Top 10 Reasons Why I Love My Little House

10: Two bathrooms! This is a big thing for us. Our house has become (and I love it) what we like to call Hotel Yates. We get a lot of company, and now we finally have a place that can accommodate them!

9: A big yard. We live on a corner, so our lot is a little bigger than most. We love having a big yard but there are times it feels overwhelming. I am sure Tim thinks this when is mowing the lawn in the summer and shoveling the sidewalks in the winter!


8: Home improvements (but not too much). We are excited to have something that we can change, if we want. The inside is all updated, so there are only small things to do, like paint and maybe new carpet/floors. The outside needs a bit of work, new roof, windows, pillars, all things I have mentioned before.

7: A little bit of history. Our house was first built in the 1890s for Sarah Bryson, the third wife of Peregrine Sessions. Sarah was one of seven wives. The original house, which consists of the kitchen, bathroom, back bedroom and the basement, was built with 18 inch walls (the window sills in Claire's room are so cute because they are wide enough to hold books, toys and plants!). The next owner of the house, a man by the name of Selleneite, added the living room, front bedroom and porch, all without a basement in the 1930s. In a basement closet where the furnace is located, there are these exposed support logs.


Crazy, huh? Sometimes I wonder about those who lived here before. There has been 5 different owners and 2 renters of this little house (that we know of). Did they love it as much as we do?

6: We are close to everything! The grocery store is down the street, all the little shops on Main Street, Costco, Lowe's, Barnes & Noble, TJ Maxx, Cafe Rio, and Micheal's are all just blocks away! This last summer was great because Claire and I would take our afternoon walks to our favorite places, The Book Garden on Main, All Tucked In, Firefighter's Park, Brooks Fabric and many more.

5: New kitchen and bathroom. I have to admit, when we were looking for a house I told Tim that I didn't want to do a lot of work on the inside. I was 8 months pregnant and still working. I didn't have time for ripping up floors and tearing down cabinets. Luckily we found a little house that just had a brand new kitchen put in along with a downstairs bathroom (the upstairs bathroom was redone by the previous owner). My sister Annie calls the downstairs shower the Taj Mahal of showers. It's pretty spacious.


The kitchen has more cabinets and shelf space than I know what to do with. My husband makes fun of me because I have a whole cabinet for paper goods, lids to pots, and even a place just for chips. He thinks it's funny, I think it is wonderful.


4: An area for a garden. The back yard is just one big patch of uneven, weed infested grass. So, in the future we are going to kill the grass, plant new grass and till a space for a little garden. How yummy are fresh garden tomatoes?!!

3: Great neighbors. One Saturday morning after a big snow storm we looked out our window to find our neighbor's teenage boys shoveling our sidewalks. One afternoon while working in the yard Sister Rigby pulled up in her car to say hello. One weekend our friendly neighbor to the north popped his head over the fence to talk about a solution to the power lines that cross both of our yards. One busy fall evening Amy and Alicia brought us a much needed dinner. I love my neighbors.

2: My front porch. I am so looking forward to sitting out on my front porch during warm summer nights and watching Claire run around the yard collecting bugs and playing in the dirt. This last July we sat snuggled up with eyes glued on the Pioneer Day fireworks. The neighbor kids came and joined us.

And the #1 reason why I love my little house:

1: It just feels like home. It is warm, it is safe, it is a place where love abounds. There is laughter, there is family, there is prayer. All things that make a home. This is Claire just a couple days after she was born. Her first photo in her new home.