Our Favorite Place!

It took a while to get settled into our home, especially with a new baby. But I'm FINALLY getting the urge to decorate. When we were looking at different floor plans, this one jumped out at us the most because of the kitchen. The total Sq ft of the house is only 1700, but because of the layout it feels bigger than that. Anyway, I felt like the other floor plans, even in some of the bigger houses didn't have as nice a kitchen layout as this one! This is my favorite room in our home! It's where I spend the majority of our time, well my time! I have an incredibly talented sister in law who can make any sign you could imagine. She made the feather that is there on the right hand side of this picture. It's string art and it turned out so beautiful! 

Then I had her make these animal signs for me. I've kind of got the country/modern style going on. I think that's what you would call it?! I've also got the orange and Aqua color scheme going on - I love it with the white cabinets and stainless steel appliances :)

I bought this owl cookie jar (maybe I already wrote about this?!) A long time ago. Before we even decided to build anything. I bought it because I loved the color and I love owls! I thought to myself - wouldn't this look perfect if I ever get my dream kitchen with white cabinets?! Guess that dream came true!

We said goodbye to our counter height table and 8 chairs (which we bought for an amazing deal when we bought our first home) shortly after moving in. I had always wanted a two tone table and I found a guy on Craigslist that made them. We made our money back when we sold our old table and bought this one for less than that! We have loved having the benches and I bought the two chairs on Craigslist, with the intent to refinish them, BUT I am not confident in my painting abilities on something that will be physically touched on a daily basis.

Speaking of refinishing - my sister in law and brother gave us a sofa table that didn't match the decor in their new house.......and frankly, it didn't really match the decor I was wanting for my house, so I took a BIG leap of faith and repainted it.....

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I think it stands out so much more now! I really, really love how it turned out! The same amazingly talented sister in law who makes signs, is also going to help me make some really unique and fun picture frames to go above it for family pictures! I'm so excited to get those done next week :) We definitely need an updated family picture, BUT that will not happen until I lose the remaining 20 lbs from Colton. So we could be looking at Spring or Summer ;) That's ok, though. I have the cute ones of the kiddos to hang up :)

This was an entertainment center I found at DI not too long before we moved into our house. I wanted to do a fun and bright color on it. We thought spray paint was the way to go. But we have now discovered that it really isnt. We did end up using spray paint, but I'm pretty sure it ended up costing WAY more in the end. Oh, well, you live you learn! So here is the transformation:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 I really love the knobs! I found these at Hobby Lobby and they really add some nice character to it!

Since I was apparently on a painting kick I had decided to do Coltons room. This dresser used to be in Evie's room. It was white, but needed some serious redoing. I have always loved lime green and navy blue. I decided to go with that color scheme for Colton's room. I still need to get the knobs back on the dresser so it can actually be functional. His room is at a halt right now because, well, that's just kind of how I am ;) I haven't figured out exactly what I want to do in there, so I'm kind of putting it on the back burner for now. I do love how the dresser turned out, though  :)

One of the things I love about living out here are the beautiful sunrises and sunsets!! Seriously, SO beautiful! This one was one morning on my way to take Evie to school. We BARELY missed the bus, and not like it's a big deal because her school is like 3 minutes away, it was worth missing just so I could see this beautiful sight!

This was a sunset out our back patio one summer evening! It was so gorgeous!

I was kind of nervous about moving out here. I was afraid I would feel too isolated and too countryish. But surprisingly I have really loved it! Its like 15 minutes from major shopping. Its pretty dang close to the interstate, it's 30 mins from Boise. When I am back "in town" I realize how much I actually miss being that close to everything, but it's not too bad. I basically dread dragging 3 kids out to a store of any kind, so I don't think I would be going places that much anyway :) The other thing I have loved about it out here is our ward! We have moved 9 times in almost 11 years, so we have been in quite a few wards and this one takes the cake. Seriously, every single person we have met have been so welcoming and kind! I have never been in a friendlier ward in my life. It could have to do with the fact that there are SO many new families moving in, but even the people who have been around for a while are still very friendly. Our neighborhood is great, too! There are lots of kids and a majority of the members of our ward live in our same neighborhood. We are just so happy with everything right now! I think maybe the Lord has us go through things so that we will be ok with where we need to end up. If you would have told me more than several years ago that I would end up living in Middleton, ID in a home smaller than I thought it should be for a family of 5, I would have said, "No WAY!" coming from our past circumstances, I had truly been humbled. When you are literally living off of nothing, you start to realize really quickly that the "things" we acquire here on this Earth don't really mean anything. They have no value. The only thing that is left to value is your testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the relationships you have with those loved ones around you. With that being said, I am thankful every. single. day. for the blessings that The Lord has given us! Truly, our favorite place to be, is just being together  :)