Labor Day Weekend is upon us, y'all! I started getting a bunch of sale emails into my inbox (guilty pleasure, I know I need to unsubscribe!) and an idea came to me.

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING! 

I'm all about simplifying and eliminating stress from situations. I want there to be joy in picking out gifts for people, not stress. I want to spend the weeks leading up to the holidays baking for people, decorating, and planning crafts and activities. So, I decided that this weekend I'm going to knock out some Christmas shopping. Yes, I may be a little crazy. Yes, these presents are going to have to sit in the closet for a few months. But it will be done, and I can focus on other aspects of the holiday season. Mainly, gratitude. 

So let me encourage you to get out there and get tackle your Christmas shopping! There are seriously online discounts everywhere and I'm loving it. I would give you some examples of discounts but I don't want to reveal my present sources. 

I will say, that you can easily check out tons of online discounts on Retail Me Not! Plus, because of how we save for Christmas shopping, I already had cash in hand to use for this shopping adventure. I'm so excited to tackle things early. Last year was absolute mayhem, with us moving into our house and getting married (4 days after Christmas!). 

Has anyone else started thinking about Christmas shopping or am I totally alone and crazy? What do you think makes a really great Christmas gift? I want to hear from YOU! :) 

Ps. If you want more of a look at our daily shenanigans, follow me on Instagram, @victoriastrader! I often post major things on there before the blog because I am inpatient. :)

Image was found here. 

Happy 23rd Birthday, Husband!

Benjamin Luke,

Your 23rd birthday is also your first day of teaching and coaching middle school. It's also two days away from our 8 month marriage marker. Lots of fun things. :) When you first caught my eye you were seventeen. Now you're twenty three. Oh, how time flies! I am blessed to get to celebrate another year of your life and service to me and those around you, but I'm also just overflowing about your first day of school! For the first time, you're on the other side. I am so blessed by your commitment to your job and to serving our little family. You thrive in your role as the head of our household! Your dedication to supporting me is something I truly cannot wrap my head around. Every morning at 5 am, you're at your desk, studying the Word so that you can love and serve me and those around you better. So that you can grow in your likeness of Christ. You somehow manage to do a chore or two for me at that early hour. You leave me notes and kiss me good morning and then you're out the door. You're out the door for some kind of work to provide for us. Now, mornings mean you're at the school, ready to coach and uplift tons of young male athletes. I'm excited for them to get to see Christ through you and for you to encourage them and be a role model. You love me with your wisdom, leadership, encouragement, discipline, and tender care. I cannot get over how well you lead me and protect me from harm.

You're the best man I know, and I'm happy that we're for keeps. Love you Mister Magoo.

(Note to world: sometimes I randomly call Ben "Mr. Magoo" for no explained reason)

Happy birthday, love! I learned to make your favorite lasagna and we're having it for dinner tonight. And I got you a dark chocolate cupcake. And posted more love notes to you on Instagram. Hurry to me!

Love,

Your Lady Wife

A few birthdays ago.. :) 

Ella's Day of Fun!

A few weeks ago, my mother in law told me she was going to be in charge of Ben's cousin's daughter for the day. She wanted to know if I had any suggestions for something fun to do, and if I wanted to come along. BINGO. My childhood was defined by hours spent pouring over my American Girl catalogs. I had dolls and accessories and outfits. Seriously, every single birthday and Christmas gift I received from age 5 to age 10 was American Girl. When I was a kid, they had one AG store, in Chicago. I went there once, the year it opened, right when I was borderline about to grow out of it. In years since, they have opened all over the country, including Dallas. This was my opportunity to return,  so I suggested we take Ella there! Soon, planning turned into a huge day of fun in Dallas with her!

Our first stop was the Galleria Nordstrom, after a car ride of singing Veggie Tales. Our goal was to return a few things for Ben and I, and maybe find Ella some school shoes. She loved the Toms but she was wayyyy in between sizes, so that was sad! We settled on the silver metallic saltwater sandals. :)

Then we walked through the doors of American Girl. What an overwhelmingly fun place! All the products are set up to be seen and Ella (okay, and me) ran around like crazy trying to quickly see everything and soak it in. Every picture I tried to make her pose for she looks not so happy because I was making her stop her self given tour of the store.

Our adventure at the restaurant began with picking out a doll to eat with us. Ella was blown away by this. When we tried to bless our food, she started praying herself and said "Dear God, thank you for Victoria and for Jan and for me and for getting to borrow this doll."

Before we ordered anything, the waitress brought a little cup of pink lemonade to the table "for the doll!" Ella loved this and only really drunk out of the little cup. She kept having me give it refills. :)

The menu was SO fun and presented so well for little girls. You got to choose an appetizer and a main course. We loved our appetizers of pretzel bites with cheese sauce and fruit fondue (with strawberry yogurt for dipping!) The main courses were great too, there were great kids options as well as adult options. I had a delicious chicken sandwich with avocado and a side of sweet potato fries! They had me at sweet potato fries. My drink, pictured above, was a "Strawberry Sparkler". It was strawberry and orange juice and sprite and it was so delicious and fun! Let's be real, Ella told me at one point "why do you keep saying this is so fun?" Haha!

Our last stop was Sprinkles cupcakes, another favorite, for a little treat! We got to use the cupcake ATM which Ella loved!

Moral of this blog post: Ella's day of fun OR Victoria's day of fun? Not sure. Maybe both. :) I kind of wish I was five. :) Seriously though, this trip did make me think a lot about celebrating your children's interests and it gave me a lot to think about for the future.

Do we have any American Girl fans out there? or Nordstrom? or Sprinkles? What have y'all been up to lately? :)

Happy back to school to so many precious people in my life! For the first time since I actually was five, I'm not starting school this fall. It's a weird feeling, but I'm thankful for how the Lord is working and how he is going to bless this season in His timing!

PS I don't know what is happening with these pictures and why they are showing up so grainy! I'll get to checking that out later today!

One of Those Weeks

This week. Oh my.

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It has been one of those weeks where I text the wrong things to the wrong people on accident. Where I show up late to things because I missed the memo. Where I'm sick and feel drained. Where I spill on myself. And walk into things. It's been one of those weeks where I feel inadequate and drained. One of those where I watch an extra episode of The Office on Netfix because I just plain want to. One of those weeks where I eat saltines as a meal substitute. And drink a lot of Sprite. And forget to email people back. It's been one of those weeks where I lack creativity and am not content. It's been one of those weeks where I let little things get to me. Tiny discouragements or subtle comments. It's been one of those weeks where I was feeling sick in my bed and ordered fall candles from Bath and Body Works online because I was so desperate to feel comfortable and cozy.

It's been a week where I crave the Lord's healing in my life. Each sunrise I've been grateful for a fresh new start, but Sunday will be even better. There has been sweetness, but I've focused on the yucky.

Does anyone ever have those times? Just me, right? :)

FINANCIAL PEACE: Tips to Make it Work and Last

First, let's just say that the response I've had since posting the details of how we use the envelope system has literally blown me away. God has truly used our journey to help others and I am continually humbled and blown away by that. I really did think the LAST possible thing I could ever be passionate about is budgeting... and here I am. Loving it.

I have gotten a good amount of emails from people asking specific questions about the envelope system and our budget and how we use it, and with specific situations from their life asking what I would do. If you've been thinking about a question, THIS RIGHT HERE is your encouragement to email me. (victoriastrader9@gmail.com) Every single email I get is a blessing and it challenges me to think about different situations.

First, let me address two questions that have been brought up by several people:

How hard is it to keep to your budget? 

Honestly, not that hard. Not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Doing this has totally changed my thoughts about every purchase that I make. I still love nice things, but I think I just spend smarter. This may sound weird, but I have come to realize that how you spend your money is just as important as how you save it. Although we have some big goals for saving, we also don't want to have a zillion dollars sitting in the bank because that isn't where our hope is.. if that makes sense. All of that being said, I still get to shop and enjoy it! I just do it a lot smarter. For example, instead of buying my 15th white flowy top, I'll wait and find something different that isn't like anything else I have. For the first few months of our marriage, we literally went over our budget every week. We had an amount for groceries and an amount for eating out. It was really discouraging and just a disaster because we couldn't make it work. Once I got the envelopes and everything organized, everything started working out with the numbers and it's a pretty empowering feeling. That really motivated me to keep to the budget. Another important thing to keep in mind is that it is OKAY to change your amounts for categories.. like if it is really hard for you every month and you feel like you need more money for toiletries or whatever, it's okay to add on a bit. Every family is different, and you don't need to feel like you have to skimp like crazy on things unless you are specifically trying to pay off debt or save for something relatively short term. I feel like we have finally settled on numbers that challenge us to be frugal, yet allow me to do my job as a wife and fill our home with the things we need. I would also encourage you not to compare your finances to those around you. You are choosing to do something different, something against the norm, by living under your means. But you know what, there are so many statistics out there about finances causing stress, distance in marriage, even depression. Money shouldn't be a big bad guy in our lives, but a tool to equip and help families and people in need. 

What things DO you spend money on? 

As I briefly said above, I truly think that how you spend your money is almost as important as you saving it. Although we want to be wise with our finances and save for some bigger things, (building a house, future children, etc.) the goal is not to hoard as much money as possible in our bank account. Our hope does not rest in that bank account, it is in Christ. We believe in saving for something specific, keeping an emergency fund of 6 months living expenses, and giving as much as we can, to things and people that we believe in.

Basically, I don't want to be the person that buys really cheap things that fall apart just to be "frugal". Let me illustrate with a lesson that I've actually learned from Ben. Before we were together, the majority of my shoes came from places like Target. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Target, and they can be great for some trendy pieces that you don't need to last forever.. but when you're wearing flats to work every single day and they are from the good old Targ, you're going to be replacing them rather quickly. Ben is all about less pairs of nicer shoes. Like, true confessions: my husband loves shoes. He really does. I love it. Haha. :) By his encouragement, the few pairs of flats that I purchased for student teaching this past spring were better quality, and after being worn day after day, they are still in pretty awesome shape. They'll stick with me into the fall and spring all over again. I am a believer in simplifying the process. I don't need to be spending tons of time shopping for the cheapest, poor quality shoes that will fall apart. That time could be so much better spent. :) That being said, use your judgement on this. Things you won't wear or use as often are great areas to save.

Also, do your research! Several times I have purchased Anthropologie dresses or sweaters for cheaper than Wal-Mart. One of my favorite sweaters is one that I got in the anthro sale room for $14 and because it's such good quality I've been wearing it regularly for two years. My personal belief is to wisely invest in pieces that are versatile, will make you feel confident and clean, and things that you love!

All of that being said, for those of you considering doing the envelope system, it doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice your style or love for clothes or whatever it is! Don't let that love replace your love of meaningful experiences with people and with the Lord, but invest smartly!

Something I'm glad we invested in: Personalized art by Mandy Cave Watercolor!

Tips:

• Creative Date Nights: We think that it's really important to get out of your house and have adventures, whether you're single/dating/married. It's important to do those things and spend quality time with people. We LOVE having people over but specifically for us as a couple, it's important to get out and do something that seems out of the ordinary routine together. One of our favorite inexpensive dates is going to Barnes and Noble. We both love reading magazines so honestly probably once a month we go there, grab a stack, and read together. Then, we put the magazines back. :) We always buy a drink from the cafe if we are sitting there though. Frugal doesn't mean skirting around rules. Although maybe reading at B&N is. People do that, right? I hope!
• Examine your "splurges": I have gotten so many emails from people confessing that they just don't know if they could ever get over their online shopping habits. If this is you, I would encourage you to think about WHY you are shopping. You probably aren't shopping online when you are surrounding yourself with fellowship and encouragement, or when you're blissfully happy and inspired. I know that I often buy myself new things when I feel like I need to "be more like ________" or try to improve myself in some way. Or if I'm feeling down. I think retail therapy is okay every once in awhile, but let's get to the bottom of this together! 
• Wait at least 24 hours: Here's a story. A few weeks ago I found a cheap rug on overstock and was convinced we needed it. We would love an 8 by 10 rug in our office, and those babies are so pricey! I found one for $125 and ordered it immediately. It got here and I realized it wasn't my style at all and that it was a ridiculous impulse buy. Yes, I returned it.. but it was a hassle. I would encourage you to think through your purchases before you make them, so you are using your "blow" money in a smarter way than you would have before. 
• Do your research: I feel like some of the most financially wise people I know are always researching their purchases in detail before they make them. For example: you have a celebration coming up and you would really like a new outfit. If you plan for this ahead of time, and look around for the best deal on something you love, it will last in your closet, and your financial plan will have anticipated the purchase. If you go out to find something last minute, you could possibly splurge on something that you're settling on because you need an outfit. Then you'll wear it once and never again. Think things through, friends!

Okay, I hope this helps, y'all! What has been on your radar with your finances lately? Do you have any tips to contribute? Do you find financial planning overwhelming? 

My post on the envelope system can be found here. My heart behind financial planning can be found here. 

Craving the Holiday Season

True confession time: for the past week, I CANNOT get the holidays off my mind. I've been brainstorming ideas for our first Christmas card, trying to decide where we should put our tree, dreaming up recipes for all the different family celebrations we will attend.... Yes. This is heavenly. Thanksgiving has been making appearances too. Creative ways to express thankfulness in our home, PUMPKIN THINGS, sweaters and scarves, and um, PUMPKIN THINGS.

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So maybe I'm a little weird for making a full blog post about this... yes. But I'm just ready for this joyful season! I'm just ready for the spirit of fall and fresh starts. There is something about back to school and fall that makes me feel all brand new. Even more so than an actual new year, I think. Lately I've felt really bogged down by a lot of random things. Can we just be honest and transparent here? It is hard to transition post college. For every single year of my life I've known how my time will be spent and now I just don't. I mean, I kind of do, but it's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that there isn't a natural "next step" for me during this part of life. But you thought I majored in education and finished student teaching and why am I not giving you photos of my classroom and telling you about my new job? That's a different post for a different day, but God has lead me in a different direction. I'm excited to share what's on my heart about it when I think I have peace and courage about it. For some reason, I'm just wishing for a day when I can wrap my neck in a scarf, meal plan for a holiday, and pray for what's coming next.

Anyone else with me? Any weirdness about this season of life, like me? Any fun ideas for the holidays already brewing? :)

This became a very odd hybrid silly/serious post. That's kind of me though, so it's fitting. :)


Ps. You might have noticed that the blog is looking a little different! Do you like the change? I went from bright coral and bold teal to a light pink and fresh turquoise. The softer colors are just so much more me. Let me know your thoughts, friends!

things you won't ever read on my blog

Now, I know you should never say never.. but I am rather certain about this list. Especially because we have a bunch of new followers around these parts, I want you to know what you're getting yourself into!

1. Complaints about the people in my life 

I could write out a formal essay with tears in my eyes about this one, but I'll save you from it. Let's be real, this is real life. Even the people you love the most frustrate you, upset you, make you want to scream. That's why marriage is hard and you need grace in it. However, you will never hear about any of those things on my blog. The middle school, AIM instant messenger user in me wants to write passive aggressive things about people who have hurt me sometimes, but it doesn't bring healing or reconciliation. You just won't find that here.

A note on complaining about people in your life: something valuable we were told during premarital counseling is this, when you tell a friend or family member all about how your spouse has hurt you in something, they get upset too. They feel your pain and hurt and want to defend you. We crave seeing people respond this way to our hurts, I think. Actually I'm pretty sure I know. But then, you go and make up with your spouse. You say your sorries, forgive each other, you heal. The person that you told about the incident doesn't get to be a part of the make up process. That can build bitterness/awkwardness in relationships between your spouse and other loved ones over time. You just don't want your best friend to always think of your spouse as "the jerk who _______". Just something I thought I'd share that has infused many areas of my life!

2. Regular Outfit Posts

Many bloggers, bloggers that I love and gain inspiration from, post outfit pictures on a regular basis. I am not a style blogger nor will I ever be. My clothing style isn't something that I think really comes naturally to me, nor will I be good at strutting my stuff. I wouldn't say that sharing sources for belongings is totally out of the question, because I love sharing.. but this is just plain not my gift. :) Also, people who budget don't even buy clothes, I wear trashbags or garnments I dig out of the trash. #budgetmisconceptions

Some blogs with outfit posts that I enjoy reading: A Piece of Toast, Michaela Noelle Designs, Pink Peonies, Sew Caroline, Amanda Marie.

I tend to find myself gravitating towards style blogs that aren't necessarily "my style"... I enjoy gaining little bits of inspiration from them without copying something exactly.

3. A great representation of our "perfect" life

Oh wait, that's because we don't have one of those. :) I have recently talked with a few people about the "look" that they are trying to portray on their blog, the lives they want to create in order to have an interesting blog. Cue my heart breaking. Our lives, nor anyone else's are complete perfection. The thing about sharing life through blogging is that you want things to look awesome. A lot of times you only really see the good. It is my hope and prayer that our blog, would be natural overflow of our lives and realistically portray the season we are in right now. I want to be content in all aspects of my life, although I'm often not. I want you to desire the same thing from your time spent reading our little journal, not think that you have to redo your laundry room to have happiness, or whatever. You with me? :)

Okay, neat! Now we've gotten that out of the way! :) I really just felt like I was needing to share that my purpose in using this blog to record our days is encourage and share and be happy! If we go through hard things in the future that are appropriate to share, we will share them along with other parts of this blog, but overall, you can come here looking for a pick me up or some sort.

Now that I've finished this post it feels kind of "soap boxy" but I was just feeling something different this morning. And I felt like I needed to be honest and confess that I am in no way stylish in the clothes region of life. Okay, good. :)

What WOULD you like to see more of on the blog? Anything in particular that you would enjoy reading about?

Speaking of "about", our about page has been updated! Check it out and happy Friday! We'll resume our normal happy happy joy on Monday! ;)

PS. The photos of our pup are sprinkled throughout here so that you remember I'm not just a sassy post writer but a sweet person who loves her dog! :)

The Laundry Room

Before we loved into our house, the laundry room looked like this:

"Don't hate be cause I'm beautiful!" says the before shot of our laundry room! But really. It was rough going. The original laundry room was in the middle of the kitchen.

The door was originally this one, with the plastic bag farm on the outside of it.

Then, after we moved in, and a whole lot of work... the door looked like this:

We thought this was a weird place for a laundry room, and that it would be much better suited for a walk in pantry. So that's what it became, after a ton of changing. It turns out all the floor in there was rotting, so a large amount of work had to be done on the floor, among other things. If anyone's interested, I can do a pantry post in the next few weeks. Holla if you want a pantry post! :)

The door with the hats on it, a hallway over, was destined to be leading to our laundry room. Behind that door was a HUGE closet. Unnecessarily huge. Like, huge enough to become a laundry room for two newlyweds kinda huge. This image is the closest that we have to a "before" because at the point of taking these photos, I had no idea this closet would grow into a laundry room!

Hello there, snazzy new laundry space. After struggling through our laundry during our first few months of marriage, this space NEEDED to be made over. I wanted to at least sort of enjoy the time I spent in there.

This shot shows what the top of the room looks like, where you can really tell it was a closet. For us, this means shelving to store a basket full of painting supplies, a laundry basket, and other normal laundry room things. There is also an old window sitting up there. My style has recently drifted far away from the shabby chic lands so that window will eventually find a new home. There might be a collective Strader family garage sale taking place in a few weeks! Yippee for decluttering!

You also got a glimpse of this little baby:

You may have gotten a hint that a ton of my projects are inspired by Young House Love. This one is. You can find the original directions here. It's a chandelier made of clothespins... and I love it! It's so different and adds a bit of texture to a modern looking room. I also have dreams of painting the room just from the shelf up, maybe in a fun color that coordinates with the ironing board cover? What do you think?

On top of the dryer, we have a print from Jones Design Company, a jar full of detergent, and a little basket with our dryer sheets. It's incredible how baskets and jars can make everyday things look so much better! Both came from Target.

Here's a fun story about the ironing board cover. I entered a giveaway on an online friend's blog, go check out Amanda Marie! I ended up winning the giveaway, a $25 gift card to etsy. I bought the cover for $24 plus a few dollars shipping, here. There are a ton of of other fun fabrics in the shop if you're needing a new ironing board cover! I ended up paying like $2 for this fun little thing that spruced up the small space. I love it!

What do you think? Any ideas about what color I should paint above the shelves? What is your laundry area looking like these days? I think it's a great area to do a small makeover on the cheap!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

PS. If you're new around here, check out the original post where I revealed some incredible before/after shots of our home! It can be found here!

Simple Little Thing #1

Hello friends! Hope y'all had a wonderful and restful weekend. I am so excited to share with you something that has been brewing in my mind for awhile... a new series on the blog!

In the past few months, I have become so passionate about finding things that can simplify our home and the way we do things. If we can cut out time spent searching in drawers or whatever, we can fill our lives with activities that mean something. For us, that means more quality time, adventures, and investment in our lifegroups. (Yes, plural. Ben leads one of teenage boys and I lead one of teenage girls. We're daydreaming of a day when they are mature enough to unite. Haha.) I'm so excited to share something that is simplifying things for us every few weeks, once a week, whenever it works out. I never want to be forcing myself to make things look like they work if they aren't. That makes things more sporadic. :)

When we first got married, a huge adjustment was sharing the tiny bathroom counter. I have makeup and hair tools and various other things and Ben has a shaver and contact solution. We have a small little counter and I don't like a lot of clutter so something HAD to be done. I also knew that Ben wasn't going to want to be opening cabinets and searching around for things that he needed. They needed to be right there.

Then, I found this baskety box. The angels sang. Seriously, this box was a turning point for our bathroom's cleanliness factor.

Inside the box we keep anything that could clutter up the counters. Ben's shaver, contact solution, moisturizer, hair ties, leave in conditioner, etc. The little things that we use ALL the time so it's not worth putting away in a cabinet or something. Beside the basket I keep Ben's contact thing and a little roll of floss. Having these things easy and on hand has kept us so organized. It's just as easy to put them back in the basket as putting them on the counter, so it works. It is husband tested and Ben consistently puts the stuff in the basket. The angels sang, again. Just kidding. :)

I hope this idea helps you out on this lovely Monday! Did you do any organizing this weekend? Any other fun projects? Do we have any other neat freaks in the house? Do you love our old tile?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, friends!

Photos & A Guest Post

Hi, friends!

Do y'all remember when I had the incredible blessing of attending Making Things Happen in Chapel Hill, NC? While we were there, the incredibly talented Gina Zeidler snapped a few photos of each of us.
I then proceeded to make the following embarrassing faces:

Lesson Learned: Have a stockpile of sophisticated poses on hand in case you happen to find yourself in front of the camera of an amazing photographer from Minnesota who you probably won't see again.

But seriously, if you enjoy beautiful photographs and lovely things in general, check out Gina's website. 

Moving on from that..

I AM HONORED TO BE POSTING ON BLOOM THIS MORNING! WHAT?! IS THIS REAL LIFE!?!

Nicole has become such a sweet online connection, we are similar in so many ways and it has truly blessed me to get to know her, and even design the button for a new project that her and Jamie of Southern Simplicity are working on for teachers! If you are a teacher, you can check that out here!




My post is on living your ideal morning, and hopefully it will be an encouragement to y'all!

Also, if you're stopping by from Bloom, HELLO AND WELCOME! I'm thankful for you and looking forward to connecting with you! :)

Rifle Paper Co. Gallery Wall

Hello Monday people!!

This weekend I tackled a project that I had been dreaming of ever since I saw this post on Young House Love, a few months back.

In the post, they talked about how they took a beautiful calendar and made it into inexpensive art. And guess what? The calendar that they used was the one we already had hanging on our walls!

The calendar in question was this one:

Only this is the 2014 desk version. We have a big, wall sized one. I loved/ still love all the beautiful paintings of cities around the world. I was planning on letting enough of the year pass that I could gather calendar pages to turn into art. Then, I set my eyes on this little baby. 

This calendar had paintings of America, and I was in love with them. My favorites were Kentucky and Washington DC. You can see those if you follow the link to the calendar, or just hold tight and see what I did with the art. 

I ordered the calendar last Monday, ready to anticipate it's arrival for a week. It came on Wednesday and I was BLOWN AWAY. So, note to all.. if you ever order anything from the Rifle Paper Company website, it will come fast. If you aren't already familiar with Rifle, I'd encourage you to check out the website. There are tons of amazing paper goods and they are known to be found on the cheap during Anthropologie sales or on Amazon. 

A few trips to Target later, an empty wall of our office turned into this: 

Don't mind the sick nasty random internet cord that is handing out of the wall. It's a burden in my life. We did have a bookcase covering the cord for awhile, but the problem with that is that you can't get to the thermostat. We're working on some plans to move the cord down. :) 

At first, I only hung 6 frames. And by I, I mean Ben. :) 

I liked it, but the wall felt empty and incomplete. 

So we hung the three other frames. Then I realized they were too low. So I had Ben rehang them all.... two more times. Yikes. I'm thankful for this patient man. Here's a side by side comparison of the heights. 

I am so happy with the finished product! It's pretty bold.. but I love the art and the structure it brings to that little wall that has been empty for so long! I can hardly believe I moved in here 8 months ago.. what?!

Here's a closer look! Yes, I keep an 8 x 10 photo of my hubs playing baseball as a child in our office. 

Did anyone else complete a home project this weekend? Or a project of any kind? I'd love to hear about it!