it's pretty awesome, i think, that i still stop almost every night and wonder if all of this could truly be my life.  it's usually after we're done watching tv or doing other stuff in the basement and i'm making my way upstairs to the bedroom.  i usually stop and stare at the stairs and think "holy crap.  i have stairs.  and i have a house.  and it's awesome."  and when i'm out doing errands with andy on the weekends, i still stop and think "holy crap.  i have a boyfriend. and he loves me".  (he is no longer my boyfriend but is, in fact, my husband...i am still not used to that yet). 
yes, it is amazing to me that i have the life that i'd always thought was out of my reach.  but that's not really what i'm impressed with.  what i am most impressed with is that i am in the moment & mindful enough to actually stop and think and be grateful.  i can honestly say that this is one of the first times in my entire life when i've been able to do that.  usually i'm complaining about how annoying things are and how many curve balls life has thrown my way.  it was a rough few years back at the beginning of my adulthood, but all of the hard work and patience has finally paid off.  and lately life has been pretty darn good to me.  i'm recognizing it now, and i hope that i will remember this feeling when the next wave of stress/anxiety/negativity comes my way. 
now that life has settled down a bit for me (yippee! the wedding is over!), i'm thinking more about house projects i'd like to do.  i'm definitely not going to be doing any major renovations any time soon since the house is in pretty good shape and i'm not exactly "handy". 
i've been working on a photo wall for a while now.  i bought a ton of frames from ikea when i first moved into my house, and i just went back to supplement my collection a couple of weeks ago.  so far i'm loving my choices - all white frames with some pictures from the wedding (we will haven't gotten back our professional photos yet...), a couple of pictures of my niece/nephews, and a few different pieces of art work that i created (inspired by finds on pinterest).  i haven't put anything on the walls yet, partly because i have to buy the hanging wire stuff (the placement of the hook by ikea is a bit awkward) and partly because i'm not sure if i want to paint my lower level first. 
because i always love when they do lists over on younghouselove, here is my list of different things i am hoping to accomplish around the house this summer:
- paint red "accent wall" in the living room.  i'm thinking subtle greyish blue.
- paint entire downstairs (main level is my territory, basement is andy's)
- paint stair railing?
- hang photo wall
- find or build bookcases/storage for huge empty wall in living room
- clean out "office"/extra bedroom.  take some stuff up to the attic, donate everything else to gw
- find another bedside table for upstairs guest bedroom at gw and give it a makeover
- find another bedside table for downstairs guest bedroom
- find or make a desk for an "office". i'm sort of considering using the upstairs guest bedroom closet as a small, makeshift office
- organize all of my crafting supplies
- purge all of my old clothing and send it to gw
- go through basement closet and get rid of old stuff that we never use any more

okay, that list is long enough for now.  i'm not sure how much i'll get done this weekend - my mom is in town and i'll feel guilty if i'm dragging her to home depot thirty times in one day (why is it that i never get everything i need when i go to home depot?  i always forget at least one thing...so ridiculous).

i'm off to see wicked tonight with some friends.  i'm not usually the going-out-in-the-middle-of-the-week type, but i'm trying to come out of my shell more and take advantage of living in an awesome city at an awesome time in my life.  anyway, it should be fun.  and a little bit of culture never killed anyone.