Bedroom Makeover

 This was our first day in our home- believe it or not, this was after a few hours of work- 

You can see the bed frame was already set up and made.  This was where almost all of our stuff had originally gotten put until we got here.  That corner was all the miscellaneous stuff that didn't have a place until my sweet husband built me a closet. 

 It kind of got worse before it got better- as we were cleaning out some of the other rooms, stuff got dumped in here.  Enter wood, totes, junk, etc...

 After moving that mountain of a pile and frustrating behind the scenes labor, my husband and I stayed up until like 2 AM on labor day assembling the closet.  It was grueling, and I think I wasn't really much help after midnight, (It was also the day I had painted the living room, so I started out pretty tired!) but Peter was determined to finish it.  I'm so glad he did! It fits our stuff perfectly, and has room to grow.  Laundry hampers on the bottom, totes and boxes, Christmas decorations, sewing machines, and everything else fit in our new "closet."

  

Then a couple days later I painted and hung up some decorations.  

It was so nice to have it in order!  :-)

Here it is finished:

 I love how the bedframe turned out- It came from my Grandpa and Grandma, and it started out like gold metal with rose colored flower balls. Welcome black spray paint and decoupaged damask wrapping paper, and you get this!  I think the total remake cost less than $5.

 

Busy week!

I feel like this was my first official week in the city, seen as this was the first week that I was settled in and was starting some side jobs.  

Sunday we had our first big group of company.  It was so fun!  We had 10 total- including a missionary, our guest speaker for the ladies conference, a neighbor that is not saved (yet!), and several people from church.  I wish I had taken a picture- but I was busy feeding everyone after church.  We turned the island sideways and everyone built their own fajitas.  I also made a 5-layer dip, rice, and dark chocolate brownies- which there were way too many leftovers of. Notice the past tense. ;-)

Monday started my first official training class near Central Park.  It also marked the first time I navigated subways into Manhattan alone. Peter gave me great directions, and the class went really well.  :-)  It was so nice to get to see 2 of the puppies I trained when they were babies.  

It is a beautiful park- FULL of dogs, so I have my eye on going back to hand out a 

lot of flyers when I am there every week. 

Tuesday I started with my babysitting job- every other Tuesday I get to watch this cute little chatter-box.  She is almost 2, but seems very ahead- she puts whole sentences together already!

 

Peter got to go to Princeton with a dear friend of his- so they were gone all day, but when they got home I had chicken cordon blue waiting for them, along with grilled eggplant, zucchini, and peppers, and incredibly sticky (?) oven roasted sweet potatoes.  I'm wondering if it's because they were in the oven so long or if I accidentally doubled the honey when I was not paying attention.

 

Wednesday I got to do my first photo shoot in the city.  A newborn! A gorgeous newborn that was not very sleepy at all, but we still got some beautiful shots.  :-)

To see the whole sneak peek, check out my photography blog at:

http://kisimmipixsa.blogspot.com/

Thursday was cleaning, editing, updating, meal planning, grocery shopping, and church.

I really enjoying meal planning- it's fun to know what new recipes are coming this week.  We've stumbled across some real favorites, for sure!  For any of the recipes, just follow me on pinterest, on my board "favorite recipes."

 I also tried out green smoothies for the first time.  I woulda killed the blender on my first try if Jenna hadn't answered her phone.  Thankfully she did, and she gave me directions.  All you need is fruit, (which I get in the "scratch and dent" section for 29 cents a pound!) spinach, agave nectar, water, and ice.  They tasted great- and for me to think a spinach drink is great, you KNOW it has to be good.  My husband loved them, too, and illustrated this by drinking his and most of mine. :-)

Speaking of my husband- he has always been very faithful about getting me flowers.  Every time we saw each other when we were courting he got me some- either a bouquet or single stem. 

It's so sweet.  These are the leftovers from the red roses he got me last week.  I like how they look in these water bottles we got at our fancy hotel on our honeymoon.

 

Friday was a little bit of a crazy day. I am trying to sell my car.  Before I get a parking ticket or someone scratches my bumper as they try to squeeze their car into a tiny parking spot.  Well, we have gone 2 places now but still aren't getting what we hoped for it, so Lord willing this week we will get some direction on that.  

We also went to Jamaica Center as I am in the long process of changing my name.  They know how to make it quite the ordeal, good thing I love my new last name!! :-)  Thankfully Peter got a half-day so he could accompany me, as I can only imagine how lost I would have gotten following all those directions!

One day this week my husband and I were talking and he asked me what I have learned the most in our 4 weeks of marriage.  I told him I think it has got to be the faithfulness of it all- you can't just sporadically cook a meal and then drop off the face of the earth.  At one meal, you're thinking about the next meal.  One dish load means you're making room for the next dish load.  It is such a fulfilling and wonderful thing to be a wife, but I am also learning about the amount of faithfulness and diligence it requires.  Peter was encouraging enough to remind me that as busy as I feel now, this is probably the least busy I will ever be for the rest of my life. (If the Lord blesses us with children.)  I was thinking, "Wow, that's not very encouraging! I'm already exhausted!!"  

I am happy to be busy, here, though...there's no place I'd rather be than 

home sweet together with my love.

<3

Living Room

I really wish I had gotten a before before pic. How it was set up when my husband lived here with his 2 roommates. There were 2 full walls of bookshelves, 2 couches, and tons of other stuff.  They kept it pretty neat, but it was still really in need of a woman's touch.  Anyway, I didn't find any of those pictures, so this before is how it looked after we worked on it a couple hours the first night we got home from our honeymoon.

  Also it is after Peter spent hours and hours sorting through his book collection and helping his brother build the beautiful shelves that hold his collection now. 

We had things basically set up for a few days to get things ready for my mom and brother to come visit, but here it is the morning that I started painting it!

And...here it is after!

I love how the color came out! :-)