We've been having such a fun time turning our house into a home, but boy is it a process! We're not even close to being done, so I can't justify calling these "after" pictures. Here are a couple of the big things we're going to accomplish in the next couple months (just to keep in mind while you're judging us)...

• Curtains! I've already picked out my fabric for the living room/dining room, but still need to pick some out for the master bedroom. My fabulous in-laws are treating me to curtains as my Christmas present! (Seriously, I'm getting old. I am so excited about CURTAINS!)
• As you will notice, we have just about nothing on our walls. We want to wait until we put the curtains in to commit to spots on the wall. 
• It's December, which means our house has started to become overcome by Christmas decorations. This is not how our house is usually set up.... or maybe it is.
• I'm definitely claiming the whole "Sorry for the mess, we live here" thing. I conveniently decided to take my progress pictures while Adam was putting up Christmas decor/making lunch.

Side note: All of the paint we used is Sherwin Williams.

And now....for the big semi-reveal!

Living Room

That awkward long couch-thingy does not go there. In fact, I hate it there so much that I contemplated moving it just for the picture, but I'm too lazy. It usually goes parallel to the window (where the Christmas tree currently is). I pretend it's my reading nook, but it's really Ruthie's lookout station.

We painted the living room/dining room and hallway Essential Gray, and we love it! It looks great in every lighting.

Dining Room

Check out that obnoxious yellow paint - YIKES.

Kitchen

(Didn't do a great job catching the same angle here. Whoops!)

We covered up that gold and red paint with Lemon Verbana. Kind of a weird name for a green, right? Anyway, we love it! It looks great with the black appliances and trim, and the tile. 

I didn't take a "before" picture of this, but I just love how it (very simply) came together. I got that "B" at Michael's, but Ruthie got a hold of it. Luckily, we had some extra black trim paint so I just re-painted it. And Adam bought me those pretty dying roses. Guess I'll have to get fake ones. And that bar came from Ikea when we moved into our first apartment. It's somehow found it's place everywhere we've lived. 

(Does anyone have any ideas for Ruthie's food area? That blue Tupperware is NOT a cute look.)

Guest Bathroom

I didn't do a great job on this "before" picture, either. I love that funky green tile, and we happened to just have that green shower curtain. Not sure what I want to do with this bathroom, yet...

Office

This was their baby's room... now our office. I don't have a vision for this room, either. So we've just kept it as-is. (Turns out that wallpaper is real wallpaper so it doesn't just peel off. The paint is also oil-based, so normal paint literally just slides right off. Needless to say, we're saving this for a rainy day...)

Guest Bedroom

I'm obsessed with this room! We have a lot to do - starting with a bed frame, but I have big plans! Stay tuned for this little sucker. The color we used for this is Watery (not Sherwin Williams' most original idea.)

Master Bedroom

The color we used in this room is Mink - love it! Again, a lot of work to do in here, but so far so good.

Master Bathroom

Nothing new or exciting here - just our toiletries added. Don't know what to do with the Master bath/laundry area, yet...

We did add curtains to the closet, so it's not all up in our business every day. (Also, this flash REALLY accentuates those creases in the curtains. Ay caramba.)

This little nook goes out to the back deck. Convenient since Ruthie's crate is right here, too!

I got this shower curtain at Target, and I LOVE it! Now I just need to figure out how to work the rest of the bathroom around it. Any ideas?

We LOVE our deck and big backyard! Adam is already dreaming about having a TV out there. (Psh, dreaming is right.)

Well, that's all for now! Adam and I are so excited to make this place our home for the next while. However, we have to keep telling ourselves that it's a continuous work in progress, and we can't expect to get everything done right now. We are so very blessed with this house and are so excited for the next years we spend in it!

heavy heart

This past Saturday, on Mitchell's 19th birthday, some of his friends got in a terrible car accident. His very close friend, Ryan, was driving and didn't survive the crash. He was pronounced brain dead and his family pulled the plug on Sunday morning. There was no alcohol involved. As far as they know, Ryan hit a slippery spot and lost control of the car. A 100% accident.

The two passengers were Adam's baseball players. Chris is currently in stable condition in the hospital, but they won't know the extent of his brain injuries until the swelling goes down in a few days. His family has started a blog detailing his progress here. And Tyler was able to walk away with merely a concussion.

There were a fair share of deaths when I was in high school, but I don't really remember them affecting me. Maybe because when you're in high school and it happens, you still think you're invincible. You still think that it could never happen to you. Because, you know, in high school we knew everything and it was so annoying when our parents gave us any type of advice. Like they would know?

I think this hit me so hard because I keep thinking that it could have so easily been Mitchell in that car. They just graduated high school in May and have their whole life in front of them. Sadly, Ryan's was cut drastically short. I didn't really know him, other than making him pose for a picture with me a prom, but from what I've heard he was always making people laugh and just loved life. He would have loved college. It's just such a harsh reminder that life really is so short and can be taken from you in the blink of an eye. We are not guaranteed anything. And in these circumstances, although it's hard to comprehend, even this tragedy is part of His plan. 

Please pray for the Aschenbach family as they mourn the loss of their sweet kid, Ryan. Pray for Chris to have the strength to pull through his injuries and lead a full life. Pray that his doctors and nurses make the right decisions in the most crucial times. Pray for peace for the Heitzman family as they watch their son lie in the hospital bed without a definite prognosis. Pray that Tyler feels no guilt for walking away unscathed. Pray for the entire Lassiter Nation as they mourn the loss of a close friend, student, teammate. 

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." - Matthew 5:4