The Tree In Our Lane

That's our house--the bright one, in the back--so this is "our lane," I guess. Although, I'd actually say it's our neighbor's yard that we pass through everyday to get to our gate. She has such a wonderful "garden" of potted plants and a small section of a planted variety including some fun trees. Today, I highlight this first one, right on the left.

Here it is--another view--from the inside of her gate.

Up close...do you know what that fruit is yet???

It's pomegranate, and this one right in my hand came from that very tree. She gave me about three one day. Now, I love pomegranate. My step-mom taught me well how to eat them and got me hooked on them at an early age. I remember her carrying them in the car in a bowl to peel and pull apart with paper towels. The mess was worth it! And it still is, and my kids like them too!

But, if I buy them, I prefer to buy them like this from our grocery store. This is less than 50 cents! Isn't that awesome?!!!! Interesting thing is that my kiddos eat more if they have to peel them. I guess that's the fun of it!

Beauty

A few pictures from around the house--

I've been enjoying being creative and a little "extra decorating" around the house.

It's simple, fun and so doable.

I got these place mats a few weeks ago to help bring a feel of fall to our home.

82 throughout the house during the day doesn't feel like fall, but I'm still trying.

It also helps to turn on the A/C in the evenings and fix a hot drink. ;)

Joy wrote a wonderful post on contentment and creativity that I can really identify with--especially with limited options and living overseas and dreaming of all the things I'd buy or eat if I were in the US. But, I'm so thankful at how much the Lord has provided us with and how He is doing (notice--present tense, ongoing) a great work in my life in growing me in contentment and creativity.

A fun vase with some flowers!

Monica is currently in the midst of writing a series on beauty that includes making beauty in your home, but also gets to the heart! Go check her blog out!

A vase to display our shells and fun finds from beaches in Thailand (December 2010) and Malaysia (June 2011). It's taken me a while to clean these shells and display them. I'm so glad I finally did. I think they are so pretty!

Ann at a holy experience had a wonderful post about doing the next thing. I love this quote and it was helpful for me to get through 2 different to-do lists (one included the shells above).

"No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards…Accomplished, [tasks] are full of blessing, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, [tasks] stand threatening and disturbing our tranquility, and hindering our communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it. Alexander MacLaren (1826-1910) Scottish Preacher

Don't you just like the simple "go straight up to it and do it at once part!?!" So simple, but so hard.

The list included SO many different things like mold, dust, scrubbing, cleaning out, going through, organizing school and on and on.

It also included getting our gardener to get all this rubble out of our ground so that we might grow some flowers. This is only a small sampling (there were some big, big chunks in our ground) of what was under there. It's all from the reconstruction of our house.

This is a simple way I added some "beauty" in our home. Pick the flowers I have. In this heat, they don't last terribly long outside, and I've learned to enjoy things while you can. We enjoy them so much more picked and on our table! I need to do a whole separate post on this--enjoying life, not hoarding things or saving them for the great time. Living overseas has helped me with this because ants eat the saved American cereal or sent-over-with-care cheese its or even a Reese's cups--gasp! Geckos poop on our stuff. Mold grows on our things packed up in the closets. Our hard water/washing machine is hard on clothes. Did you know that even lotions can go bad and candles can lose their wonderful scents???!!! Don't hoard special things. Get them out and use them up! Share them with friends! Make everyday a day to celebrate! I think I sound so silly saying that, but I've learned to really mean it!

And...more on those roses in the picture above. They are so fun. They are from a rose bush that survived this unkept yard and unlived-in house for years. They survived the construction. Someone planted them years ago, and they bless me, and I love them. There are a few reasons I have never cultivated plants or gardens. I have NO green-thumb and still struggle to get things to grow and flourish...much unlike my mom, step-mom and mother-in-law! Also, I have not been settled in a home or place to feel that it was worth the investment to buy plants (and watch them die)--it seems we always have a move on the horizon or live this life overseas where an unpredictable move could happen at any time. But, these roses, our palm trees and little ficus trees that someone else left behind have helped me to invest in my yard whether it's for me or the next person coming behind me. I'm going to dwell where I am no matter how long I'm here! So, here's the beginning of our new little flower garden. We purchased all of these little flowers over a month ago. I'll need to take more pictures to show you how they are growing and blooming more and more!

Lantana--this is my favorite little bush around. It grows WILD everywhere on the sides of the road. I have wanted it since I thought about a little garden. I asked two gardeners to get it and plant it, and they didn't. Finally, I went out and found some myself (in the monsoon rain one day). I hope it fills up and spreads well. So far it's doing a wonderful job!

Cutting those pretty flowers, bringing them in and enjoying them!

And can I tell you how much investing in my home and my life here in this neighborhood and foreign country helps me to feel at home here--this place where God has called us to live and be. That is an added bonus! That it's our home, our little haven, that me and my family love coming home to!

Home Sweet Home, Part 3

So, here's one of my favorite parts about our home--the yard!

I already have so many pictures of playing outside and nature posts!

We love this yard!

The front of our house, the best I can do, standing in our yard, with our camera.

In the picture above, you see our shoes by the door. It's custom here to not wear your shoes in homes. In this picture, the contractor was having a cabinet for our electric meter built (above) and decided it would be nice to add a shoe cabinet. All of our shoes are out here. Isn't that so neat? It was just something the contractor thought would be nice to add. I'm sure we're blessed by so many things he added. He made special efforts to point out some of his additions--like the shoe cabinet!

Here's our yard. Go back a few posts if you want to remember the before pictures.

Supposedly, when monsoon comes, that little plot will be full of grass. I'll update you!

Another look, as you come in our gate.

I love our couple of palm trees.

Going around the side of the house.

All of this marble was added to the outside that wraps all the way around the house and too the back.

It was not there the first time we came and looked at our house.

The side

The back

Here's the "laundry room."

The door on the right goes to the kitchen.

Over in the corner is our gas canister that I mentioned in the kitchen post.

Isn't it cool it's outside! And, the little stand for it nicely holds our laundry detergent.

This is a not so pretty part.

Right over our wall, you have the trash, and most of it came from the renovations to our house.

This is actually what we refer to as a "poop field."

There is a true reason behind it's name. I'll leave you to guess! ;)

Our Place of Transition

After moving from the mountains, and before moving into our house, we stayed in an apartment while we were house hunting, traveling and waiting on our house to be ready. We're thankful we had a place already set up for us to live. It was a fun location, and I miss all the happenings going on there on that street. Here are some things we miss about "our place of transition."

This was taken off the balcony one morning. You can see the street down below with the cows walking. There are 3 temples on the street, right across from the apartment.

I enjoyed watching the temple activity. It was fascinating to me. It was also a time of prayer for me to pray for many of the people we live among. This particular day was a holiday. There were 2 young boys sitting out in front of the temple selling vegetables for the people to buy to offer to the gods as they visited the temple.

Our washing machine was on the balcony, and I often got caught up into people watching when I went out there to do laundry.

See all the shoes...it's customary to take off your shoes when entering a temple or mosque or holy place here (or someone's home too). One day, I watched a man look all over for his shoes--someone had stolen them. I actually didn't see them get stolen, but I saw the guy looking all over for them. I wonder if he was late for work. It happens.

The same holiday, here are some ladies walking to the temple with this plate as their offering.

One day there was one of these "merry-go-rounds" going down the street. The kids hop up and sit in the chairs and the guy spins them around and you pay a quarter or less for the little ride. It comes right to you...right on the street. Fun!!!

One of the things I'll miss the most is a very fun park that we could walk to. There are fun parks in town, and I'm thankful for them. This is much different from the other city we lived in. This park was awesome and so easy to walk to. I might just drive across town to play there. It was fun to meet neighbors and hang out.

So much play equipment!!!

and big swings for adults too!

Of course, the kids would rather climb on the rocks in the corner,

so the gardener could yell at me and make them get down.

Don't they look so cute up there!!

And, who needs playground equipment when there are brooms?

Seriously, they played with the brooms and swept the park somedays more than playing!

See! And, we've been asked a few times why we don't have a sweeper at our house.

Who needs to pay a sweeper?

One thing I don't miss is the internet connection we had. Here, I'm leaving my computer outside to download email. Our friends that are living there now, waiting on their home got high-speed good internet!

I miss seeing SO many things from the balcony--like the milkman delivering milk!

Another favorite thing I'll miss is all the walas!!! You might remember from other posts that you add wala for many occupations. Like a press wala (that presses your clothes), a veggie wala (that sells veggies), balloon wala (that sells balloons), chai wala (one that sells chai). You get the point. They yell and call out what they have and what they are doing. And, I miss hearing them yell. They really yelled on this street. It was so fun. It was like our first weeks of arriving in India. I would run to the porch to see what that wala was yelling. Then, eventually, you know their call and you know what is coming. In the above picture, you'll notice a young boy going behind an older man. I bet he's in training.

In the afternoons, especially when it's hot, everyone naps. These veggie walas parked their carts right on the street and laid down here for their afternoon naps. So fun!

Here are the press walas right beside them temple. I went to the lady in the back. They are probably husband and wife. She was sweet and it was fun to chat with her.

Now, this neighborhood was very exciting. Lots of action going on. Our new house is at one of the busiest intersections and a main part of town, but we live in a neighborhood, and our house is all the way at the back and in a corner, so we miss out on the action. I do love our neighborhood and especially our yard. The only thing I miss is the action and ease of being out in India by just walking out of the door.

I don't miss the action when you want it to be quiet. Every Saturday evening, one of the temples across the street had a pooja--time of worship. It was loud and lasted 2-3 hours, usually ending around 11-11:30pm. Listen to a sample of how loud it was.

Home Sweet Home, Part 2

The rest of our house

This is the view from the front door (see it in the reflection of the mirror)--the dining area.

I love the sink by the table. Though I'm not the biggest germ-a-phob, washing our hands before meals is a must now! That little sink is short enough for all three kids to reach!

There are two doors off the right--first the living room, then the kitchen.

From the door, looking to the left: the door to the guest room and stairs to our bedrooms.

The living room

And...for fun!!!

This sits in our kitchen. Our kitchen doesn't get under 90 these days.

The "outdoor" is in the shade!!!! 100--in the shade! So, in the sun is hotter!

I haven't posted any temps this year. We did it all the time last year, cause the heat was really getting to us and hard for us. It's still hot, no doubt, and where we live is actually hotter than where we used to live last hot season! But, our bodies have certainly adjusted, and 90 just doesn't seem terribly hot anymore. I can't believe I think that, but it's true! 100 is still hot, but even when we're hot, I'd say we've adjusted to "feeling hot" and sweaty all day. It's still yucky though! ;)

The kitchen--that little space is kind of like my desk.

I like having it in the kitchen so I can listen to music and refer to websites while cooking.

But, let's be honest, you usually find me working on the computer in a cooler room in the house.

To the left in the picture is the oven and microwave. This is the largest oven I've found in India. I'm thankful I can barely get two 9X13 casserole dishes in there.

The rest of the kitchen--the stove top is over in the corner. One fun thing is that our gas line to the stove runs through the wall and is outside. This is a new thing here. It usually is in the house, taking up a whole cabinet. I like that the gas is outside--less worries of gas leaking into the house and more cabinet space. A fun little detail the contractor did!

There are SO many little details and fun things I love about our house. It truly, truly is a blessing from the Lord!!! I cannot say that enough, nor thank the Lord enough for how He provided so much more than I could ever imagine!

I still need to post on one of the best things though...our yard and the outside...coming up next!

Home Sweet Home

Finally, here are some pictures of our new home! I did do another post of some more pics before we moved in, but alas, we've been settled for a few weeks now. And, now that we have good internet, it's about time I put up some pics.

This post is only of the bedrooms and the open space upstairs, mainly because I haven't taken pictures of the kitchen, living room and entry way/dining room. I'll get them soon--hopefully tomorrow. So, for now--bedrooms.

Here is the guest room. It's downstairs. Only one picture, but to the right is an armoire that holds so much of our stuff and then there is a door to the bathroom that is very long and skinny--really not able to photograph. It's the length of the bedroom. The guest room is pretty much just like our bedroom (below), but bigger--our bathroom is wider and we have a dressing area.

Here's my little shadow, following me around and jumping in pictures. ;) cute.

As you come up the stairs, this is an open room between our bedroom and the kids' room. There is a fun balcony through the sliding glass doors. This room will eventually be Gray's office (it's too hot now anyway) and hopefully space for my treadmill (not yet purchased). There are stairs that go on up to the roof, but that's all up there--roof access.

We have all 4 of the kids in one room. We don't plan to do it forever, but for now, it's fun and easy while they are still young. Many reasons we chose this.

Here are the older three's beds. We brought the train set and dollhouse accessories with us from the US. They've been hiding in a suitcase since August 2009. Finally after moving in, we surprised the kids with a train table (we had made here) and a dollhouse (bought here). The quilts are from my favorite shopping spot--a market in the capital. I hope they might keep these handmade quilts for a long time (not necessarily always on their beds) to always think of India. They love their room. They are so fun and have already changed beds for two nights!!! So everyone has slept in all the beds. But generally, Jackson has top bunk, Sam on bottom and Sarala to the right.

Parks sleeps by the door and all of the toys.

That's a window on the left.

To the right of the door is "the dressing area," which is common here in India.

Do you see my shadow hiding in the picture?

So, this space is all their clothes, dress up clothes and dirty laundry and changing table...and such.

Off the right of the dressing room is the bathroom. This is the master bedroom, so this bathroom is huge. At least for what I've gotten used to here in India.

I didn't take pictures of the other bathrooms, but we love that we have this one for the kids.

We're so thankful for it (the tub), and I have to show it off!

The bathtub is my favorite part!

It's really long. I know it's hard for you to tell, but I think it's longer than the standard size.

It does still have the sticker. I wish it weren't there. They are SO hard to remove! I go back and try again and again to remove it only to remember why I left it alone all the other times before. Too hard. Too much time. It's too hot to be in there peeling a sticker (it's the 2nd hottest room in the house--90s all the time)! I'll keep chipping away little by little . One day...it'll be off.

Our bedroom--wahooo, Go Tigers! It's SO orange!

We knew we wanted brown. Okay, I did. I love brown! The walls are very chocolate.

I picked out green bedding just like this (I love green), but Gray preferred the orange over the "muted pea green" as he said. I guess he's still scarred from the veggies when he was little. Or actually, maybe he's switching over from the dark side! His blood is running orange?!!! Go Tigers!!!!

So really, it's not as orange as the camera/lighting from the window makes it seem.

And, in real life, the curtains and bedding match.

But, it's orange, nonetheless. Just come and see it!

I actually love white bedrooms--love it, and I gave it thought like our last two bedrooms in our homes (Bluffton and SK), but India + white + multiple small kids wearing India dirt on their feet=not an option.

More of the orange, but you can see our fun bed and tables from the market in the capital.

Remember to check out the furniture from that junkyard. ;) It's awesome!

Our bed is actually a queenish size, which is fun for us. We wanted a smaller bed cause our room is the smallest bedroom. We have one solid mattress, which we prefer to the two twins pushed together, which is standard.

So, the doorway on the left is our small dressing room and our bathroom is to the right behind the wall the armoire is on. Nothing is in our dressing area. All three bedrooms have this nice storage above on one of the walls. Ours is winter clothes and mostly all of our EMPTY suitcases. Yay!!!

See the shadow in this pic?!

Next time...the downstairs living areas and outside.