A Few Christmas/Winter Touches In Our House :-)

As the weather gets colder in June/July, I start to feel "Christmasy". Haha Last year, we had Christmas in June, but when December came around, we ended up going all out again. This year I don't feel having Christmas twice. But I just couldn't help myself. I had to at least put on some Christmas CDs and I put out just a few Christmas decor items that mostly seem more Wintry. Nothing too extreme. ;-) I added last year's Christmas wreath to our TV cabinet. It looks like chunks of ice or snow, all glittery.

A tiny white tree

Snowflake tea light and white berry candle wreath.

This quilt will help keep Teddy and I warm in the evenings. Leather chairs get cold!

Winter gets boring if you don't do something to break up the monotony, I think. This should help. ;-)

Modern Apartment Tour

Earlier this week, we went up to Brisbane, Queensland for a church conference. I thought you might like to see our apartment in the apartment complex/motel we stayed in for 2 nights. It is a very modern style that is popular here in Australia, which I thought might interest my American readers. ;-) It's not at all my style, but it was a nice, new, clean place to stay. Teddy loved the cushy rug. :-)

Open plan kitchen, living and dining.

Closeup of the kitchen.

Outdoor dining on the huge balcony.

Another outdoor living space.

The bathroom.

Master Bedroom- the bed was very comfy. :-)

The boys' bedroom

So, what do you think? Could you live somewhere like this? Although it is far too stark for my liking, I think I could make it livable with the addition of some pretty rugs, pillows, pictures, quilts, etc. And of course a good dose of pink. Haha


I will leave you with some cuteness- our friend Sarah, and the cutest little Teddy bear ever. ;-)

Chandelier Installation

About 6 years ago, we bought a very special chandelier at my favorite shop (which has since moved out of town). We bought it for the kitchen in our old house, and paid much more for it than I would ever pay for a chandelier of it's size now. Haha Anyway, we ended up selling that house before the chandelier was ever installed, and then we rented a house (now referred to by Ben as The Bat Cave, because it was so dark and moldy. ha) for over a year while we searched for a new house to buy. We have lived in our current home for 3 years, and still hadn't put the chandelier up! Finally, I decided that I would like it be in our master bedroom, since the existing center light fitting would make the installation much easier than in the living areas of the house, which only have down lights. So, for my birthday a couple weeks ago, Ben installed our lovely chandelier and a ceiling rose I brought back from our last trip to Idaho. As you can see, Ben came up with an ingenious contraption for holding the ceiling rose in place while the "liquid nails" was drying. I have to admit, I was a little frightened the books would end up falling on our heads. Haha

I love having something beautiful hanging above our bed now. :-)