First Christmas

No, it wasn't our first Christmas together, but it was our first Christmas alone. In our own house.

And it was wonderful.

Our First House

After months of anticipation (and fighting with underwriters) we closed on our first house Wednesday, November 23, 2011. Closing happened to be the day before Thanksgiving, and we had painters paint through the night (and well into Thanksgiving - big shout out to The Right Touch Painting) so we could move in the day after Thanksgiving.

I am so grateful for great friends and family that helped alleviate a lot of the stress. Closing happened very last minute, thanks to some uh, interesting, underwriters and bank managers. Our Real Estate agent told us that the hoops we had to jump through were completely abnormal. Lovely.

Anyway, its been a month and we are in love with the house. Peter had me take pictures of the interior, but I haven't done any decorating. In fact, the only 'real' decorating I have done was for Christmas, and I was so tired of unpacking that I didn't even do much for Christmas. Now that Christmas is over, I need to brush up on my interior decorating skills and get to work :)

Here are some pictures of my undecorated, slightly messy, house...

Master Bed Room

My favorite part of the master bath

View from the stairs

Nook by the stairs

Upstairs hallway.

Guest bedroom, so far.

Laundry room. On the second floor :)

View from Kona's room.

Dining Room

Dining Room/Entry.

Entry/Living Room

Living Room

 

View from the living room into the kitchen.

Kitchen - my favorite room

I haven't taken pictures of the office yet - it was still in boxes, ahem, Peter. And I figured there was no point in posting pictures of the spare room we have designated Kona's room, just the incredible view. Once I 'finish' a room, I will update the pictures.

MIA

Yes, I have been missing in action. Again. I started my summer job, and haven't really had the time, or desire, to blog. Not that I have completed any of my projects, anyway. I have this coming week off for a family reunion, and since we aren't leaving for Williamsburg until Wednesday, I plan on using these few days to work on some of my projects that I've been scheming.

I've been making a list of the funny (to me) things kids I babysit say. Now, most of these are 'you had to be there...' or 'if you only knew the person who said it' quotes. I realize this. Also, these quotes are compiled from several families, over the past 6 months, and there are several kids that fit each age. Trying to keep this somewhat anonymous, obviously.


Age: 5
"I love vineyards."

Age: 3
Her: "This is yellow baby.
Me: "She's pink."
Her: "She had an identity crisis."

Age:4
Me: "I'm so tired today."
Her: "You should take a nap."
Me: "You're my favorite."

Age: 5
Her: "There's a lake, so we must be there."
Me: "Do you know how many lakes there are in Virginia?"
Her: "Yes. But I want it to be this one. Its so lake-y."
Me: "That's a stream."

Ages: 5 and 3
3 y/o: "I like to sit on lots of people. "
5 y/o: "That's not normal."

Age: 3
"When my mommy was a boy she drove daddies car. When she was little."

Age: 3
"You be the mommy, I'll be the daddy, and I have a baby in my tummy. It will be my sister."

Age: 5
"What's wrong with you? You're so whiny."

Age: 5
Me: "You need patience. "
Her: "I dont have my patience today. It might be back tomorrow."
Next day...
Me: "I thought we talked about having patience?"
Her: "We did. It's in my drawer. I might take it out tomorrow."
Me: "That's what you said yesterday."

Now on to sleeping in for the next week :)

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.

Puerto Rico

Peter made Rosetta Stone's "Circle of Excellence" for 2010! As a reward, we received a week-ish long, all expense paid vacation. This year, the location was the St. Regis, Bahia Beach in Puerto Rico.

I'm so proud of him! Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on some of the pictures from the award dinner.

  
Here are the highlights: (I suggest you look at the pictures I posted on my Facebook. Blogger makes the process of posting pictures unbearable)  

Beach in Rio Grande

The narrow streets of Old San Juan

 

Zip lining in El Yunque Rain Forest

I love the bright buildings

Smitten Kitchen

 Smitten Kitchen

Their recipes are pretty amazing.

Check 'em out!