourselves refinishing the lusterless hardwood floors in the living and dining rooms. We talked about tearing up the too-large driveway to make room for a small yard and garden. The asking price was at the upper end of what we can afford, so we made a more modest offer.

We lost the house to a higher bidder.

Our real estate agent thought we would be heartbroken. To his surprise, we aren't. We are disappointed, certainly, but we also trust in fate. If we didn't get this house, then there's a better one out there for us. Plus, we got a good education out of the bidding process: We learned so much about mortgages, inspections, and tax ramifications.

That's what life is--it's a process. And you can't just celebrate the spoils of victory; you have to revel in all the steps you take. So we'll keep looking.

Speaking of outgrowing something old and needing something new, you might notice that Natural Health's "house" has been renovated. NH art director Lynne Waring and I felt that some parts of the magazine's design needed to be spruced up. So we gave the pages a fresh coat of paint, using new vibrant colors. We changed the shingles on our roof, so to speak, by making the labels at the top of our pages easier to read. And we planted greenery throughout (I'm referring to the leaf icon at the top of this page and many others).

We also designed this stamp of approval for the products that impress us when we test them. Look for the Natural Health Editors' Choice stamp in our News and Notes section.

I hope you enjoy the changes that we made.

Wishing you good health,

RACHEL STREIT
Editor in Chief

COPYRIGHT 2002 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group