What is home? To me, Home is a little white puppy dog’s face in the window every time I leave and come back. Home is Saturday morning snuggling until usually way too late in the afternoon. Home is piles of laundry that still have not been done and piles of laundry that need to be folded; usually always, because we seem to find things to do that are way more fun than laundry. Home is a collection of grandma’s bottles she found in the desert in the living room and a box grandpa made for me as a child in the dining room. Home is living with a man who wrongfully insists he knows the words to every song, but sings them with such conviction you almost believe him. Home is shoes by the front door, ice cream in the freezer, and usually some sort of baked sweet on the kitchen counter. Home is the unfortunate front lawn that remains defiantly out of control despite all the love, nurturing, and MORE love it has been given; and an even more unfortunate looking chandelier hanging in the entry. Home is loving words from a loving husband making me feel beautiful daily. Home is a stack of cook books in the kitchen I am positive I will never use. Home is a front closet full of tools, tennis rackets, and my crafty supplies. Home is a wooden fence in the backyard built with our own bare hands, and the imperfections that come along with building a fence and not being one hundred percent sure about how to build a fence. Home is a garage that is ALMOST finished and might remain ALMOST finished for another few weeks until it gets unbearably cold and we know that if we don’t finish it now it’ll never be painted. Home is warm baths because we aren’t sure how to turn on the furnace, lots of big blankets consuming our couches, and thick socks covering our toes. Home is a pink robe I insist on wearing after coming home from work. Home is our sanctuary after long days. Although this home may not be home forever, we love this Home because it is our first Home together. And where we started our forever.
What is home to you?
I love this, Lauren! Xoxo
How do you do it, Lauren?! You have a great way with words and emotions.
To me home is watching PBS programming, sitting in my familiar spot on the sofa, curled up with a shawl, my feet resting on the ottoman. It is the satisfaction of getting out seasonal decorations and changing up the color schemes a little. I can’t wait for November to come so I can set out the wooden Indians and Pilgrims. You know you love your home when you’re driving in your car and realize that you can’t wait to pull in the garage and feel the peace and privacy as the automatic door closes behind you. It’s kicking off your shoes and reading the day’s mail. Home is preparing for family to come: changing beds, shopping for food, cleaning the house, sweeping off the patio, and cleaning the pool. What makes a home is the people with whom you share it.
This is TOTALLY your home! Love it!
How cute is this. Wellll, home to me is outdoor movie night with blankets, my two crazy dogs constantly circling me at my feet, especially in the kitchen, a home cooked meal, (on a good night). It’s warming my ice cold feet when I first get into bed by putting them on Michael’s, then him freaking out, like clockwork. It’s my ethnic Thai pillow corner in the kitchen that I worked tirelessly on and wasn’t sure I loved, but it’s now become the heart and soul of the house, where people gather to chat or look for snacks, so I love it now. It’s fresh juice on Tuesday mornings and old rickety doors that don’t close all the way. Hmmm, what else, I could go on all day!
This my favorite! I can picture all those things. Especially the one where you put your ice cold feet on michael. Clay and I go through this same routine. haha I adore you home, especially your Thai corner.
Lauren, you inspired me to write a journal entry called “Home Is” and thought I would post it as the longest comment you have ever received on your blog….. Here it goes…..
What is home? To me, it is a little girl greeting me at the door as I pull into the garage. It is my king size bed and feather pillows greeting me as I crawl in bed after a long day and a good book on the nightstand. It is waking up to a warm, cuddly, man that gets up before me to shower and takes care of Kate while I sleep a few minutes longer. Home is an unmade bed. It is following crawling Kate from room to room cleaning up her discoveries from cupboards and drawers. Home is the “morning loves” I get every morning from Brynlee and the panic when she realizes later in the day that we forgot to do “morning loves”. It is doing so many heads of hair each day, which usually doesn’t include my own. Home is reading a few good books in my bed to the girls before they close their eyes and then saying “kiss, smack, hug, squeeze, la-la, butterfly eyes, smoosh, puppy sniff, high-five, spank spank, tickle and loves”. It is a shiny, clean counter top that has been washed with antibacterial soap. It is a messy and unorganized garage with 37 pairs of shoes thrown all over the dirty floor. Home is where I smell my blue, Anthropologie candle and where photos of my favorite people are hung on the walls and in frames. Home is where my favorite TV shows are recorded and where I can watch whenever I have a spare minute, which is pretty much never. Home is my gray robe that I put on a couple times a day and my bathtub that lets me soak in hot, hot water a few times every week. It is the smell of my minty Pureology shampoo and my newly organized make up drawer. Home is where I get dressed for the day and put my baby down for a nap in the same place…. my closet. Home is sitting out on the patio with Travis and watching the kids play football when the weather is nice or playing “mother may I” on the grass. It is the silent look that Travis and I give each other when one of the kids says or does something funny or strange. It is a place where I get unavailable phone calls throughout the day that interrupt us at every important moment, making us wonder why we even have a home phone anymore. It’s a place where there is always usually a good meal on the table at night and almost always a good breakfast on the table every morning that involves some spinach in a blender concoction. Home is Friday Night Movie Night with popcorn and Red Vines. It is a place where the piano is played daily, and loudly, since Brecken has now discovered the petal. Home is hearing Travis and the boys talk sports stats, game highlights and scores. It is a place where I am continually cleaning picking up items and moving them from one place to another because someone has left it out. It is where I am constantly packing lunches. It is a place where meals are planned and lists are made and a place where laundry is never done. My home is where you will rarely find fresh, clean vacuum lines or a swept and polished kitchen floor, rather you will be stepping on crumbs and sticky spills at any given moment. Home is trying to keep cupboards, closets and drawers organized, while knowing it’s only going to last one day. Home is a mini van that is fingerprinted on every window and also a mini van that is pulling in and out of that messy garage dozens of times a day. Home is my computer desk, where I get my days, weeks and life in order, daily. Home is where the girls play “school” and get out the desks, chairs and all educational materials they can find. It is the place where the people I love the most live, love, fight, eat, play, tell stories, talk, play the piano, share meals together, play video games, receive praise and lectures, sleep, laugh, dance, read, study, play dress up, eat cookies and milk, make messes, pray, learn and just….. be.
Sometimes I forget this but in our home, good little people are being raised, and they will be even better people if I can show a bit more patience every day. Home really is a pretty darn good place to be! Thanks Lauren for helping me remember this.
YOU NAILED IT!
This does belong in a journal…. or it could be your home’s proclamation or something, on the wall in a frame. 🙂 You should do this every year because next year everything will be so different.
Reblogged this on lovelyseasonscomeandgo and commented:
oh wow I really enjoyed reading this post, it makes you feel all warm and reminds me of why I love home.