Home Sweet Home

I have been like a mad woman working downstairs. I kept telling myself there was no hurry, but I have just not been able to turn it off. I wanted it clean first of all, and then my mind has been in a flurry about what it should look like. I will share more in the next post some of the reasons why it might not be as clean as the upstairs. There really is a good reason. I am going to be sharing with you this week all that I have done and my plans for the whole area. 

The Inspired Room

First up, I have felt better this past week, which is great!!!

Before I share all of downstairs details, because it is far from ready for anyone to take a look at it, I decided I needed to back up a bit.

I have learned over the years not to make too many far off plans and if I do, be ready to be flexible. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 16:9.

"The mind of man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps."

Now don't get me wrong, I am a planner. Planner extraordinaire! I have written about this topic before.

When Jeff and I married, we loved FWB. He was born and raised here, and I had grown up just over the Alabama line north of here. I dreamt of being here when I graduated from college. So imagine my surprise when I meet and fall in love with the hubby. However, there has always been a little bit of country in me. I am fortunate to have lived in the great LA (Lower Alabama) so that I enjoyed both beach and planted fields.

 

When we made our future plans, we really thought that someday we would raise our children in the north end of the county. We would live on some acreage in a farm house with a sweeping porch all the way around it. Well, that just never came to fruition. It really seems kind of crazy now. We have loved our lives, and have been very blessed. 

The Inspired Room

Jeff's parents died far too early. He had been their surprise baby! His siblings are 14 and 12 years older than him. Neither sibling wanted the home that his parents built and lived in, but neither wanted it to leave the family at the time. They had built it the year Jeff and I married, so it was all I ever knew for them. It was decided that we would move in. We hold family holiday events here.

Our children were starting 6th and 8th grades. The kids have loved every minute of this home. The water and the home itself has been a teenager's dream. That is a bit of a hint as to why the downstairs would not be something someone over the age of 21 would care to see.

The house was not my style. Truly...not in any way. There was nothing farm house about it. It was decorated in Victorian style which is very much not me. It was very pretty and even was on the tour of homes one year. Mine will not be on the tour of homes. I am far too casual, but yet traditional. It had very busy wallpaper in almost every room. The kind that you have to hang an object not a painting or photo. There were quite a few cherubs. However, it did have great bones. After scratching away many hours at wall paper and every summer taking one room, it began to take on our personality. Of course, it only took a few mornings waking up to a beautiful sunrise to realize the reason we would live this home would not be the inside.

Because I love my in-laws very much, there were some things that stayed despite the fact that they weren't my style because it just seemed like they should be there. For instance, the swans faucets in the master bathroom. They had actually grown on me. That is until one fateful morning that they provided quite a story for me and the son. 

There were just some things that were too expensive for a school teacher and principal too afford to fix, like the gold around every mirror in the house. AND there are a lot of mirrors. I have learned to live with and think they may be coming back in style. What do you know? 

The Inspired Room

Anyway, the point of my story is that a home is not really that much about the looks of a home, but about what goes on within it. We have been immensely blessed to live in a big ole house on the bayou. We have lived life to the fullest and made tons of memories, so much that mentioning that we might want to downsize sent both children into an uproar. I am guessing we will be here for another five or so years for sure until Jeff retires. Well not for sure, because God might have other plans:)

I read the book, Love the Home you Have by Melissa Michaels this past summer. She has a blog called The Inspired Room. The first chapter is, "Home Is in the Heart of the Beholder." I like that. The quote that starts that chapter off is by Frederick Keonig and states, "We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." I like that too. 

The Inspired Room

The book is full of so many wonderful quotes and illustrations. That really is the best part of the book. The ones I have shared are all free downloads on her blog.

And that my friends is the end of a very long story.

Blessed to have a house and a home,

Sandy