Designing...What Am I Supposed To Do?

So, since I moved in with my boyfriend almost two years ago, we haven't done a lot of re-designing..  I moved in right after he laid wood floors and later we tiled the kitchen, he also bought new living room furniture because of a naughty kitty that couldn't find his litter box (also why the carpet was torn out..gross, I know!).  Because we did all of that, neither of us felt as though we needed to really 'decorate'..

Well, we also have different tastes in styling.  Fortunately, we both like the same colors; neutral.  But I enjoy accesorizing, and he prefers bare walls.  I want to put a rug down under the kitchen table, and he doesn't want to.  Another part of our differences is the money.  He does not want to spend money on 'stuff', whereas I think it'll add a lot! 

Slowly but surely, things are changing!  First it started with a wine rack, it's really cool-you stick the top end of the bottle in a hole, and it hangs sideways on the wall.  We both liked it, even though he doesn't drink wine. 

Then, last christmas our 'gift' to each other was finding something to hang above the couch!  (oh my, something on the walls!!)  He let me pick it out and I found some very colorful artwork at BB&B that I loved, and he could live with. 

Now, it's adding a bedside table for me.  We also bought a giant king size bed when I moved in-his double was tiny for us, as we both appreciate our space while sleeping-most nights.  But when we bought a bed side table, he only bought one, which was on clearance, so by the time I could get to the store to buy one too, they were all gone.  At this point in our relationship we were still 'his and hers', we hadn't really joined our lives as closely as we have now.  So, the new table should arrive for me soon and if he likes it enough, he's going to buy one to match and we will move his current one into the spare bedroom-where all of the 'spare' items go in our house-like guests!  (totally just kidding, Mom!)

I also found this awesome overhead light thingy for in our bedroom.  We have a side lamp, but its on his side-same with the alarm clock.  Let me tell you, crawling across a giant king-size bed in the morning to hit the snooze button is a lot of work!  So I'm going to be investing in my own!  Slowly, we are starting to make his townhouse look like our home.

I find that decorating, finding things that I love and want to surround myself with, takes a lot of time for me.  Granted, I feel as though its a little more difficult when someone else always needs to at least appreciate it, but even without someone else's opinion, I can never decide on one theme or one look, let alone find the things needed to create that look.

For example, we have a mantel in our living room, the fireplace has three sides to it, so it literally sticks out into the room-which is really cool!  But the 'things' on this mantel are mine and then his, not ours.  So it doesn't really carry any 'theme' or pattern to what is there.  I want to change it, but when I look at items at stores I love the items separately, but I don't know if they would really fit well in our space.  Because of this, I usually buy a lot of 'stuff' that doesn't fit our house but I love.  This is what I want to avoid.

I have a girlfriend that recently married and moved in with your husband, she decorated her entire house and it looks so beautiful (also on a not-very-expensive-budget)!  I don't know how she did it soo quickly and made it look so professional and put together!!

What do other people do to organize their thoughts and ideas for putting together a room??

Finally, a car I can appreciate!

After writing the title of this post, I have to say it isn't entirely accurate.

I appreciated that my Mazda started no matter how cold it was outside in the middle of winter.  I appreciated that it got be from point A to point B safely each and every day..

I did not appreciate that half the speakers didn't work, I was missing a side mirror (luckily I didn't hit a single thing while driving the car), the ceiling leaked on the passenger seat when it rained (and also on my feet), the lights weren't very bright so driving in the middle of nowhere always gave me white knuckles and left me scared to death of hitting a crazy animal.  The exhaust was so loud I would get a headache if I drove on the interstate too long. The volume button didn't work on the stereo, if I tried to turn the music up, the volume went really low and vis-versa.  It was ugly-the ceiling is torn a little, the bondo applied to it was cracking and rusting and my stepdad backed into the driver side fender last summer leaving a giant dent and scratch marks.  It smells a little odd-probably from all the rain that gets inside and then dries in the heat after, just like a sauna.

My Mazda was not pretty, I did not enjoy driving it and I spent a year and a half dreaming about buying a new car (but only 6 months were spent saving for it!-I had issues with always spending my money..).


I am pleased to announce that I have a new vehicle.  It is my new favorite thing and I hope it never changes in condition or beauty.

2006 VW Jetta GLI

It has everything I dreamed about in my new car. Love it!

Does anyone want a 1997 Mazda 626?? Runs great with minor cosmetic damage.

The Sporadic Blogger

I think I should rename my blog to 'The Sporadic Blogger'.  I just have a hard time consistently having something to write about.  Unfortunately, I can't help but think it's because I have no creativity. Well, it isn't that I have absolutely ZERO creativity, it just takes a while for me to get in that 'mood'. 

There are days where I don't usually think about doing something that isn't on my 'list of things to accomplish'.  It's an on-going list and usually when it gets shorter, I find things to fill it back up with.  Lately, though it's been hard.

It's Summer!!!

I had my student recital yesterday-stressful, but mostly successful!  So officially my summer begins!  All that I need to do this summer is buy a car, pay off a small car loan, save money, go running and relax...Plus a bazillion other things that I do enjoy, like cooking/baking, playing my musical instruments and visiting with friends...

Something tells me I won't be doing a whole lot of 'relaxing' this summer. :D

In other news, I'm very close to buying a car.  Finally.

But on to my real reason for posting.  Politics.

I've been reading a lot of various types of news lately, and I must say I'm very proud that we have Health Care Reform.  So many people told me terrible things about this reform, and for the most part they are/were ill-informed.  As a person who has a 'pre-existing condition', I am glad that if I'm ever in a bind, my rights will be protected when it comes to finding health care (among many other things that will change).

I have been thinking lately about taxes.  So many people seem to complain about them, it's almost like these people forget that taxes run our country, they provide roads, pay for regulation enforcement on things such as food, medicine, products, roads...Taxes also pay for us to be able to get government assistance for medical care (specifically for MN, at least), they provide security to the people.  Taxes are a huge reinforcement of our government's structure! 

Paying taxes is essential to keeping our freedom, yet there are some who think that paying taxes takes away our freedom.  But I must argue that while taxes can be a big chunk of your yearly 'bills', it provides a big chunk of your way of life.  Imagine having to drive on this to get to work because the government doesn't provide infrastructure development..

That would be miserable! Or think of not being able to afford to send your kids to a private school, and there was no public school system to turn to!! How would they learn and be able to create a successful life of their own?

Taxes are not always fun and it seems like we pay so much to the government.  And while the argument of wasteful spending can certainly be argued, we all have to accept that taxes provide our ability to succeed and live a comfortable lifestyle!