{Home Decor} The Evolution of Our Living Room

My sense of home decor has certainly changed over the years. And it's extremely accurate to say it's matured as I have, since the husband and I moved into our first house just after our wedding in September 2006. It was a great little starter home in a quiet suburb and we'd scraped together a few pieces of new furniture and repurposed many of our pieces from college. I was only 21 years old (he was 24) and we were thrilled with the simple fact that we had a home of our own and it came with a backyard.

Here's how our current living room looks...

...and here's what we were working with back in 2006!

In 2009, we rented out our home, packed all our things into storage and set out to live in Scotland for a year. Our flat overseas came with green walls and odd furniture, but it was home to us for 365 adventurous days. :)

When it was time to pack up our things and head back to Texas, we spent four months living in the guest room at our good friend's house while we searched for a new home (we'd decided to leave our previous one rented out). Finally we found a space we loved in December 2010, just in time for Christmas, and were excited to put down roots once again.

Though most of the time after the quadruplets arrived, our living room looked like this...

And then it was time to move yet again. The addition of four babies meant we needed to head back to our hometown in the Dallas area and be closer to family, much earlier than we'd originally planned to. So we put our house on the market in early 2013 and sold it within the week, then packed up a couple weeks later and made our big move! The next four months we lived in a tiny two bedroom apartment while we searched for the perfect home for our family of six.

At last, we found a home we fell in love with and we excitedly moved in on the 4th of July in 2013. Now our living room looks like this...

Better, don't ya think!? There are, of course, various changes and improvements we hope to accomplish over the coming months and years. (Nothing moves fast when you have four toddlers taking up 99.999% of your time and attention!) For instance, I'd love to replace the curtains and drapes eventually, refinish the floors, get a pad for under the rug to make it softer, mount the TV on the wall and add new lamp shades.

It's so fascinating how the evolution of our living room has reflected such a journey in our lives. We feel that we make any place we land a home, but are especially happy to be in a home we love and that has plenty of room for our thriving quadruplets and visiting family. Here's to whatever styles and decor the future may bring!

{Home Decor} Autumn Hallway Table

Hi ya! The husband and I are enjoying what we call "Piddle Saturdays." No, no... get your mind out of the gutter, you rascal. The title came about because my husband often disappears into the garage on a Saturday or Sunday (generally when it's not 108F outside, thankyouverymuch) and says he's "working on stuff." Or he takes over the kitchen or living room to "get things done." But, typically speaking, there's not always evidence left behind that he actually accomplished anything. More like he's moved things around, put things—like papers—into piles or sorted through a box of random items, took note of everything there then put it all back. See? Piddling! When you sorta wander around messin' with stuff, but aren't really doing much.

*Side note: At this point, the husband would like me to note this is not what he does every weekend. Only on those rare and wonderful slow days that we've chosen to stay at home. He's very driven and motivated and often does more than I do on a weekend! :)

Although I typically need to have visible results for stuff I do, it's very rare I "piddle around." A trait most definitely inherited from my mom. So today, I put off doing the mountain of dishes that's threatening to topple over in my sink just long enough to snap a couple photos of my new "fall between" hallway table.

**Side note #2: And at this point, my husband candidly reminds me I've put it off just long enough to be three days. I'll undoubtedly be scrubbing pots in about 15 minutes.

Anyway, the newly decorated table is a tribute to our travels, since the beach theme that was on there before doesn't really apply to August, yet it's not quite time to pull out the pumpkins and fall garlands. Here's my summer theme, which I loved and was sad to see go (it all went back into my beachy guest room):

And the new "fall between" table:

 (Shot at a totally different time of day, hence the odd-colored lighting)

It took a couple tries to get a clean shot, because I mostly ended up with my dog, Shiner, in the middle. Both our labs have been (happily) spending most of the day inside because it's insanely hot in the backyard and Shiner is still taking it easy due to a couple stitches in his leg.

During our days spent in Scotland, we saw a million and one sheep in the surrounding countryside. They were all adorable and it was so strange when we first got there, but we were totally used to it by the time we left! I picked up this ceramic sheep at a charity (thrift) store for a couple (pounds) dollars.

The mini Peroni glass I actually got in Houston at a thrift store for .79 cents, but it made it onto the table next to a photo of us on a gondola ride in Venice, Italy. We drank much Peroni during our trips through Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan! (Click any of those links to read posts and see photos from our time in each city.)

This was one of two beersteins we made it home with. Praha, or Prague, was a fantastic trip and I love being reminded of it everyday when I pass by the table and spot this mug.

This frame was a $5 clearance buy at Hobby Lobby and was perfect for holding a picture of us drinking our giant litre beers in Prague's town square, right across from the astronomical clock!

And this little coaster came home with us from Germany, a reminder of the Hofbrau House we visited for authentic beer and German entertainment and the amazing buildings we saw in Munich.

Last, but most certainly not least, is a photo of us in Paris with the Eiffel Tower just steps away. It was a magical trip and we had such an amazing time there, seeing all the sights, drinking wine and doing as Parisians do. 

The calligraphy-covered books were an idea I put together for my home office in order to decorate some book shelves with a more consistent look. The hallway table itself was a $30 score from Craig's List—I love its authentic rustic qualities and rough hewn edges—and the wall hanging was a $60 find at Sam's Club (no longer available). The small propped-up plaque was on clearance at Hobby Lobby months ago, as was the gold candle holder. The iron star is from Kohl's (discontinued I think) and the lamp was also a Craig's List purchase, but similar styles are sold at Home Depot. 

So whaddya think? It's different and I love it, especially when it's something you walk by everyday and can be reminded of a different special memory every time.

Got any cool travel stories or posts about recent trips? No matter how near or far, I'd love to hear about 'em! Leave your recounts or links in the comments section!

A&M's Travel Highlights: Part 1

During our year abroad spent living in Scotland (August 2009-2010), the husband and I learned more about international travel, cultures, people and living then we ever thought possible. Even when we weren't traveling, every day held a new experience and fresh perspective. It's amazing what living abroad, even for a short time, can do for you. It's more than just a quick plane ride and a hotel stay... so much more. You learn to appreciate things you never even noticed before, you develop a deep and sincere appreciation for someone else's culture and you learn not to forget your passport on the way to the airport (yeah, that totally happened).

Lately, we've both been nostalgic about our time spent in Scotland. Some of the top questions we were frequently asked upon our return was if we missed it and would we have stayed. The first answer is a definite yes, the other is, well, we'll go with "unknown." We certainly thought about staying, it crossed our minds, as the question so often does when you spend any great deal of time in a certain location. We played out the scenario, what we would need to do for it to be possible and so on. Then we went home to Texas for a week-long visit six months into our stay and realized how badly we missed home. Thus it was only natural that at the end of our year across the pond we returned to the Lone Star State and began eating Mexican food and listening to country music like they'd gone out of style.

But parts of us miss the simple lifestyle we enjoyed there, the wonderful friends we made and the opportunity for travel. After a whirlwind holiday season back in Texas, we were exhausted and have burned up the road between Houston and Dallas more than I care to admit. Packing up our suitcases had become a familiar practice - we traveled every month in Scotland, then lived out of our bags for over four months when we returned home while waiting to buy our house. Not to mention, we took off to Dallas when we could as it was easier then without having to manage our four pets, who, at the time, were staying with our parents.

When we zipped up a suitcase to go home to Dallas for Christmas, I began to miss it. I missed looking up the weather report for Dublin or Prague or Rome and working out a wardrobe that would best fit in my bag. I missed charting some of the top tourist attractions and buying tickets to get into the Vatican or the Louvre. We had gotten so used to to packing it up and winging it through international airports, and we loved it so much. The spirit of adventure and the unknown. While it's not realistic for us to think we could have continually kept that up, or have lived overseas without becoming despairingly homesick, we still hold out hope to continue our adventures in the future. We hope to make it back to Hawaii (a favorite of mine and where we spent our honeymoon), take a cruise to the Greek islands, visit friends in Australia and perhaps revisit Prague in the summertime (it was amazing during winter).

With all that said, it's no surprise that we've been daydreaming about the amazing trips we took while abroad and I wanted to share the  highlights with all of you here on the blog in picture form. Of course, I've blogged about each and every one of these experiences in full, so I'll provide the appropriate links in the photo captions should you wish to read the whole story! I've also broken up the year into a three-part series, as it's way too many photos to post in one sitting, so stay tuned for the second and third posts in between regular post material in the coming week or so.

...without further ado, I begin our Travel Highlights series!

We begin in August 2009, when we very first arrived in Scotland.

Fresh off the plane in Aberdeen, located far north in Scotland.

The husband coming home from his first day at work across the pond.

The Nissa Micra we drove during our year there. Tiny!

The very first road trip we took to Huntly, with a stop in Dufftown (pictured here), the home of many famous whisky distilleries like Glenfiddich.

Meeting up with new friends for strange beers!

Our first trip to the beach in Aberdeen, which is the North Sea. It's icy cold.

One of the beautiful photos I took while I enjoyed dog walking during my first few weeks in Aberdeen.

Enjoying a stroll 'round Aberdeen and admiring their colorful landscaping before winter took it all away.

Our first true Scottish event! The Highland Games in Braemar.

For our anniversary, we ventured to Inverness and took a horse back ride above Urquhart castle on Loch Ness. 

Visiting one of our favorite castles, Dunnottar, which was nearby in Stonehaven. 

A crazy Halloween in Aberdeen - we were a cowgirl & cowboy!

Our first real trip, which we took to Dublin with fellow American friends.

The door to our flat and how we managed to get stuck inside.

An amazing trip to Paris - c'est la vie!

A Christmas wish come true! My mom and step-dad visited us in December 2009. Read about our two week-adventure from snow and castles to trains and fiddles here, here, here and here.

We spent New Years (Hogmanay) in Scotland's capitol city of Edinburgh. It was so cold your beer nearly froze and there were more than 80,000 people on the streets.

Well, folks, that's all for 2009! Part two will dive into the first half of 2010, and part three will round out our one-year adventure with some of our most standout trips and experiences to date. Keep an eye out for those in the coming week or two, in between regular posts. I look forward to traveling down memory lane with you again soon!

Journey across Scotland

Breaking news!

Fancy a road trip across Scotland? Take a look at my recount of our jaunt 'round the country, when my husband and I traveled from Aberdeen to Isle of Skye last spring. The story came out in Scotland today in Your Weekend, a supplement to the Press & Journal daily newspaper in the UK. I'm so excited!

{Click images to view and click again to enlarge}