Small is GOOD

I have realized over the past few days, that I am very thankful for my small house. In fact, I should just be thankful for any house, as the huge majority of the world doesn't have more than a room (or less) to call their "home". So, I am indeed thankful.
We have a cute little 3 bedroom ranch house, with a living room, kitchen, and 2 baths. It is pretty small...I can easily run from one end of the house to the other in, um, 1.5 seconds. There have certainly been a quite a few times when I have wished for more space. An extra "guest room" for all our PA - and family - guests. Or, an extra "toy/computer" room; so our living room doesn't have to be cluttered. A bigger laundry area would be nice too, and of course more room in the kitchen would always be welcome! Most of all, I've wished I had an upstairs - a place to send the kids "up to play", a place to keep noise away from sleeping babies, a place to hide junk. It just sounds great.
But, there are some awesome advantages to having a small home. First of all, there's so much less to clean. I can easily vacuum the floors in 10 minutes, and have the bathrooms done in 10 minutes also. It's nice not being overwhelmed by a bunch of rooms to clean.
Also, when you have less space, you just have to have less junk. I have reminded myself of this at yardsales, thrift stores, and at Christmas time - we don't have room for "stuff", so just don't buy it!
Having a small house is also awesome when you have little kids, because you always know where they are. I can just "yell" down the hallway and one of them will answer. Or, I could just look down it too, and find them. :) I don't feel afraid leaving them "alone" somewhere, even though they are 3 and 1, because we are all basically right next to each other. It's really quite convenient.
Lastly, a small house means a smaller mortgage - and you can't argue with that. Our house payment is already our largest "bill" of each month (although gas is close now!!!)....and what are we getting for it? A house to live in, yes, and an investment for the future - hopefully - but other than that, it's just a place to live. It obviously takes much more than a house to make a home, and I have been learning that even with a small amount of space, it is possible to be a hostess, to share with friends, and to help others out. I am thankful for the "home" that I have!