Well, I promised to post a few before and after photos of our apartment once we’d finished settling in. It wasn’t hard to convince David to get out the hammer and nails to hang a few pictures, but once he did I came to realize two things: that we didn’t really have adequate wall hangings (especially since some of them had been ruined by mold in storage), and that I am not very good at arranging pictures on walls. David would say that I’m just not confident, but for now I’ll stick with saying that I have no skills in such things. In order to fix our shortage of wall hangings, we’ve been looking around for good deals in frames and ordering and printing some of our favorite art- family photos. It’s taking a while to really get it just right and that has resulted in a few empty frames hanging on various walls about the place, but until we get it all just the way we like it, we’ll call those empty frames abstract art. I took pictures of the apartment, empty frames and all, since I thought it would be best to get this post up rather than run the risk of never getting around to it. You may judge me if you wish. So there we have it. I’m choking down my pride and laying my decorating skills bare before the world. Treat me gently. 
First off, we’ll show you some before pictures. It’s hard to believe that just 3 weeks ago we were moving in and trying to figure out what to do with more space than we’ve ever had before. We had an exhausting few days of moving, and Cassidy was done with being patient by the end of it, poor kid, but we got everything in the apartment and went to work sorting and unpacking and discovering some forgotten treasures among our things (i.e. my mugs. I LOVE my mugs and had forgotten about some of them). So here we go… This is before.
Poor Cassidy spent so much time in her carseat during those hectic moving days. By the end of it all, she was more than a little frazzled and David and I were both ready to take it easy and just cuddle our baby for a while so she knew she was still loved.
And now… if you’ll allow me to take you on a tour of my home. Let’s get started.
First up is the living room. We have been so blessed by friends who have been willing to loan us furniture for our time here. You’ll notice the empty frame on the wall. That is just a little of the abstract art that we had talked about. No need to keep your attention there for long.
Moving right along, we have the dining room/office/music conservatory. What may look like just a keyboard set up in the corner of a room is, in fact, a music conservatory. Calling it a conservatory definitely makes me feel more sophisticated. And I could use more sophistication in my life.
*side note: when I was little I would read the word sophisticated and have no idea how to pronounce it. Somehow I came up with what would sound like this… physoched or fi-sah-ch-ed. I’m not sure how my mind came to that conclusion, but David thought it was pretty funny when I made that little confession to him.
Here we have our kitchen. Though this is a galley kitchen and those aren’t stainless steel appliances, David and I have figured out that we aren’t too picky when it comes to kitchens. This one has more counter and cupboard space then we’ve ever had before so it’s a winner in our books. And what this picture doesn’t do is allow you hear the gentle whir of a dishwasher in the background. That’s right, we have a dishwasher. An amazing added bonus that makes this mama a very happy camper.
Our guest bathroom. Not much to look at, but see that brown shower curtain. It’s the first shower curtain we’ve ever bought. We’ve just never the opportunity to decorate a bathroom before. It feels very grown up-ish to be picking out shower curtains for our place. It just makes me happy.
Cassidy’s room/guest room. I love my daughter. I truly do, but have I mentioned how nice it is to have her in her own room now? She sleeps better, we sleep better. It’s an all around wonderful situation.
And finally we have the master bedroom (with its own master bath). It took us a few weeks to get a dresser and after 2 months of living out of a suitcase, it feels so nice to have my clothes tucked away in drawers. It’s also so nice to have our bathroom and shower just a few feet away. Only a year ago we were walking down the road to take a shower. This is definitely an improvement!
Well, that’s it, folks. Thanks for visiting our house. Stop by again soon!
