living room (more like reading room)
view of front door & hallway (facing front of house)
the color of our bathroom (this is the best green ever)
my favorite feature: the giant kitchen window with a view of trees!and plenty of space for my plant family.
No pictures on the walls or matching pillowcases, but we're here and we are loving it. People at church refer to our house as the "UI" pronounced "U--EE", because it used to house people who were part of a group called "Urban Imperative" that our church organized. Its goal was to get people used to living in Philly and to give opportunities for them to reach out to neighbors. It seems like it serves the same purpose now, but I think the church is coming up with a new name for Urban Imperative. The house is a duplex; we live in the first floor and have a shared basement. Three guys from church live on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
Our house is well-known mostly for its size. It's smaller than our place on Eyre Street (gasp!) and somehow, God is giving us all kinds of grace here to just embrace it. And be thankful for it. Not saying it hasn't been a struggle in some ways. But I know that God used my tiny kitchen on Eyre Street to help me grow in big ways over those three years. Only when I started to embrace what I was given did I experience real joy. My tangible way to embrace our old house was to make curtains for our kitchen. Not sure when I'll do that now that we're in our new place, but I'll have to add it to my to-do list. :)
We're slowly starting to meet our neighbors (ran into one last night at Walmart), and that's a good feeling. Hopefully I'll have a Recipe Exchange with the ladies in the Spring!
