Summer Post

Well we’ve been quite busy this summer – surprisingly.  After Naomi had Lilly we just started having the girls over every day.  It was helpful to Naomi and we love having them all around.  It makes our days less boring (VERY less)  and gives us a change to spend time with some of our favourite people.  Not only has it helped us develop a closer bond as a family, but Naomi and I have become more than just sister-in-laws – we are good friends and that is such a great bonus! 

The twins I look after have been on holiday for 3 weeks so I’ve not watched them – but have been able to concentrate on the girls.  If you came to our flat you’d be forgiven for thinking we have children, because minus the beds, we’ve tried to make our flat as fun and “homey” for the girls as possible – and it has never felt more like a home.

I plan on writing more once the summer is over , but for now here are some pictures loads of pictures from our summer so far:

Good Behaviour Chart – 5 animals they get a surprise!

Lilly’s Blessing Day Pictures:

More summer pictures:

I Moved… Part II

The Roman numeral looks a lot better than the “2” right?  Anyway, here I am again, and surprisingly here YOU are again for more of the tour… so without further ado ….

Kitchen:

The Kitchen is sooooooo much bigger than the other flat.  It still has no disposal or dishwasher (except me and Chris) but I enjoy the room.  It is quite outdated, but we actually have cupboards in this flat as well – bonus!!  Just a question – is is strange to have curtains in a kitchen??  Should I get something for the window besides the roller blind?

Our squatty fridge complete with collection of DIY things on top – hopefully when we re-do the Sitting Room we can get rid of this “feature” – not the fridge obviously – the collection….

The window  ledge.  Cookbooks (thanks Mom and Abbie), recipe cards, (the cups have gone now), and plants.

The Bathroom:

The Bathroom is a lot bigger as well.  They put in the 70’s bathtub – just for us (they hate us).  Chris came in the bedroom the other day and said, “Its amazing, after 5 years of marriage I FINALLY have my own shelf in the bathroom!!!”

P.S. Still no shower Boo!!

The Bedroom:

This room needs the most help – by far!  But, it is second on our list so it will have to be plain and boring for now.  Yes, that is a stuffed rabbit, and yes I brought it from America with me, and yes, occasionally it has a spot on my bed.  So what?  My life my business – right!?!?

The view from the bedroom window.  The pub across the street.  People think that because it is a small town that we live in, that it is nice and quiet – its not.  That road has constant traffic all day and on the weekends we have all the drunks walking home from the pubs and clubs and it is NOISY.  That is one downside to moving – at our other flat we were far away from the street we never heard anything.  It’s a bit different now and we are still trying to get used to it.

These are more flats on top and the local take away and fish and chip shop on the bottom.  Sometimes the smell can be lovely – but most the time the smell of the food – all the time, until 2:30 AM is quite sickening.  Oh well!!

The car park.

The Office:

My desk – quite busy I mist admit.  But, there is method in my mess.

Shared bookcase (by shared I mean Chris has a FEW books on here – the rest are mine.).  Also, remember when you were little and you saw adds in the magazines for Sea Monkeys and you asked your mom and she always said no??  No, just me??  Anyway, the other month we saw a kit at the shop for a reduced price and so I got them and now am raising my own tank of Sea Monkeys (but really, that is a whole other post).  Also yes, that is a teddy bear, but I have it here for a reason.  When we first viewed the flat we walked in this empty room and I immediately thought – Nursery!  I realize in my mind that devoting a whole room to a baby that might never be would be silly so the logical thing would be an office – and I love the office.  But, I keep the teddy bear in the room to remind me that miracles do happen and that, if God sees fit, this room might not always be an office.

The view down.  The office is on the same side as the bedroom so the view is pretty much the same.

Chris’ office desk area – empty compared to mine – well they do say opposites attract.

 

Well there you go – there is my new flat.  We really do love it.  There is a lot more room and Chris and I have even had to shout, “Where are you?!??!” Which never happened in the old flat.  I wish I had a magic wand and could have it all decorated to my taste but I am having to learn that, as an adult it takes time.  This is the last move until we move back to America (hopefully) so we want to make it as homey as possible.  I am going to be re-doing the Sitting Room within the month (oh yeah, I’ll take pictures).

Have a good weekend!!!

I Moved…

I moved last month.  It was a very quick decision.  We had been asking our landlord to move us to a 2 bedroom for years (that is not an exaggeration)  now – but because we didn’t have kids, they wouldn’t move us.  Luckily one day we got a phone call saying a 2 bedroom was available and so we jumped at the chance – even though that meant we had a weekend to move everything.  The best thing was that we moved from one of the apartment buildings to another on the complex so it wasn’t too complicated to move.  Even better, was we got some men from church to help us move.  It is amazing how many things 2 people can have in 5 years of marriage. 

Well this next series of posts is going to be a tour of the new flat.  I realize that this is going to be quite boring for most, but my mom has asked for pictures several times and her wish is my command (most the time!).  So today you get the…. Sitting Room (alright, try to contain your excitement!).

 

These are the French doors to the outside world (the curtains and carpet where here when we moved in.  They are nice, but not my style.).  This is one of the things we LOVED  when we viewed the  flat.  Upon studying this picture it also looks like something one might see while dying…. “head to the white light!!”

This is the sitting room.  We have soooooooooo much more room now.  The washing is drying (I couldn’t take it all down to take a picture, the sun shines so rarely we always take advantage.) 

The piano and my American magazines – when I find them over here its like I’ve won the lottery.  The blue on the wall was our first try at painting the room – it is horrible in person so this weekend we are going to try take two – with a light brown. 

 

The View Outside – these are all taken from the doors in the Sitting Room:

Those trees are lovely but in the spring the amount of things that flew through the open doors from the tree was quite annoying – I think Autumn might be worse!  But the shade is so nice in the warmer weather – so I shouldn’t complain (I will, but I shouldn’t).

The church car park.  It is a rare occasion when there are no cars there.  It makes for a good seat for weddings and awkward seats for funerals.  Funny story:  The first week we were here, I had the music BLASTING to give me motivation to do the unpacking and cleaning with the doors and windows open wide.  The song Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis came on and I was singing along.  I happened to look out the door and noticed that there was a funeral going on.  The hearse had just pulled up and there were a lot of people standing outside solemnly.  I decided that the music (especially that song) wasn’t appropriate for a funeral and promptly turned it off.  I am a bit more careful now.

The view looking right.  There is the Zebra crossing right there and that building is the town museum.  Open only 2 days a week and never busy!  I’ve never been there.  The metal gate is a favourite for the nieces and the twins that I babysit.  There are always fights over who gets to swing it open – it’s the simple things right?!?

This is the view looking left.  That is the alley way to the car park.  We are quite secluded here (only 4 have doors this side of the building).

The view looking down.  We are on the 2nd floor (if you are American) or the 1st (if you are English).  Just one of those things that make my life more complicated than necessary, like on the phone when I tell the delivery person that we are in a second floor flat, only to have Chris shout out FIRST!   Also a favourite spot for the kids to hang out of and give their parents regular, tiny heart attacks.  (Don’t worry they are safe!!)

The view straight across to the church.

 

All in all it is a lovely place.  We are working on decorating it, but it has given us so much more room.  There will be other posts this week  for the other rooms (I know, you can hardly wait).