To be lived in

The moment we first walked into the house we now live in, I was love struck.
I took myself up the stairs to explore while Billy talked with our agent in the kitchen, and every inch of the place enchanted me.  By the time I descended, I just knew.
There were other people looking to buy in the neighborhood, walking through houses just like we were, and Billy had to command me not to stand in the front yard telling them that no, they may not look inside this house because it was going to be ours.

Sometimes, I still can't believe that I live here.  It's not grand, but it offers all I could ask (and more) from a home.

It offers quiet comfort for a recovering momma's cold during nap time over a cup of coffee and leftover homemade honey wheat bread.

There's a corner of our downstairs that lends just enough space to let a little boy explore and make messes and drag a dancing sock monkey across the living room just to give me a quick hug before, well, making more messes.

Our kitchen table just last night sat between my little family and our friends while we shared a crock pot meal and chocolate chip cookies and other little/big things like hugs and stories and life.  This morning it still boasts of the people that came, as if we ever need any thanks for the blessing of our home being full of life-sharing.

This is my living room unedited, tissue box and comfy blanket ready for me to rest and recover, and pillow cover that still needs to be hand sewn shut. 

Morning light softly seeps in through the windows higher on the wall, and it's that sweet kind of silent while my baby rests.

There are moments of living in this house when I wish I could keep it perfectly polished and picked up, but those thoughts are quick and fleeting.  

This home, it's so very lived in.  There are scratches and bruises that are merely the markings of real life, and I love it all the more for them.

The house and the home and the stuff, it's all lovely.  But it's really the living that it offers that I'm proud of, that I'm thankful for.  It's the way God's shown Himself faithful, the way He's emptied us out and filled us up with the opportunity to just live life with each other that makes me over-full of pure gratitude.

This house was meant to be lived in, and it is, and that's all I could've asked of it.

It's the time to unwrap Tuesday.  Join me over at Emily's.

Nesting

As of late, I have had an uncontrollable desire to nest (and no, I'm not even pregnant--don't you think you would know if I were?).  And when I say nest, I mean:  

"Dear Husband, I feel as if I need to spend some more money on our little home.  What?  Oh, no, it's not anything we need.  Just, you know, cute stuff for our walls.  What?  Oh, yes, I like the stuff already on our walls, I just want different stuff."

Now, even I know that it is a little unreasonable.  Just because I feel like nesting does not mean that my house is undecorated...  I just want to change it all!  Obviously, that's not happening anytime soon, because last time I checked, our budget does not have an unlimited "Nesting" category.

In an effort to recognize this and, in a sense, "count my blessings," I planned to do a post with pictures of the little things in my house that I already love and where I've already nested.  You know, because I'm always doing posts about what others need and that really is how we try to live our lives--recognizing how blessed we are and how much we can give.

I found TWO WHOLE THINGS to take pictures of!  That's good, right?  I mean, we are incredibly blessed, but my house is kind of messy (in my opinion), and so there wasn't much to photograph for today.

However, to stay true to my efforts, here are two small things that I do like in my little abode:

 These are hanging over my kitchen sink (which I could not get a picture of due to the dirty dishes).  And yes, they're fake plants.  So many people want to touch them to check.  Sorry that you must resist that urge.

The nightstand in the guest bedroom.  It's nothing special, but I love Paris and hydrangeas.  So, just kidding, it is something special.

Hey, I never said that this was a decorating blog.  It clearly is not!  But "nesting" has been SO overwhelming my thought life lately, and I thought it might be something you guys think about, too!  If it is, how do you control the URGE?

Tomorrow, we're back to the new blog series on My Journey.  

To catch up on part 1, read yesterday's post.