Monday, April 13, 2009

Making a House a Home

I love the inside of my house. It's cozy, warm, welcoming, and most importantly, it expresses who Michael and I are. It's so nice to love where you live, and who you're living with :) And now, thanks to the sunny Easter we had, I'm starting to love the outside of our house as well.

Sunday morning I woke up and joined my husband on our front porch. We snuggled into our new porch swing and gazed at the Wasatch mountains shimmering in the morning light. The view was beautiful, peaceful, and so close! We live in an area called "the benches" and the mountain range is literally a 5 minute drive from my house (maybe even shorter), thus making our view grand in size, and also spectacular.

Others were out enjoying Easter morning too. We said "hello" to passing neighbors and watched KeeLee frolic in the grass with Zabee, the white Shitzu who lives next door. And within the first 10 minutes of enjoying our new porch swing, two different neighbors complimented how great it looked.

That afternoon, Michael and I purchased flowers for the hanging baskets I planned to make to accent the porch. We also worked on some additional outdoor projects that had been delayed due to cold weather. Our porch is now slowly transforming into one of those southern plantation porches that I miss seeing so much in North Carolina, and I couldn't be more pleased.

I now have three hanging baskets showcasing flowers of all different kinds in bright reds, oranges, yellows, and purples. They compliment the white porch swing and white cast iron bench adorned in yellow and orange pillows and sitting cushions. Soon we'll be adding a white rocking chair to join the other pieces, which I think will add the finishing touch.

I was excited to come home tonight and enjoy it all. We finished up with everything rather late last night and didn't have any time to really admire our work. Tonight I came home from work and got dinner in the oven and then began working on the flower boxes that are built into the perimeter of our deck. I planted beautiful snap dragons in deep reds and pastel pinks. Joining them are a bunch of other trailing flowers that I hope will soon cascade over the edges of the flower boxes adding beauty to our sitting deck.

I'm hoping the weather doesn't turn sour. I know we are expecting a few cold days this week, but I'll have to monitor the temperature to make sure it doesn't get too close to (or below) freezing. Otherwise my hanging flower baskets are coming in the house and I'll have to find a way to cover the flowers on the deck. Can't have all my hard work go to waste, and I don't want my flowers to freeze.

I've always known owning a home would be rewarding, but I'm starting to appreciate even more the fact that there's no greater reward than transforming a house into your home. I am enjoying living here to the fullest. Spending three years apart before Michael was able to move to Utah gave me a lot of time to dream about the house we would one day make our home. And now, it's finally happening.

They say "good things come to those who wait." But I have to modify that statement and say "wonderful things come to those who are patient." I know I'll never be a very patient person
(Michael knows this about me too), but I think I spent long enough (three years) proving that I can be patient when it really counts. And it sure has paid off :) I love my home sweet home!

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