Random Happenings at the Wilson House

This is my new magazine subscription. That's right. Midwest Living.

We fell in love over the weekend. We love this chair at Crate & Barrel. It would go great in our bedroom.

We've already made the decision to buy this table... it's just a matter of when. Within a few months. Picture an elk antler chandelier hanging over the top and chairs made with some kind of cool-tone fabric. That's where we're headed with our dining room.

Oh, and on Monday we bought me a new ride. It's not new, but a 2007 Accord with leather, heated seats.

To all my education & Pepperdine friends... I'm representing once again. :)

Here's what our family room is looking like lately... nevermind that since nearly all of our furniture is in this room that the actual living room is almost completely empty aside from a loveseat, plant, lamp, and small table. Surely nothing is exactly where it will end up, but we wanted to get everything in a place to make it feel more like home. I think we've accomplished that. You can't tell, but there's wallpaper in this room (and many others) that will be coming down. We're also happy to see the floor in this room after boxes took over for the entire first week of our lives in this house. Craigslist works magic. I post boxes and people come get them. We help others, reuse boxes (being good recyclers), and we don't have to wait for weeks to finally get rid of all the boxes in our recycle bins.

Here was Ray's recent project: using Europe photos to fill old picture frames that used to house all of his Africa pictures from just after college. Now we just have to peel all the wallpaper off, paint, and find places to hang these guys!

...things are coming together...

--and notice the picture on the wall. We used our gift certificate (from my former roommates, Catriona and her husband Howard) to purchase two framed portraits for our walls. We now have 3 photos from places we've lived: Manhattan Beach (I posted that here), Cologne Cathedral in Germany (about 1 hour from our home in Neuenrade for 6 months (that reflection still to come), and finally, Chicago (see next photo). If you click on this photo, you can probably see the Cologne Cathedral better.

Here's that Chicago photo I mentioned. It's of the Wrigley Building (think gum). I think the building is so gorgeous and it's not the typical photo of the city. I love the element of water and land and we have that in all 3 of our photos from places we've lived as a married couple.

Thanks to Ray's parents (yay for Home Depot!), we are proud owners of this lively fellow. We sure needed some plants in our house. We gave our 2 plants to my parents and our friends Nik & Solange before we left Los Angeles. We needed some replacements and the gorgeous pot that goes with it!

Here are two other plants we're working on... one is a blueberry bush (eventually) and the other is actually just the bulb of a scallion that I'm trying to re-grow. I learned about that online and I'm experimenting. We also have some flowers that will be planted outside on our deck in a cute holder this week, just in time for spring.

Here's the new king bed! We don't have a bed frame just yet, but that will come in time.

Check out that organization in our master closet! Yeah baby!

The office is functioning quite well (aside from that atrocious wallpaper).

I signed up on this website called House Party and they send you a bunch of stuff to share with friends who come to your house to promote a product. I was chosen to "host" a Stouffer's party and they sent us 15 reusable bags, 15 coupons for $1.00 off their new toasted subs, 15 coupons for me to buy subs for people who come to our house to try them, a notepad, potholder, napkins, and plates. All I have to do is upload some pictures afterward and share about what people liked and disliked about the product. Sounds fun, huh?

Samantha sent us this really nice box of goodies from the best store ever, Trader Joe's! Those chocolate-covered powerberries are amazing!

I recently found out that I have to take 2 of 3 teacher tests to fully clear my teaching credential in Illinois (mine is currently preliminary until 2012) and only one (the easiest) of my gazillion teacher tests in California was transferable. I will be tested on Illinois state history among other things... and since the only thing I know is that Abe Lincoln lived here (my friend Solange corrected me when I said he was born here... not true... see, I hardly know anything about Illinois!) and the governors are always getting in trouble, I knew I needed to brush up on my knowledge. We went on a library date Friday night (they're open until 9pm!), signed up for library cards, and I checked some kid books out-- on Illinois. Some 4th grader isn't going to be too happy when they realize I took nearly all the stock. Hahaha! Did you know that there was a population of 100,000 natives called "mound builders" that build dirt mounds that are still present today in Illinois?

This is for my family: Our family has serious issues with reindeer. First, there was Rodney tragedy (RIP Rodney), then there was the wooden reindeer plant holder that repeatedly broke every single year, and now, our tragedy. We bought this after Christmas for a sale at Pottery Barn last year and look what happened during our move! Can you believe the luck? Antler down. Call the medic.

We checked out a new church this weekend (that will be our 4th) and we have decided that it's the place we need to be. And... we scored a really cool welcome bag to boot! Included: New Testament Bible, papers, a pen, reusable grocery bag and... wait for it... a FIVE DOLLAR STARBUCK'S CARD! Um, sign us up! Haha. I've never experienced that kind of welcome from a church before. All we normally get is a coffee mug. We loved the music (totally radio contemporary), the people were really nice and actually talked to us, they wear jeans, and the congregation is a decent size. We saw a lot of people our age and met a few. We're going back for Easter Sunday.

Oh, and this is where we spend the majority of our time: Ace Hardware. The cross palm is unrelated... except that it's Palm Sunday!

We're having a great time being homeowners, spending too much money on home-related stuff, and spending way too much time on things that should only take us 15 minutes to do. I love cooking in my new kitchen. Last night we had homemade zucchini soup and sandwiches. Tonight, who knows? 

Happy Sunday, everyone. :)