I LOVE OUR HOUSE #10

This window is right above my kitchen sink and I love being able to see outside while I'm standing there. It's hard to see in this picture because it's currently bare, but there's a small tree right in front of the bushes at the edge of the yard, between the bushes and the house. We have two bird feeders hanging on it and the leaves are really pretty in the spring and fall, so it's a nice view from the kitchen.

I've lived in one other place with a window above the sink, but this one has an advantage the other didn't. It opens to our front porch. That means it's handy for acknowledging guests and telling or motioning them to come in, even if I'm in the middle of something and can't come to the door. It's also really handy for solicitors I don't want to ignore, or can't ignore because we're three feet away from each other and have made eye contact, but don't want to get locked into a conversation with. Window conversations just don't last as long as door ones.

I LOVE OUR HOUSE #9

I really like being able to see trees from my bed and this is the view I get where we currently live.

That shot certainly won't win any photography awards, but you can see all the blossoms on the tree outside our window  I love it!

I LOVE OUR HOUSE #8

For all but two years of my adulthood I have lived near train tracks and we now live about half a mile from some.  I love the sound of trains, the whistles blowing and engines roaring as they pass through town.  I love hearing the bells as the gates fall at the crossing.  I wonder what is being transported and where people are traveling.

I obviously don't have a picture of the sound of trains, but I heard one a few minutes ago and wanted to add that sound to the list of things I love about our home.

I LOVE OUR HOUSE #7

Six people live here.  That's twelve feet (well, more like ten at the moment, but that won't last long) constantly coming and going through the three entrances to our home.

This is our floor and the door in the background is for the bathroom.  You can get to the bathroom from any entrance to our home without ever walking on carpet.  Oh, how I love that!  Does that mean we do a lot of sweeping and wiping?  Yes.  I love that we can see grime and moisture tracked in so that we can clean it immediately, rather than having it get buried in or soak through carpeting. 

I LOVE OUR HOUSE #6

Devon and Naomi headed to the backyard a few nights ago to gather part of our dinner.  Here's what they brought in.

I love that our home came with everbearing strawberries, everbearing and thornless raspberries, and thornless blackberries.  We use them as oatmeal toppings, make vinaigrette, throw them in smoothies, and just snack on them while we're outside.  Yum! 

I LOVE OUR HOUSE #5

We were blessed to move into a house with beautiful landscaping and one of our favorite parts is the roses.  Nine different kinds, ten different bushes.  We've already cut a few dozen roses over the last few weeks to put in various rooms of our house.  They're beautiful and smell amazing!

I LOVE OUR HOUSE #4

I've been talking about decorating and painting projects lately, but it's been a while since I did a post about something I love about our house.  Periodically I'll think of things that would make a good post, but it's always when I'm changing a diaper, cooking dinner, or driving down the freeway.  Not very convenient times for posting. 

Anyway, here's another little thing I love about our house.  The bathroom window.

I've never had a bathroom with a window before.  It's wonderful!  The mirror on the opposite wall that reflects much of the natural light is a bonus.

I love the fact that we very rarely have to turn on a light in this bathroom.  I love opening the window to let the steam from a scalding hot shower go outside.  I love a fresh breeze blowing in on a warm spring day.

I LOVE OUR HOUSE #3

I haven't told you about our house in a while. Honestly, I'm having to work really hard at not having a bad attitude about our messy garage, bare walls, and rooms with poorly arranged furniture. So I'm going to show you some more things I like. It will help me to keep my focus on the good stuff while I wait for the time, energy, or inspiration to tackle everything else.

Ready?

The center of our home has the kitchen, dining room, and a little bonus area. It's a fairly long room with a sliding glass door that opens to a covered patio on one end and a window that opens to a covered porch on the other end. Needless to say, there's not a lot of light that comes in that area.

Except for one thing.

The solar tube.



That glowing circle on my ceiling brings so much light into our home. I love it! Even in this dark time of year, we get enough light that we are usually able to do school and eat lunch at the table without turning a light on. On sunny days it's so bright that you'd think we had a light on if you walked into the room and it works like a nightlight when the moon is big.

I LOVE OUR HOUSE #2

Tim was the first one to see our house online. We were on separate computers, both looking for houses, and I heard him say, "Oh, you're going to love this!"

Here's what "this" was.



Tim was right. I love it.

The previous owners used this bookshelf as a place to display various trinkets and had a TV sitting on a little table in front of it, but we have regular books, board and card games, several years of school books, and other stuff stored on it.

The shelf is in some extra space off the dining room, which is nice. I love that it's easily accessible, but not smack in the middle of the living room.

I also love that all the totes I used to store unused curriculum in are now free to hold the kids' dress-up stuff.

I LOVE OUR HOUSE #1

I've been promising pictures of the house for weeks, but the reality is that getting settled takes a lot longer when you're hugely pregnant than when you're not. So, I'm just going to do it in little spurts. Deal?

Let's start with my favorite room in the house. The laundry room.

I spent 10 years in an apartment that had coin-op laundry in another building. I spent 4 1/2 years in a house that had the washer and dryer in the kitchen. I spent 1 1/2 years in an apartment that had the washer and dryer in a laundry closet in the hallway. Now I have a laundry room. Honestly, the kitchen and hall options were fine and the coin-op worked, but I love our new laundry room! It's less about the fact that there's a room specifically for the washer and dryer and more about the massive amount of storage the room has.



Check out all those cupboards on the wall and below the counter. Glorious! They hold wrapping paper and gift bags, a laundry detergent stockpile, playdough, extra school supplies, water bottles, and serve as a pantry. Plus, there's still room to spare. Such a blessing!

The window? I love all the light it lets in and that I don't have to turn the light on in there unless it's totally dark outside. Even then there's usually enough light from the adjacent room for me to do whatever I need to do.

The washing basin? It's not something I've ever wanted, but it will be nice to put freshly harvested garden goodies there, rather than the kitchen sink, once summer rolls around again. Completely unnecessary, but a luxury we'll put to use.

The yellow walls? We'll eventually paint almost every other room in the house, but that yellow is the perfect color for that room. So bright and cheery!

Yep, I love our house. Especially the laundry room.