First let me say, this is my first ever blog. I am not even sure why I am writing except that my friend has one that I have enjoyed reading, and maybe someone will have fun reading mine. I don't always express my self well when speaking on the phone with my mom, or anybody for that matter, so maybe this will just be a little insight to the part of me I don't really share to often. So read if you want to, don't if you don't.
The biggest change I have seen in myself since getting married, besides the whole "putting him first, half of a whole, you complete me" changes, is my surprising want to nest. I have always been the girl that doesn't decorate her dorm room, prefers the walls bare and the table tops uncluttered. The less decoration the better, so as not to have to clean around it, pack it and un pack it during my once a year moves for the last 8 years, or worry that it will conflict with the roommates' tastes. I never even got matching bathroom towels and rug and shower curtain: hand me downs or clearance rack only.. Cute bedding would be the exception, I have always loved picking out a new bedspread and coordinating sheets and pillows, especially if they could work another set I already had for future variations.
HOWEVER-nearly six months in to marriage and all of a sudden, I'm watching HGTV like its no body's business! Design to sell, design on a dime, color splash, bang for your buck! I've put pictures in frames, and even hung some on the walls! I've tried draping various blankets and throws on the couches to complement the area rugs. I have a homemade center piece on our lovely table and welcome sign on the door, and have plans to make Valentines decorations next week. The guest bathroom is perfectly coordinated, and after adding a final touch last night, our bedroom is the welcoming room I had never dreamed about. I am even considering window treatments, and loathing my resistance to learn from my mother and grandmother how to sew as a young girl. I have mostly been able to do all this with wedding gifts (THANK YOU!) and gift cards, so it has been a painless transition from minimalist mix and match to coordinated chic. Oh! I've even started to enjoy cooking! Seems normal-right?
I have ALSO always been the girl ready for adventure and change. I have moved houses15 times in the last 8 years by my own choice! And while one minute I am thinking of new napkin rings for a wintery feel, the next 5 minutes are spent wondering how we could make it work to move to Nicaragua or the Dominican Republic or Paris for a few years. I have perused real estate sights and found gorgeous beach front properties in so many villages around the world, or perfect little flats in Norway and Sweden. I have looked into teaching jobs, coaching jobs, nanny jobs and masters programs that would give us a reason and a means to do something like this. We have talked about selling everything we own, except the dogs of course, and going where the wind blows. And I really, really, reeeeaaaaallllllly want to do it. So why in the world would I make curtains only to pack them away in storage or get rid of them completely? Why would I go looking for that perfect lamp for the guest bedroom bed side table?
Patrick has similar thoughts, not so much the decorating piece, but we are feeling the need for a home base and a desire for stability pushing us in one direction, while hearing our gypsy souls screaming "get out get out while you still can!"
Eventually we will have to make a decision, but for now, I'll be watching House Hunters International-to satisfy both the itches!
7 years ago
