A to Z challenge..... H is for Home

H is for Home

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy said “There is no place like home.”  I  was just a girl when I saw this movie for the first time and even then I knew that her words were true. At the time my mom was struggling to support us on the meager wage of $1.00 per hour. We lived in a tiny 2 room apartment…. but it was filled with love and it was home.

This is our home now.

Our home is much larger than the one I lived in when I heard Dorothy (Judy Garland) say those words. Our home is not new…. we have lived here for almost 34 years. It is not as grand as the new homes they are building today. It is not extravagant or fancy…. but I love it because it is HOME.

This is our living room and dining room. We greet our guests here and have our formal meals at this table. Our dining room furniture was among the first furniture we bought as newlyweds. I loved it then and I still do.  For over 4 decades we have celebrated special occasions at that table…. so many memories have been made there.

However, this table in our “breakfast room” is where we eat most of our family evening meals. I don’t know why we call it our breakfast room because we rarely eat breakfast there…. oh well…. many a dinner has been eaten in this room that is rich with memories too.

They say that the kitchen is the heart of the home and I guess it is since the family is nourished through this room. The place where the ovens are now used to be my food pantry. I had a tiny oven on the other side of the kitchen. John knew I really needed big ovens so he remodeled the kitchen for me. He made me a food pantry where the old oven used to be and put the big ovens here. I love the change. Actually we eat breakfast at this kitchen bar so maybe we should call this the “breakfast room”.

This family room is where we spend most of our time. It is my favorite room I think. You can see my holiday tree in the corner. I decorate it for each season of the year. I enjoy it all year long.


This recliner in the corner of the family room is where I sit to watch TV, do hand work and work on my laptop computer. It is where I am sitting right now.

We have 5 bedrooms. This one is our bedroom

These two are guest bedrooms now that the kids are gone. We’ve made the other two bedrooms into an office for John and a sewing room for me. They are both too messy to show you a picture… sorry about that.

Our game room used to be filled with kids and fun when our 4 kids lived at home. Now that they are gone this room gets used as a buffet room more than anything else.  It is nice to use when we have parties and when all the kids come home for Thanksgiving.

The main thing I would like to change about our home is the bathrooms and closets. They just did not build as big of closets and beautiful bathrooms 30 years ago as they do now. However, I feel lucky that we have 3 bathrooms. Growing up as a girl we lived in one apartment that didn’t have it’s own bathroom. We had to go down the hall and share a bathroom with other renters on that floor. After that, we always had our own bathroom… but never more than one. I guess I’d better not complain about our bathrooms too loudly.
Even though our home is not elegant I love it. I feel “at home” here…. I feel at peace here. We’ve raised our 4 children here…. John and I have grown old together here. Within these walls are a million memories…. most of them happy ones.
We have been blessed to be able to travel to many countries of the world and visit wonderful places….. but when it comes right down to it…. I agree whole heartedly with Dorothy…. THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME!
Tell me about your home.