Mah House

I just wanted to share, first off, that I just wrapped a whole bunch of Christmas presents, and some of my cousins are going to hate us, because we got their sons fun gifts such as whoopie cushions, rubber bands guns, and boxing gloves. oops? Dad sure is happy that he won't be there to hand those out.

Last night my sister had her friends over for their annual Secret Santa gift exchange and mini party. As with every year, there are lots of pictures taken of them in all kinds of silly poses.

I am prefacing the rest of this by saying that there are lots of things wrong with our house. It's an old farmhouse and its falling apart. My parents, especially my mom, try lots of different things to save it, but old age and 4 kids have kind of knocked this old guy on his butt. But.

I love how my house looks in photos. On to the mini tour...

First is the Family Room, which is the room you walk into when you first get to my house. The green and the blue really look nice together, and there are about 12-14 (I can never remember how many) prints on the wall across from the door.

Then you go up a step into the kitchen. You can see my mom's Christmas decorations on the cut-out. Please ignore the old old stove (though it still works just fine, thank you!) it isn't the most updated kitchen in the world, but my mom has done a lot with cabinets which makes storage unique. Then on through a doorway...

Into our dining room. We used to have cloth wallpaper, then mom painted it this sunflower yellow color (the same time she painted the family room green). We use a lot of darker woods in this room, and the blue was the original trim color. Once again, you can see my mom's decorations on our chandelier and the mantle. You can also see the half doors (I know they have a fancier name but I can't remember) that lead back into the kitchen. Then finally you follow the hallway straight into...

The living room, our fancier version of the family room. This is where the tree is, the fireplace is, and you can't see it (since I think all the pictures were taken from it) but the most comfortable red couch ever. More time is spent in the room in the winter, especially by my mother, who loves her fireplace.

Overall, I think our house has a very homey feel to it. It has very warm colors and fabrics (love oriental rugs!) and it tends to look "lived in" no matter how much we clean. Not because its still a mess, but because of the number of antiques and the colors of the house.

For a little while right after my senior year of high school, my mother was seriously contemplating moving to Upstate New York. The house was gorgeous, the neighborhood was quaint (sidewalks! walking to school! college town!) and eventually the only thing that made them stay was that the commute wasn't exactly an easy one for my dad to work, ha. At the time, I was all for it. I was sick of everyone and everything, and wouldn't have minded coming home to somewhere completely new. Now, I can't imagine it. I know that this house is going to be gone eventually (my parents have plans) but I have always lived here. For 22 years this has been my home. In Russian class my first semester senior year, I was the only person who has never moved. Weird? I thought it kind of was. But for better or worse, I love my house and my home.

P.S. --Extra points to who can guess which of those girls is my sister.