Welcome to the apartment!

Ok. Be warned. There are going to be a lot of pictures in this post. Pictures that you probably won't care about, but, hey...I do. In fact...Derek and I are a little obsessive about everything in this apartment. And not because we're so material and just love our things (although, seriously, we love our things.) It's just that, this being our first apartment, everything is new. The stuff is new, whether it was a gift or something we bought. It all has a story behind it. Organizing our house is new. Finally finding the perfect place for something gives me a thrill I would've laughed at a year ago, but honestly, this calling--to be a homemaker--is such a beautiful and fulfilling thing. Even if it's a little silly for me to get excited EVERY time I clean the bathroom, the stove, etcetera...I just love this. I love keeping our house orderly, and peaceful. I love seeing how satisfying it is for Derek too. Having lived solely with guys for about the last seven or eight years, he really appreciates having our house clean--and, as I've already mentioned, he does so much to help. 

Anyways. Now you get the picture tour and a little bit too much narration--enjoy!

Starting with the living room! In the very right of the picture, next to the dresser/entertainment center, is our front door (it's not really that exciting, so I'll spare the details on this one). We're sub-leasing this apartment, so most of the furniture in the living room actually belongs to our friends, the Rebers. The dresser that we use as a tv stand, the couch, coffee table and decor, the rug--that's all theirs. Some things we're not too fond of (anyone who's ever been to our house knows that we can't stand our couch), but honestly it has been such a blessing to sub-lease right at first so that we didn't have to go furniture shopping right after the honeymoon while we were in school. When we move at the end of next month,we'll be getting our own couch, tables, chairs, etcetera :) But for now, this really is our home, and I love the way this room looks. Also, in that left corner by the couch is our super cool weight set (I have weights!) and Derek's guitar. 

P.S. couch pillows--ours :) 

Alright, the kitchen. So, if, from where you were standing, you angled left, this is what you would see--Derek doing the dishes! Haha, I promise he doesn't do all the chores around here--but again, he is so helpful and sweet. 

We have some of the coolest kitchen appliances either--our waffle iron, which flips over and can make two waffles at once (booyah), our ninja (probably my very favorite kitchen thing), our kitchen shears--you get the idea. I took a couple close-ups of some of my favorite things in the kitchen:

The silverware--why is this special? Well, the silverware set itself was a wedding gift from Derek's Aunt Sylvia, who promised we would never forget what she got us. Ha ha ha. The KNIVES though...those are Derek's prize possession. They are Hinkle knives, which we bought from Kitchen Collection right after our honeymoon--and they are seriously awesome. Super duper sharp, and they slice so perfectly without tearing anything, because of the little divets on the blade. I told you, we're obsessive. Also, we love that tray, because we didn't have one for a little while, and it's really cute, and just a fun memory. 

My favorite cabinet. The dish set was a present from Derek's Aunt Darla, who couldn't have chosen better. I love our colorful dishes! The glasses on the left on the middle shelf are from Aunt Kathy (I looooooove these). On the top shelf are goblets and a few other nice dishes that were presents, most excitingly the two front goblets that we used on our wedding night :) And on the top right is our mug collection. We only have really special mugs. Two I brought with me--a giraffe mug that actually had a little giraffe inside, and a picture mug with mine and Whitney's faces all over it. The others are souvenirs. On our honeymoon, Derek and I decided that everywhere we went we would get either a mug or a refrigerator magnet to take home. So far we have mugs from Coos Bay and the redwoods (from the honeymoon), and from Disneyland (the family reunion we went to a few weeks after our honeymoon). 

  

 Here we have a really cute empty pot on the window sill, which held a plant until a few days ago when we decided it was beyond saving. Also, the dish drainer and the mat that we bought. The mat is super cool, it's made out of a special material that's really soft but acts like a sponge. Also, we bought that soap dispenser and I think it's cute. 

When we got here, the stove was a disaster--the plates were the silver kind, and all crusted over with burned food, etcetera. It was all really disgusting. So I'm very proud of the way it looks now. We bought the black plates, and I clean those suckers ALL the time. Plus, those towels we bought are really cute. Also, mom,we're using our bread maker! Like, all the time. It has been such a blessing to be able to make homemade bread for all our meals, and Derek loves it :)

The souvenir magnets :) From left to right: Crescent City Battery Point lighthouse (and a postcard of the Cape Arago lighthouse, which is the one we could see from our suite), Crescent City, CA shell turtle, from Fisherman's restaurant (best clam chowder ever), Coos Bay, OR, Trees of Mystery, SeaWorld, Disneyland, West Yellowstone, and below is a magnet Derek's mom brought us from Mount Vernon :)

This isn't that exciting--this is the dining room, where I think we have eaten...twice, perhaps? We don't like the chairs, so we usually just eat in the living room. But look, there's Tiger, our flying fish! Slash invincible fish. 

Ok, here is the panorama from the front door. I just thought that might be helpful. Next,we'll turn left--up by the table. 

This is our bookshelf! Well, it's technically their shelf, but our stuff. I love, love, love our books, and I can't wait for our collection to grow! The top shelf is our game shelf, and on top of the book case are the remaining champagne glass and the Martinelli's bottle from when Derek proposed :) Also, the fish tail from a huge halibut that Derek caught in Alaska :)

And, probably my favorite shelf, holding all the shells from my childhood trips to Oregon as well as mine and Derek's shells from Oregon and California, and the scrapbook I made him as a wedding present :)

The bathroom. Not much to say, except that the bath mat was a wedding gift from my cute nieces :) And that I clean this place allll the tiiiiime. And I love it. You should see under the sink sometime. It's super organized. 

Hang in there--we're almost done! This is the bedroom. We picked out this bedspread and we love it. A lot. And the sheets are amazing, but they're in the laundry right now, so you don't get a picture. I know, I'm breaking your heart. 

The bed and dresser were given to us by Derek's parents--and they are wonderful! (Derek's parents and the bed and dresser.)

Aaand, the other side of the room! Congratulations! We're done!

Ok, so seriously? I know that was way too long. But, it's out first apartment. Like I said, for us, it's all a story. Everything means something. But we know that really, these things don't matter. It's the memories we made with them that makes them special to us. You're lucky I didn't take a picture of every single cupboard, cabinet, drawer, and closet in the house :) We are so grateful for all that we have been given by the Lord. And that's why I wanted to show you guys--because you love us, and you care that we're happy, and I want you to know: we are so happy. We are so blessed. And we are so so grateful.