Christmas Home Tour

Brandon's 33rd Birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year which he was very excited about. I always feel a little bad because he doesn't get his own special day, but he doesn't seem to mind. We went to the Original Pancake House for a birthday breakfast, and then went over to his sister's house in the afternoon for Thanksgiving. 

Don't mind the fact that I look like a house!

Literally the day after Thanksgiving we picked out our tree and put up our decorations. We were both so excited this year! Here is a little peek into the Gray Home :-)

 This bell ornament was a gift Brandon gave me after we got married. It has our names engraved and "Our First Christmas". It's one of my favorite ornaments.

 Little Lucy ornament! And I love how big Santa seems to be looking at skinny Santa

Oh, How Pinteresting

{Home Edition}


I'm linking up with the Vintage Apple for
Oh, How Pinteresting, Wednesdays!

One of my favorite things to pin

{aside from recipes}

are Home Decor ideas.
And one day I will have a home large enough to decorate to my heart's content.
{or at least one that we own so we don't have to worry about putting holes in our walls}

Feast your eyes ladies...

Dream Backyard
{it's as if I died and went to heaven}

My heart leapt when I saw this! Kelly, so happy I'm following your boards :-)

Source: mrkate.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Cozy Reading Nook

Source: whi.assets.prod.lg1x3z.simplecdn.net via Amira on Pinterest

Home Theater Room

Source: hgtv.com via Hima on Pinterest

Secret Library

Source: centeredlibrarian.blogspot.com via Amira on Pinterest

Fireplace in the Bathroom

Source: sweethomestyle.tumblr.com via Sara on Pinterest

I'm realizing that I might need to make more money in order to make

some of my dreams come true.

But a girl can dream right?

Kitchen Mania

About a month ago, Brandon and I moved into our new place. It's a two-bedroom duplex attached to a five bedroom family house next door. They are connected by the two garages, so it's nice not to share a wall. I feel so lucky to have found this place as it has almost everything we were looking for (within our measly budget). Two bedrooms (so we can still have an office/guest room) one car garage with washer and dryer and an outdoor sink so Brandon can still do all of his projects. We have a small backyard for Lucy -- although it's pretty ugly (that will be project #2) and we have 4 parking spots!

The only negatives are:
1. It's old - the kitchen was pretty darn ugly
2. No fireplace :-(

Well, since taking the Bar Exam, Brandon has become a full-time house-wife husband extraordinaire. Since I've been working full-time and taking grad classes I feel like I have little time for much else. He's been great with cooking dinner, running our errands aannnd working to make our kitchen pretty. We had a little mishap with our camera and ALL of the before pictures got wiped out so all I have to share are the ones I had taken with my phone (but you'll get the idea).

BEFORE:

See? Pretty bad.

Eww

Hard at work

Getting closer

AFTER:

Such an old stove right?

After Brandon polished the handles we decided that we really liked them with the black!

I wasn't sure what to think when Brandon told me that he wanted to paint the cabinets black but I absolutely love them :-) It goes very well with our dining room furniture!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

We got back from our honeymoon a few days before Christmas, so we had to make sure that we had all of our shopping and decorating done at the beginning of December. It was a lot of fun decorating the house for the first time as a married couple :-) I went shopping with Brandon's mom and she bought us some garland and quite a few decorations! I also bought a handmade stocking hanger with our last name on it (from Etsy of course) and some Christmas blocks. I love, love this house at Christmas time. The fireplace might just be my favorite part about it!









We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day at my parent's house in Tenaja. We had a really great time!





I loved my mom's table settings! The little mittens as silverware holders were too cute!





mmmmm, El Gordito for Christmas Eve dinner -- our favorite!!





My dad had a good time passing out presents :-)



After dinner and presents, we hung out by the fire and watched movies and ate way too many Christmas cookies. The next morning (Christmas morning) we went to my aunt and uncle's house for our traditional pajama pancake breakfast. They cook breakfast and we open presents over there. Afterwards, we went and saw True Grit with my mom and dad, and aunt and uncle. We all LOVED it! Then it was time for Brandon and I to make our way back home. We started a fire at home, and watched It's a Wonderful Life. I forgot to mention that Brandon bought me a new lens for our camera and an engraved silver ornament with our names and the date and "Our First Christmas." I think that's my favorite present so far :-) I got him an electric shaver, some clothes and a movie. We had a great first Christmas as a married couple!