Home Sweet Home

Today is a big milestone for us… We have officially lived at the same address for one whole year – 365 days!

I am sure some of you are out there saying, “Big deal, one year.”  But, those of you that have had to update your address books/palm pilots every year around this time might understand, and appreciate, the enormity of this achievement.  Considering the nomadic existence that made up the first 4 years of our married life, this is a big deal!  It is a big deal because I have not, unlike years past, spent the last several weeks sorting, wrapping, and packing everything we own.  I will not spend the next several weeks living out of boxes, wondering where this or that is, trying to unpack and find new places for everything.  It seems that just when I figure out exactly where I want everything, it’s time to move again, and I have to take it all down and start over!  But, not this year! 

 I have discovered some pros to moving every year: you consistently get to clean out all of the “stuff” that you accumulate over the year (a very good thing for a pack-rat like me!); you find out who your “real” friends are (I am kidding, sort of  – our last 2 moves, we hired movers in order to keep our friends!)…and that’s about it. 

 While I do have an overwhelming urge to clean out the garage sometime soon, which is probably not a bad idea, I am so thankful for our new home (and yes, I do still think of it as “new”), and I have no desire whatsoever to leave it anytime in the near future!  I know that these things may seem insignificant, but they are reminders to me of how the Lord has blessed us with this house.  Not only did He give us what we needed, but many of the things that we wanted.

 

 

• A quiet neighborhood – a real blessing after thin apartment walls
• Good neighbors – we lived upstairs from the nightmare neighbor…no more bass pounding through the floors at 3 a.m., no more smoke seeping through the A/C vents, no more drunken college parties until all hours of the night…
• A yard! – Hannah loves to be outside, and now she has room to play and run around!
• Fall decorations – I love fall, and each year I find great stuff on sale after Halloween and Thanksgiving, but I’ve never gotten to use it…until now!
• My kitchen – I got a lot of nice “kitchen stuff” as wedding/shower gifts, and it is so nice to have the cabinet space to store it all!  Plus, I also have the counter space to prepare meals, and store appliances!
• (Faux) Wood Floors – They are pretty, and I have always wanted a house with wood floors.  It certainly wasn’t something that we were looking for, but it was definitely a very nice bonus!
• An extra bedroom/office – We have room for guests, and a place for Jason to study (now that he is no longer in seminary)…and, Lord-willing, room for more kids someday.
• The Laundry Room – Maybe not a big deal, except that it is inside the house! With a little one, this is a huge plus in my book!
• A garage that is attached to the house – After having to run around an apartment building, and up a flight of stairs (or three!), in the rain, with a baby, and grocery bags, this is wonderful!!
• Living near my family – And, no, it is not just because I have easy access to free baby-sitting.  I know we may not always live nearby, so I am enjoying it while I do.

Of course, it isn’t exactly the way I want it yet.  We are still in the process of painting over the bright yellow and green walls in the living room and kitchen…

  

After

…and I am very much looking forward to replacing the Cookie Monster blue (I’m sure that is not the real name of the color, but it fits!) carpeting in the bedrooms someday.   

 

(Notice the lovely blue carpet!)

 

 

But, even those projects are things that I am grateful for.  I am enjoying making this place more of a home for our family – for however long we might be here.