You do more than cook in a kitchen

I love to cook and I really love to cook with my kids. Over the time I have lived here, I have put the generous counter space and island to good use. I bought the stove brand new when I moved in and have since cooked gallons of chili and soup, fried up country fried steaks and chicken, and boiled dozens of eggs and spaghetti noodles.

But a kitchen is more than just a place to cook.  It is the central hub of the home where everyone seems to gather and hang out. When we have a group of friends over, they always seem to congregate in the kitchen to talk, visit, and eat standing up (in spite of a formal dining room and breakfast nook with perfectly good seating!).

The breakfast nook in my kitchen has a bright and sunny bay window that has a peaceful view of the backyard. The kids and I have had the perfect view out that window for laughing at squirrels and contentedly watching birds eat from the hanging feeder. We also see deer pass through from time to time. In that breakfast nook, we have played countless hands of Euchre, decorated gingerbread men, and laughed about the happenings of our day.

The kitchen has just been freshly painted. Now I wish that I had taken down the wallpaper and painted sooner so I could have enjoyed it longer!

Conveniently located off the great
room and formal dining room.

Four-year old stove and built-in
microwave and dishwasher.

All Hands on Deck!

A deck is much more than an outdoor living space attached your home. It is the platform from which a mother can safely observe a child at play in the backyard, or a "cage" in which a newly bathed dog can be penned in to dry in the sun.  It is a place for grilling up a barbecue masterpiece or simply drinking a morning coffee while listening to the birds sing.

On my deck I have enjoyed the shade of a large tree that grows up next to it.  Under its branches I have sat with my children eating countless hamburgers and talking about all the stuff that fills the mind of a teenager.  My kids have had "school" on our deck when the weather was just too irresistible to be inside another minute.On that deck I have prayed for their safety while they were out with friends, or for their hearts when they got a little off course.

When I was in the market to buy this house, I fell in love with the privacy and view from the back deck.  With hundreds of feet of trees in my backyard (about 700 feet or so to the house behind) and a source of water in the creek that runs between, I have often been rewarded with a family of deer making its way through the yard.  If I sit really still and quiet I can watch the squirrels chase each other across the railing, or have a neighborhood cat come to visit (and chase the squirrels).

Yes, it's corny... but this deck is more than just a deck. It's a place where some memories could not be built anywhere else.

Packing up the memories.

The summer of the pirate ship...
and the biggest water fight ever!

While four years (+ 3 months) may not seem long to most, for me it is the longest stretch I've lived at a single address in my adult life. After moving 16 times I've learned not to get emotionally attached to a house.  However, there is no avoiding the fact that every address holds the memories that make up my life.  The times I played cards with the kids around the kitchen table, baked special birthday cakes, or waited anxiously for a teenager to make it home. The kids and I often start conversations "Do you remember the time when we lived [insert home here] and... ?"  For us our homes have become the filing system for our memories which help us remember the events that shaped us.

Christmas 2008 - Memory Blankets

So once again I prepare to make another address change.  As a single parent whose youngest of five is graduating from high school in a few months, it's time for me to embrace a new chapter... and home... in which to build a new and different life.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Before this new chapter can begin, I must close the one that is my present reality.  So I resign myself to the many tasks that must be accomplished - cleaning, organizing, throwing away, selling, donating, painting, fixing, and staging.  Ironically, the process is a reminder of even more memories stored in boxes, hidden in the back of closets, and covered in dust bunnies under the bed.

It is true that home is where the heart is... and the memories that are attached.

Ashley's Family Birthday Party - Who turned out the lights?