Our Christmas Home...And a Birthday Boy!!!

Today is our Caleb's sixteenth birthday!! It feels completely unreal. How is timing moving by so, so quickly??!!

Since I'm having such a hard time keeping up with posts, the shop, everyday life...everything in general, ha... I thought I'd share some photos of our home all decked out for Christmas. We moved into this house three years ago today- yes, on Caleb's birthday!- and while we've done lots, it still feels like there's so much to do. Including a mantel!!! Every time we get ready to make that happen, some life catastrophe happens and it gets pushed back. That's how it goes, I guess. But we are healthy and well, so no real complaints from me. :)

I'll share the family room first...

These were taken last Friday, when I was home ALONE. I dropped Levi off with my Mom so I could get some major sewing done. Yeah, right. I started to clean up a little, and one thing led to the next, and then the sun was shining for the first time in 800 years, so I pulled out my big girl camera to snap a few pics. #priorities

No themed tree for me, at least not while my kids are still living with us. It's a smattering of homemade and other special ornaments that I wouldn't dream of not putting up. Some years we put up our big artificial tree and I have more of a "theme" with that one, but this Mama ain't got no time for that right now. ha ha

I have two of these precious snowflakes from my Nana, who passed away twenty four years ago when I was living in Spain. Talk about time marching forward! Now I'm feeling very old. ;)

I'll have to update this shot because I moved all the stocking and the blue chair, but it represents our daily life pretty well. :)

And this turkey. Many a morning spent playing in here, and everything just seems magical by the tree's glow.

Occasionally I do sit down with a good book. Love this view too.

Onto the dining room...

I decided to start a new little tradition of making a big to do out of the first morning of December. Only it was the second morning because Jonah was working, and Caleb had plans. One thing I've learned after all these years: improvise. Our Dec 2nd special breakfast was great!

That little tree in the corner used to go in one of the boys' rooms when they were small, and Levi is a bit too small for it, so... it works nicely in here. He plays with it a ton, rearranging (and hiding or losing!!) ornaments on the daily.

He looks like such a big boy here!! And I didn't even notice that wrapper until now, ha ha ha!

Then we had our family birthday party for the two December babies. So fun!!

We had our annual gingerbread house making night, so these cute houses are now on display around the dining room. I got a huge kit, which was great, but there were SO many houses that I may have left a couple out back for squirrel food. They were completely gone within twelve hours!

Our back deck- the kitchen window overlooks this, so washing dishes has a pretty view at night. :)

Isabelle's pink tree. I've blogged about its significance several times, but just know, it's a very special tree.

Just a few holiday touches in our room...

Yesterday was a super long day for Caleb, between school projects and then driver's ed, so I surprised him with a few things from good ole McD's before his class started. He willingly posed with me, AND shot up to greet me and give me a big hug in front of everyone! Aww. Obviously NOT my best picture, but I'm sharing because that's how much I love him. We've got a big day planned, I'll try to blog about it before Isabelle's birthday on Saturday!! ;)

Joining in the fun here and here!  I just love seeing everyone's homes this time of year!

I post much more frequently on insta @bethanylivs_life so come find me and say hello!

Simple Fall Decor in Our Entry, Living and Dining Rooms

It's Thanksgiving Week! I'm not one for decorating early (before Thanksgiving) for Christmas. However, this year, I find I've got the itch to move the autumn things out to make way for the lights and sparkle. Last fall, we had painted lots of the trim and the door white, but the walls were still pretty awful. I love how fresh and light the space looks now.

 Simple but festive on our front porch

I'm still loving the sectional sofa in our family room/living room. It opens the space up the way I'd envisioned.

Here's a look at the dark leather furniture in here- it was still such an improvement getting the TV mounted on the wall so we move the couch to that wall.

I admit, I did not bring up even half of the decorations I normally do. I used fresh flowers and food basically. And I liked it, but I missed some of my favorite things.

Somebody didn't mind all the pumpkins and gourds around the house!

Plus they made fun bath toys :)

Just some candles and faux flowers for this hallway.

I have not finished with that far wall, but it looks so much better than when we started. This was taken a couple of days after we moved in. You can see all the wood trim and that ginormous brick fireplace with the stone cold slab of granite (which weighs like a thousand pounds...no joke!)

This is not a very good picture...I'll have to change it out... but it shows our framed ship lap wall. We removed that awful gold wall mounted fixture and finally kissed the green farewell. A year later and we still haven't done the mantel. #lifewith5kids

And because this picture always makes me smile. This was really the only decoration that I ever loved on it. :)

Baby shower post HERE

I'll be making Pumpkin Pecan Pie and Sweet Potato Casserole this year...can't wait! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS: LOOKING BACK AT OUR FIRST HOME

Sometimes I see a photo of myself from years ago and can't help but wonder what the heck was I thinking with a particular outfit or hairstyle. Please please tell me I am not alone here. Pretty please.

The same goes with my very first apartment as a new bride. While I've always had an interest in houses and design, options were limited to magazines and...no, that was pretty much it. We lived in an apartment complex on the outskirts of a major city, perfect for my new husband's commute, and I marveled at all 560 square feet of because it was our very first home. I can remember each and every piece of furniture we purchased for that space, each thing brought from my childhood home as well as from my husband's. It all meant something to us. (I don't have pictures to share because I honestly don't have pictures. So sad!)

I can also remember that if I stretched out my arms while standing sideways in our kitchen, I could touch a wall with each hand.

But teensy kitchen or not, our time there was shorter than we'd planned, and we somehow found ourselves blessed beyond our wildest imagination when we moved into a brand new house just a few miles from the apartment. This was truly our first space that we were actually able to change things, however we wanted to. Even when, maybe, we shouldn't have. ;)

I recall purplish paint colors, stenciled ivy above the cabinets, blue carpets galore, and a new mishmash of furniture. With more than twice the space, and more than half of it completely empty, the temptation to fill in won out and we wasted money on lots of things for a few years. To say it got worse before it got better is probably the understatement of the decade. But...we perfected our painting and woodworking techniques there, learned the value of neutrals as well as the benefit of waiting for things and choosing them wisely. We pulled up our sleeves and stained the deck, installed a brick walkway, and learned the hard way that mulching an area does not magically keep the grass from growing back up. That's where I also perfected the art of constructing a rock wall and a plant bed and discovered the importance of light. We began our traditions and rituals there, many of which remain to this day, such as our Saturday morning brunch.

 At the time, I felt like I'd won the lottery when it came to our new spacious kitchen! Soon after, we painted the walls a purply-pink, stenciled some ivy leaves, AND added botanical tiles as a mini back splash.

 It's nearly impossible to tell in the photo, but there it is. Who cares anyway when you see that adorable little baby Ethan?!?!?

Apparently, I was all about interesting window coverings, too. I made every single curtain, valance, and other that we hung on the windows there.

Not long after I discovered my love of having a bureau in the dining room. Never mind the bright blue carpet or the Las Vegas looking glass pendant chandelier. Or the unfortunate pistachio green color I painted on the poor bureau.

I still try to have something green and alive in every room of our home.

I'm not intentionally using all these pictures with my cute baby, but back then, it wouldn't have even dawned on me to take a picture of the new brick walkway we installed...unless there was a cute baby in the photo.

During nap times I perfected the art of rock wall building. Or something like that. Fast forward fifteen years, and I'm still smitten with 'em.

Our walls remained bare for quite some time between both my fear of commitment and fear of holes in the walls. With Baby #2 on the near horizon, I got over it. I forgot about that shelf until I just saw this photo! We put another one up in the dining room and it looked gorgeous. Sometimes you just gotta take the risk!

Here we are saying goodbye to our first home, the place where I brought two of my beautiful babies into the world.

In thinking back to our humble first apartment, there really were lots of options in terms of putting our stamp on the space had we lived there longer. At the end of the day, an apartment or house doesn't become a home because of what you put on the walls or how you decorate; it becomes home because of the people who live there.

We have been really fortunate to have worked with several real estate professionals who have become our friends, and their expertise and insight in finding just the right situation for us was invaluable. But we've heard the horror stories, too. It is so important to work with someone who listens to your needs as well as your wants, and can truly help you navigate the often-bumpy real estate road. I'm sharing this story with Compass as part of their new series called Starter Stories. They can help people find just the right space in bigger metropolis areas, which can be extremely daunting, and have launched a new platform for New York City housing; you can find it here.

Everybody deserves a place to call home. Whether you want to roll up your sleeves and get to work (and gain some valuable experience!), or simply walk through the door and hang up your keys, there's the perfect place out there waiting for you to find.

If you'd like to see how we've transformed the house we're currently living in, click here and here, and be sure to check out the different rooms listed in the sidebar. Thanks for reading!

Best Homemade Rolls Recipe & a House Anniversary

Today is by far the coldest day we've had yet this fall, one of those perfect Beef Stew kinds of days. With rolls!  Delicious, homemade, melt-in-your-mouth rolls. And I've finally gotten around to sharing the recipe!

Best EASY Homemade Yeast Rolls

1 1/4 cup very warm but not hot water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp dry, active yeast (or 2 packets)
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp sugar (more or less)

In large bowl, gently mix the ingredients and let sit about 15 minutes to proof.

Next, add the following & stir together with a sturdy wooden spoon:
(You can use the dough hook on your mixer but it only takes a few moments and a little muscle to stir the dough by hand.)

1 egg
2 1/2 cups unbleached flour (you can use bread flour too)
1 cup whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
dash salt

Sprinkle additional flour onto your kneading surface and turn out dough; knead until smooth and elastic- sometimes this takes several minutes, but little helpers don't seem to mind. =)

I use a small plastic square and slice off pieces to shape into the rolls- keep the ball of dough flat in your hand and gently turn under the sides, pinching them in place on the underside. Place each roll in a lightly greased 13 x 9 baking dish/pan. Have a smaller (8 x 8 or 9 x 9) dish ready to go as well because sometimes you'll have enough dough to make extra rolls. This is a wonderful problem to have!  ;)

Let rolls rest & finish rising in pan for about 10 minutes while oven preheats to 400 degrees. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Easy and delicious! These rolls pair fabulously with my Hearty Slow-Cooker Beef Stew.

This recipe was slightly adapted from this one.

Tomorrow marks our one-year anniversary of owning this house! I remember so clearly that I lugged over the Crock-pot, the veggies and meat already prepped, a tube of chocolate chip refrigerated cookie dough & a baking sheet, and all the utensils we would need in order to eat our very first meal in our new home the day we closed. It would be another three weeks before Move In day, but it was a special night for us.

Lots of times I get so annoyed with myself for not having this or that finished, but we've worked really hard throughout the year to make this place feel like home. And it finally does! Here are some pictures of the changes we've made:

 more info about the kitchen here

 we recently painted the island a contrasting color &

finished off the {disgusting} toe kick under the cabinets- that's a post for later

 more on this small powder room here

 our master bedroom

 our family room

 our home office space (adjacent to my sewing studio) - neither blogged about yet

 our dining room

 the rock garden on a slope

 redoing the foundation garden - left side

foundation garden (with a new rock wall) - right side

I just spent 10 minutes looking for a post for either of these gardens...and nothing!

I'll put one together when it's grey and freezing and I'm dreaming of getting my hands in the dirt

I haven't shared any of our kids' bedrooms because, well, I'm busy and haven't bothered had the time. I'm still deciding what to do in the bathroom upstairs, but I painted the walls (and heater!) and am so smitten with the color! Just gorgeous! We were about to buy a vanity, sink and all the powder room hoopla when the garage door went and broke. As in, broke. Can't open or close, and thankfully the glass windows didn't shatter into a million zillion pieces. Anyhoo, that gets replaced Monday, so the ugly bathroom stuff stays put for now.

Have a good weekend!

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