Our Kitchen and Dining: Then and Now

I am linking up with the 5 Mom's, 35 Kids open house.  I love this series, y'all need to follow along!

So this is our lovely new rent house (it's really a trailer, but I'm not into labels lol).  I should have posted this picture last Thursday but I am behind, as usual.

Home Sweet Home

The ducks,geese and chickens are here to greet you!

My "puppy", her paws are on my shoulders

Here is my wonderful, awe-inspiring kitchen. I took a picture on a regular day, you know I'm keeping it real. = )  The 2 aquariums hold geckos and in between them are my cookbooks, household notebook and Jacob's home school basket. 

I am so proud of this kitchen/dining area.  Its open, full of storage and easy to maintain.

Old Renters left table and hutch, I have mixed feelings.

 I even had space for both of my deep freezes that hold our 1/4 of a cow and all of my freezer meals. The large built in hutch makes a fabulous pantry. Oh, look! This dining room came with a baby! 
 


For a comparison and for the future when we look back and laugh.  Here is the house we lived in before this one.

Humble? Yes.  Structurally sound? Kind of.  Our only choice after the business went kaput? Bingo!
But I loved my little house.  Who wouldn't after living in a warehouse for 3 months. But God taught me humility and to be truly thankful for even the smallest blessings. 

This is my old kitchen, can you see why I am so enthusiastic about my new one?

My egg collector, fought off a goose with that shovel to get that egg, he was proud.

When I say small I mean it, it was the back porch at one time. You can't see the small apartment stove next to the fridge but suffice it to say I couldn't bake a large pizza in it.  The counter to your right was the only counter space available. The louvered door was not storage, it was the hot water heater.  And I am pressed up against the sink wedged in between the washer and dryer.  It was small. 

Our old dining room.  The door to the left was the coat closet my husband turned into a lovely pantry for me. This is another view of the room .

You can see the door to the kitchen here and the only heater in the house. There is my desk and some more reptile habitats, you can read more about them here. I'm the one that looks like I'll pop out another human being at any second.  = )

I show you these old pictures (does 7 months count as old?) because I want everyone to know why I am sooo thankful for what I have now.  When my ambition got the best of me God showed me that just because I don't have granite countertops or the newest kitchen gadget I could still be happy.  In fact, we were a happier, closer knit family at that house than we ever were before we moved there.

I thank God every day for the blessing he has provided for our family and for the things we have now. I remind myself with these pictures so that I won't fall into the trap of "If I went to work, we could have more stuff" "If we made more money, we would be happier". God taught me a great many lessons, but that one is by far the most poignant in my life.

I'll probably continue posting and linking up with this series.  I'll also continue posting more pictures of our old place, it's nice to look back and see where we came from.  Hope y'all don't mind?

God Bless,

Melodie