Bet you thought I wouldn't be back...

That would make two of us who were doubtful (readers counting as one). And even though my house is hardly in any state of perfection, I am so excited about where the Lord has landed us for a season. Owning a home for the first time has made us feel like grownups (I'd have thought having three kids would do the trick) and we are certainly aware of details we never noticed before. Landscaping, trimwork, window types...all things I saw in a general way but now I see in detail. Of course, the more astute probably don't have to wait as long as I did to see the world through these eyes...

So, we have ourselves a 1960's brick ranch. Who'd have thought?!? When WH and I used to talk about the kind of house we would like to buy or build, it resembled a farmhouse (if on land) or a bungalow (if in a city or neighborhood). We ended up with neither, and yet it didn't take long for this place to grow on me.

Living in this house has drastically changed our lifestyle. We now live in town vs. 20-25 minutes away from church, family, major (ha! there is nothing of the sort in this small town) shopping. So that's 3 minutes from Target vs. 20 minutes. With bad traffic it can take up to 5 minutes, which is annoying. Just kidding. We used to live in a neighborhood on a 1/4 (or less) of an acre. We lived on the corner so I couldn't let my kids go outside by themselves without checking on them every 5 minutes, if at all. So they spent as much time as I could afford outside, but not as much as they needed. Now I lock the back door (I'm not the only one) and tell them to explore (the basement door is still unlocked, but I think they forget about that sometimes). In the old house- and every previous house- we only had one living space.

We didn't have an egg basket hanging by our door in the last house! We're up to 4 eggs a day now.

As I looked through the recent pictures of my house I kept seeing "my new life" evidenced by bizarre objects here and there. At least you will know I didn't stage this.

Before and after pictures are always the most fun, so here goes:

Binoculars for viewing pesky groundhogs (my husband is on a mission)

I finally have a place for some of the photo collages I made over the years. On the left: some of the flowers and cards WH gave me when we were engaged. Middle: baby pictures and a frame that still needs to be painted black.

Remember this carpeted, beige hall that lead to the Room O' Paneling? Not so scary now...

Next we move to the living room. My goal was to go a little more modern here, and yet I didn't really have the option of ditching everything I already owned. We did get a loveseat from IKEA (did you know their white slipcovers are $11? I'm thinking about dying my extra one a charcoal grey). My $10 (for both) Craigslist chairs are a nice retro touch until I recover them in the not-too-near future.  My grandmother's artichoke pictures have always held sentimental value to me, and now I find they are quite the conversation piece (why artichokes, they ask).

Gotta love the shotgun on the mantel. Nothing says "welcome to our home" like guns. You can blame the groundhog.

Ottoman still needs to be recovered...

Little T's room...with a guest bed. We also have bunks downstairs for younger company

Last stop upstairs: my room. This house has one bathroom (for now) and no formal master bedroom. This room is the most unchanged in decor, but now that the elliptical machine is not 18 inches from my side of the bed and our closet isn't used for storage, it seems like a little suite.

These gaudy gold plates took on a new charm painted white...they will be even more charming when we change out some of the electrical plates and make them white, too.

 Hope you've enjoyed this little tour- if you're ever in the neighborhood, feel free to drop by!

This has probably always been my mantra, but now it's framed and in my kitchen as a constant reminder of the joy of making a home.