Sweetness for the Soul

As you know, I keep a baby for a friend one day a week while she goes to work at our church. She used to work there full-time, but having had Collin, she works part-time getting in a few hours at home and one day in the office. She also has her own photography business on the side.

It's a priority for her to be a stay-at-home mom, but most women living here can't manage it. The cost of living is so high both husband and wife work. In very few cases, the wife/mom finds a job to do from home. Fortunately, Hannah found a way to make it work.

She's in an ideal situation where she's using her gifts, talents, skills and creativity to do the things she loves, while being with her son most of the time. It's a crazy-busy, hectic existence, but one that God blesses abundantly. She speaks often of how blessed, happy and content she is with the life God has given her.

Last Spring, before they had any idea how the plan would shake out, I volunteered one day a week to keep the baby for them if they felt they needed it and that it would be best. At the time, one day a week didn't make sense because they thought she would continue working full-time.

After many months of preparation for his birth and after his appearance into the world, Hannah had a clearer picture of what they were going to do going forward. The church provided a staff nursery for the first time, so that was their answer to prayer for what to do with Collin on her office days. 

The only catch was that God kept reminding Hannah of my offer. An offer I'd made 7 - 8 months before and hadn't been mentioned since.

When I made the offer, I meant to follow through on it. It just didn't make much sense for what they seemed to need and most people seek their own childcare, rather than having someone offer to keep their baby. #awkward

I offered because I felt I was supposed to offer. It seemed like the kind of thing a good friend, a sister in Christ, should do if she can. They don't have family close (or didn't at the time) and neither do we. Sometimes the family we have is the family God gives us.

It seemed highly unlikely they'd take me up on it, because that's just highly unorthodox. In the end, Hannah felt God was putting it on her heart, saying to her that would be best for Collin.

Hannah took this shot (Expose Photography by Hannah)
 

So now, it's been 9 months of spending time with the boy and it's been really good for me. It began with me taking care of him to be a good friend, but I chose to love him from the start. Taking the best care of him that was possible was the supreme goal, but loving on him in the midst of it was of significant importance too.

As a task oriented person, I worked the schedule, making sure he received the proper nourishment as he had special feeding instructions...making sure he was safe, happy, warm, clean, secure, given attention and affection, and so on. It was fun watching him change, grow, and learn.

Though the basic things that little ones need are the same, each child is different. It has been really fun learning Collin. For example, when he's frustrated, he pumps/kicks his left leg only. Every. Time.

When you ask him what he wants to do, or what he needs when he's irritable, and suggest one thing to him, if you're right he stops moving completely and doesn't make a sound. As you wait quietly and still while he's completely still and silent, he'll turn his head and look up at you with those big beautiful eyes. And. You. Know. Yep! That's what it is!

My response is always, "Ok. I'm going to ________." I communicate back to him that I'm taking him to do that very thing. When I confirm I'm going to give him a bath or take him outside, I get a very excited response...lots of wiggles, smiles and panting-laughter :)

It's interesting when you step back and think of what it might be like to be a baby. I know he won't remember when he's older, but I try to consider how difficult it would be to depend 100% on other people to care for your needs or even to cater to your wants. He knows what he needs; he knows what he wants; but he can't make it happen on his own or be certain he'll have someone provide it. 

Don't get me wrong; he's not spoiled. By that, I mean his requests are reasonable: food or sleep mostly. The rest I offer: do you want to play? go outside? have a bath? He is spoiled with attention, but I don't think that's a bad thing at all. :)

Collin is not the kind of baby who gives smiles away easily. As much time as I have spent with him, it took a long time for him to break into a smile upon seeing me. When he began doing so, he offered them sparingly.

A few weeks ago, I watched how he lit up when his mom played with him. I'd seen it a few times before, but I began to wonder why he didn't respond similarly to me on occasion. It occurred to me that I may have been focusing too much on the practical side of caring for him and not spending enough time playing with him.

I regularly spent time talking to him, watching him play, cuddling him, making music for him (whistling, pounding a beat with my hands on the floor, etc. -- he loves music/sounds), reading to him, taking him outside and so forth. It occurred to me, though, that I wasn't crazy-playing with him. :)

You see when he was really little, I did my normal goofball antics I try with every baby. Usually it works. They get tickled with my silliness and I get smiles and laughter. Collin furrowed his brow and gave me a hard look. A look kinda like this:

Hannah took this picture too.

After trying a few times with the same response, I decided my normal baby games didn't interest him, so I didn't try again.

When it dawned on me he wasn't responding to me with smiles and laughs during our time together, I began trying my antics out on him again. After a slight hesitation of uncertainty from him, he began to smile and laugh. A. Lot. Maybe he just needed more time in the beginning to warm up to me ;)

These last few weeks with him have been super fun. He's growing and changing and learning and coming into his personality and he's beginning to communicate. He's really, really close to saying "mom," if he hasn't already. Sometimes Hannah forgets to update me on the milestones :)

So, if you don't talk with your baby extensively when he/she is tiny, give it a try. They know what we're saying well before they can speak it. Not knowing exactly when that would be for Collin, I've been telling him every step of the way what I'm doing when I'm the one controlling his body...telling him where we're going, what we're doing, etc. 

Last Thursday, I stood him up at the coffee table and put toys within his reach. He'd tilt to one side and start slowly sliding off that direction...doomed to flop to the ground if I didn't catch him...so I'd subtly give him a balancing assist with one hand until he lowered to the floor. He'd sit there a second with a toy and get motionless and silent, then look up at me. :) "Ok. I'll stand you back up at the table to play." He'd pant-laugh with excitement. And on and on the cycle went. 

He's getting to be such a big boy. :)

Last week was the first time in a long time that I laid him on his stomach for tummy time. He was pumping that left leg before long ;) I settled him down by talking to him (about how we all have to struggle at times in order to learn :) and the next thing I knew he was reaching for a toy, twisted his torso a little, managed to turn onto his side, and rolled onto his back! He was one happy boy...pumping both legs (his happy dance), smiling and laughing. lol #doesn'tliketummytime #won'tlearntocrawlwithoutit

It is true that Matt and I want a baby, but time with Collin is no substitute. He's one of the extras...an extra special blessing in life...an unexpected one. For that reason, I'm often thanking Jordan and Hannah for sharing the boy with me. They think I'm a huge blessing to them for keeping Collin weekly unpaid. I think they're the huge blessing for sharing him with me. #allisasitshouldbe

In the meantime, there are moments I see myself growing up a bit with Collin. Each time I take on a new challenge...eating with a friend at a restaurant with him along and awake, shopping at walmart, running a series of little errands, going to the church for ladies Bible study, figuring out what he wants when he's sick, off schedule and inconsolable, learning what he likes to do/what he needs interpersonally and emotionally and meeting the need...

As it is, God gives me a little sweetness for the soul each week I am able to spend time with Collin.

P.S. Since I initially wrote this post, a few days in advance, Hannah reported that Collin has called out to her during a cry, saying, "ma-ma." There's nothing like it for a mama's heart. His first word and her tears overflowing. #truelove

Story and Stew

Carrie, this one's for you :) The rest of you, feel free to enjoy it as well...

In the summer of 2010, Matt and I were asked independently of one another by our Singles minister to become lay leadership for a new Sunday school class they were starting for singles in their 30s. Three others were approached individually as well so that together we could begin with a solid base for growing the class. The commitment required us to leave our current class, change our Sunday school (and thus our church service) hour, and invest in outreach/inreach/administration/leadership for the class. That's when we met Chris and Dawn Rockholt, the couple who would teach the class.

As a side note, Chris and Matt hit it off during those first weeks of preparation (He was Matt's best man at our wedding) and Dawn and I hit it off (She was one of my bridesmaids). So, now, back to my little story...

Within a couple of weeks of the launch of our new class, a friend from our former class and friend group (Troy Richey), was greeting people before a new Thursday night class. While waiting in the hallway for the doors to open, Troy got my attention to welcome a girl who looked a little lost. That's when I approached and met Wendy. We quickly hit it off and as we were talking Matt joined us. That night was the beginning of Matt and I establishing a new friend group with our new class. It all started with Wendy.

Wendy had just returned from serving on the mission field in Kenya, so she was feeling a little lost when Troy introduced us. That didn't last long. :) By that winter, we were getting together at Wendy's house with our new friends to hang out like we used to with our former group (the group where we met).

One of those nights, Wendy made us Santa Fe Stew. It's a recipe she got from a family member (an aunt), I believe. It was so well liked by the group that Matt and another guy quickly asked for a copy of the recipe. A bachelor's dream dish. Since I wanted a copy too, and she'd already agreed to get the men a copy, I asked for it as well. It's a good thing, because I'm probably the only one who still has it!  

Since that night, I've made this each winter and recently made it when my parents were in town for a visit. My parents, Matt and I managed to wipe it out in two days. Needless to say, it was a hit.

Santa Fe Stew

Brown 1 lb. ground beef and 1 large onion; Drain. 

Add: 
     1 package Ranch dressing (dry)
     1 package taco seasoning mix

Add: 
     1 can Kidney beans
     1 can Rotel tomatoes
     1 can tomatoes, diced
     1 can whole kernel corn
     1 can pinto beans
     1 can ranch style beans

Cook in crock pot or simmer on burner. 

Serve over tortilla chips (w/ cheese), cornbread or rice. 

Freezes great.

That right there is the recipe exactly as it was written. Here are a few suggestions: 

After draining the grease from the skillet, I added the dry seasonings and about a half cup of water into the ground beef and onion mixture and let it cook a little bit (bubbling 3 minutes) before dumping it all in the crock pot. That step attaches the seasoning to the meat instead of it being lost in the liquid of the stew. It seems to enrich the overall flavor.

Also, when adding all of the canned foods, don't drain any of them except the kidney beans. Rince and drain the kidney beans because the material it's packed in won't taste good in the stew. All of the liquid from the other cans adds the right amount of liquid to simmer in the crock pot on low for 8 hours. There won't be much liquid left when it's done. This definitely has a thick consistency. If you want more liquid, you can add a little water.

We've typically treated this recipe like a chili recipe, topping the stew with cheese, sour cream and a few original Fritos. We've put it over tortilla chips and added cheese on top too. That stretches the recipe farther. It's good with cornbread as well. We haven't tried it over rice and I haven't ever made enough to freeze. If you want to try freezing it, you can double the batch and it will all fit in your crock pot.

The recipe yields about 6 portions when eaten like chili, but we are big eaters. Normal people would probably get 8 servings out of a single batch. :) If you serve it over tortilla chips, cornbread or rice, it'll go farther than that.

One more thing, the only place that I know for sure has Ranch style beans is Walmart. I looked for them everywhere in our area the first winter we were here and couldn't find them. As we speak, I have 6-7 cans left in the pantry from a trip to Memphis last year where I bought 10-12 cans from Walmart, stowed them in the checked bag and hauled them back home on our flight. That's how important that particular kind of beans is to the flavor of the recipe.

This recipe is SO easy to make and SO good, I hope you'll try it. Maybe it will become a Fall/Winter favorite in your house too.

Nothing Special...Yet

Where to begin with a tour of the second floor...hmm...

We have four bedrooms, two baths and a laundry room upstairs. I suppose I'll start with the least exciting space. :)

Warning: it looks AWFUL at present...

This is our overflow room. As you can see, I still have a few boxes to unpack. The middle of the floor is covered with things I've begun to sort, so I can more easily make decisions about where to put these last things. 

The curtain rods you see over the windows were left by the previous owners. I have new rods and curtains to go up, whenever I can get to the windows to hang them :) 

Some of our pictures and wall hangings are laying around in this room as well. A few of them have a place to go, but others I haven't decided yet.

When I consider hanging pictures on the walls, I think to myself, "You might as well wait until you paint that room before putting that up." The more time that passes without finishing my painting projects, the more I hang on the walls. :)

This room has just hit the top of the list and holds first place among my priorities for the house. So far this week, I emptied a few boxes, found a place for some of the things I'd sorted, picked out the paint, and found bedding that may work (on a bed we don't have yet). lol 

Eventually, we hope to use this room as a nursery. There's plenty of room, so what should I put in it? hmm...

A friend of mine always had a bed in her nursery to use the room for guests when someone came in town. When someone visited, she'd move the baby to her room for nighttime, unless the guest was her mother or MIL. Then, they'd welcome sharing the room with the baby.

She gave me the idea of putting a twin bed in the room when we use it for a nursery. This is partly for extra room for guests and partly a bed for Mommy on difficult nights, so Daddy doesn't lose sleep. Our goal (wish us luck) is to have our babies sleep in their own room from the start. (And no, there's no news on that front.)

Just to give you a preview of what I'm thinking...

I bought this canvas about 10 years ago. At the time, I thought I'd use it in my little girl's room one day. I loved the bright colors and the verse is my Dad's favorite. It seemed perfect.

As you can see, it's still in the heavy plastic it was wrapped in when I bought it. It's literally never been unwrapped. It keeps making the move from house to house; being stowed in a safe, easily accessible place. Maybe I'll use it one day.

My choice of paint color was influenced by this canvas. You can see the paint chip at the bottom of the canvas in the pic above. I wanted a shade between the two blues, but toward the lighter color. Before long, we'll see how it looks on the walls!

I've been looking for the right bedding to coordinate with the color scheme without being too plain or matching too much. So far, I've had limited success...and I've spent a lot of time looking. This is one set that I'm considering, but I'm having trouble visualizing it in the room.

 

Picture care of Pottery Barn

Will it look right with the wall color? The canvas and other accessories? I'm not sure yet. It's difficult to color-match online. 

I like the idea of using blue and white as the main colors and keeping it simple for the time being. The curtains I bought for this room are white sheers. When we get it, the furniture will be dark brown wood to provide some contrast between light and dark.

Since I love bright and vibrant colors, I will bring in more color with accessories based on the sex of the baby we hope to have one day. I like the idea of using orange with a boy and dark pink with a girl, but this is way too early to be figuring all of that out.

The main thing is that the room will be versatile. No matter how we dedicate its use, we can make it work without having to repaint. I like the sound of that.

Work at Home

When God led us to this house, I had no idea how much it would improve our life and experience here. It just so happened, Matt had just hired an assistant manager who is a good worker. That relieved Matt of having to check on the plant every Saturday and Sunday as he/we did our first two years here.

Another major help was this:

Matt now has a home office!

When we first moved in, Matt told me over and over that he planned to work from home more. I LOVED the sound of that, especially because he meant it. ;)

Since we've lived here, Matt has only worked a couple of Saturdays. That is HUGE, people. I LOVE having him at home and tell him often :) 

To complete your tour of the first floor of our home, I'll show you the way to Matt's office.

From the kitchen,

you'll pass this...

head down the hall...

passing this on the right...

and this on your left...

and back to the right, pass this...

before walking through the double doors into his office.

It's not exactly tidy at this moment. I usually help with keeping his spaces straight and organized, but I haven't done much with this room after painting and moving in the furniture. 

You see a framed map on the floor by the bookcase. We may hang that in his office, but if not, it will go up in the man-cave. The rest of the clutter on the floor is his work computer bag, empty box that had our security system components in it, and a box of files for work.

Since this room doesn't have a closet for storage, we don't have a place for the odds and ends while we're still making decisions of how to finish the room. There are several things that belong in the office that are still in other places in the house. We're making progress slowly, but surely.

Other than painting the office, we had an electrician come out to wire the room for overhead lighting. Our state doesn't require it, code only requires "entry lighting," so most homes only have an electrical outlet connected to a light switch. We bought the fixture and the electrician hung it while he was here. 

The only things left to finish this room are: hanging diplomas and pictures on the walls, purchasing a bookcase or two, filling the bookcase we already have, and getting it a little more organized. I have my eye on a couple of new lamps for this room (to replace the desk and floor lamps), but they aren't cheap so we'll see.

There's also the matter of patching a hole in the ceiling left by the electrician. We knew in advance; he had to have access to pull the wire through to connect it with the switch. I decided to patch the hole myself rather than paying someone else to come in to do it. It's not my first attempt and my previous work was essentially undetectable when I was done. I'm hopeful this patchwork turns out as well.

When I start reviewing my list, it always seems to be much more work than it is. Finishing this room isn't the top priority right now, so it'll have to wait a bit longer. 

That essentially completes the tour of the first floor. We also have a mud room, garage, deck and patio. I'll show you all of that in a post at some point, but the most exciting spaces on this floor, you have seen.

Now, on to the second floor! Stay tuned...

Little Bit

Our Pastor preached on Sunday morning from Acts, where Peter had been imprisoned and an angel came to him in the night and led him safely out of jail. The common thread he identified in Peter's response, that of the believers praying and Rhoda was that they all had a little bit of faith, mixed with disbelief.

Peter in a dazy-haze, walking along with the angel didn't actually realize he was being led to freedom until after the angel went away and he looked around. Rhoda heard Peter's voice through the door and didn't believe it was him, though she had been praying for him along with the other believers in the house. When Rhoda ran with excitement to tell the others that Peter was freed and stood outside the door, the believers responded that it must be his angel.

The point our Pastor made was this: though each of them doubted that God had answered their prayers, they all had enough faith to pray. He challenged us to take the little bit of faith we have and pray for what's on our hearts. We don't have to muster up a large amount of faith for God to move; we just need enough faith to pray and ask Him. 

Is there anything you're afraid to ask God for in prayer? Ask God for enough faith to pray.

On and Off

Our second anniversary this year was squished in among much activity and trips. As usual, Matt did an excellent job of making it a special night.
 
He bought me flowers...

He gave me a sweet card...

We went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner...

We ate outside; the weather was perfect, the food delicious.

and 

We made a side trip to Niagara Falls and the Finger Lakes after our fishing trip to Lake Ontario.

King Salmon...cooked up nicely.

Ithaca, NY has some fabulous eats.

Needless to say, Matt was on top of his game.

Unfortunately, I was a little bit off. There were plans. Supplies were purchased for an especially nice home cooked meal. Other ideas were brewing for making it a fun date night at home, to make him feel loved and appreciated.

Somehow it didn't seem to come together. In all of the hubbub, I decided, "It'll happen. It'll come together soon enough. It doesn't have to be on the day or right by it. He'll appreciate it whenever I manage to work it into our schedule."

You got it. It took almost two months to follow through. :-/

I did give him a card on our day and our sentiments matched almost exactly! Now, I can also happily report that I made him a nice steak dinner to enjoy at home...and he thoroughly enjoyed it. :)

My first attempt at a T-bone; normally we grill Ribeye or NY Strip. #tryingouttheindoorgrill

Hey, I may be off, but I'm off in a good way ;)

It's Here!

It's time for the changing of the seasons...light layers...heartier foods...football!...pumpkin muffins...spicy scents...cozy blankets...leaves crushed beneath our feet...

It's time for corn mazes...bonfires...s'mores...hot cocoa...scavenger hunts...haunted houses...

It's time to visit an orchard...pick a pumpkin...take family photos...

It's time to pack up the salads until spring...to bring out the crock pot...to simmer chilis and stews...

Pasta Fagioli -- the recipe was swiped from Facebook :)

There's so much fun to do!

Potential

Though hospitality is not one of my spiritual gifts, quality time is one of my love languages. Over the years, I've grown to see the potential of hospitality providing quality time with people I care about.

From a young age, I envisioned having a large home full of the people I love and care about: husband, children, parents, sister and family, and good friends. God has blessed Matt and me with a large home, suitable for entertaining larger groups. Now, I'm interested in outfitting it for gatherings with family and friends.

That's where the dining room comes in...

Come with me and I'll show you.

You can walk with me down the hall...

and we'll pass the main room on our left...

enter the kitchen...

and take a right a bit shy of the refrigerator. 

OR

From the front door...

pass the half bath and coat closet to see this: 

There's another window you can't see on the other side of the picture. This is a shot I zoomed in so you could see the decorative details. 

See that teeny, weeny table? It comfortably seats four, but even as a single girl my larger dinner parties went up to 10 people. Since most of our friends here are married and have children, you can imagine how much room I need at the table. 

All the way back to when I was in sixth grade, I remember drawing extensive sketches of houses on graph paper. Every one of them had a huge dining room with one long table for everyone to gather around. Our dining room is a nice size, but it's not big enough for that!

If, however, you add this...

to the dining room, there's enough space to put a table for 14-16 people :) and a buffet along the wall on the right. As you can see, this room is currently empty. We don't have enough furniture to fill this room and I'm not sure how we'd use it based on our lifestyle anyway.

If I played the piano, it would be a great music room. If we had school aged children, I could use it as a home school room. There is definite potential for this space, but realistically for us, this is wasted space...unless I get a table and extend it from the dining room into this one. :)

Let me show you the dining room from the empty one. This view shows you the one obstacle to making these two rooms one big room: the columns.

You may be able to tell from this picture that the columns in the foreground are closer together than the walls of the dining room. To make room for a table, we may have to trim those columns back. I love the columns. Look at the woodwork. Love it!

Matt does not disagree at all...with any of my thoughts on this. We have had one dinner party at our house and made do with what we had. The most inconvenient and limiting part was the table and seating. As it is, we have two tables that seat 4. We have standing plans with one family (of 5) for dinner and I'm not sure what we'll do to make it work. (Last time I moved two tables with chairs into the dining and extra room...I don't want to do that again!)

As it is, Matt approved for me to buy the table. It's an Amish table with many leaves so the table can be adjusted from seating 6 to seating 16. Since the table is costly, I'm waiting a bit. It may help to get through Christmas first. 

Although I'm still weighing it, I'd love this space set up for company. What we'd need to do other than buy the table, leaves, and chairs is to trim back the columns, add lighting, put in hardwood flooring, carry the woodwork/molding through to the other room and buy a rug for under the table.

If we don't make this one big dining room, I want to put in hardwood flooring, a new light fixture on a dimmer switch and possibly different curtains. I doubt I'll paint this room or the empty room in either scenario.

Clearly, this will be a gradual process and will take a long time to accomplish. In the meantime, we'll start with the table and see how much we actually use it. Sometimes dreams are never realized because they were too idealistic, but after having a few dinner parties in TN I'm hopeful having everything set up and ready to use will promote more frequent occasions.

Soup's On

On your tour of our house, the next stop is our kitchen. To give you some bearings, just to the right of this room...

is where our kitchen table sits...

It's hard to tell in this shot, but those are curtains covering our back door. We have what looks like double doors where the left side doesn't open and the right side is the door. Both are inset with full length windows. These curtains were put up for the sake of privacy. You can't really tell from this picture, but they do look good. I hanged the rod for the valance too high (almost to the ceiling), so that will be lowered when I get around to it. There are also metal tie backs installed on either side so we can easily put back the curtains each morning. 

The light fixture over the kitchen table is not my favorite, so we bought a new one to go up. It just came so we haven't gotten to it yet. When the electrician was here, he put up a new electrical box and hanged the fixture to be centered over the table. It was originally hung too close to the doors.

The stools just made it to us from Memphis. They were in my house in TN, but we didn't have a place for them in the Odenton house. The picture above looks like a lot of odds and ends have been thrown together, but it presents much better in person. 

Here's the rest of the kitchen:

When I first toured this house with our Realtor, this was my least favorite part of the entire house. I LOVED the layout; I hated the colors. I'm a stainless steel, dark cabinet, granite counter top, ceramic tile flooring kind of girl. This kitchen looked SO plain.

After living with it a while and hearing Matt's thoughts, I like the white cabinets. They will keep the room looking bright and clean. However, there are many changes I want to make: stainless steel appliances; granite counter tops; pendant lighting over the island; and either hardwood or ceramic tile flooring. In the meantime, I've picked paint for this room and that's my next project. Yesterday, I ordered a rug runner for the backdoor too. I'm waiting for the rug to arrive, but I think it will be perfect. Just finding the right rug has taken me a long, long time.

After searching online and looking at several options for granite counter tops, I'm pretty sure I know which pattern will look best. I've been inspired by something I saw recently that looked spectacular.

Adding pendant lighting was my Mom's idea. She showed me a picture of a beautiful kitchen, recommending the wall color (similar to what I'll use in one of the bedrooms) and the pendant lighting. Now that I've given it thought and visualized what it will look like, I agree completely. Pendant lighting has been added to the list. Thanks, Mom.

Our first little improvement was the faucet for the sink. The one that came with the house was white and it had begun to deteriorate. Let's be honest, it was annoying (and ugly).

Matt bought me this for my birthday: 

I LOVE IT!! 

A new kitchen faucet was one of four things I asked for and he took me to Lowe's to pick it out together. He installed it that Saturday. I've been loving it ever since!

Welcome

If you were able to visit me in person, you'd pass through the foyer, pass the stairs, pass the entrance to the basement...

and this is what you'd see: 
 

 Our Main Room

On the back wall on the floor between the window and pictures, those are our iPads. lol We use that electrical outlet as our charging station. Typically, I sit in the chair with ottoman, so that's my pile of books and things propped against the chair under the end table. I should have tidied up before taking pictures for the blog :) Matt merely left his green cup on the table. 

A slightly different vantage point (with the hubs watching football :)

This room is the one that is mostly done. For those of you who saw my house in TN, it's clear I haven't changed much in this room. I'm the kind of person who likes what she likes and doesn't get tired of it. The benefit is that I remain satisfied with what I have. The challenge it creates is that my things easily become dated and I may hold onto them too long.

Since all of the ceilings are 9 feet high, the curtains I had didn't work in this room. They were standard 84 inch curtains and I needed 95 inch curtains with valance for them to hang long enough. (Without a valance, I'd need 108 inch curtains.) It took me a while, but I found these curtains and valances at Bed Bath and Beyond. They don't look much different than the ones I had before. Since there are a lot more windows in this house, I needed more curtain panels than I had anyway.

Other than that, I hung our family master calendar and cork board in a nook to the side so it would be slightly concealed but still visible and functional. A lamp blew out when plugged in after the move, so I had to buy a light kit and replace the damaged part. We had an electrician come in to put in a cable outlet where we needed it and move a surround sound speaker outlet behind the t.v. as well. This has probably been the simplest room overall since it was already painted the color I wanted.

The downside is that the previous owners left the speakers they had wired into the walls. They are in the wrong places for the way we have the room arranged. In the next few months, we hope to buy a new surround sound system and have the electrician reposition the speakers left behind. You can see two of the four speakers in the shot above. 

My least favorite part of this room is the wall with two pictures hung between the windows (see second or third photo). That wall looks somewhat empty in person (and really empty in photos). Behind the wall is a bump out for a fireplace. That just means the builder built the exterior to accommodate a fireplace on that wall, even though the original owners didn't choose to have a fireplace installed in the building process.

At some point we plan to have a gas line run from the existing line to that wall, drop in a gas fireplace and logs, and add a hearth, wooden mantle and trim. Then, we'll shift the loveseat, end table, chair and ottoman deeper into that corner so the chair sits to one side of the fireplace. We may bring down the matching chair and ottoman from our room to flank the left side of the fireplace (but we hope to need that space for baby paraphernalia). 

When we put in the fireplace, we'll move the pictures from that wall to this one: 

The space to the left of the t.v. needs something for visual balance. I think those two pictures will fill that empty space just right. The speaker that's high on that wall will be gone by then.

It may not appear to be so in the photo above, but that is Matt's wide screen t.v., not my smaller one. It's difficult to take representative pictures. You just need to visit us to see the house for yourself :)

At some point we'll replace the carpet too, but we're in no rush for that. The more I think about it, the more I think I'd rather have carpet in the main room than hardwood flooring. Hardwood flooring would look really good, but I like the feel of carpet. We'll see.

There's more to ponder and more to do before I consider this room done, but I am satisfied with it and the house. I don't want to give the wrong impression by mentioning all of the things I'd like to do to "finish" the house. These are merely things I'd like to do to make our house more our home.