Thoughts On Hospitality

Life as I know it these days constantly prevents me from doing what I wish I could be doing.  As a task-oriented, unwillingly-reformed perfectionist, I'm not talking about lying on a beach somewhere.  In all honestly, I very quickly go nuts when I can't be crossing items off some kind of list.  And by nuts I mean irritable, resentful, and withdrawn from people and the world in general.  So while I have been thinking the past few weeks about what love looks like, I've still been a servant of my to-do lists.  Why? Because it's what I know...productivity and achievement.  It feels GOOD because it's tangible.  And, if I'm honest, it saves me from going outside my comfort zone when I really just don't want to.  There is so much going on inside my comfort zone that I can't really get excited about what's not right in front of me! 

 

And then, in church, I was struck again...I don't even remember how it came to mind, but I was led to two passages that admonished me -- I am not meant to live this life inside myself (my own ambitions and goals, my own agenda, my own fears and insecurities), or inside my house (trying to keep it perfect), or inside my immediate family (keeping my emotional distance from the people God has put in my life).  When all is said and done, what point is there in having a clean house when you're not sharing your life with anyone? Or having all of your life's proverbial "ducks" in a row, but without anyone really knowing your heart or seeing any light in you?

 

Again, from the Amplified Bible...with what really applies to me in bold...

 

Romans 12:5-16 (excerpted):

"So we, numerous as we are, are one body in Christ, and individually we are parts of one another (mutually dependent on one another).  Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them...He whose gift is practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching; he who (encourages), to his (encouragement); he who contributes, let him do it in simplicity and liberality; he who gives and superintends, with zeal and singleness of mind; he who does acts of mercy, with genuine cheerfulness and joyful eagerness.  Let your love be sincere (a real thing)...Love one another with brotherly affection (as members of one family), giving precedence and showing honor to one another...Contribute to the needs of God's people (sharing in the necessities of the saints); pursue the practice of hospitality...Rejoice with those who rejoice (sharing others' joy) and weep with those who weep (sharing others' grief).  Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to (people, things) and give yourself to humble tasks.  Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits."

 

1 Peter 4:8-11 (excerpted):

"Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins (forgives and disregards the offenses of others).  Practice hospitality to one another....Be hospitable, be a lover of strangers, with brotherly affection for the unknown guests, the foreigners, the poor, and all others who come your way who are of Christ's body.  And in each instance do it ungrudgingly (cordially and graciously, without complaining...).  As each of you has received a gift (a particular spiritual talent, a gracious divine endowment), employ it for one another as befits good trustees of God's many-sided grace (faithful stewards of the extremely diverse powers and gifts granted to Christians by unmerited favor).  Whoever speaks, let him do it as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service, let him do it as with the strength which God furnishes abundantly, so that in all things God may be glorified..."

 

What I need to be better at:

--Flexibility; that is, not getting bent out of shape when my day's (or week's) agenda is derailed by the needs of others

--Practicing hospitality of heart...not just opening my home, but being willing to share with others in need of light, encouragement, hope, etc.

--Not using hospitality of home as an excuse to serve my to-do list (I have people coming over so I get to be a cleaning tyrant [at the expense of my family]!)

--Relying on others, and being available for others to rely on me (using the gifts I have been given)

--Genuinely connecting with people even when I feel like I want to crawl in a hole and hide
--Doing all of this "with the strength which God furnishes abundantly," instead of only relying on my limited and self-serving supply

Hospitality is the word that keeps ringing in my ears.  As I finish this post, I'm reminded that one of the blogs I follow, "The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking," is running a 30-day series on hospitality.  I've been reading it with pangs of guilt that I am so wrapped up in my own stuff, all the time, that I don't do much of anything hospitable -- often because I won't be able to make it "perfect" -- when sometimes the simplest gestures will speak volumes to others.  And in the last few days I have really felt compelled to open my home (and my heart) more.  Maybe that's what inspired these thoughts...

Pardon me while I cross "post to the blog" off my list and get busy working on these re-discovered truths...God knows I am a work in progress!

 

Finding Refuge

This little sign that I made sits on our dining room table.  I had every intention of changing the message every week ~ a scripture, inspirational quote, etc.  Well, it hasn't changed since January... and thus, the message has sortof faded into the background of household miscellanea.  Until today, when I realized what it does NOT say:

It does not say:

• "Let all who take refuge in HOUSEWORK be glad."
• "Let all who take refuge in THEIR TO-DO LIST be glad."
• "Let all who take refuge in PRODUCTIVITY be glad."
• "Let all who take refuge in DIET and EXERCISE be glad."
• "Let all who take refuge in BEING SKINNY be glad."
• "Let all who take refuge in SHOPPING be glad."
• "Let all who take refuge in TELEVISION be glad."
• "Let all who take refuge in FACEBOOK or PINTEREST be glad."
• "Let all who take refuge in COFFEE be glad."
• "Let all who take refuge in WINE be glad."
• "Let all who take refuge in WHINE be glad!"

Insert your own substitute, but, as I continually re-discover, none of these things are the TRUE source of gladness (or even stress relief) in my life.  There is only one true Source of joy and peace, and it is in being in the presence of the Divine! So, I'm not changing the sign just yet.... since I continue to need this lesson on a daily basis!

Summer Home Improvement

Summer has flown by, and we have (of course) been very busy with getting our house and life ready for baby to arrive!  Chad tackled the coordination of 3 big projects (and also some little ones) in July while I was finishing up work at PrideStaff in preparation for maternity leave....

Air Conditioning!

Believe it or not, we have spent 9 years in this house with no AC, only a super-efficient swamp cooler.  It didn't seem to be that much of an inconvenience with both of us working and spending the hottest part of the day in an air-conditioned office/classroom.  There were only a few days/evenings out of the year that ever felt unbearable.  However, with a baby on the way, we both agreed this project needed to happen and FAST.  And so it did, just in time for my final 6 weeks or so of pregnancy.  It feels wonderful to bask in the cold air and not worry about guests getting too hot.  All for the low, low price of $9,974.00! 

Oh, and while they were at it they put in central heat, thus the removal of our very trendy wall furnace -- see the second pic below.  Thankfully they closed up the giant hole in the wall; now we are in need of having it textured and painted.



Back Patio Cover

We enlisted the help of one of our friends to build us an arbor over our back patio.  He did a great job -- see artistic photo below, shot thru the panes of the back door -- this is because it's 100+ degrees out and I'm not about to go out there with this new AC keeping me cool!

We are definitely making progress on our backyard -- our table and chairs also has a new umbrella and new cushions, and we're enjoying spending cool evenings outside.  Chad is also (currently) working on a new side gate.  After that we need to find the right canvas shade to go over the arbor, get some outdoor lighting installed, paint the back of the house, plant trees, etc.  Eventually I would love a vegetable garden on the side of the house and Chad wants to install a fountain.  We'll have lots to do in Spring, once we are settled into our new life as Mommy & Daddy.

 

Baby's Room Construction

We decided that, due to lack of closet space in our very small home, we needed a serious storage solution for the baby's room since babies are notorious for requiring lots of STUFF.  So we hired a guy to help with a built-in wall unit against the north side of the room.  Below are pics of the finished product, which we love!  At this point the nursery is almost completely done, and so I will post a variety of pics separately as soon as I can.  Call these a teaser!

In addition to the cabinetry, Chad coordinated the painting and has worked hard to install the ceiling fan, blinds, curtain rods, etc.  Next up is assembling the crib! 

 

Other Misc House Stuff

We've been working on a minor "face lift" for our bathroom over the past 6-9 months or so, which has included new paint, new fixtures, a new cabinet, and new blinds.  I think we are how done with this project, minus a few paint touch-ups that still need to be done.  I would love to post before and after pics but I don't have any of the "before" handy, and, well, I am 39 weeks pregnant so not very motivated to search for them.  I will update this post with an "after" pic (maybe) the next time the bathroom is presentable enough to photograph. 

We also spent last Saturday FINALLY cleaning the garage.  We have not had a car in it since the baby's room project got started, when all the furniture had to come out of our guest room.  Add to that all the boxes and gifts from 3 baby showers, plus anything else we needed out of the way while so much was "in transition" -- it got to the point where I could not walk through it with this giant belly.  It was fantastic to take a huge load to Goodwill and get everything else situated, cleaned, swept, etc.  My car is BACK IN! 



The Story Of The Bomb Shelter

We moved to Old Town Clovis in September of 2000, after being married just over a year. We found a great deal on an apartment one street over from Pollasky Avenue, and fell in love with the area. A few years later, we summoned up the courage to become homeowners.

One night, as we were dreaming about being homeowners in Old Town, we were taking our nightly jog around the neighborhood (a ritual that died long ago!) when we passed this....uh...."architectural wonder" pictured below. It was late at night, and someone inside was playing loud electric guitar. I distinctly remember saying to Chad, "Let's just hope we don't end up next door to a junky place like that, with all that noise!"

Fast forward a few months, and I had to eat my words when this "lovely" place ended up being NEXT DOOR to our cute little house that we couldn't resist buying. Since we moved in, we have tried hard not to look at it. It really is an eyesore, and we soon dubbed it "The Bomb Shelter" due to the various riffraff that were in and out of the house all the time. Over the years it has fallen into even worse disrepair and we wondered what might become of it (and how badly our property value was suffering). Then a few months ago we heard from some other neighbors that someone had actually bought the place as an investment.

Our first thought was, "Why not just tear it down and start over?!" But several weeks ago we started noticing definite activity going on over there. I wish I had thought to take some pictures sooner, because the pics below actually show the place in quite an improved state. Before Mr. Handy started working on it, the brown weeds were waist-high and the front was covered in graffiti.

Then a few weeks ago, Mr. Handy decided to introduce himself to Chad and share his plans for the place -- a complete overhaul, to turn it into a rental -- that involved us sharing the cost of fixing the fence between our place and "TBS." Hello, unexpected major expense! After getting some shocking quotes, we made a deal with Mr. Handy to pay $900 for our part of the project. Yes, $900 sounds outrageous, but this was SIGNIFICANTLY less than half of the quotes we received just for that one stretch of fence that divides our properties. And since $900 was all he asked for, we did the "good neighbor thing" and coughed up our share. (Really, the new fence looks good from our side, and adds to our motivation to get our backyard finished!)

Every day we hear new noises and voices over the fence, and we're watching cautiously to see the outcome of Mr. Handy's "investment." The other day Chad got a tour, and discovered it's actually a 3-bedroom, 1-bath house that's smaller than ours. At that point I decided we should chronicle the progress, since this place has been such a topic of conversation ever since we moved in.

Here's hoping Mr. Handy can turn that ugly duckling into a less ugly duckling! I will continue to post pics as we see progress.

Three Cheers For Bissell

As you may know, our precious little house has hardwood floors. Not laminate, not pergo, but the original hardwood floors that were built with the house in 1951. When we bought the house in 2002, the previous owner had done a quick DIY job of refinishing them, but missed some major worn areas. No worries, though, because I have always felt they give the house more character. Plus, over the years as we have dropped things or scratched the floor accidentally, I don't feel as bad because I am not ruining perfection -- I am adding to history. Anyway....sometime early on in our married life I decided that I loved big, white area rugs. So I have constantly fought the battle of "keeping the white rug clean." Over the past few years we had taken to renting the big carpet shampooer from Ace or Lowe's every few months, but it was such a hassle to just clean one area rug. Go to the store, rent the machine, load it up, use it, take it back to the store, etc. Those things aren't small or lightweight! So I decided to look into getting our own upright, at-home carpet cleaner.

You wouldn't believe what I can acomplish on Facebook! Within one day of posting an inquiry asking for carpet cleaner recommendations, I had someone offer to sell me their brand-new, once-used Bissell steam cleaner for just $100. This was fantastic news, because I had a list going of all the "pre-baby purchases" we wanted to make and a carpet cleaner was on it....and this one was half the price!

So yesterday, amid all of our other chores and errands, we put our new Bissell to the test. I must say we were VERY pleased with the results! And with the convenience. It took less time to clean the rug, even though the machine is smaller, because you save the hassle of driving back and forth to the store. And now we can clean (even spot-clean) it more frequently because the Bissell sits in the garage just waiting to be put to use. Below are some pics to complete our Bissell testimonial.

Old Town Traditions

Last night Chad and I walked over to the local Farmer's Market, held in Old Town Clovis every Friday night from May through September. What a little piece of Americana, right in our backyard! We had a wonderful time taking part in this community tradition, and I had a lot of fun snapping photos with the new Canon camera. The prices on produce were pretty good, I guess -- with our $20.00 "budget" we bought a bouquet of flowers, an onion, some peaches, some blueberries, some squash, a wedge of smoked jack cheese, and an heirloom tomato. Yum!

After shopping we stopped in at La Posada for dinner. Mexican foods has long been our "tradition" on Friday nights. This place is great -- it's within walking distance of our house and is super quaint: the restaurant is an old house. They also have really great homemade chips and salsa! Double yum!

It's So Fun....

...when you aren't the only one getting bigger! My dear friend Tiffany stopped by the office today (she used to work here) to say hello. Her due date is just 7 weeks after mine. Tess, meet Max!

Yesterday was my 28 week, appointment, which produced some positive results:

--I passed my glucose screening test with flying colors! I'm nowhere close to having gestational diabetes.

--My blood pressure continues to be excellent.

--I'm a little low on iron, so I'll be taking some extra-strength iron going forward, and "beefing up" my diet (ha).

--I've gained 22lbs so far. It looks like I'm on track to gain about 35 total, assuming I can keep things in check during the third trimester. Allegedly I will have "10 extra pounds" to lose after baby arrives. I can totally live with that, and it's been GREAT to eat what I want up to this point. Now, though, with my stomach lodged up near my sternum, I just can't hold as much food. I'm hoping this helps offset my 9pm bowl of cereal habit...

Yesterday I also went to Motherhood Maternity to splurge on a few more maternity clothes. Specifically, I needed more pants for work. WHAT A DIFFERENCE it makes to have a GOOD pair of maternity slacks that fit right and don't bind. Baby and I are soooo comfy today.

And, I've got 3 baby showers in the works, thanks to wonderful women in my life who asked to bless me by hosting them....invitations are going out soon!

And, we have officially started the nursery.

And, the baby registry (Babies R Us) is almost complete, too.

"Operation Baby" is ramping up!

Baby Nursery Sneak Peek

I've been waiting....and waiting....for Chad to finish school so that we can get our "Baby Plan" into full swing. We're slowly getting the wheels turning, and I'm excited that we're FINALLY starting on the nursery (I'm almost 28 weeks!). Below is a picture of the fabric I chose -- it's got a vintage feel with scenes from a children's carnival, and I found it for only $3.00 a yard. I'm complementing it with a tan and creme houndstooth fabric (also just $3.00 a yard). My mom is graciously making all of the crib bedding and window treatments. We're having some built-in cabinets, drawers, shelving, moulding, and chair rail installed and then we'll paint the walls in peach and cream. We have a crib picked out and I found a fantastic deal on a glider and ottoman on Craigslist. The wood floor will be covered with a 6' round cream colored shag rug. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

We Have Grass!

Chad tells me this first picture is actually WEEDS, but since I haven't done a day of yardwork in my life, it looks like grass to me. Last weekend he got to take the lawnmower for a spin in the backyard, for the first time ever.

So, we have the back door, the patio, and the grass... Next step is some type of patio cover and putting in some trees/shrubs/flowers, etc. Our schedule has kicked into high-gear and the backyard is suddenly on the back burner. Hopefully we can keep chipping away at it thru the end of 2010!

Making Progress...

Below is a pic of our new back door. It currently opens up to a 2-foot drop onto soft dirt -- lovely. But, we expect our new patio to be poured sometime next week! Chad is busy working on trenching for sprinklers, since one of the pipes has to go underneath the patio.

The new door came with quite a dilemma, and we're currently soliciting feedback on what to do. Our dining room is tiny, and as you can see, the furniture is pretty close to the door. So, we chose a door made for an "outswing" vs. an "inswing." With an inswing, the door would hit the table and/or the china hutch when trying to go outside -- there just isn't enough space to accommodate a 36-inch arc. So, outswing was the logical choice.

Except we didn't think about the screen door! On the front door, we use a "Phantom Screen," which we love. But with the back door set for outswing, this means the retractable screen would have to be installed on the inside of the door frame (aka, inside my dining room)! And at this point, a retractable screen is our ONLY option for a screen, because a traditional screen door would have to be hung for an inswing, since the door is outswing. Oh gosh.

We're not sure how much it would cost to have the door hardware changed to make it an inswing, or whether we would have to (or even could) return the outswing door for an inswing door, if that's what we need to have to resolve the screen issue. But that will require a major furniture re-arrange and will make our already small dining room even more cramped.

Tom & Niki (the neighbors) don't have a screen on their back door. Maybe that's our solution.

This is why home improvement causes me stress! It's much like the fashion domino effect, which is a separate phenomenon worthy of its own post.

Summer Home Improvement

This summer we decided to forgo a more extravagant vacation in order to invest in some home improvement. Lately we've been spending more time with our fun and friendly neighbors, Tom and Niki, hanging out on their back patio -- drinking, eating, playing cards or lawn games, and spending time with their adorable doggies. It's been just what we (I) needed to finally feel motivated to put in a backyard.

We've lived at our place almost 8 years and our back has been dirt and weeds the whole time. For shame! We told ourselves, "Why spend money on a backyard when we're eventually going to add on to the house?" But the addition isn't happening... yet. (Guess we're waiting for the right time and the motivation we needed to get going on the backyard!) And we're seeing how much fun it is to spend evenings outside with friends or loved ones. So we decided to invest in a basic backyard plan that will not require undoing any expensive structure/ landscaping when we finally do make the addition to our house.

Our first step was clearing the ultimate white trash scene from the yard. We had a beat-up, old brown pickup that wouldn't run hiding among the tall weeds, an old/ dead mulberry tree, and so much brush it was a fire hazard. I neglected to take a "before" picture, which is okay because I would probably be too ashamed to post it. So below you can see the blank canvas we're left with after spending $1,000 to get the old truck running/smogged/registered/ insured (holy cow!) and $825 on tree/weed removal (who knew?!).

Next steps: putting in a French door from our dining room out to the new backyard patio (along with the electrical work for a porch light), having a 16'x23' patio poured (we're thinking stamped cement), putting in sprinklers, and planting grass/trees and flowers/garden. We'll see if we can stay relatively close to our budget and time frame... The goal is to get everything done but planting the grass and flowers/garden before Chad goes back to school. We also need to figure out what kind of temporary patio covering and patio furniture we want. And I'm determined to have a fire pit of some kind!

And of course I say "we" like I've ever done a day of yard work in my life. But I'm a great motivator and cheerleader, and I'll keep the cold beers coming for all the guys who have offered to help!

Also on tap for summer home improvement: re-grouting the kitchen and bathroom tile, and repainting the bathroom! We'll continue to post pics as projects commence/progress!

What's Cooking...

I've been on a new recipe kick the past several weeks. Last week was record -- I (we) tried 6 or 7 new ones and found a few definite keepers! One great find was a recipe for homemade hummus. It couldn't be easier and I'm ashamed to admit I've just now tried it, given all the hummus we eat... But now instead of paying $2.29 for it, I'll pay the $.79 for a can of beans and whatever a lemon costs.

Anyway, new faves include "Spiced Mini Burgers With Couscous Salad" and "Chicken Curry In A Hurry," both from Real Simple, and "Chicken Picatta." For the Picatta I combined recipes, using ingredients from Giada's version as well as The Pioneer Woman's version (Ree Drummond). Now I can't find the recipe on thepioneerwoman.com, but her version added 1 cup dry white wine and 3/4 cup heavy cream to the sauce. Plus I ditched the capers -- I don't like 'em.

Last night we tried something really fun and new -- homemade pasta! I've made it a few time girlfriends, but wanted Chad to get the experience (basically, of working super long and hard for your dinner!). Plus, I bought a cute little Pasta cookbook in Napa with some great recipes. We started around 5:30pm and finally sat down to eat by 8:00pm. We made ravioli stuffed with sausage, spinach, ricotta and mozzarella, and a basic tomato sauce. We made the pasta a little too thick, so it took a long time to cook. So next time, we either roll the dough a bit more (I'm out of breath just thinking about that) OR we invest in some type of pasta maker... Check out the pics of our process and finished product!

*Recipe notes: For the hummus, I didn't roast the garlic, but wish I would have -- will make a point to next time. Also, I'll probably use garbanzo beans next time, too -- I like them better. For the spiced mini burgers, we determined that grilling vs. frying would have made them better. Also, I used mediterranean flavored couscous from Fresh & Easy as my base. For the chicken curry, we determined that it needed more salt and more curry than the recipe calls for (double the curry, if you're brave!), and that we'd try sour cream vs. heavy cream to lighten the calorie content. Also, be sure to use the tomatoes -- they added great color and flavor. Bon apetit!

Simplicity And What We Value

Some time ago I started reading that much-talked-about book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Well, I have picked it up 3-4 times and can't seem to finish it! (Is this just confirmation that I really need the book?!) But on my last attempt, I started a section of the book that really caught my attention, and it's a topic that makes me determined to finish the book... soon. Covey talks about writing your own personal vision, mission statement and values.

I can't seem to get away from this idea, because we engaged this exercise at PrideStaff a few years ago (now our "mission" is a daily topic at work) and this year I'm part of the leadership for Junior League of Fresno, which involved identifying a mission and vision for my committee. As an organization JLF has also made an effort to reaffirm our mission and vision by remembering and restating, each time we meet, WHY it is that we do what we do.

Anyway, this idea of having a personal mission statement is so exciting to me. Recently I also read an article where the author encouraged families to have their own, agreed-upon mission statement and list of family values. And you know I love having a plan. I've talked about it with Chad and he's on board for creating our "Hayden Family Mission, Vision & Values." Like a defined goal or purpose for our time together on this earth, and the values and principles we'll adhere to as we make life decisions for our family.

So, it's in the works, and it's been an ongoing topic of discussion over special meals and long car rides. We're starting by identifying what we value and have a few items on the list already: experience, grace, and simplicity.

What I really wanted to blog about when I sat down to write this is the issue of simplicity. This is the word we keep coming back to, especially as we've been making decisions recently about how to save/spend money, what we want to accomplish with our house, when to start a family, etc.

A dear friend at work loaned me two books that I've thoroughly enjoyed reading, which seem to reaffirm the idea of "simplicity" as something to be highly valued: Living a Beautiful Life by Alexandra Stoddard, and Frugal Luxuries by Tracey McBride. Here are some quotes that reminded me how much I'm looking forward to this process of defining what I/we value and what we want to accomplish:

"True simplicity is eliminating both material and intangible excess, and conserving time, energy, money and thoughts. It is using the resources you possess in a way that will take you toward your dreams, your goals.... Genuine simplicity will help you to become the person you long to be."

"Simplicity inspires greatness. Emerson understood this when he wrote, 'To be simple is to be great.'.... Simplicity enhances lives. It allows you to appreciate simple pleasures, such as nature, family, friends, sustenance, shelter, contentment, education, courage, beauty and thrift."

More to come on this topic, but I think we're off to a good start. =)

"The Little House That Could...

...and the Big Rewards of Living Small."

A few years ago I came across this article in Woman's Day magazine about a family's life-changing decision to NOT "keep up with the Joneses" by buying a bigger house, and instead to add on to their already very small one. "Over the years, as most of our friends moved into larger homes, invested in major additions, or stayed in a home that was bigger than ours to start with, we remained in our two-bedroom cottage with the postage stamp-sized yard...Years later, I can say without reservation that this was one of the best decisions we ever made." Indeed, this family was on the cutting edge of a hot, new trend -- downsizing. The tough economy, falling real estate market, and the disappearance of easy credit have all helped fuel a recognition that America needs to re-think its love affair with bigger and better houses.

Did you know that the average house in 1950 was just under 1,000 square feet? Today it's twice that, despite the fact that household sizes have shrunk. Yet, "are we twice as happy as we were in 1950?" the author asks.

Welcome to 212 Oxford Avenue, our tiny house (built in 1951, and just 1,000 square feet), which we absolutely love. We can definitely identify with the many benefits of living in a smaller space, which the article praises:

--Because we don't have a large mortgage (we pay less than $800), we've been able to take some amazing vacations, including 4 trips to Europe.

--We have money left over to support many causes we care about: Steps of Hope Outreach, Kingdom Ministries, Ransomed Heart Ministries, Compassion International, and our local Christian radio station.

--In our small house, no space is wasted. We make good use of every nook and cranny. And because we have less space, we tend to buy less (benefiting our bank account, for sure). It helps us not to live in excess.

--When the time is right, we can choose to live comfortably on one income.

We definitely have plans to add on in the future, but we're not in any hurry... We've got 2 bedrooms and can have at least one kiddo and still be comfortable. And when we do become a family, it will be harder for us to ignore each other by retreating to our own spaces. We'll still be able to take trips as a family, and maybe even save for (and pay for) our kids' college education.

Sure, there are times we wish we had more room -- for getting ready in the morning (a small bathroom requires scheduling!), for entertaining guests (well, more than 4, anyway), etc. But it would be a tradeoff.... and having a large home (and in turn, a large mortgage) isn't what we, The Haydens, value. For us, our little house feels "just right."

A Little Spiff Around The House...

We spent Saturday knocking out some mini-projects that had been on my list for a while.... adding some framed pics of our most recent Europe trip to the dining room gallery, and installing some more mantel shelves to show off photos and "stuff." Thanks to Chad for his help with installation -- drilling holes in the wall always freaks me out but everything turned out great (and straight!).

Dining room - new photos are the ones on the far right.

View of dining room.

New mantel shelves.

Living room view #1.

Living room view #2.

Light 'er Up!

It definitely looks like Christmas at 212 Oxford! We got the tree & presents done last weekend (thanks to Andreana for all her help with wrapping!), and this particular weekend resulted in unprecedented Christmas decor at the Hayden house.... exterior Christmas lights!

We give LOTS of credit to our fun next door neighbors, Tom & Niki, for getting us in the holiday spirit with a very festive front AND back yard light scheme. Today they also offered to lend us a hand with the lights project, and we're grateful for their encouragement & inspiration. (And for Tom's beer holster, which kept the guys hydrated for the duration...I'm so not kidding -- he has a beer belt! I can tell Chad is envious.) So, this could be the beginning of the Hayden-to-Griswold transformation. I guess we'll see what next year brings!

Before & after...

And...our tree. =)