My Home

1. Ok so one of my friends asked her readers to write 3 favorite things about "Home".  She shared some things she loved and then asked us to do the same.  

   Here's her prompt:This week, take a look around your house and be grateful for your home. What is it that you love the most? Leave a comment describing three details about your home that bring a smile to your face.

   
   

   So I realized that my response was prob WAY longer than she really wanted... but as I started typing, I was just so thankful for all these little things!! I decided I'd share it on my blog so I'd have somewhere to go back and read it later!  I'm probably going to add on to my original posting (bc I held back in the comment section of Jenny's blog!!)... So here it goes:

   I'm thankful for my home!!

   Backstory:

   I moved in January into my first ever HOUSE (a rental- but still its mine!) and its PERFECT! I prayed about this house for a while.  I was pretty specific about the things I desired in our next home.  Here was my list:  I asked for a safe place for Nate to play.  Somewhere we would be able to host events, somewhere with a backyard, somewhere that had storage, somewhere w a W/D in it (and somewhere w an ice maker if possible- but obviously that wasn't a deal breaker!!).  

   Enter THIS house. I saw it a full year before I ever looked at it seriously.  I took a picture of the front of it- roses were in bloom and decorated the white house with green trim just so perfectly! It had an adorable lamp post in the front too!  It was perfect!!  Well at that time, the house was RIDICULOUSLY expensive!! So I sighed and just kinda went on my way.  I ended up in an apt for a while (in the ghetto!) that was definitely a blessing for me and Nate and for our friends who got to come over ALL THE TIME!  I was quite content in my little affordable apt!  But God had other plans!

   
   

   

   Love the little Lamp & the beautiful Roses!

   
   

   There were so many things that led up to this being our home- but I think I'll save that for another post. In January, (over a yr later from when I first saw and fell in love with it) Nate and I moved into this same adorable little home!!   It was totally God’s gift to me (just when I thought I’d NEVER be able to afford a house with a Yard in a safe neighborhood in dallas & that I was destined to live in ghetto scary apts for the rest of my life.)

   
   

   Finding Home:

   

   Evey Boy needs a Swing Set!

   

   Nate & Reese (neighbor from across the st)

    Its in a cul de sac just down the street from my pastor/friend and his family. My son (5 yrs old) now has a backyard and a swingset. Every kid needs a backyard and a swingset!! We’ve only been here since January, but it feels like our entire world has changed because of being in a HOUSE. So I love just about everything about the house (except the fact that I have to share my bathroom w a 5 yr old BOY! ew!! hehe :P). 

   

   Nates 5th Bday Party in the Backyard

   
   
   

   
   

   So my 3 FAVORITE things about my home are:

   1. My neighbors. I have neighbors!! Ones you can borrow sugar from and ones your child can play with. Ones that you wave to as you come home for the day and ones you rush outside to spend time with after just throwing your stuff down. Its a whole new world! I have community on my street and I'm trying to be home more to hang out with the neighbors that are out & around! It helps that there are quite a few kiddos running around and mine likes to play with other kiddos! Its been such a blessing to know people that live around you - (and text you if your car lights are on, or even write down license plates of cars where people disappear into your back yard and come out a little later! My friends doing laundry- but still! How great is that!?)

   

   Some of the neighbors that live on the corner

   
   

   

   Reese & his mommy, Jennifer live across the Street!

   
   

   

   The boys LOVE to ride bikes in the Cul De Sac!

   

   Duncan toddling around the Cul De Sac chasing the big boys!

   
   

   2. Its a perfect for hosting stuff!! I’ve hosted small dinners (around a DINING TABLE found on craigslist that I LOVE! Ya I have a DINING table and I can do sit down to dinners with up to 12 people around one table!!). I’ve hosted a 5 yr old Bday party(see backyard pics above), a live concert, several 20 something bday parties for friends, and my big 30th bday party- complete with twinkle lights in the backyard, people in fancy clothes, and Paris decor.

   

   Lost Immigrants House Concert

   
   

   

   The adoring Fans

   
   

   

   Its cool to have a concert in your house!

   
   

   

   My Paris Party Backyard

   

   Inside my Paris Party

   
   

   

   Dinner w Nate's Grandparents

   
   

   

   Fiesta Party Prep

   
   

   

   Fiesta Night - AJ & Titos Bday

   
   

   I love that i can bless my friends by having them in my home and sharing their birthdays and meals and pictures and  memories!

   
   

   3. The Garage! I have a GARAGE!!
   
   

   

   This is BEFORE i moved in (when it was empty!)

   Its small- just a one car. It has an automatic door, but no opener… so i cant really put my car in there at this point (even if it weren't full of boxes!)… BUT I have a garage. I got all my stuff from my parents house, from their storage over the years, etc and its all in MY garage. Sure- there are so many boxes, its hard to get around in there… but its still MY garage!! and MY stuff.  AND in the garage is a washer/dryer! I can do laundry AT my house. After yrs of having to goto a friends or a laundry mat and having to make sure I had enough quarters for the machines in the apt complex… I have my OWN w/d!  I can leave my clothes in the dryer overnight if I want to.  I can fluff clothes in the morning (instead of ironing!:)  and now I”M the house that everyone comes to to do their laundry!! How great is that??!

   
   

   HIS PROVISION IS ALWAYS BETTER!!

   I love my home. But more importantly- i love that God knew EXACTLY what we (Nate & I) needed for this season of life and he provided more than I could have hoped for!

   He even provided things I didn’t KNOW i needed/wanted! But now, I’m happy to hang out outside and invest in my neighbors.  (i NEVER went outside at the Apts).  I’m happy to play with my kiddo and his friends! (Nate didn't have friends that lived at the APT!) I’m happy to do laundry (I dreaded it before... lugging loads down 3 flights of stairs into the car to the laundry mat, staying there for a couple hrs and lugging it back up!)  I'm just HAPPY to come HOME!

   
   

   I Love my home!
   
   

   

   This is what I happily come home to every day!