Where We've Been (2007)

Right before this picture was taken, we had been outside watching Nate set off fireworks in the warm June night. 2007 was the year we began working on the house to make it into what we want it to be. The house project can only be described as glacial, since we are still at it 3 1/2 years later. In 2007, we cut through the floor between the upstairs and downstairs of the house to turn the duplex into a single family home. Judging from the paint cans on the floor, 2007 was also the year I scraped all the wall paper out of the bathroom, painted, and began to rip up the floor (I called uncle on this project this year and paid to have it done right). A couple months after this picture was taken, we painted the living room and dining room and got some new furniture.

I like this photo because it helps me check my perspective. First of all, when I struggle with the slow process of transforming this house, I can think back on the time when the living room walls had a mauve and blue country-themed stenciled border or any of the other atrocious things we've changed over the years. More importantly, I look at this picture and I see that things were never quite as bad as I thought they were in my quest to complete the vision I have for our living space. There always was and always is a lot of warmth, love, and happiness - in short a lot of loveliness in the space because of who we are. I am grateful for the reminder when focused on the house that the thing I really love is the home.