Today's Thoughts: My Family

It's been a month since we officially arrived in Michigan and I haven't had a moment where I am hit with the fact that I really miss my family, until today. It's always the simple little things that make me think of my Mom or my Dad. The other day when I was in Kohl's returning my frames I was behind a woman talking on her cell phone to her daughter. She was telling her daughter that she would be coming to pick her up soon and that they could to lunch together if she was hungry. After I exchanged my frames I passed through the woman's clothing section. I saw several outfits that I instantly reminded me of my Mom. Today I was in my car listening to Coldplay. My Dad loooves Coldplay and the song that I chose for my wedding video was playing. Instant tear-jerker moment.

It's the first week of school in Miami. My Mom has gone back to work along with all of my old co-workers. My brother also started college this week. A part of me misses the days when he would burst into my room and tell me me everything he's excited about. My sister-in-laws are back in school and writing about their classes on Facebook. I miss everyone and I can't wait to see them.

Mom



Dad


My Brother's Graduation Day



My Mother-in-law & Sisters-in-law

Today's Accomplishment: Black-Rimmed Frames!

Originally I was going to hang up our new frames the next day after I bought them. I picked out all the pictures I wanted to use and started taking the frames out of their packing. Much to my dismay, the horizontal frames were in horrible shape! One of them had a crack in the wood. A very obvious, ugly crack that split the corner in half. The other one was missing the frame mat and had these awful gooey black marks on the actual glass. I couldn't believe I didn't notice that in the store! When I went to return the frames I was very disappointed. There were only two left, and BOTH of them were cracked, severely. So that meant I had to contemplate a new selection of frames. Yes, I stood there for another 20 minutes until I made by decision.

Take a look at how they turned out!








So what do you think? The center collage has a random selection of pictures from this year. The frame on the far left has three pictures from my wedding and the other has three of my engagement pictures. Yay!! One wall down, many more to go!

What did you accomplish today?

Today's Spotlight: The Living Room

Our old apartment had an open concept layout; family room, dining room, and office were all in this giant box. Our living room is very important to us; it's where we curl up on the couch to watch TV, read, study, and relax. It is the most completed room we have at the moment and I am very happy with how it turned out. Here are some before and after pictures.

Before

This is how it looked when we first moved in.



Then, we started to paint.




And paint some more.




After







I really love this room. We fell in love with the overall color when we were apartment hunting. Many of the models had a color like this one, a bit darker, with tones of gray. We also love red accent walls. As you can see we don't have anything above the fireplace, the perfect find is going to take some time.

Today's Purchase: Black-Rimmed Frames

I have a serious weakness when it comes to Kohl's. Today I went just to "look around" and I find myself in the decorative home section staring at the huge 55% off signs. 55%?? Who does that, other than Kohl's? So I'm looking around, thinking about the many empty walls we still have in our apartment. I told Sergio the day before that I wanted to make one of the walls in the hallway a picture wall. I was thinking of doing a collage, or putting three 8 X 10's in a row. I strolled through the frame aisles thinking I wasn't going to find anything I liked when I found these.




I must have stood there staring for 20 minutes until I started arranging frames on the carpeted floor. Does this happen to anybody else? Or am I the crazy one? I was so glad the store was empty and no one saw me mutter to myself and then put them back on the shelves and stare for another 15 minutes until I decided to buy them. I ran over to the cash register before I could change my mind. Now I have to decide what pictures to put in them! Check back tomorrow to see how they turned out!


What did you buy today?