Our New Digs: The Living Room

I've been wanting to share pictures of our new house for awhile now, but wanted to wait until we were finished decorating.  Then I realized that's going to be years, so I might as well show everything while it's in progress.  :)

Here's the living room the day we closed on the house:

Yes, you're going to see a toddler in every single picture.  I actually do try to get pictures without her, but it's kind of a waste of breath.

Here's a month after we moved in.  Pictures on the wall, and all the basic furniture in place:

Another view.  Most everything is the same from our apartment.  The curtains are new, and we bought a second curtain rod since we only had one window in the apartment.  The end table was brought out from our bedroom & the lamp on it is new.  Josh hates the lamp, but it's just temporary anyway.  I plan for it to go in the office.

This week we made a few small changes that yielded big results:

We mounted the TV on the wall (how funny-- seriously, who would have ever thought we'd hang our TV's on the wall?), brought the 2nd end table out from the bedroom, bought 2 lamps, a rug, and a bunch of pillows.

Don't worry, we repositioned the rug after these photos were taken.  My friend Sherry is a designer & gives me advice.  And I follow through about as well as Amelia Bedelia.  It's still at an angle, just the opposite angle, like any sane human would have done from the beginning.  :)  Sherry has to keep me straight on these things.

Fun story about these pillows.  I bought 9 pillows at Ross.  I knew it was way too many, but I figured Josh & I could narrow it down once we saw them in the room.  But once I laid them all out on the couch, I fell in love!  So far I've got the total number down to 8.  Not sure how I'm going to knock any more out.

 The couch really needed this pop of color & excitement.  It's getting kind of old, so these pillows do a great job of distracting the eye!

And these lamps... I'm in love!  They're burlap covered lampshades with that pretty pattern cut out.  They are from Ross as well.  I need to find a solution for all these cords, though.  Pretty unsightly with the simple end tables we have.

 And because I have a toddler...

It's the Color Wonder markers & wipes right off of the table.  Yay!

A side by side view:

 

And another during & after view:

I just can't believe the difference!  It's really starting to feel like out dream home!

A day without heat.

We got back from vacation this week, turned up the thermostat and... nothing.  The fan was running, but when the house didn't start heating, we knew something was up.  We were out of oil.

It was 10pm so Josh went to borrow some space heaters.  We bundled up & made sure the baby was warm & went to bed.

The next morning I called for more oil & after visits from three different oil companies for different reasons, we had it working again by 5:30pm.

My daughter was nice & warm with a sitter all day.  I enjoyed riding in the car because of the warmth.  I went out to Wal-Mart to buy our own space heater.  I started feeling ill so I took some medicine.

All day long I was reminded of people without these luxuries.  People who couldn't just call someone, write a check, and be warm again.  People who would do anything for a warm coat, a roof over their head.  Who would just love relief from that headache.

It's so easy to get caught up in life.  To think poor me.  There are two ways to look at it:


-We had no heat on a cold day & night.
-It cost $600 to get everything working again.
-I'm sick and just want to lay down & ignore the world.


-or-


-We have a roof over our heads.
-We had $600 to write a check and get heat in our home again.
-We have a babysitter who is wonderful, affordable, and truly loves & cares for our little girl.
-We have warm clothes to put on, blankets to curl up under, and TV to watch when we don't feel good.
-There is medicine in our cabinets & food in our pantry.
-Did you notice this all happened when we got back from vacation?  It was a week long vacation where we didn't have to pay for a hotel.  'Nuff said.
-We have each other.  That is far more precious than anything listed above.


The list can go on & on, but you get the point.  Life is full of luxuries.  You just have to remember them.

I much prefer when life gives me lemonade, but maybe the lemons aren't so bad if we remember all that we're thankful for.

How easily 6 months can change your life.

This picture caught my eye the other day & made me smile.  It brought back so many memories of 2013.  Thirteen has always been 'my' number.  I was born on the 13th, met my husband, got engaged & got married all on the 13th.  I was just sure Hazelnut would be born on the 13th- a week early (but she wasn't).

So my entire life I'd been looking forward to the year 2013.  I mean-- a whole year of the number 13?  What could be better?

I'm not sure what I expected to happen, but I am thankful for the year that we had.  Each negative thing had a positive right behind it to overshadow it.  I crave stability in life & this year has been full of stability.

Back to the picture.  It was taken in April at our old apartment.  If you had told me in April (the month taxes were due. mind you) that we'd be in our own house right now I would have laughed.  Even Josh, the big dreamer, probably would have laughed.  Some unexpected taxes had battered our savings & although we knew we could save it again, a down payment & mortgage was just out of the question.

But six months later, we were signing a large stack of paperwork & painting our new house.  Two and a half months later I'm still in shock.  God's blessings have been so great this year, I can't even understand it.  I'm so thankful for it.


The apartment seems like it was years ago.  Our house has only ever know one other owner.  We hear stories about the family that lived there-- all wonderful, heartwarming stories.  They raised their children there, grew old together, and you can feel it as soon as you walk in.

I can't wait to continue that tradition & I'm honored to be a part of it.  Here's to many more fantastic years.

Six months can easily change you life-- for the better or for the worse.  Life is fragile, and I'm thankful mine was for the better & pray that continues.

It's Amazing What a Little Paint Will Do!

We loved the nursery we had set up in the apartment... until we finished the nursery in our house!  It is absolutely amazing what a paint of coat can change.

Basically all the same items, but wood floors & lovely walls.  Robins Nest by Benjamin Moore.  We used the Natura no-VOC paint & loved it!  No smell, no headache, and it went on super smooth.

Dream Nursery

When I was pregnant we lived in a tiny two bedroom apartment with two dogs & a cat.  It was fine before I got pregnant, but once we started adding baby items to the mix, it quickly became a cramped space.

Two years later we bought a house & I got to decorate the nursery of my dreams!

 

I know it sounds silly that this is the nursery of my dreams, but it is.  A cute, functional nursery that makes me squeal a little when I look at it.  It's ours!  We've been married for seven and a half years and this is the first time we've been able to paint our home.  It's our home.  Boom.

This is what it looked like when we first moved in.  We were so thankful that the previous owners had painted everything white.  It made painting super easy!

 

Here are a few more looks at the room:

The blank wall above the crib is waiting on a wall decal that we've had for, oh, two years.  It's super cute but we'd been waiting to use it until we knew we weren't moving anytime soon.

We plan to paint the closet door in chalkboard paint.  Sure, it will be messy, but what is life without messes from a two year old?

Paint Color: Robins Nest by Benjamin Moore.  We used the Natura no VOC paint and loved it!  We painted the room with my daughter in there & no headaches or smell or anything.