Around the House

Well, our anniversary is in less than one week.  We will have been married for two years.  Two years.  In some ways, it seems like a lot longer, and in others, it seems like just yesterday I was agonizing over whether I would trip on the stairs in the church with heels and that long train.  Well, I had been toying with the idea of creating a wordle for him as part of his gift...using our names and other words that have special meaning in our relationship.  But, I was afraid it was silly, or corny.  Then, I saw a former co-worker's blog over at Making Him Smile and she had done THE SAME THING, or almost the same thing.  She and her hubby created a wordle and used it to decorate their home.  I decided that, shew, at least it wasn't THAT corny.  :)  So, I went ahead and created it, then easily with some slight difficulty got it into a format that I could upload to Wal-Mart and have printed through the photo lab as a 8x10 photo.  I framed it and had every intention of saving it until next week to give him.  I am really bad at waiting.

Here is a picture of it on our wall.

I didn't show it to him when he came home.  Instead, I wanted to wait and see if he noticed it.  He had immediately noticed the change in the breakfast nook, but I thought this one would take more time.  I was right.  (I did, however, tell him I had made another change in the house, but he must find it on his own.)  To his credit, he was methodical and found it within a few minutes of starting to look in the living room.

Now, for my next project...the mantle:

I love the pictures above and they are not changing.  But, the rest is so cluttered it drives me INSANE!!  I have two sets of these great shelves from Bed, Bath and Beyond that I just need Sweetness to hang for me (because, while I can totally work a hammer and nails, I am terrified of putting a huge hole in the wall).

I'm thinking they will go great on this wall to the right of the French doors, leading to the dining room.  (The T.V. is to the left.)  That chair will be finding a new location tomorrow.  Then, those sweet collectibles and pictures can find a new place to live on the shelves.

A Place to Study

Well, knowing that I start classes in a mere 6 days (eek!), and knowing that I am a bit on the picky side, I knew that I needed to get myself organized so that I would have a defined place to study/work once I start.  I am waaay too easily distracted to read/study in front of the t.v., and I need to be able to spread out and not worry about little Miss "I am queen of the world" Lucy walking or laying down right in the middle of everything.  So that was my goal for today:  Make a place to study.  Well, you would think that would be easy since there are two of us in this three bedroom house.  Not so much.  One bedroom has been overtaken by our books, and the other is home to the metal monster we call an exercise machine/weight bench.  (Hopefully that will be moving to the shed very soon, thanks to the fabulous father-in-law!)  So, my study area was going to have to be in one of the main areas of the house.  I chose the breakfast nook, because the dining room has an uninterrupted line of sight to the t.v.  With a little re-arranging and about $20, here is the transformation:

Before:  (No, I didn't clean up first!)

After, part 1:  I turned the table and added the missing chair.  This serves two purposes.  I can sit without bumping into either our shoes or that plant stand, and we can now seat four people easily.  Five if we bring in a chair from the dining room and put it on the end.  Although I am not sure why we would want to do that.  Our dining table seats 6.

After, part 2:  I realized that, while I had space to work, I would still need space to keep my books and supplies.  So, off to Wal-Mart I went!  I got this great shelf that snaps together in just a few minutes (I also have a couple in my classroom!) and used it to store my books/supplies.  My textbooks and composition books are in that white basket on the second shelf, although I would REALLY like to have a separate basket for each class.  But, alas, my plentiful allotment of white baskets (no, I'm serious, I have a ton of those that aren't being used) is at school.  One is working fine for now.  The composition books separate the textbooks by class.  I was also able to clean off the dining room table and store my totally amazing Scotch thermal laminator and some other school-related things on here.  My camera and a small backpack that I really should find another home for round out the bottom shelf.  Oh, and I should add that Finn, our betta fish, is up there with my books, and I have added a potted violet to the top shelf.

Another angle.  It really gives us more room to move.  We ate there tonight.  It was nice to sit across from each other.  It felt like we were at a restaurant.  :)

And one final angle.  Don't you love my super fancy pen/pencil holder?  (It's a Dixie cup!)