Michigan Favorites

I told myself that if I ever started a blog, which I wouldn't, it would never be just a travel/events log. Well, I did start a blog, and it has become a travel log. Hate that! So, even though I am dying to post about our super fun Easter Spring Break trip to Alabama, I am going back to my initial desire to capture some of the every day memories of our lives. (I'm sure the AL trip will sneak in somewhere...)

Since our weeks are getting to the counting down stage, we decided to start posting some of the many favorite things we have loved and will always love about Michigan and our four years here. These are things we will truly miss about living in Michigan. Each individual in our family has different things we love and will miss, so we'll document as many as we can. Sounds fun to me! We'll see how we do...

For the sake of what is most on my mind right now, I will start with our house. We got an offer on our house when we were away in DC, decided it would be the best thing in the entire world if we didn't have to try to keep the house clean, accepted the offer and closed on it just last week. We are now proud RENTERS. It's time for another party!!! Who cares about trashing the place now? Just kidding... We have LOVED our tiny little box of a house! It has suited our needs perfectly and even though I don't want to share a bathroom with my four kids for the rest of my life, it worked well thus far.

So, top things I have loved about our house:

1. the BASEMENT
Ooooh, I love our basement. The best place to send the kids away from me, a place big enough for them to run and jump, play swords, make HUGE forts (and messes), do my craft projects and leave forever because I never finish them, have movie nights, fake camping nights, grown up game nights or kid birthday parties (I mean who needs chuck E. Cheese when you have a basement??). It is the greatest use of space a builder could make. In the long Michigan winters it has been a lifesaver and a blessing. If I don't have a basement in my future house I think I will miss it every day.

2. the THREE SEASON SCREEN PORCH
We so made fun of these when we started looking for housed in the midwest, but once again ate our words and have LOVED it! It is attached to our garage and sits in the back yard. We have had many a ragin' BBQ's in our back yard. We always serve in the porch, kids eat on the tramp or on blankets outside, and the parents try to hide from them in the porch (and stay closer to the yummy food.) Our own little family has many week night dinners out there, rain or shine. The metal roof makes the rain sound wonderfully alive and even though you can hardly hear one another, it is a fun experience.3. STICKY VINYL TILE
So this was a toss up between storage space and the tile. But really DIRT COLORED kitchen flooring changed my every day life dramatically, tile wins out. We had horrible white linolium that we had had in every house or apt we had lived in and I was at my wits end. No matter how often you swept or mopped, still dirty. We decided to put sticky tiles down, but didn't like it when we laid them out square. We turned them on the diagonal and loved it. And even though it was a bit trickier that way, it was way worth it. Now, word of advice: I would only recommend these for very temporary living, since we have had some trouble with some of them sticking. But, I am completely, totally, with passion recommending them for the fact that it makes your floor the color of dirt. I sweep, looks great. I don't sweep, it looks great! Mop? Who needs to mop? LOVE DIRT COLORED FLOOR!!! Plus, people always think it is real tile, and who am I to make them look foolish?? Love the floor! We have loved our house!