Some Thoughts

Just some random thoughts I've had floating around in my head today.

I ate an artichoke for the first time today. It was actually really good, but seemed like way too much work to eat very often. And it looks totally unappetizing. I had a hard time getting over how it looked.

Today was a really good day. We love our new ward (church) and feel like we are starting to remember names and faces and get into a routine there. We also love the fact that, like our last ward, church is always at 9 am. It never changes. And for someone with 2 kids who nap, this is the ultimate church time.

I have been SO tired lately...all the time. Moving, and the resulting late nights and early mornings trying to get everything done, have really worn me out. But we are starting to finally feel like we have made this house our home. We just need to get pictures hung and get rid of the last 3 or 4 miscellaneous boxes and then it will really feel like home.

We went through all of Jon's artwork and then bought frames for several of the pieces. We are going to hang them throughout the house. I am SO excited about this. I think it will be so fun to have his work hanging where we can see and enjoy it.

Our house. I LOVE it...quirks and all. We feel so blessed to be able to live in this house. We feel like it was the perfect one for us right now. We really feel like this is where we need to be.

Some of my favorite things about the house
- all the light. We have several windows and 4 skylights. I love the skylights.
-our mailbox. Our mail "box" is a slot on the front of our house. The mail comes right into a slot in my living room. I don't even have to leave my house to get my mail. How cool is that!?
-the fireplace. There's just something so cozy about a fireplace. We used it for the first time last night and it was just so fun. The kids were loving it. Matthew was so excited that there was fire and Emma kept begging to roast marshmallows in it. :) And with the fireplace comes the mantle. I can't wait to hang our stockings from it next Christmas.
-the carpets. I know some people love hardwood floors, but I hate them. A lot. And our last place wall all hardwood floors (except for the tile in the bathroom). So, I am really loving that we have carpet in every room except the kitchen and bathrooms. So much more comfortable.
-our driveway. Gone are the days of coming home and hoping someone didn't park in the one spot in front of our house. I love having a driveway.
-the backyard. The kids spend at least half of each day out there playing and digging and exploring. It is great!
-the space. Oh, I love having all this space. Some of our favorite "space" upgrades...
-Jon and I actually have a closet in our bedroom now! That's right, we no longer have to use the hall closet as our closet. And we actually have TWO closets in our room. Score!
-We can now open our bathroom door without it hitting the toilet. AND if that weren't cool enough, more than one person can fit in the bathroom at the same time. But my favorite bathroom upgrade is that we actually have a counter, cupboards, and drawers now. Pedestal sinks might look nice but they sure are impractical!
-all the storage space. Seriously, it is everywhere. Everything has a place and it is just so nice.
-our bedroom. Our bedroom space doubled with this move. We no longer have to have the bed pushed up against a wall, which means that Jon doesn't have to climb over me when he gets up at 6 waking me up in the process. So nice! And we have room for nightstands now. Exciting!

And enough about the house...

I wish I enjoyed exercising. I know I feel better when I do exercise, I just can't make myself do it. I need some sort of goal or motivation or something.

It has become very obvious that Matthew is left handed. How do two right handed parents get a left handed child?

I love my kids. Even when they're grumpy because they didn't take naps. They make life so much more meaningful. And I love Jon. I have the best family!

The House

For all of you who have been requesting pictures of our house...here they are. Just keep in mind that it is still very much a work in progress...but at the rate we're going it'll be several months before I get pictures of the finished product up. So, here ya go...oh and some of the pictures have really weird lighting...sorry about that.

The kitchen...yes, it's really ugly. But, it's got tons of cupboard space (I still have an entire cupboard that is empty and I have no idea what to do with it). The dishwasher was broken when we moved in, so our landlord installed a brand spanking new one on Saturday. We just keep hoping that nice yellow oven breaks soon too...

The dining room. This was one of the rooms we painted. We are going to hang a valance above the window and the Valentines decorations will be coming down. We want to hang some pictures (of what???) and I'd like to find something...a buffet or something...to fill up the rest of this large space.

From the kitchen going down to the laundry area

and from the laundry area to the garage.

The living room. Definitely needs pictures and we're throwing around the idea of doing an accent wall on that wall with the fireplace. That or maybe putting a runner on the mantel. Just something to break up all the white over there.

The bathroom. Still needs an over the toilet shelf thing.The kids room. This room is actually the exact same layout and size as their room in our last house. Crazy! So, we set up their room exactly the same, but now there are no toys in here. I LOVE IT! We did put a bookshelf at the end of Emma's bed for some books and a couple small toys, just to fill some of the empty space. I kind of want to hang curtains or something from under Emma's bed to make it a fort and make the room feel not so empty. We also need to hang pictures. We have a fun idea for this that I will post when we actually do it. Also, this was the other room that we painted. You can see the before picture below.

Before...I think ours is a definite improvement.

Our room. We're going to hang curtains and hang pictures. Beyond that I just don't know what to do in here...though I would also REALLY like to get a headboard and we are on the hunt for nightstands.

The office/sewing room/junk room. This is our least favorite room right now, the place we have been throwing all that stuff we don't know what to do with. It's kind of an awkward room. It has a door from the hall and then a door into the playroom. There is only one outlet in the room and there are no phone jacks (to hook up the internet). So, between all that and the two closets on that wall, there's not much functional wall space to work with. This may just stay like this until we eventually need it as another bedroom...and no, that is not an announcement.

The playroom. This is one of my favorite rooms in the house. It's large and comfortable and I am really loving how it's turning out. This is looking out to the backyard.

Looking from the backyard to the door leading to the laundry area. See the doors on the right...those go to the office. And right before the glass pane door there is a big hole in the wall. This room was an add on and that hole in the wall used to be a window to the backyard. So, when they made the addition they left the window frame. It's kind of a weird little thing, but it's growing on us. All that we have left to do in here is hang pictures. Jon has several movie posters from work, so we thought it would be fun to hang those around the room.

There are two of these windows in the playroom. I love them, but I don't know what to do with them. They are just high enough off the ground that they really don't work as seating, but I want to do something with them. They are just too white. And it seems like it could be such a functional space, it bugs me not to do anything with it. Ideas???

The half bath in the playroom. It is what it is...I'm not doing anything with it. But we sure do love having it!

The backyard! We have LOVED having this. When you first go out, there is a covered patio...sorry about the night pictures!

Then to the left there is the lawn, storage shed, fruit trees!, and lots of garden space along the house and the fence! We can't wait to get stuff planted.

And that's our house. Please feel free to send along decorating tips and/or ideas!