Day 9 of 31: Clichés

Whether large or small, rented or owned, castle or cottage, sometimes, the cliché rings true:

Home is where the heart is.

Ever since we were first married, we have always said that no matter where we live, home is where we are together.

In pursuit of creating the home you love, keep your eye on the people you love. Don't let the practice of housekeeping or decorating or organizing plain ol' stuff stand in the way of serving your family and friends.

Home is made of people...not things.


~This is Day 9 of 31 Days. You can find all posts in the series here 31 Days of Making this House our Home.

Day 8 of 31: Celebrate

The month of October brings three birthdays in our family, all within 12 days. :) Needless to say, this is a month when we celebrate.

I've been thinking about celebrating.

It's easy to celebrate the big things. Birthdays and anniversaries and weddings and new babies. Adoptions and baptisms and new careers and even funerals.

It's important to celebrate the big things. The milestones of life are to be noticed and celebrated and remembered.

But as I pulled out our "Special Red Plate" for Hadleigh's birthday today, I remembered why I had bought more than just one. I wanted to have a plate for each child, where I recorded the moments we used it on the bottom of the plate in ceramic pen.

For days when someone lost a first tooth. Read a book by themselves for the first time. Hit a first homerun. Showed a kindness that no one noticed except Mom or Dad. For days when feelings are hurt.  Days when disappointment is a tough teacher.

I want my children to remember that we didn't just celebrate the big things in life...but also the little things that made up a full life in our home.

Do you have any special way of celebrating in your home?


~This is Day 8 of 31 Days. You can find all posts in the series here 31 Days of Making this House our Home.

Nine Years

I'm not quite sure how it happens.  You blink and a beautiful baby girl in arms is all of a sudden holding up nine fingers.

Hadleigh, in your nine years you have brought so much life to our family. You have taught me so much.

Here are nine things I love about you (and ten pictures I treasure):

 

1. You like surprises (you come by that naturally)...but quality time spent together is what you love most. Tea parties. Snuggles on the couch. Reading together. I love this time too.

2. You love nature; from catching butterflies and ladybugs to noticing mushrooms and leaves and birds and forest monsters (aka squirrels), you are so very aware of the beauty of the world God has created.

3. You are so incredibly agile. We call you a ninja.

4. You will choose to be outside (in any weather) over playing indoors any day of the year. Though I'm the exact opposite, I have always loved this about you.

5. You are adventurous. You are ready to explore in a moment's notice. All you need is a map (though it need not be accurate) and a packed bag and you're ready to navigate the neighborhood, a mountain, a road trip, or just an imagination-filled basement.

6. You have the most generous heart. And it instructs me every single day. You would rather share your last bite of dessert than eat it yourself. I look forward to seeing how this part of your character grows and shapes you as you get older.

7. You persevere. When challenges face you (and they have), you may get frustrated, but you always work through it. You have grown so much in so many areas of your life...and have helped me grow by your example.

8. You are kind. Your love towards your siblings brings me joy...they are your best friends.

9. I love how, out of all the sweet and extravagant birthdays desserts, you chose ice cream cones this year. You love & enjoy the simple things in life...and you make them special, just by being you.

Hadleigh, you are a tremendous blessing to all of us. I am so excited to see all that your ninth year brings.

Happy Birthday, precious one.

Day 7 of 31: A Little Light

I have noticed a trend in many of our pictures lately.  

Candlelight.

I've always loved collecting candles and lighting candles...but I didn't used them much while we had toddlers. Now that our youngest is almost five, we are once again enjoying the ambience and comfort they bring to our home.

At night in the windowsill. In the middle of the morning to brighten a rainy day while reading. Or while drinking tea before bedtime. Candles make everything seem cozy and warm.


~This is Day 7. You can find all posts in the series here 31 Days of Making this House our Home.

Day 6 of 31: Making New Memories

I remember being eight and moving from Texas to North Carolina. I remember noticing the absence of: Ranch Style "Cowboy" Beans. Bluebonnets. The ease of visiting my grandparent's house. The creek we loved to explore in our backyard.  

I missed my friends. I missed our church (and my shy eight-year old self was terrified of church hopping.) I missed the fun things we enjoyed doing as a family in the only state I'd ever lived.

But within a few months of the move that summer, we were climbing Chimney Rock, camping on weekends, hiking and hiking and hiking, conquering Sliding Rock. We visited the Biltmore Estate, ate ice cream sundaes where my mom once had as a child, and got lost for hours (it seemed at the time) in the neighborhood where we would soon move. 

We swam in the pool of our rental house. We found a bakery just down the street that made the yummiest gingerbread men cookies year-round. We made friends.  These are my early Asheville memories.

So it's natural for me to miss the tomato soup from Port Lugano back in Oklahoma. I think of our homeschool friends there each Tuesday morning, as they meet for Classical Conversations. The stars (and planets!) were so very bright in the night sky at the edge of our small town. The sunsets glorious. 

I miss the fellowship of believers at ERC each Sunday morning (and the two minute drive there!) The beauty of that big sky and open plains...well, I learned to love that again.

But I have to remember how important it is to create new memories in this place. 

We are learning the history of the places our founding fathers once walked. Hiking and hiking and hiking. The kids ride bikes up and down the street sidewalks. They love to explore the many national parks and drive past historic battlefields. 

We swam in the neighborhood pool of our rental house this summer. We walked along cliffs where stone was once quarried for the Capitol Building and the White House. We enjoy new friendships and a new church home. We see deer in our backyard.

We are making new memories.

~This is Day 6. You can find all posts in the series here 31 Days of Making this House our Home.

Day 5 of 31: No More Complaining

I'm guilty.

I am guilty of complaining about trivial things in this amazing house we've been blessed with.

It might be our shower that never stops dripping. Or the weird noise the toilets make after flushing. The size of the pantry. Or the jigsaw puzzle that is our garage.

A funny thing happened when I read Ann Voskamp's book last year: I started thanking God for crazy things. Like laundry. Because isn't it a blessing to have clothes to clean? To have children who can play hard enough to create dirty and smelly clothes? To have a machine that makes this part of my job so much easier than it could be?

But then we moved.

Despite my excitement over this assignment that brought us closer to both of our families and to the place we call "home," I found myself focusing on the nitty gritty frustrations of a rental house instead of practicing gratitude.  Indoor plumbing. Thank you. Food and a place to keep it. Gifts. A place to park two cars and still fit in the trash can and extra fridge. More than we need. Thank you.

Even as I write these words, I can hear the lyrics of this song I sing with my children in my head:

"Do everything without complaining. Do everything without arguing..."

Yikes.

This week, I'm working on having a thankful heart. Because out of the heart, the mouth speaks. Because I desire to be a living example to my children, not just a reminder of rules.  Because I've been given so much.


~This is Day 5. You can find all posts in the series here 31 Days of Making this House our Home.

Day 4 of 31: A Cozy Spot

I have always been a reader. 

I was the one with a flashlight under my covers or the promise of "Just one more chapter, please!"

A cozy spot and a good story were my perfect definition of a great afternoon, whether I was a child, a college freshman, or a young mother...though now the time to steal away with a book comes less often.

I have always loved little nooks designated for reading, and as such, desire one of my own in our new home.  The children each have bookshelves and a comfy beanbag to create a nook in their rooms. Brent has a favorite leather chair in our family room, perfectly set to enjoy a book, a movie, or, of course, football.

And I'm hoping to create my own special place with a much loved chair.

This chair is special. 

In our first home, it is where I rocked and prayed and read my Bible aloud while pregnant. It is where I spent countless hours nursing my oldest and rocking her to sleep, lullabies softly playing.

In our second home, it played a special part of our bedtime rituals in both Hadleigh's nursery and Nathanael's.

And in our last home, it enjoyed so many spots before it finally came to rest in the sunroom. There, it was enjoyed by all, regardless of whether accompanied by a cup of tea, a reading primer, a blankie, or a Star Wars hero in hand.

In this home, we have a formal living room that we're calling "The Library." And this is where my chair has found its home. 

But I'm anxious to make the spot comfortable and usable...right now there is only a standing lamp behind it...and no table on which to perch the latest read or a cup of tea.

Below is some Pinterest inspiration with some favorite ideas to make my little spot a little more practical and pretty.

via

I know I love my chair...but I'm a little in love with the style and color above. :)

via here and here

So the reading rooftop view is definitely not in the cards but fun inspiration nonetheless!

via

This just makes me want to relax. Love the monochromatic creams...and of course it's Autumn outdoors!

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What a stunning view. This is definitely not quite my style, but I love the idea of a picture window and being in the trees while reading!

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Love the unexpected in this picture...the bright pop of color and the white accessories.

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This one falls into the "someday dream" category. Love the ceiling and the shelves...and there's room to snuggle & read to the kiddos on a rainy day.

via

And I couldn't help but include this one...I would have LOVED this as a child. I think it would be fun to reimagine this for me!

Excited to get started making my little corner comfy! I'll keep you posted!

Do you have a spot you love? I'd love to see it or hear about it!


~This is Day 4. You can find all posts in the series here 31 Days of Making this House our Home.

Day 3 of 31: Seasonal Decorating

I have found that the first year in a new home is the hardest year to decorate seasonally.

Autumn is my very favorite season, and in the past I have notoriously put a wreath on the door in celebration on September 1. (I was also the college girl in Waco, TX who wore jeans & a sweater each year in September despite the heat because you're just supposed to, coming from western North Carolina.)

But this year I've been reluctant to begin.

Furniture has been repurposed for use in different ways...the front door is red facing the street and white inside the house, not the deep, dark stained wood I loved for four years.  The hearth in this home doesn't have the same presence as the previous one and the mantle is just a couple inches deep. Challenges to the way I am accustomed to decorating.

But for the first time in all our married life, we are in a place that truly sees the four seasons. Autumn begins to creep in through one tree ablaze a few houses down from us. The tips of the leaves in our yard promise they won't be far behind.

And today, I came across these pictures, taken by my eight-year-old during this season last year. The things she noticed. Her perspective. What she chose to document with her little camera.

I remember that they (like me) love this time of year. Love the familiar details and the new ones.

And so I begin. With what's familiar and the same.

Wreaths on the front door. Check. But I need a new ribbon to hang them. The brown one (which used to blend perfectly) stands out a lot here. Easy fix.

My buffet decor. The lighting is different in this dining room and the walls are ever so spring green...but the color looks kind of pretty with the coppery pumpkins and fall leaf garland that has graced every place I've lived since my freshman dorm room.

My table centerpieces are next. And this is all I can find so far.  I foresee a trip to the storage room for missing wreath boxes and pedestals.

Coming soon? The front steps I've never had to decorate before (fun!) and a patio that overlooks a soon to be colorful treeline.

I love how seasonal decorations (especially in the fall & winter) make a home feel a bit more cozy and settled.

So tell me, what are you decorating this year that's new to you?


~This is Day 3. You can find all posts in the series here 31 Days of Making this House our Home.

Day 2 of 31: Sheets

Over the weekend, I bought new sheets for our bed.

Not because we are in need of new sheets...but because I do better changing the sheets when there's a spare ready to go on.  I don't like beds unmade all day. And the guest room in this house acquired our spare set of queen-size sheets. And my children like changing sheets because they make nests in the warm linens. But I digress...

Armed with my 20% coupon, I felt an example of each set of sheets that Bed, Bath, & Beyond sold. And then I chose one...softer and silkier than the least expensive options but not so luxurious that I was paying an arm and a leg for spare sheets.

As I changed the sheets yesterday, I couldn't help but notice that even though my new sheets are soft and smooth and subtly striped, they were not as perfect as the old ones.

I recalled, as I smoothed the new flat sheet, the slumber parties growing up at my best friend Emily's house. There was a set of sheets that she loved. I think they were floral, but they were old and so very soft.  Old and comfortable and familiar.

I know another little girl who loves her sheets...and it's no wonder why...they were my college sheets and the only ones she has known since she was two. Worn. Soft. Hers.

I knew, as I put the pillows in the new cases, that despite the thread count or the fact that they were freshly laundered, these sheets wouldn't feel quite right just now.

Just like our "old" sheets when they were new, these would take time to feel just right.

Change takes time.

Even when the change is good and exciting...and maybe even exactly what you've been hoping for.

Change takes time.

And a new house in a new place takes time. Friends take time. (Unless you're four.) Comfort takes time. Nesting takes time.

But it's worth the effort. And the willingness to embrace something new.

Just like breaking in a baseball glove or a great pair of shoes.

Or even spare sheets.

~This is Day 2. You can find all posts in the series here 31 Days of Making this House our Home.

Day 1 of 31 Days: Making this House our Home

Today begins Day 1 of 31 Days: Making this House our Home. 

I am participating in the Nester's 31 Days challenge...and I hope that you'll join me as I write on this topic each day of October.

I'm a little nervous (and a lot excited) about this, as I've never blogged every day for a whole month before. 

And if you're also writing for 31 days, please let me know in the comments...I'd love to follow along with your series! So without further ado: 31 Days of Making this House our Home.

In my eleven years of being an air force wife, we have lived in four homes in four different states: North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, and now Virginia. Trust me, I know that the 4 to 11 ratio in the military is a good one...and quite unusual.  (My brother-in-law and his family have moved 9 times in 15 years.)

But for the first time in our military life, we are currently in a short 13-month assignment. A rental house. With memories still fresh of the home we last built and expected to live in until we retired from the air force.

I've always said that it takes a year to get settled and feel purposeful in a new location. I don't have that luxury this time. We are five months in. Eight months to go.

The boxes are unpacked...but there are still things to be done.

I want this Virginia chapter in our story to be a special time that we can all look back on and say that we felt at home. I want this house to feel like home...not just because of how it's painted or where the pictures are hung (although that's part of it too)...but because of our (my) heart attitude about life while living in one place for a short time.

So welcome. To my blog, if you're new here. And to a peek at making this house in Virginia home.

This month, you can expect a mix of checking off the "to-do list," DIY projects, my inspiration sources, and reflections on family, home, and hospitality that will hopefully be applicable to life whether you've been "at home" for one month or fifty years.

(You can find all 31 days linked here: Making this House our Home.)