My burlap funk did not last long, your wonderful comments and emails keep pouring in..moms unite..no stress! please keep sharing.

and then Saturday on the way home from Nana’s house we stopped by here, 531 N. 33rd Street in Waco, Texas..my first home as Mrs. Mathis.

isnt this the cutest little house?! just seeing our little honeymoon cottage all decked out and ready for Christmas made me feel great. I could go on and on about this place (and i am going to for a bit so settle in for some gushing). The bottom line is look at how well kept it is… that is because the owners are the most awesome landlords EVER.. His name is Chuck (his brother Harold has passed since we lived there) but Chuck still lives across the street and sends the most beautiful Christmas cards every year.

and I am not making this up, not only did he take care of the yard (still does just look at that huge fern), but he also decorates for Christmas (in fact he would prefer you not touch anything outside..he did allow me or i should say NOT THROW A FIT when i took down the questionable pink balloon shades he had covering the interior windows which i carefully stored in the attic) which was great for me..not an outside person as many of you know. Chuck even CLEANS THE SHOWER! Yep, he cleans the shower..you see this little house has a massive, SOLID MARBLE shower and Chuck had a bad renter one time that did not keep the shower clean and it was a mess when he moved…so after that Chuck decided to do it himself. a little odd i thought at the time but it sounds awesome right about NOW.

the house also had a MASSIVE fireplace, i think that was my husband’s favorite feature. and wonderful green and black and white tiles in the kitchen and of course wood floors….very tiny it was originally built in the 1920s in this historic neighborhood as a honeymoon cottage, so no just our honeymoon cottage but the original owners as well (are you gagging yet?;;)..they built it at the rear of the lot so they could later build a larger home in front…they never did. SO this little house has sat at the rear property line all of these years.

Chuck and Harold grew up in the home across the street (where Chuck still lives) and later bought 531 N 33rd and began to lovingly restore it. …Chuck has it landscaped beautifully and has built a lovely courtyard area between the cottage and massive garage. I noticed he has added some carriage looking garage doors since we drove by last..he is always working on some improvement or upkeep project. I think he has owned it for about 20-25 years!

just look at the little courtyard..the washer and dryer are hidden behind one of those doors. notice the little mirror treatments over the faux garage windows/shutters..Chuck told me he got that idea from Southern Accents magazine!

and 531 N. 33rd’s claim to fame…Billy Graham’s granddaughter lived here while in college at Baylor.. and lucky me, i found it in the newspaper weeks before we got married..the perfect place for us to start married life..even though we were stressed with law school and graduate school, it was a great time!

the only drawback..basically no closets…one teeny tiny. but no fear, Chuck furnished the only bedroom with two huge pine armoires..his and hers.

so see why this made me feel better..i also remember that while living here i suddenly began to care less about academics and finishing a thesis and suddenly just wanted to have babies and decorate! sound normal for a newlywed?! I am glad my husband “encouraged” me to finish the thesis but i am also very thankful i am living the dream of the babies and decorating…so fun to look back and see all God has done in my life! Not perfect but surely blessed.

{images courtesy of husband’s Blackberry}