Feels like Home

Ladies and Gentlemen (though I think only ladies read this...):

The apartment is finished and WE LOVE IT! We have everything we need and everything has a place. I must say, it is such an amazing feeling. Especially after I've lived in a dorm for the past 5 years and Ryan has been a gypsy since returning from his mission 5 years ago. We have a HOME. And we are so thankful for it every time we walk in the door. After visiting other friends' (yes we have friends!) apartments, ours is the best - it just has so much s p a c e!! And speaking of space... that couch pulls out into a bed AND we have a blow up mattress so there's plenty of space for friends to visit. :)

Did you notice our plant? No kids or pets for us - just a love fern...or love yucca. Luckily it comes with a one year guarantee! After that, nothing is for sure! :) Also, we originally had a night stand consisting of a lovely white towel covered box and the other day we stumbled across the gem in the picture at Goodwill. It's beautiful and exactly what we wanted and CHEAP!

As part of Ryan's birthday present I let him decorate the second (his) bathroom anyway he wanted. This was actually a big deal because I'm anti beach themes, and he loves them. The result...

I really don't mind it because it's not TOO overdone and cheesy. And half of it is authentic from Brazil, so at least it's legit! Our bathroom is nothing special except for my latest project:

I've been struggling to find a good way to store earrings (and all jewelry for that matter) and voila! I just need to make a small bag for my earrings that don't have the loops to hang and then I'll hang that from it as well. So easy and so convenient! Too bad I don't live near any of you anymore because I have a lot of extra chicken wire and no ideas of how else to use it.

That's about it for the apartment so far! I guessed it was a little white lie when I said we're completely done. We still have to:

1. Paint over the wallpaper in the kitchen. It's not horrible, but we can't look at it for a year or more.
2. Hang Ryan's Brazilian hammock on the patio (not the Brazilian bathroom).
3. Finish organizing my half of the second bedroom. The room is split down the middle between us. Half is Ryan's pretty glass desk for his studies and the walls are all baseball posters. My half will be my craft space. Can't wait!

Lastly, this is the view from our bedroom window. We go to sleep to the sounds of locusts and frogs/toads. I know it's not for everyone, but we couldn't ask for anything better!