There are so many things I love about our home in the country.  I am grateful to have such a wonderful place to live.

I grew up in a ranch-style home, and always wished I could live in a two-story house, until I did.  Then I began longing for a ranch-style home.  I love having everything on one level.  It’s so convenient!

I love my kitchen.  It’s the largest kitchen I’ve ever had.  Dave thinks that’s funny because he thinks it’s small.  There are so many cupboards, and lots of counter space.  I love baking Christmas Cookies with my daughters, and now we have room to do that!   And cooking a big holiday meal is so much easier, when there is lots of room for pans and dishes and food and all the other holiday meal accessories.

Every room in our house has windows, some that catch the morning light, and some that are filled with afternoon sunshine.  Each room has a lovely view.  I love opening the curtains or blinds each morning, and seeing the sunshine or the rain or the winter snow.

We have one very large room that was a family room, and we used it for entertaining.   I always wanted to have enough space that I could invite my family to our house and know that there was plenty of room for everyone.  Not only did we have enough space, but Dave had a dining room table that had been his grandmother’s.  It opened into a HUGE table that accommodated over 20 people!

I, also, always wanted to be able to have a big party with lots of our friends and family.  When Kari turned 18 and graduated from high school, we had a giant party with more than 80 guests, and there was more than enough room for everyone.  We had tables in our garage, and Grandma’s big table in our family room.  What a wonderful party!

Dave and I had our wedding in the family room.  Kylia, Kari and Kelly decorated it with white flowers, aqua ribbons and aqua and white candles.   It was such a lovely wedding, with 9 guests, and lots of smiles and tears of joy.  We have since turned the family room into our master bedroom/sitting room.  The large aqua bow that was above and behind us when we got married is still there, and now our bed is under that bow.  We love sleeping on the very spot where we said our vows.  We spend a lot of time in this room now, because it is so filled with light and beauty.

I love our lawn!  A big backyard, and a large front yard.  For Kari’s party, we had quite a few outdoor games set up, and people were having fun everywhere.  I can get plenty of exercise walking around our yard.

The basement of our house has 3 rooms and a root cellar!  I had planned to use the root cellar, but I never got around to it.  I still love that we have one.  One of the rooms in the basement is especially large, almost the size of the entire upstairs.  We have exercise equipment in there, and until recently, I used it fairly frequently.

We have a large building behind our house, where Dave used to have his motorcycle store.  Now we use it for storage, and for the UHaul business we operate.  It’s great having a big building where we can keep so many things.  We had music playing there when we had Kari’s party, and the teens (or anyone) could go in there and dance.

We have lots of space for cars.  When we have company, it’s nice to have lots of places for everyone to park.  We have a long driveway and a big parking lot behind our house.  So handy.  The parking lot is also great for “doing donuts” in the winter when it’s snowy and icy…

One of my favorite things about our home is the field that runs along the side and back of our property.  Every other year, the farmer who owns the field plants corn, and this is a corn year.   Right now, our back yard is surrounded by 7 foot high stalks of corn.  It’s like a walled fort.  I love that.  Last year, the farmer planted soybeans which only grow to be about 3 feet high, at the most.  Nice, but not a fort.

“Home is the nicest word there is.” ― Laura Ingalls Wilder