Turning a house into a home

We have lived in our house for a little over eight years. This is something that is very hard for me to believe - how has eight years gone by that quickly. I remember the day I received the phone call from our real estate agent informing us that we were the official owners of our new house. I remember waiting excitedly for Eric to get home from work so I could video tape his reaction when I told him we got the house. I remember the rainy day in April when we packed up the moving truck and moved all of our things in. We moved into this house just four months after we got married. We then proceeded to build our family in this house. Eight years later, we have two beautiful boys, a lovely dog, and more memories than I can possibly count.

Now this is the embarrassing and ridiculous part to admit. Eight years we have been here and today was the day I finally got some things put up onto our walls. Yes, you read that correctly. The walls in our living room have been completely bare from day one. Why? Well, lets just say that I have a small case of OCD when it comes to getting things just right. Every time I started thinking about finding things to put on the walls, I would get overwhelmed and then absolutely nothing would happen. My mom finally said something to me that made total sense - "You're not marrying the art work." I can change it if I decide I don't like it!

We got three beautiful pieces hung in the living room today and I am beyond thrilled with the result. You see, we really have been putting a lot of work into our house over the last year or so. We replaced the floors last year and that kind of got things in motion. We followed with new living room furniture and rugs for both living room and family room. Pretty funny that it's taken me eight years to start turning our house into a home....

The living room before - disgusting doggy stains and all.

After - still a work in progress!

Family room before

After

New artwork in the dining room!

Needless to say, I am very happy with how far we have come with the house. We plan on being here for at least another two or three years, so I plan on continuing the transformation. The work is far from over. I am so grateful for my incredible mom and dad who have helped me in so many ways. My dad's handy work is something I will never be able to repay him for. And my mom's great eye and nesting instinct - what would I do without her?

We've been in this home for almost a decade and I am just now truly falling in love with it.

The joy of a thunderstorm

Can you remember the excitement of a good old fashioned thunderstorm when you were a kid? Let me tell you - I have an up close and personal reminder in my son. This boy has the greatest fascination with all things weather, especially thunderstorms. He absolutely has to check my phone's weather app every morning upon waking up to find out the forecast for the day and the week ahead. I wish I could explain through words the excitement in his voice when he sees that tiny little lightening bolt on one of the days. It's absolutely hilarious and brings a smile to my face. The inner joy and delight from such a simple thing as the chance of a thunderstorm.

And when the dark clouds actually start rolling in and it begins to rain? It's literally a party in this house! Next thing I know, I'm going to catch him out in the backyard performing a rain dance...

Who needs TV when you have a thunderstorm to watch through the window?