Well, Christmas came and went! It's always a whirlwind, but this year seemed particularly quick since we were in the middle of our move (with a one year old in tow). We spent our first night in the new house just a few days before Christmas Eve, and tried to soak up every minute of the season, in between coats of poly on the floors, and paint on the walls. Even though it wasn't as decorated and festive as I usually like it to be, it was still very special. Technically it was Lelia's second Christmas, but last year she was two weeks old and we were zombies, so it felt like her first!

My family came to stay with us this year, all the way from Richmond and New York, so we had a house full of guests. In order for the house to feel somewhat clean and welcoming for them, we cleaned most surfaces. Keep in mind, this house had not been lived in for over two years, so every surface was sticky and dusty (or worse). I've been trying to use more natural cleaning methods since we have a little one in the house now, which can sometimes leave me feeling like the job didn't really get done. But, I found this method on Pinterest to clean out the oven (which was caked in grease!), and it was so easy I had to share it with you! Best of all, it only used two ingredients, which everyone has on hand.

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-clean-an-oven-cleaning-lessons-from-the-kitchn-201191

Joe received one of his favorite Christmas gifts to date, and it too involved cleaning... For those of you who don't know him, he is totally obsessed with cleaning. As in, he once swept the sand at a beach house we rented to remove the debris! Crazy. So, you can imagine how excited he was to get a new broom and dustpan for the house. Not just any old broom, but a beautiful, hand-made in the USA broom in a manly shade of black! My parents got it from a new store in Richmond called Roaring Pines. I haven't been yet, but apparently they sell gorgeous utilitarian items and they also serve coffee, so it can't be bad!

We've made a lot of progress in the house, mostly on things you can't see right now, like a new above ground oil tank and venting for the microwave! But, we're trying to wrap up Lelia's room this week, and will be back with pictures of that space soon.

Happy New Year!