Fireplace traditions

Over the summer my father made the investment in a small home. Chad and I quickly accepted his offer to rent it to us, to enable us to have some of that much sought after stability after lacking for so long.

And maybe our standards are super simple but we have been blessed to have an indoor laundry room, three good sized bedrooms and two bathrooms as well as covered carport and a beautiful yard. These are not fancy things and I know this but we have lived in some decidedly less fancy places in our almost 9 years of marriage and I know a good home when I move into it and paint it up.

Oh yeah, my conservative and common sense father also let me have the inside painted top to bottom in my own colors as well as the most amazing chartreuse front door. He may not understand the way his artsy fartsy daughter works but he sure does love me. But while I am loving the closet space and the tulips I planted and the crown molding I have one thing that I adore more than I thought I would.

A fireplace.

In my living room.

This fireplace has helped our family reconnect and helped our tenuous rebirth of traditions. Since the cold weather has moved into the south where we reside, we have made it a frequent treat to pull Chad and I's bed into the living room and starting up a big fire and watching movies while feeling a contentedness that could almost pass for happiness, if I were to allow it to. Because Chad works nights and weekends at retail, this sometimes is hard to work out but is always worth it for weary parents who are trying so hard to keep moving and parenting and loving when every fiber in us wants to just stop.

Weather is slowly beginning to improve and our firewood supply is dwindling but the excitement that crosses Linleys eyes when we mention the evenings plans is heartwarming and makes me almost sad to see spring springing up. I love the process of watching Chad teach her how to make a fire, I love the gut giggles Linley gets when watching Duck Dynasty curled between her father and I and I love feeling the bed shift in the night as Chad rises to stoke this fire and Linley leans into me and the world seems right somehow in the inky darkness of night. Now how this will work with a new little man rolling around next fall and winter will be interesting but when has interesting ever slowed us down?