sunday best:)

sunday's have, surprisingly, become our most productive day of the week! It's usually the only day we're all home. No plans. No work. YAY:)

this particular Sunday's theme is: shirtless:) - most of the time the theme is 'naps' or 'don't move from the couch, watch movies and eat MD's all day'.:)

the boys sporting their blindingly white torsos;)

homer's new favorite thing. Ever.

laid some, super inexpensive, linoleum in the bathroom to cover the old tile. You can tell this was NOT done by a professional. Ew. But it really does clean it up some:) AND nowwwww I have an excuse to go buy new bath mats:)

BOTH FANS ARE FINALLY HUNG IN THE LIVING ROOM!!! This deserved all caps because we've had these fans sitting...waiting...tauntinggggggg me for over 8 months!!!:):)

believe it or not...this is not a photo to show off how insanely disgusting the area is around our sink:/ But to brag about how many bottles I have to sort through. Arg. Baby Prep Day has commenced!!!

it was warm enough for a family walk today!!!!!! We can NOT wait for Springgggg:) Also. Jacob made me go put a hat on after he took a good look at the hair I've been sporting for the last few dayyyyyssss. Oops;)

another great day in the books!! Unfortunately, daylight savings is taking it's toll on me. Homer's more pumped than ever and I'm the most tired you can be for 730PM. It may be a longgggg night!:)

sunday best:)

as I told my girlfriend...this Sunday was equally productive and lazy. It included some ice cream andddd crying (hormones and nothing else! arg), walkingggggg (finally warm-ish enough to leave the house!!) and a lot of cuddles. Overall...a good day:) And I'm kinda loving that I'm forcing myself to take some photos at least ONE day a week with something other than my phone!

here are photos from last weeks Sunday Best Post and it actually might come in handy cause we've made some changes in the last week and you can catch some before and afters:)

 i (with the help of my sister, Pigg) painted the dining room a dark...grey?! I'm really loving how it turned out!!!

 home's  and my cankles chillin'.

we hung the frames above the mantel!!!! 

My cousin, Neen, helped separate one photo that Jacob had taken on our honeymoon in Spain, into 3 parts and I framed all of them. It needs some minor adjusting (we should have used matted photo paper because of the glare) but otherwise it looks amazing:)

and a rando of Jacob's first every buck hanging in the living room. This is the only 'animal' head I am prepared to allow in our living space;)

hope you had an amazing Sunday as well, Friends!!!:) And I mostly hope you're not sitting here...blowing time before you leave for work...call in sick. You deserve it;)

17/52.

last night Jacob and I were able to get Homer to bed by 8PM and shared a pizza while watching some TV. I cried tears of joy;)

it also gave us a chance to really talk about the fact that we only have abouttt 29 days left in this house. A place I've called home for almost a decade! I actually got pretty emotional at the thought of leaving. It means change. Something I'm sure a lot of us struggle with.

this is the place we brought Homer home to. His first ever home:) Jacob proposed in our bedroom here - it's also where he gave me one too many watches and cameras insteaddddd of rings;) It's where we brought our first pet home, our cat Rosco. It's also where manyyyy fights were had and doors were slammed. Where break-ups happened and tears were shed. But it's where we always made-up and where we planned our future and got our shit together;)

it had also been a struggle. Financially...I almost lost this house many times in those first years. I was in over my head and it took a long time to dig myself out of my self-made hole. But I did it...but not without the help of my family and Jacob. This house has been a group effort:) 

i'm proud of how far it's come from the day we moved in and I want the best for it. I want a family/couple/person to move here and grow to love it like I did and especially, take care of it:)

i'm surely going to miss this place.

17/52

we haven't sold the house yet. We have been keeping our fingers crossed that this summer that will happen. Lots of big plans are riding on the sale of this house. But we have a very great renter moving in May 30th, so we're shooting to be out the weekend of May 25th!!!:)

home: living room

i started these 'house posts' as real.inspiration.hope posts. BUT I'm simplifying because my ideas can sometimes be a bit scattered...so lets just keep things as simple as possible up in here (up in herrrr. up in herrrr;).

this one is centered around the living room. It's a larger room, which means more...room;)...which has made it more difficult to nail down the exact direction I want to go in. For the most part, I do have a vision in mind of how I want this room to look. 

After HOURS...seriously...of putting stuff together...I finallyyyyy feel like I got it looking the way I had envisioned it!!! SO glad I went back and reworked things until it felt more 'US':)

we haven't had the time to do a lot with the house, in general. But in the living room we've taken down all the window treatments and pulled up the carpeting. We're hoping to start remodeling the living room ourselves in the next week or so. The plan is to try and fix any cracks on the walls, sand and re-stain the floors, clean the windows and then paint. Waaaaa LA!! Should look and feel like an entirely new room, especially when those floors get cleaned up:)

here's a short video of the room in its current state. I thought I'd try that cause I think it'd give you a better idea of the flow of the room:)

1

has anyone in their life spent $1000 on an area rug?!?! My god. I love this rug. I sure do. But I will be searching for the guy selling knock-offs of this rug in the trunk of his car;)

2 - unable to find source:(

we're not planning to paint the brick around the fireplace white...I liked this photo for several reasons: the books in those side nooks. The large photo (although, we think we'll be putting the TV in that spot). And plants. I want lots of green in our home:)

3

again, many things I'm crushing on in this photo as well:) Depending on what couch we decide on...I'd love to have some chairs with some pattern or a fun color...

And I also love the floor color with the white walls...books, plants...record player...I love how there can be a lot going on in a room and it all still comes together perfectly and comfortably:)

because the living room is so long/large, there's room to make a separate play/media area, especially for the kiddos:) I envision family movie nights once a week...cozied up on an over-sized love seat/day bed...popcorn in our laps...fire burning:):)

I'd also like to add some baskets for toys, even though we'll have a designated 'play room', I'd like to have some storage cause we all knowwww the toys will end up anywhere BUT the play room;)

1
this is the inspiration for the 'movie' area:)
Right now we've settled on just doing ALL off-white walls in the house. This will work perfectly for the projector...no need for a sheet, just a blank wall!!

2
just an example of an adorable, over-sized love seat/day bed. All we want is something cute and comfy...but sturdy and durable and kid-friendly...for that area:)

3
again...$800 for an area rug...BUT now that I've considered a $1000 one - see above - $800 is suddenly seeming like a steal;)

4

an example of a projector we're thinking of purchasing, eventually:)

5
i'm in SUPER love with these baskets. For real. True love! They're a bit out of my price range...and by bit...I mean entirely. BUT I want to do things right in this new house...right the first time, even if it does cost me a tad more than I hope. Although, in this case, I'll probably do some basket research before I pour $500 into 6 baskets;)

6
and we'll be putting our record player in this little area too! Thanks to mom for that amazing Christmas present - she found a super cool vintage one on Ebay for us:) - ALSO, if anyone knows someone that fixes record players...we need their name. 

1
we're still undecided about the furniture situation. This is one thing I REALLY want to do brand-new. I have soooo many vintage/flea market/2nd hand finds...and I love them - they also need a little TLC, like recovering and such but they will get utilized in the house at some point - BUT I really want our main furniture to be the good stuff:)

we're torn between getting a super awesome, cozy sectional with chaise OR a nice deep/long (that's what she said;) couch and over-sized chair with ottoman.... 

this is a decision we're going to wait on till after our current house sells. THEN we're going to take a little road trip and sit on furniture for hours and hoursssss;)

2
i love this wall of photos and frames. It reminds me of my family:) Big and lots of memories of many days spent together! I can't wait to just keep adding photos of our growing family:)
I'm hoping that we can do some shelves behind the couch (which would be on the wall to the left of the mantel - the North/West wall:).

3
i'd love to get this print! Me and Jacob's 'song' is Total Eclipse of the Heart - don't ask;) - The DAN BAND version is THE best...omg. So good;) - anyways...hoping to order this print soon and have it framed to put on the wall/mantel in the living room:)


there you have it folks! The LONGGGGG version of what I want our future living room to look like! I can see it already and it feels perfect and happy and cozy:) We can't WAIT!:)

if you're gonna do it...

i like to buy things. I doubt you fell over from shock;)

i do love to buy things but I also like to give as much as I can. I hope that most find it more gratifying to give a gift...of any kind. Birthday. Christmas. Donation. :)

i feel like, now, more than ever...there are so many amazing people out there in need of help. SO many causes that could benefit from our donations.

here's another one and this will combine your love of spending and giving:):)

The Home. T donates a portion of their profits to multiple sclerosis (MS) research.

real.inspiration.hope

sooooo...remember that amazing house we bought?!?! We still haven't moved in or anything. Not even close. BUT that doesn't mean a girl can't dream, right?!?:) SO this new post will be one of many over the next few weeks years months...and it'll include:

real: actual photos of the house - in it's current state

inspiration: photos/objects I've found that have inspired the future 'new' look of the room

hope: what I hope to make happen:)

first up...the Dining Room.

Both these photos are from the doorway of the kitchen. Straight ahead are the glass french doors (um, yes...SWOON!!!;) leading to the living room. And to your right is a built-in (um, SWOON...again;) that stretches across the entire South wall of the dining room. 

 jaquilynshumate - found via Instagram

i actually found this photo yesterday and immediately sent it to my mom who had suggested we consider putting paneling up in the dining room. When she first suggested this I wanted to punch her in the throat made a face...BUT once I had this visual...I knewwwww it's exactly what we needed to do:) Good call mother;)

below is a rough (VERY rough) example of the possible height of the paneling. I'd like to have it a bit higher - more like the inspiration photo - but the current built-in is a bit lower and we'd sort of have to follow with those lines. We shall see.

SIDE NOTE: the paneling would all be solid wood and stained. NOT painted. We are actually throwing around the idea of painting the kitchen cabinets - the kitchen is a bit small (think Galley style) and so my dad's thinking is that by painting it a lighter color (not white), it will brighten it up in there. 

POINT: i have been hesitant to consider painting the kitchen BUT with all this stained wood in the dining room...I feel like painting the kitchen may be a good possibility!

 1 The Animal Print Shop - Buffalo

i'd love to have that buffalo print propped up on the ledge of the paneling on the North wall of the dining room. Which is where our current round wooden table would also be placed.

2 Hygge & West - Bows

this wallpaper is an absolute MUST. My dad is not very supportive of 'wallpaper' but I'm gonna force him to help me make this happen;)

I think with the paneling coming up so far and only having the top portion of the room wallpaper-ed...it won't be SO "heyyyyyyyy...wall paper overload".

3 Pinterest inspired

Amazon suggestions: 1 - and no, we don't have $1500 in the budget for a drink cart;), 2, 3, 4 - my favorite out of the bunch

i've seen a lot of DIY drink carts lately and have fallen for them. I hope to jump on that bandwagon at some point. I'd rather find an old cart and fix it up, so that's been added to the Flea Market Wants List:)

so those are my thoughts...so far. And that's taken 1/2 the day to get down on this post and it still isn't PERFECT (notice the difference in color on that last photo...grrrr;). But I'm hoping to have all the kinks worked out by the time I move on to the next room!

SIDE NOTE: these are all justttttt ideas and I can promise you the finished product may look exactly opposite of this entire 'idea';)

be prepared to be bombarded with HOUSE posts as soon as we start the remodeling! You've been warned;)

put it up bold.

normally when I visit Style Me Pretty - daily - I see only wedding-ish inspiration. Today I'm taking away some home inspiration.

i realize that wallpaper is a bit bold. VERY bold maybe?! But I love it and if Jacob allowed me to cover a wall with it in our new home...I'd spend the rest of my life making it work:)

our simple home.

man, oh man. I have SO much on my mind.

1/ where to have my BParty. Yes. It is almost exactly 6 months from now but this is a huge decision and I just want to make sure I stay true to what I want to do and what's 'me' but still make sure it's fun for all my ladies too!!!:)

Okay...it's really not that BIG of a decision...it'll be fun no matter what we do:)

2/ our WEDDING. God...what needs to be done!? When is my confetti going to get here - I want to test it by throwing it in the air and making Jacob take pictures of me in motion;) What am I going to freaking wear on Saturday night?! I'm almost convinced now, even before my ceremony dress has been started, that I'll want something completely separate for Saturday night's Reception. Don't ask me how I know this...but I must look and see what I see:)

3/ MOA. Our Spring shopping trip is coming up and we may go to MOA. I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait.

4/ .... lost my train of thought cause there's SO much happening up there;)

5/ and now I want a house. A branddddd newwww housssseeee. Much like the one here:)

built-in's. Hello.

this kitchen reminds me of my current kitchen, which I love. Love the color. Stainless steel appliances. Yes, please.

perfect master bedroom with double doors. Wood floors. Are those doors black!? Jacob loves him some black.

maybe open up that Flex Room and Living Room...

lots of room for the babiesssssss;) The babies that Jacob is almost completely against after having to attend our youngest niece's' baptism on Saturday. I mean...I can't blame the guy. In total there were...(don't mind the pause...I literally have to stop typing and use ALL my fingers...and Jacob's fingers to do this count!!!;)...

okay...I think it was 17 kids. I kid you not. 17 kids. And that wouldn't be SO shocking if we were hanging out near a school at recess. But this was just a few families together for a baptism. Yep. We're outnumbered. A lot.

all photos via house plans

and then there were houses.

okay. So tonight me and Jacob were planning to talk 'wedding'. But how can I concentrate on a wedding when we're sitting in a house that's SO close to not being finished...kinda sorta;) And there are SO many amazing ideas out there for the dream home we'll be building in a few years?!

the bank is literally blocks from our house and I'd like to go pick someones brain about how one goes about building their dream home...NOW.

here are just a few of my favorites. At this point I know for sure what MY style is but haven't found what me AND Jacob's style is. We'll think about that in a few years:) As of now...I'll just pretend I'm in charge of making the decision for us both;)

beach

cottage

country

all photos via house plans

closets have walls too.

and..I'm still not done with art.com!!!!

i still haven't forgotten about that walk-in closet I'd love to have someday in this hole.

So here's some artwork that I thought could be fun in my closet!

the 'boy' side

this for the 'girl' side.

throw it up on the wall.

i've always loved art.com but have never gotten around to ordering anything there. I have a lot of spaces on random walls that I'd love to cover someday but I hesitate cause I'd like to use my/our own photos or artwork of family and such.

but we may want to get a few pieces to get us started and then work around them. Below are a few pieces that I really liked and how I would 'try' to make them work in our hole (aka. home:).

this is something I'd like to have just to frame. Since we will be getting a taste of Spain when we spend time over there for our honeymoon, I'd love to have a reminder of it when we come home every day. Then I could surround it with a few of our own photos from our trip.

this reminds me of Jacob. Obviously he's a meat man. So this clever print would be dedicated to him. It would have to be small in size though. I don't think I'd enjoy walking into the house to this day in and day out.

our baby will more than likely have the privilege of waking up to this face every day. And what a treat...lucky baby:)
just like how tall and skinny it is. Simple. Clean. Nice.

UP left side of the entry. Ignore the insane mess throughout, dad's here doing some work on the place, which is a GOOD thing!

DOWN what I was thinking we could eventually do...keep in mind I'm not a pro at Photoshop so this is as good of an example as I could get for you:)

UP you see that lip in the above picture - upper right part of the photo?! This is another odd space in the entry but what I was thinking we'd do eventually is frame all those 'homemade photo booth' photos we have printed for our guests at the wedding reception.

i plan on printing each guest, that participates in our photo booth, a copy and sending it with their Thank You Card and then I'll print an additional copy for me and Jacob and frame all of them in a long skinny frame. I think this space would be perfect for that:)

UP the right side of the entry

DOWN what I was thinking we could do. Just something simple and long. Not your usual square shape. Maybe not this sort of culture...but something along those lines.

ahhhhh...when I get started on house stuff...I forget ALL about shopping for myself and clothes and shoes and such. BUT it only lasts for sooooo so long!