It’s an a little unsettling to let strangers live in your house. We’re renting out our home while we are away for the summer. The renters are friends of friends, but still…

You can learn a lot about a family by looking at their bookshelves. What if you had access to snoop through their whole house?

It’s silly, but I find myself wanting to impress the renters with my tasteful decor and evidence of my well-adjusted children. I’ve justified some recent purchases because, well, it’s for the renters. I organized the linen closet, cleaned out the junk drawer, and deleted vapid TV shows from the DVR queue.

We shredded so many documents last week that we maxed out our recycling bin and had to top off our neighbors’ receptacles. I’ve sold stuff on Craigslist and made another trip to Goodwill. I must admit, it feels good to purge!

Jens has spent the last few weeks making home improvements that another woman will get to enjoy first. I’m jealous of the strangers that get to hang out in our newly landscaped backyard. The pizza oven is dialed in, the fire pit hooked up, and the flowers just planted last week.

Our place is looking better than it ever has before, and we are walking out the door.

I know the rent will help offset our travel adventures to some pretty spectacular destinations, so I shouldn’t complain. I’ll just have to graciously welcome my guests with,

Mi casa es su casa.