34 Thankful Things about My House

I've had a hard time being content with what I have when it comes to my house. I keep looking at magazines and dreaming about my future “real” house with a yard. This is an exercise in gratitude for me that probably won't interest anyone else. But it is MY blog, after all...

1. My house is new. When we moved in, we didn't have to worry about fixing what the former owners had done to the house. No mystery stains or dings. Having a new house also means that the roof, plumbing, appliances, etc. should be relatively problem-free. Since we have limited financial means, this comes in handy.

2. My house has 2 bathrooms. Although there are only 3 of us, this has been helpful, especially when I had morning sickness!

3. My house has 2 bedrooms. I'm sure that we all sleep much better since we don't have to share a room with baby.

4. My house has paintable walls. The trailer we lived in prior to this had these awful creme with pink and blue flecked walls. Yuck!

5. My house came with window blinds. And not the cheap blinds, either! These are thick, 2” blinds. We would have had to spend a lot of money to buy the blinds for the windows when we moved in, and we didn't have ANY money when we moved into our house.

6. My house has carpet and vinyl. Yes, the carpet is stained. Yes, I don't like vinyl. But it could be worse. I do have variety in my flooring, and it is a nice neutral. I don't have to worry about gold shag carpeting.

7. My house has brick exterior, which means a lot less maintenance. I also feel that having a brick exterior makes our house and those around it slightly less likely to go up in flames.

8. My house has a patio. I would like it better if it had a little bit of yard with it, but we do have a place to sit out and grill. Not that we have ever done so, but we could.

9. My house has a storage room. I'm not crazy about the fact that the storage room is outside, and therefore subject to temperature fluctuations and bugs. Yet for supplies like our camping gear (which I keep buying, even though we haven't gone in 2 years), the outside room works just fine.

10. My house has a big water heater. In our trailer, only one person got a hot shower. Now both of us can have a hot shower, with water left over for laundry or doing dishes.

11. My house has a locked mailbox. So far, we haven't lost the key to our mailbox! Locked mailboxes are safer than regular mailboxes, especially if you still write checks to pay your bills like I do. I know that web pay is cheaper, etc. But I like to write the check.

12. My house (well, the complex) has a dumpster. I don't have to worry about overfilling the one green trashcan. In Milledgeville, our trash collection people wouldn't take your trash unless the lid on your trashcan closed. To me, if your lid won't close, you REALLY need to have your trash emptied! Here, we can cram and cram the dumpster to overflowing, and it still gets emptied.

13. My house is close to town. Sometimes, too close. Having to drive farther would make me plan better. But for those days when I have to escape the house, being 1 mile away from town is wonderful.

14. My house is zoned for good schools. Hubby and I don't plan on using the public school system, but if we had to, at least our son would go to “better” public schools.

15. My house has zero yard maintenance. I could stand to live in our house longer if we had a yard. But I know that we are better off for not having to have a lawnmower, etc. right now. We would have had to buy yard maintenance things on credit, and that would have only added to the burden of debt we currently carry.

16. My house has air conditioning! I am a wuss when it comes to tolerating the heat. I can't stand being hot! I know that many people do without air conditioning, but I'm very thankful that I don't have to.

17. My house has heat. Our old trailer did not have good insulation, and the “heat” that it blew out of its vents was never warm, no matter what the thermostat was set to. So we shivered and froze all winter, and used space heaters. Now we can set the thermostat at 60 in the winter and be comfortable, albeit with a few layers on.

18. My house has solid wood doors. I know some people like the hollow wood doors for the interior of their house, but I much prefer solid wood.

19. My house has a fan in bathroom. This comes in handy for many things.

20. My house has a shower with bathtub. I can't stand shower stalls!

21. My house has a high shower head. In the trailer, even I had to bend backwards to wet my hair. Now even hubby is comfortable.

22. My house has a dishwasher. When I lived in Cochran, we didn't have this marvelous invention, and I decided that I would never live without one again.

23. My house has a ceramic top stove. I always wanted one of these, and now I have learned that I prefer burners. But I never would have known this without experience. I'm very glad that I didn't learn this in my “dream” house and be stuck with it for a long time.

24. My house has a built-in microwave. I really like having my microwave above my stove, and this microwave is a lot bigger than our old one.

25. My house came with a refrigerator. I wouldn't have picked this model for my frig, but having one come with the house was a good bonus. Actually, we weren't supposed to get a frig with the house, but there was a typo in the real estate listing that our agent caught.

26. My house's freezer has an ice maker. Our trailer did not, and it was a pain to constantly make ice.

27. My house has a pantry in the kitchen. I love being able to keep all the food in one spot. My pantry is so big, I even keep other things in it.

28. My house has lots of cabinets. Even with three full sets of dishes with the coordinating glasses, platters, baking items, etc. I still have room in my cabinets. Love it!

29. My house has lots of electrical outlets in the kitchen. Our old trailer had 2, which was horrible.

30. My house has a garbage disposal in the kitchen. No more stinky trashcan!

31. My house has light wood cabinets. I've thought about painting them a color, but I think I'll leave them just lightly finished. That way, maybe the cabinets will appeal to more people when we sell.

32. My house has a light above sink. No more doing dishes in the dark for me!

33. My house came with a washing machine and dryer. Like the frig, I wouldn't have picked these models, but I'm thankful for them. I would rather have new anything than old when it comes to appliances.

34. My house has a laundry room. I've had a washer and dryer in my kitchen, and I've had them in the hallway. I like having these in a separate room that I can close off if need be.

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