*If you don't feel like reading my S*U*P*E*R **L*O*N*G post, scroll on down for the pics...all SIX of them!!*
So here they are...the MUCH anticipated pictures (ok...so maybe nobody is refreshing their page every 5 minutes to see if I have updated this yet...but I can pretend you are all excited!!)! For some of you, this is nothing new. However, there are a lot of people who read my blog who did not read our old family website and therefore have never seen bits and pieces of our life in Arizona! And since I LOVE to see bits and pieces of others' homes, I am sharing bits and pieces of ours!
I am one of those people who LOVES to decorate! I could spend hours (and probably thousands of dollars!) picking out furniture, decor, bedding and all of the accessories that make a house a home. When we moved out here, this was not our home. It was a house, albeit a nice house, but it was not home. We did not bring our babies home to this house. We did not celebrate holidays and enjoy dinners with friends in this house. There was no yard...only dirt and weeds. We had no friends, no connections (other than work)...basically no life!
Back in Kansas we were involved in a playgroup within our subdivision. We had neighbors who are now the best friends one could ever dream of. Our yard was beautiful and green! Our family was close. Our house was home...we created numerous memories in that sweet home on Summertree Court. The rooms were all painted...it was truly ours. And although I KNOW if we were still there today (we moved 19 months ago), it would not be the same. Most everyone on that street has moved on and started new chapters...but I can't help but wonder how our lives would be different had things just stayed the same...
Anyway, I have times out here where to be quite honest, it just plain stinks. I get sad. I get lonely. I feel sorry for myself and throw little pity parties. I cry. I miss. I wonder. But...those times are so rare these days. I think the last time I was truly down was at Thanksgiving...we were out here all alone, putting up our Christmas tree in 80 degree heat. Sorry peeps, but Christmas to me involves the leaves falling off the trees, frigid temps, cloudy days and snow! Not sunny afternoons where we could play in the sprinkler! Don't get me wrong, I can't wait until the day Chris comes home and says, "Let's put our house on the market and head home (to Kansas)," but I don't dread it out here like I did at first.
Anyway, I realize I am rambling, but everyone is still asleep here and I guess I am just in the mood to share my story this morning! Right after we moved here (two weeks to be exact) the kids and I joined a playgroup and the mamas I have met through that have truly been my saving grace. I have made some amazing friends out here...and although it was hard to pack up and leave Kansas and everything that defined "me" hundreds of miles away...my life has been enriched in ways I can't even begin to express. I have met people, more than just people, friends, who will forever be a part of my life...whether here or anywhere else. They have made me smile when I wanted to cry. They have listened when I needed to talk. And they have cared when it would be so easy to turn their backs. That is a true friend. Now I am going to cry...cry for everyone and everything I miss back home and cry for everyone and everything I have been blessed with out here...
Moving along...we are slowly but surely turning this house of ours into a home! We have been painting like crazy since we moved in and it truly says "us" when you walk in now! We still have some rooms to paint (I am pretty much the sole painter around here and after doing a room or two, I get burnt out for a few months!!), but it is coming together! We had our yard landscaped last summer and we have tons of grass...not quite like a Kansas yard...but tons for an Arizona yard! And most importantly we are creating memories. Holidays. Traditions. Birthday parties. Playgroups. Being able to cook out all year long...the list goes on!
I am sharing with you Huntler and Gentry's rooms. Besides the kitchen (which my dad painted the weekend we moved in while we were waiting for all of our stuff to get here - I'll share it soon too!!) and laundry room (yes, I painted my laundry room...doesn't everyone?!), the kids' rooms were our first big projects!
We tackled Huntler's room first. Since he is older and more aware, we wanted to get him situated first! He had the same theme back in Kansas, vintage airplanes, but we changed it up a bit here!! His room out here is really cool because he has two niches cut out in one of his walls and a window in between! FUN!! His bed fits perfectly in one niche and I had the fabulous idea of adding shelves into the other niche! I am not so sure how Chris feels when I mention that I have a "fabulous idea" as it usually involves work for him!! So anyway, Chris put up some shelves and we painted them to match and they look like they were always there! We had stripes back in Kansas, but these are deeper and have a different effect. And the top half of the wall...that is all faux painting done by Chris! It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but we obviously love it! And so does Huntler...he is always talking about his blue room and his blue bed and all of his airplanes. And just the last 2-3 weeks he has decided that he does NOT like his sissy in his room unless he says it is okay! Oh the drama!
And sassy Miss Gentry...nothing concerning Gentry is ever easy. Well, my pregnancy and her birth were, but nothing else! She is definitely not a hard child, just so much different than her big brother! As far as her room goes, the fan was next to impossible to get installed. Every other fan in the house went in just fine, but not Gentry's! Then I had yet another of my "fabulous ideas" of adding crown molding and bead board to her room! So NOT AN EASY project, but one with amazing results! Chris did it all and for his first time tackling something like this, he did a wonderful job! Her room is perfect!
I am a total online shopper! Almost everything we buy comes from random sites I find online with unique decorations!! Since this picture was taken, we have also added some stuff to Huntler's shelves...not much, but a little bit! He has this really cool, so boy, vintage
"H" that fits in perfectly!
This airplane, along with the one you rock in at the foot of the bed came all the way from New Orleans! Chris was on a business trip down there and came across this fun little store and just started buying! He had to have it all shipped to us, but WOW, what amazing pieces for a little boy's room! That rocking airplane has really felt the love...it has scuffs and scratches and probably dried milk on it!
Since we took these pictures we have added a lot more accessories to Gentry's room...she has book ends and books on her dresser...but the cutest is this little kids
pink oval mirror.(That is a frame above her dresser...a year later it STILL does not have a picture! I have got to get that ordered!!) And you can't tell from the picture, but the letters of her name are sparkly! I decoupaged them and then added some glitz and glam!! The mirror sits where that green basket is in the picture and the basket has now moved over by the closet and is stuffed with dolls and all things girl!
Just a little tidbit...we have textured walls here. As if painting circles isn't hard enough without dealing with it bleeding through the high and low spots of the texture! I have spent hours...and I mean HOURS...touching up in this house!!
Tidbits Left by
