so as i was writing the post (i won't give anything away darby, don't worry!) i of course was reflecting on my marriage and how far phil and i have come. as i did that i also realized how far i've come as a decorator. and how much our surroundings have changed since we were married.
we lived in st. louis when we first got married and we had basically nothing. phil had been living with two other guys before we were married and they had supplied most of the furniture. which meant he had none. which meant we had none. : ) just before we were married we bought a new bed. i figured of all the furniture you need in life, a bed was the most important to me. so basically we had a bed. and nothing else. it was an adventure. thank God for craigslist because we found an entire living room of furniture for $300. and this is what my apartment looked like
pretty, huh? haha
it was nice furniture and good for us for just starting out. it was just old. very old. but i was happy to have furniture at all, so i wasn't into complaining about age.
unfortunately this set didn't come with a dining table so this was our dining room
a card table with a sheet on it : )
it makes me laugh to see these pictures and think how far God has brought us in 3 years. and how many things He has blessed us with since...
after a little while (after i got over being overwhelmed at being in a brand new marriage) i started actually decorating and added a little color to the living room.. which also makes me laugh
no matter my skill, i was completely in L-O-V-E with this fireplace and stained glass window situation.. *sigh* if i could have just taken this wall with me when i left....
finally some color and decor : )
and just because it makes me laugh here is our teeny tiny one little bathroom
haha oh dear...
this place was old. i'm talkin like over 100 years old. not like, built in the '70s old. it was drafty. the basement was scary and dungeon-y. we had plastic over our 100 year old windows. our heat broke 4 times during the winter and left us without heat for days. our landlords were kind of awful. in fact, one of them used our bathroom without our knowledge while we were gone for the day and we came back to something very unpleasant left on the floor... (yah. i don't know how, we have tried to figure out how that happens. we haven't figured out yet how a human being leaves a number 2 on the floor..) st louis was so far from my family. i hated my job. the weather was the worst; hot as georgia in the summer, cold as michigan in the winter. it was a challenge.
but i miss it. it was our first place. we learned to be married there. we experienced the newlywed days there. we made great friends. we did fun things in the city. we made our own schedule and routines and traditions there. even though it was hard and i didn't love it during the time i was there, i have a fondness in my heart for it. st. louis is lovely in the fall : )
i'm happy to be where i am now, but i like to look back every so often and remember. many times i remember things better than they were, but i kinda like that. it makes me feel like i have a really nice past.. i thank the Lord though that i have become a better decorator! : )
fortunately (or unfortunately i guess.. depending on how you look at it) my husband and i both came into the marriage with a home full of stuff (me from my grandparents and he from his hoarder parents) so while i feel we were certainly blessed in not having to sit on the floor i think we both feel kind of stuck with what we have because it was given to us and it is what we "started our lives together with". i think there is sort of a ridiculous emotional attachment that neither of us will admit to! this post was really sweet and you have certainly come a long way as a decorator! i can't wait to read your marriage post on the 15th! :)
ReplyDeleteI love this post, makes me smile :-) What a great starter home you two built!
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