After sitting empty for several months, the house next door has residents! I actually met them briefly about a month ago when they were looking at the house and they seem really nice. I was about to walk the dogs when they asked me what I thought of the neighborhood and I told them it was great. They said they have two dogs, too! I’m looking forward to getting to know them. And I’m hoping it’s the start of a beautiful friendship.

A while back, after we first moved in, I wrote about welcome casseroles. Remember how women used to make casseroles to welcome new residents to the community and to ease their move-in stress? I questioned whether folks still do that these days because no one did it for us. However, our neighbor at the time, Casey, the previous resident of the newly occupied house, came over to introduce himself and give us his number in case we needed anything. We actually became pretty close neighbors. He even mowed our lawn for us while we were on our honeymoon!

I wanted to do something nice for our new neighbors to welcome to the neighborhood. They’re still settling in so, taking a note from Casey, we mowed their lawn for them this afternoon. Moving can be stressful. And we should know because we’ve moved a million times over the last ten years. My welcome casserole to our new neighbors (I don’t even know their names yet, but it’s a young couple, just like us) is this cute little  housewarming gift in a jar:

Inspired by Pinterest here.

The jar contains a bottle of Meyer’s hand soap, two sponges, and some dish cloths. We also included a little card with a well wishes, and Nick tied the beautiful bow. I thought about dropping off some baked goods or an easily prepared dinner (like spaghetti), but with all the food allergies out there these days, I was afraid it wouldn’t go over very well. But everyone cleans, right? Especially when moving into a new home.

I hope they like it! After they get settled, we’ll invite them over for dinner but for now, we’ll stay out of the way.