What Three Years of Marriage Has Taught Me

This past Saturday, Peter and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. Three years, people! I know, in the grand scheme of things, three years isn't a whole lot - and next year, I will probably freak out about it being 4 years - but it still feels unreal. I have never been attached to another person, immediate family aside, for this long.

Anyway, we celebrated by going to Richmond and having dinner at The Tobacco Company Restaurant. I fell in love with the old time charm of the building, as well as the food. Seriously, check out the pictures on their website. After dinner, Peter bought roses from a street vendor, and we walked around the Capitol. Peter and I sat on the steps of the capitol building and talked - and that was, honestly, the best part of the night.

For the past few weeks, I considered writing a post listing some of the things that marriage has taught me. Maybe I can keep this up for anniversaries? Hmm...

-When dating, you do things for each other because you're in love. Your first year of marriage, you do things for each other just because. The second year, you find bribery works well. The third year, bribery doesn't work as well as it once did...I expect that by next year, it wont work at all?

-Anything can be put off if it means you get a few more minutes together.

-Laundry will not fold itself and dishes will not put themselves away like they magically did in high school [thanks, mom!]; Chances are, the hubby isn't going make that happen, either.

-You really do need to keep 'dating' once you're married.

-Waking up next to someone is far better than waking up alone. Even when that person snores, talks in their [her] sleep, and steals the blankets [her, again].

-It will be rare that the toilet paper, or paper towels, will make it in the dispenser [not just on, next to, or in the same room].

-Laugh. At everything.


I'll probably add more as I think of them :)

DIY Photo Collage

I've wanted a photo collage in our living room since last fall, but have been turned away for several reasons:
           - Photo collage 'kits' (I guess you can call them) only had select frames. I wanted most frames to
             be matted, and I didn't want frames that fit several photos.
           - Frames are expensive! At $15+ each, it was a little more than I was willing to spend.

After months of debating and searching, I finally had the frames that I wanted. This is where my OCD kicked in. I knew that I wanted the collage to cover the majority of the space on the wall, but I wanted to make sure it was generally centered, and that they didn't look exactly spaced out.

I arranged the frames on the carpet to get a general pattern and to avoid placing several of the same frames next to each other. 

One of several attempts.

 

 

After, I found an extremely helpful tutorial on how to hang them. You trace the frames onto cheap paper (I used moving paper that we have for projects, but paper grocery bags work well, too), and cut them out. Label each cut out with a short description of the photo. Line the cut out to fit the back of the frame. With your fingers, feel for the loops where the nails will go and punch holes into the paper. (I didn't get a picture of this step).  With blue painters tape, tape the cut outs in the pattern you want. This makes it easier to move the cutouts and make adjustments. When you are satisfied, locate the holes you punched and nail the cut outs to the wall. Replace the cut outs with the frames.

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the poor quality; It was evening.

 

Final result - slightly different than my original template.