  this family. their kitchen. those bar stools... i love them all madly. kelly and i spent so much time at that kitchen counter while we redesigned this whole home. we planned, organized, brainstormed, and ate here. i also may have played house a little and pretended i lived here. 'cause, well... my kitchen is ugly. when i see kitchens like this one, i hate my kitchen. and that is why i don't read design blogs, do pinterest, or watch hgtv. comparison really is the thief of joy.  well, i do read one design blog... the nesting place myquillyn's mission is to help us see, it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful. she helps me see the beauty in my ugly kitchen.  cole literally sails away for a semester at sea on sunday. (remember when i thought i ruined his life? you were right. i was wrong.) all he wants before he leaves is to sit at our kitchen table with people he loves one more time. we will pray and talk and laugh and eat homemade fettucine alfredo and grilled chicken. candle lit kitchen table conversations that go long into the night are our best memories. when you break bread and drink wine with the ones you love...those are holy moments.   i admire DIYers who solve an ugly kitchen problem in one weekend with a few cans of paint. but tim and i are not DIYers and paying professionals is pricey. we lived on so little for so long, that was not an option for us. living well on very little meant... camping instead of cruising hiking instead of shopping going for a bike ride instead of going to the movies dinner in instead of dinner out... we thought these were sacrifices at first. wrong again. we became people who value adventure and experience over things like painted kitchen cabinets.  (how fun and happy is this little dog bed that uncle bill built?)   and now that we are people who could pay somebody to paint the dang cabinets, we don't. and we won't. we would rather go see the world with the people we love. we can't do both. we gotta choose. we choose adventure and experience. every time. when i don't compare my kitchen to kitchens like this one... i love my kitchen. it is the heart of our home. my ugly kitchen is the most beautiful place in the whole wide world.  because what really makes this kitchen beautiful... the thing that really makes this house a home... the best part of every redesign... the people. home is about the people. the people matter. so sit at your kitchen table with the ones you love tonight. turn the lights down, turn the music up, light a candle, break bread (pizza is bread), drink wine (water works too), and give thanks. everything you want, you already have. xo...
christina for all Comments are closed.
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