I LOVE my new kitchen!

Ok, it seems weird to me that I'm writing a post specifically about my kitchen. It's obviously a room that I frequent a lot, but on most occasions I'm not sure it deserves to stand on a pedestal. I have done a decent amount of cooking in it since we moved in Christmas week, but I haven't had the chance to prep and cook a big meal in it or have a nice baking session in it ... until today.

Caed's been taking a good, solid 3-hour nap each afternoon, so it gives me a nice window to get quite a bit done around the house. Today, that means prepping for my first Beef Burgandy and baking my Grandma Courtney's Cut-Out cookies, heart-shaped for Valentine's Day. The really great thing about the kitchen, for baking especially, is the granite countertop! I have always struggled to keep the dough from sticking to my baking sheet or cutting board (maybe I should have always rolled the dough straight on the countertop, I don't know), but I tried it today and it worked like a charm. No sticking! Hooray! Hopefully, this milestone will encourage me to do more baking from here on out, but I suppose it's all about time and I can't say that I can sacrifice my daily 3-hour window for baking every day.

Now that I'm raving about my kitchen, I should probably mention that the size is also an important factor. When we originally had the plans drawn up for it, it didn't seem like it would be that big, but with the layout and experiencing the size in 'action' per say, it's definitely a great-sized kitchen and one that opens up many opportunities for our family to enjoy it together (Brad and I can cook together again and Caed can enjoy playing as I cook or clean), as well as invite others to enjoy it with us.

And can I also say that having a dishwasher is absolutely fantastic ... and an oven that heats to the appropriate temperature is also a huge plus!

I'm thrilled that the kitchen turned out the way that it did and I hope to use it to its fullest potential! I'm very grateful!