Home, Sweet Home

Let us share a little about the house we'll be living in once we reach our final destination in the Philippines. We have the advantage of moving into a house that is being left by some former language students so there's really almost no work to be done on the house on our part. We might paint and that's about it.

A kitchen, dining space, and living area with a small bathroom and a laundry area make up the lower level. The upstairs consists of a master bedroom/bathroom that has a small, narrow room attached where the baby will sleep when he comes. There is also a second, small bedroom upstairs that Ellery will occupy. There is space in the bedrooms for a bed and a wardrobe and that's pretty much it. Each floor is only about the size of a two car garage.

Here's the kitchen:

That's no average 30 inch American stove you see there...that's only 23 inches. The refrigerator/freezer combo is only about 8 cubic feet. For reference, the fridge/freezer we're using now is about 18 cubic feet. There are only two drawers in the kitchen that are at foot level so they are somewhat awkwardly placed. As you can see, there will be some adjustments to be made in our eating styles, how we cook, and what we choose to keep for kitchen tools. Filipino style living requires a lot of downsizing.

Between how easily Ellery can spread her toys everywhere and the limited space in the house, it will be interesting to see how we make the house work for us. We have been researching small space solutions and are trying to make sure what we do have is multi-functional. Some things we have to take into consideration as well are: cloth diapering without a dryer, mold...everywhere...often, limited counter space, tile floors and stairs with a toddler, and not much outdoor space for Ellery to run around. 

We'll be able to share more pictures once we are in the house, but for now we thought we'd share a little glimpse of where we'll be the first year or so. We'll make it home for the time we'll live there, but with all our adjustments and transitions lately we are more and more aware that this world is not our home...just a temporary place to lay our heads and do what God has called us to do.