Overnight Guests.

I thought I'd post a crash-course for how I handle such frequent overnight guests. We tend to end up with overnight guests at random, often, and at times overlapping one another. Parents one night, out-of-town friends the next...

To me it rarely feels burdensome...if ever. Because the thing is, I PREFER my people wake up under my roof. Something about it feels homier, cozier and just...right. It's how friends become family and how family becomes TIGHT. In the early days of dating and being married to Josh, I loved staying up unreasonably late with his siblings and then stumbling out to the kitchen together in the morning, searching for coffee and breakfast...lounging and 'waking up' together until we'd all lounged for too long and it was a mad dash to get ready for and race to church.

Of course there are times when I've stacked too many things back-to-back, and I request my dad's help making all the beds in the house and my mom's help loading the dishwasher, but sometimes being the host is all about asking for help and delegating tasks...which is something I seem to do pretty well, as my sister can attest.

Here are a few of the ways I adapted to make hosting overnight guests simple and fun...this way I'm always ready for a drop-in (or six, as was the case on Friday night).

I keep our house consistently, 'generally' clean. I have a clean 'standard,' and what I mean by that is our house is more 'picked up' than it is clean. I haven't seen the top of my fridge in a year, so I can't say that each corner is perfectly CLEAN, but when people drop by, they aren't looking at the top of my fridge...they walk in and see clutter-free countertops, a clean dining room table, and coats hung on hooks...to me this instantly makes our home inviting and naturally encourages pulling up a chair to the island and hanging out for an hour or four (as was also the case on Friday, prior to the aforementioned six extra house guests).

I make sure bed linens and guest towels are conveniently located and are always washed and replenished following an overnight stay. We own at least two sheet-sets per bed (more like three because each bed needs a set of Christmas/winter sheets, obvi) and sheets and towels are stored in our biggest guest bedroom closet in the basement. This is also where I keep tons of extra blankets; six extra pillows for use on the sleeper sofa, sectional, and for when cousins need to sleep on the floor; and Mav's Baby Bjorn Travel Crib usually stays set up inside this large closet so our littlest guests can sleep near their parents but still have their own 'room.' If guests offer, my answer is always a 'yes' to stripping the bed. Another 'YES PLEASE' if they offer to bring their towels and sheets upstairs to the laundry room. No need to be a hero.

I pay attention to the details. People who aren't here often usually need to ask for the wifi password, so I keep it written on a small chalkboard in the guest bedroom. People tend to forget things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other toiletries like deodorant or face wash...I make sure I have a big jar loaded with a variety of male and female-scented/style travel-size toiletries for guests to help themselves to. I also make sure there are full bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash (again, boy/girl scents) in both bathrooms for people to use because honestly, those are the things I typically forget when traveling. I keep a pretty tray tucked on a shelf inside that big guest bedroom closet, ready to pull out when we're expecting overnight guests...it has six bottles of water, some of my favorite books, snacks like Gardetto's, Cliff bars, and that big jar of toiletries.

I had gotten that tray out when we hosted 13 people for Boersma family Christmas and one of Josh's brothers asked if he was 'allowed' to eat one of the Cliff bars...when I replied, 'yes, that's what it's there for dingus,' he exclaimed, 'I love it at your house, you have the best snacks!' And right there, mission accomplished. I want everyone to feel welcome, to feel loved, but I also want it to be convenient because with that many people under our roof, ease is a priority. In this case, it was buying a box of Cliff bars in bulk from Sam's Club.

When I think about 'going home' to Manson, I usually throw sweats in a bag and skip most toiletries, except my makeup...because it's home. I know my mom will have the bathroom and kitchen stocked and there's something effortless about being at home. I want my house to feel the same way, but for everyone who walks through the door, not just our parents and siblings.

I shamelessly utilize paper products and frozen pizzas. There is a time and a place for real plates and fancy china, both of which I love to use! But that place is Christmas dinner and Easter brunch and dinner parties...not a casual Friday night with cousins ponied up to the island. One weekend this summer we had all of Josh's family here for a 36 hour bender that just kept lasting, until everyone was standing in the kitchen on Sunday at 9pm devouring leftovers from the weekend. When I opened the cupboard Monday morning, I realized we'd eaten our way through more than FIFTY PAPER PLATES. In one weekend. That is way more dishes than I care to stand at the counter and wash, missing out on everything else that's happening in the meantime. From that point on, I've made sure to keep plastic cups, plastic spoons + forks, paper plates, bowls, and napkins, all bought in bulk and stored in an easy-to-access location.

Prep meals in advance as much as humanly possible. This is partly because I don't like people to watch how awkward I am in the kitchen, and partly because I don't like standing over the stove frantically cooking as people are walking in the door. It's always my goal to be standing by our island with drinks and apps ready, greeting people as they come in, instead of rushing around Martha-style. My go-to meals for large amounts of people/overnight guests are:

Any kind of soup in a crock-pot
Lasagna
Sweet potato hash
Spaghetti
Taco bar
Egg bake
Scrambled eggs + bacon

I've found these kinds of meals avoid that frantic rushing. If you're better in the kitchen than I am and you like actively cooking and ALSO actively entertaining while toddlers are running around and husbands are hauling their guns up from the basement to show to your guests...then great. I am not.

I'm always thinking of creative ways to use the space we have and make things more comfy for our people. I got really good at doing this in our old (much smaller house) and some of the same challenges still exist here...though I have a lot more room to work with. I have plans to add another queen bed to our basement this spring. I'll throw another package of gray washcloths in my cart the next time they're on sale because it always seems like we're running out. I'm going to buy a bunch of cheap flip-flops when they hit the shelves at Wal-Mart this spring to keep by our downstairs door to the hot tub, because even when people remember to bring their suit, they almost always forget flip-flops and having a bunch handy seems like something guests would appreciate and enjoy.

I noticed people have silently insisted on standing in the kitchen, no matter how many other spaces we have for hanging out, so I bought a rustic bench and placed it underneath the window to embrace and encourage what was already happening. I'm finally learning that there's just something about a kitchen...the same thing was true at our old house. Hours would slip by and pretty soon people would be pulling extra chairs around the tiny island, sitting atop counters, and sitting on the floors leaning up against the cupboards...not the most comfortable place (in my opinion) but I love that friends, family, random guests have always felt comfortable DOING this. Some of my best memories happened in the kitchen at our old house, long before it was 'pretty.' Golden cupboards, mauve, stained carpet, and awkward lighting didn't stop people from hanging out and I LOVE THAT. And over time it's sort of become my life's work.

Last fall we hosted a group of four Pastor's who were here for a conference at Cornerstone and it was like my Olympics for hosting. Not that I was obsessed with 'impressing' because they were a bunch of dudes...but having family and friends here is easy. Having strangers sleep and eat under our roof, as the Bible specifically explains, is the real definition of hospitality...and it was something that had me really excited to practice. I carefully made the beds to perfection...each sleeping area was outfitted with two towels, the wifi password, reading material, and a Salt Co. mug for each pastor to take as a little token of their trip to Ames, Iowa. I borrowed my mother-in-law's Keurig and set up the table at the bottom of our stairs with tons of options for K-Cups, breakfast bars, fruit...stuff that was easy for them to grab-and-go.I made sure they had everything they needed in the basement so they didn't feel awkward about coming upstairs to ask for water or snacks...and guess what. Once I picked them up at church both nights at 9pm...we all spent the next 2+ hours IN THE KITCHEN.

So those are my best tips for hosting overnight guests and making it as easy on myself as possible. Don't get me wrong, there is a considerable amount of extra work that naturally goes along with doing 2-5 extra loads of laundry each week due to weekend guests, but it's sort of just become a rhythm for this house. Maverick wakes up most mornings and asks, 'who's comin' over today, mom?' and I love that.

There's always a group to prep an egg bake for or a party to clean the bathrooms for or a playdate to make a full pot of coffee for...and I absolutely love that this is how I get to spend my life, extra loads of laundry and all.

MmB