Where She Delves Into The Deepest Recesses of Her House

She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks... She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
...And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works," ... Proverbs 31:17,27, Hebrews 10:24


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Sometimes sweet ol' Debra can still go all baby-grumpy about her petite, it's-already-decorated-so-what-do-I-do-now? house.

There. I said it. (And I'm blushing, trust me.)

But then, oh! Often God (because He's good) will swoop in, with Grace, and cheer me up.

Like last week. See, our tv cable was out (long, dull story) so I sat upon the red couch and thought, "Hmm. There's always YouTube. I'll go there." And that day, Thursday, I discovered Kathryn at Do It On A Dime.

Wow. Have you met her yet? She's the cutest thing since puppies and her cheerfulness could lighten any old Scrooge's heart. She loves --


--organizing her home
--cleaning her spaces
--shopping at Dollar Tree 
--finding terrific deals online (like at new-to-me Hollar)
--decorating beautifully, inexpensively
--and being a mom to 2 of the happiest little boys, ever. (Try not giggling when her tiniest guy does. I dare you.)

She's young and reminds this older mom of all that's wonderful about that era in ones life--and that we needn't lose that joy later on.

Anyway.

Thanks to Kathryn--for now--I've set aside my big decorating dreams and schemes, like, wallpapering, painting, rearranging, changing-out counter tops or lighting or---- and am venturing deeper. As in, into the dark, cluttered recesses of my cabinets, drawers, shelves, cupboards.

And now I'm all excited about better-organizing this small house of ours. Like, cutting down more boxes to corral things and also buying those cute plastic storage options you can place anywhere (for instance).

After all, just because ones stuff resides, hidden, behind a cupboard door doesn't mean it's then ok to heap it all in a chaotic muddle.

Oh, of course, through the years I've done some clever organizing, but somewhere along the way I stopped. Picked up a case of Sour Who Cares? and quit trying to improve not just how my cupboards looked, but how they functioned for Tom and me. 

Let's just say I got kinda comfortable with searching and yanking and re-stacking and pushing things just to find, like, a can of olives.

It's easy to stop mid-way, tired, and settle, discouraged, right? But there's no reward in that. No later joy.

(And I'm not just talking home organization here, either. You know that.)

Well, already, with cut-down boxes, I've re-organized two kitchen drawers--one always annoyed us, but no more. Then in a hutch cupboard there's no longer a jumbled tiny pantry--nope. Now I can--gasp!--find things.

Also I'm looking at the aforementioned Hollar (and elsewhere) for some cute plastic storage boxes and caddies and --. Well, you get it.

Oh, how much better to be a proactive lady rather than a pro-complaining one.

And you may quote me.  ツ

The woman who makes a sweet, beautiful home, filling it with love and prayer and purity, is doing something better than anything else her hands could find to do beneath the skies.

---J.R. Miller

Your home should tell the story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love brought together under one roof.

---Nate Berkus



Always remember to enjoy the learning, the doing, the entire journey. Those take up far greater portions of our lives than just crossing the finish line.

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Speaking of homemaking, this looks pretty perfect (I'll be ordering it soon) ---

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Sunday was Naomi's birthday. She and Justin braved the cold and came over and we had such a lovely visit with them.

Next year she'll turn the big 4-0, and I'll tell ya--ol' Debra is gonna feel that one!   😲

                                            My new favorite photo of those two.





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                                    Bought your Valentines yet?



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Oh! And if this doesn't make your day, I don't know what will. 

Love it. All of it. My, my, my. (Always remember lovely things still happen during these troublesome days of ours!)


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