I've been thinking a lot lately about the kind of house I would love to own one day. At this point in time, on a part time youth worker's wage with a hell of a student loan debt accumulating as I work my way through my second degree, it is nothing more than a pretty little daydream. But I've started making a bit of a wishlist anyway, because a girl can dream, right?!
So this is the house that Krista built:
I want a roof that shelters us from the storms of life, but never holds us down.
I want walls adorned with photos and pictures and memories of moments past, and bursting with the wonderful stories they have seen played out within them.
I want floors that will lay a foundation of creativity and imagination - whether in the form of molten lava or shark infested waters in childhood games, a place to study or read or draw, or a skating rink for little feet (and big) clad in socks.
I want a door that is always open to our friends and family and loved ones, new and old, in times of sadness and times of joy.
I want windows that will fill our lives with sunshine and light, and let our own light shine back out into the big wide world on dark nights.
I want a garden full of growth and the magic of nature and the miracle of life, shaded by big old leafy trees which are good for climbing and swinging from and building cubbies in and under and around.
I want a kitchen stocked with nourishing food and a never ending supply of tea and lovely conversation, and plenty of space for dancing and baking and general goodness and cheer.
I want a big old wooden dining table loaded with delicious food and conversation and surrounded by hearts full of love and laughter, always.
I want a living room with deliciously snuggly couches which can be turned into the foundations of an impenetrable blanket fort at a moments' notice, and a record player which provides a beautifully warm and mellow soundtrack to our everyday life.
I want bookshelves full of stories and words and novels and picture books and comics and records and atlases and invitations to see whole new worlds and believe in the dreams they fuel.
I want a big old bathtub which can be filled with bubbles so high you can't see over them, a place to escape and relax and soak away the troubles of the day or reflect on the magic that is life.
I want a bed full of sweet dreams and the comforting arms of a man who loves me, and Sunday morning sleep ins and a place of shelter on those days where you just can't get out of bed.
I want a home that is full of love and laughter and light, a place where dreams and imagination and creativity flourish, where each person knows they are loved beyond measure, and where everyone belongs.
This is the house that Krista built.
