My Favorite Room

We live in Army quarters. It's an old house built in the old Hawaiian style. Lots of windows to allow a cross breeze, crank out windows, (which I HATE) and a huge lanai on the front of the house. The lanai is essentially a screened in porch that is open to my living room. You can close it off or keep it open to become part of the room.

As nice as that room is, with my lovely bamboo furniture, my favorite room is the kitchen.

Like I said, this is an old house. The kitchen is a far cry from gourmet. The appliances are simple and starting to rust with the humidity here in Hawaii. But, I love it because it's my refuge.
When my husband was in Iraq, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. When I'm stressed, I bake or cook. I baked a lot during those 12 months. My husband had a ton of responsibility and I had so much I was involved in, that it seemed anxiety was part of my personality. After he was injured half way through the deployment, I baked even more. I can't keep baked goods in this house because I'll eat them. So, I'd bake, and I'd take everything up to the Soldiers who were part of the rear detachment. They loved to see me come in.
I'm going to share my  humble kitchen with you here.

I love the window over the sink. I can see right out front to my herb garden, the bird bath and the street.

I absolutely HATE this refrigerator. It's too small and the shelves are so that I can't stand anything tall in it. I won't miss it when we leave here. However, I LOVE that little TV on top. I would turn it on and listen to my favorite shows as I baked, cooked or cleaned. One of my favorite memories will always be having the Thanksgiving Day parade on while my daughter helped me in the kitchen making the huge meal. When Nick was deployed, I had a few single Soldiers and a few of my fellow Army wives whose husband's where gone over for dinner.

This is the view from the kitchen sink/back door area. It shows my stand mixer, toaster oven, pantry and my cute aprons on the wall. I have used the heck out of that stand mixer.

This is my least favorite part of the kitchen. The washer and dryer in the corner. Notice the window AC above the dryer. All that baking, not to mention an occasional hot flash creates the need for this.

This is my favorite part of the kitchen. Lucky for me, it's mine and is going with me when I leave. I absolutely love this butcher block. I use it not only for chopping veggies, but as work space. I mix batter here, I knead bread, my daughter and I cut out and frosted Christmas cookies here, and it times, it's a bar when we entertain. I hope and pray there's room for the butcher block in my next kitchen.

Oh, and let's pretend my floor doesn't need to be swept. I hate sweeping, but I'm a messy cook so my floor always needs to be swept!