Our Walls

I know, I know - I said we'd be going in order...which means this post should be about our honeymoon.  I'm just really excited to share all this, though...so, reminiscing about a beautiful, warm, wonderful tropical vacation will have to wait for a bit.

I am writing today to (proudly) say I've (finally) gone through/unpacked/found homes for every box/wedding gift/etc. etc.!  I alluded to this project in a previous post, and am just so glad to have it done.

For me, the last piece of the project was hanging pictures on the wall, and I thought I'd give you a glimpse of the finished product(s):

Here's the "entryway."  We really love the from-the-balcony shot of our wedding ceremony!

Our living room grouping - the tri-frame was a Christmas gift from Bryant's parents, and the gallery wrap was a "thank you for playing piano for our wedding" gift from our photographer.

The guest room!  This bed was at my grandparents' previous house in the room I always slept in - the "pink room."  The quilt was made/given to me by my great aunt for my college graduation.  The sheet music wreath was a gift from a student, and the frame was a wedding gift!

This project started at the coop years ago, and it has found a home in our guest room!  Be sure to make your addition when you come stay with us! ☺

Bryant had some beautiful pictures up before I moved in, and they found new homes on the walls of the office.

Yes, this one got to stay, too. ☺

The "New York Nook" in our bedroom.  So many great memories!

I'd gotten these large "floating" frames for free, and definitely wanted to put them to good use.  We couldn't choose just two favorite pics to put in them, though, so we used the "floating" space in other ways.  The "Love Lives Here" was a garage sale find, and we finished the grouping with a cross we found cheap on Amazon.
P.S. A special thanks to my husband for the "throw pillow shopping spree" Christmas gift!  I'd always dreamed of having a grown-up bed set, complete with throw pillows, and he helped make my dream come true. ☺

This might be my favorite wall.  The painted frames and B&W pics came from the shower Bryant's family threw us in OK - his sister painted and put them together...and she even took the pics!  I'd found the "Love" at a thrift store a while ago, and was glad to find a home for it on our bedroom wall.

Many of you had been asking how things were going, etc., and my answer was usually, "Well, I've got mostly everything unpacked and homes found for most of it, but we don't have things on the wall, yet."  I don't really know, much less can I explain, why "having things on the walls" was the final piece of my "settling in" puzzle.  I realize that's a pretty common "last item on the to-do list" after moving in somewhere, but for me, it was more than making sure the furniture was in its place before decorating.  Having pictures of us and our families and friends on the walls in our home just makes it all feel even more real, more like home, and more like the place where we are going to start our future together.  Not that it didn't before...but this helps...like I said - not sure I can adequately explain it, but maybe you can relate.  ☺

Thanks for reading.  Come see it in person sometime!

Settled-ly,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

new friends and relationships

Sprouts grocery store/farmers market

our "getaway" date last weekend

Thankful for...and Out of the Mouths of Babes: Part 3

Hello!  


I'm not going to take time to greet you further than that, because you're going to need all the time you can get to read this post!  Enjoy!  : )


First of all, I finally took a Zumba class this morning...and loved it!  Guided dancing targeting heart rate and all muscle groups for 50 minutes to awesome music?  Yes, please!  If only it were offered more often...and at more convenient times!  Oh well - I'll take what I can get!


Secondly, I've been meaning to share this with you for quite some time:
After hearing a pastor talk about writing things he's thankful for in a very visible in his home each day, my roommate and I decided we'd like to do the same.  So, with some butcher paper, markers, glitter glue, and an ugly, scratched painting with a beautiful frame on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond (with a coupon, too, thank you!), we created this:

The marker box is affixed with a 3M strip, so residents and guests can add their blessings whenever they'd like!

Another thing: toward the end of my longest night of teaching last night, a 5-yr.-old student brought something she'd made for me:

Want to make my day?
Just bring me a tiara you made for me to wear.  : )

Finally, I've had some gems of quotes so far this week - enjoy:


As we turned to his new piece to learn and I read the title, "Morning Has Broken, " a 12-yr.-old student remarked, "Better get the glue!"  Definitely made me laugh out loud...which was his intent!


I gave farm animal stickers one day this week, and as an 8-yr.-old girl student was deciding which horse to pick, she said, "My favorite horse color is brown...that's my favorite hair color, too, because I like Selena Gomez...I wish my hair was brown (she's a natural platinum blonde)...and I'm growing my hair out to be like hers, but I don't think I'll ever be like her - my hair isn't curly enough...and I wish my name was Selena, but I don't want my last name to be Gomez, so we're not twins twins."  My response, "(pause to take it all in) I think you have beautiful hair and such a pretty name!  Let's get back to playing piano, now."  : )


The same girl was mentioning, for some reason, that her mom works downtown.  She then shared this thought, "I love downtown!  The only thing I don't like about it is people living on the streets in the cold, cold weather.  I just feel bad!  If I wanted to live on the streets, I'd choose someplace warm...like Florida."


AND as great as those all were, this one might take the cake:
I was playing Barbies with the kids I nanny for, and the 2-yr.-old shared that her Barbie was going to have a baby.  The 4-yr.-old boy said to that Barbie, "You huff and you puff and you blow that baby out of your tummy - like the big bad wolf did to those houses!"  What?!  No, we didn't subsequently have the "birds and the bees" convo - I just laughed as he proceeded to ask for his Barbie's pants to be changed to a skirt, because "she likes fashion."


See why I love my life?


Blessings,
Kensy


P.S. Kitty litter update: It's not working out.  Getting a covered litter box and going back to the clumping, chemically stuff.  Oh well.  Here's a recent picture of Charlie.  : )

Favorites of the day:

smoothies

music

the "not a fan" journal/study