"Making a House a Home"

I've been thinking about the theme of this blog since about the second day we moved into our house and got to start "decorating." But it was just the other day that I thought to actually blog about. My wonderful mother-in-law (and yes, I really do think she's wonderful!) reminded me of exactly what I was thinking about when she pointed out how great of a job Kenzie had done in decorating our home. (As a side note, when my father-in-law said to me, "making a house a home can get very expensive," I decided I might be fine just buying a house, not a home!)

First off, for all you guys out there who are supposedly my friends; you really could have saved me a lot of wondering if you had just mentioned this one thing to me: DECORATION SHOCK!!! Yeah, I got to learn that one on my own. Thanks guys! I guess I would begin to define Decoration Shock as the jaw-dropping surprise at the amount of decorating the women in our lives like to do.

I know. This shouldn't be anything new to me because my mom loves to decorate and growing up I never understood it. But to be fair, I haven't actually lived in her house since July 2000. That equates to 10 years of living with guys who considered leaning our skis in the corner, putting a dartboard on the bathroom door, and hanging a set of antlers in the front room as decorating. Now just imagine going from that to having 10 pillows on the couches, 4 'fancy' clocks, 4 lamps, 7 framed pictures, 3 end tables, a plate hanging thingy, and a lighthouse all in your very small front room. That, my friends, is a perfect example of Decoration Shock.

Before I get into too much trouble with the people out there who are the culprits of all this decorating, just be patient and keep reading.

One of the things I learned very quickly about McKenzie is that she loves to decorate, and that she is extremely good at it. Before we had our clothes put away or any food in the cupboards, we were figuring out where we would hang out temple picture and what color of fabric we should buy for the pillows because the pillows we had didn't match the walls. Once again...Decoration Shock! Here are a few of the things I hadn't ever really thought a person would need, but have learned in the last 9 months are necessities:

2 people in the bed = 10 pillows

table runners that can be changed at least bi-monthly

custom made dish towels to match the season

decorative plates that hang on walls

baskets of fake fruit

so many clocks in your house you can't help but know what time it is every second

curtains

cute little block letters that spell out your last name (in case you forget how to spell it I guess)

3 colors of towels in the bathroom

a shower curtain that matches all 3 colors of towels

blankets that match the 10 pillows on the couches

a collage of framed pieces of fabric

And that doesn't even begin to touch what I learned about holiday decorations.

These aren't the greatest pictures, but here are a few examples of what Kenz has done.

Hand-made pillows

Collage of decorative picture frames

Multiple pillows on the bed, cute decorations above the bed and tables complete with table clothes on either side.

And just for the heck of it, here is something wonderful that I have contributed to the decoration of our home :)

Nothing is complete until you have a picture of Fenway!

I hope you can empathize with me at least a little for the Decoration Shock effect that can take place going from one extreme to another. I want to point out that I have never once said that any of this zealous decorating is a negative thing. In fact, over the last 9 months my definition of Decoration Shock has begun to change and morph into something completely different than it was the day I got to spray paint 9 newly purchased picture frames that I thought were perfectly fine the way they were.

I have learned that there is no better feeling than coming home from work and seeing the framed picture of you and the women you love hanging on the living room wall. It is surprising the happiness a clean kitchen table with a cute piece of fabric with humming birds on it can bring into your life. Nothing puts a smile on your wife's face faster than complimenting her on the creative collage she worked so hard to complete. Nothing feels as cosy as cuddling up to take a Sunday nap in the softest crocheted blanket someone very special made for your birthday, not to mention it matches the pillows she made that surround you. In short, nothing can make you home look better than the touch of a women!

To add to the definition of Decoration Shock, it's the awe an ignorant husband feels every time he realizes how much of a difference all those little decorations make. It is the astonishing affect an amazing wife has as she works so hard to Make a House a Home.

How We became "We"

When I told Kenz that I had started a blog, she didn't believe me. After the first post, I woke her up and told her. She really made an effort to seem interested, but it was about 1 a.m. and she had already been asleep for a few hours so she rolled over and went back to sleep. A few days later she asked me if I had really done it, but no matter how many "pinky promises" I made, she thought I was just joking around. Well guess what babe, I really did it :)

I'll be honest, I'm really not sure of blogging etiquette, or what you're supposed to blog about, or if people even read these things ever. But I guess I should start and share a little about Kenz and I, and how we became "We".

We met about 2 1/2 years ago when our paths would cross briefly at church. We were in different singles wards, but would see each other from time to time in the foyer. From my point of view, she was the fun, bubbly girl who everyone was drawn to. She was in charge of planning activities for her ward, and I thought her personality was perfect for that calling. After a few months of seeing each other and casually greeting, yet never really knowing anything about

one another, I finally came up with a reason to "hang out." Yes, I know!

The last thing Young Single Adults are supposed to spend their time doing is simply hanging out with each other. But we did it; we started out as just hang-out buddies.

One of the 1st, and in Kenzie's opinion, funnest "hang-outs." We stopped at some cool caves in Logan Canyon on our way to a friends cabin in Bear Lake.

That was in September 2008, and it took until March 18, 2010 for me to finally get my act

together and marry this wonderful woman. Along the way we had a ton of fun together though. We were able to have so many exciting adventures, and really grow to be close friends over that year and a half. As we've talked since we've been married, we feel so lucky to have been able to date for so long, and to be able to experience so much together.

Shooting clay pigeons together. She's not in the picture, but we took my grandma who was 89at the time!

Of course we had to go skiing

We went on a cruise with a bunch of friends. This is a cave in Curacao.

We got to go to Esther's graduation in Boston with my family.

We definitely took a little longer to get married, but we truly feel blessed for the time we were able to spend together before. I think it helped us to learn how to love one another through many different circumstances.

But March 18th couldn't come fast enough for me! I was so excited to begin this new adventure with someone I love so much. I can't speak for Kenz, but I wasn't very nervous the day of the wedding. It was just a pure feeling of excitement! The day started as a bright and crisp Spring morning. It was a Thursday and there weren't very many weddings taking place at the Salt Lake Temple, so it kind of felt like we had the place to ourselves. As we were there, with our families surrounding us, we felt so incredibly blessed to be able to be sitting in the temple getting ready to be sealed together. The ceremony was so special and touching. It seemed surreal to finally be there together. But it was so right! It was was where we both wanted to be, doing what we both wanted to be doing. And the rest is history.....In a nutshell, that is how Kenz and I became "We".

Let's get started.....

For as long as I can remember I have been a night owl, and have never been able to go to bed early. For as long as Kenzie can remember, she has loved going to bed early and getting as much sleep as possible. This combination has led to many nights where I am sitting at home with nothing to do, yet not wanting to just waste time with mindless activities such as watching TV.

It was in one of these moments, as I was sitting watching Kenzie sleep, that the idea to start a blog was born! We'll see how it goes, but let me just warn that if there are some weird, silly, off the wall, or even at times inappropriate posts on this blog, just remember, it's probably late and my reasoning ability is most likely VERY low. But we'll do our best to post all of our adventures, our successes, our challenges, and everything in between.

So, let's get started.....