My Missionary DOM Tour Part 1

I had taken a bit of a hiatus from my blog a while back (strictly due to laziness) and during that time I really missed out on some things, like the Missionary Home Tour over at the Baptist Missionary Women blog. I didn't even know it was going on till I saw Rachel's home tour on her blog, Rachel's Reflections. 

Anyhoo, a whole bunch of missionary ladies posted tours of their homes from all around the world and I super-loved getting to see what their lives looked like. 

I'm too late to link up with the Baptist Missionary Women Home Tour link up so I'll just do my own!

This is a tour of our little "dom" (home) here in Croatia. It truly is our home and when we're away or have to make a trip to the States we love for our little abode. 

We have always lived in larger two story houses here in Croatia since we had three children, (btw, we still have three children, we didn't do away with them or anything, they just live Stateside now, at lease both boys) Anyhow, after our son Josh left two years ago we decided it was stupid unwise to have such a big house only to pay to heat and have to clean. So, we downsized, considerably. 

Johnny found this little house in the town where the second church plant is and let me tell you, it took some convincing for me to love like accept it. It was really hard to downsize for many reasons:

1.  What was I going to do with all my "stuff"? I had been refinishing random pieces of furniture for our home and I had some "stuff" that I really loved. 

2. What if we had guests come and stay, like a group of 20? Where were we gonna put them?

3. Could I even live in such a small space, I'm not a petite you know!

4. This was final! We were officially not a family of 5 with three kiddos. It was final. 

Anyhow, per norm, Johnny was right and I soon decided it was a good idea and cheaper! When we arrived the house wasn't in the best shape. It had been used for a cabinet company and it needed some fixin' up. 

The outside of our home is pretty much the same except for the fact that the yard was completely barren of grass. It was a dirt pit actually with a vast variety of weeds. 

Luckily the yard was small enough that Johnny and I turned over the ground this Spring and planted grass and made a little bed around the front. My plan is to have plush Hostas across the front to try to soften the hardness of the white porch enclosure. 

Opening the first door leads into the enclosed stairway. I love all the windows and so do my little green friends. 

The stairs turn and lead up to the front door. I hated this porch when we arrived but I super-love it now. I love the practicality of a buffer between the outside and in. 

This is just a little view from the front door looking down into the enclosed porch. 

We have a huge backyard and patio in the backyard but I'll save that for another day. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing our little "dom". It really is where our hearts are. 

My Missionary Dom Part 2