I know I'm a little slow, but...

...I finally bought a bed.  I posted about making a decision months ago and even with all of your amazing comments on which one you would choose, I still couldn't make up my mind.  I know I know.  I'm so slow!  But Andrew and I went to Southpark yesterday and walked into Pottery Barn then Restoration Hardware to compare each bed in person.  And the final choice was {drumroll puhlease}...

Ta da!  The finish is a little less cherry looking than the first image and a little less country looking than this next picture below.  Not sure why we can't get a good picture on their website!

We picked this bed not because we liked it the best, but because we thought it had the most longevity and we liked it best for our room scheme.  The dark wood is going to look amazing against my crisp white bed linens and cheery yellow side tables!

I can't wait to get this amazing piece for our bedroom!!!  We've been married for almost eight years now and this will be the first bed we've ever had.  I KNOW I KNOW!  We're slow! haha  I'll be sure to post pics when the bed finally comes in.  Which will be some time in late June - it's backordered.  Go figure.

succulent garden

If you listen real hard, you might just hear me squealing with glee over my very first succulent garden.  :)  I'm not ashamed to say that I'm so proud of myself for making this happen!  Don't you LOVE it?!

best $$$ we ever spent

Andrew's mother and I just spent twelve hours fixing up the flower bed in the front yard two days ago.  Here's the before:

Overgrown knockout roses and dull bushes were what the builders left us.  And I don't know if you can tell from that second picture, but our soil was pretty much just a rock bed with leftover pine needles.  Twelve hours of digging, $500 worth of materials, the killing of three snakes, blistered hands and plenty of sore muscles later gives us the after:

Thank you.  Thank you very much.  {taking a bow} We LOVE the new improvements to our flower bed, especially the super colorful bushes called kaleidoscope something.  They'll grow to be really big, so I can't wait to see them in a few years!  We aren't done with our yard by any means but we have officially moved up a few notches from our previous state of worst yard on the block.  My next project is to find a really cool vintage piece or something fun to fill with succulents.  Specifically string of pearls.  What do you think?

I want this in my backyard, but I don't think my HOA will approve ;)

Family Tree - me

When I thought of what to do for my part of the family tree project, I knew I wanted to show a few different sides of me.  The photographer had to be showcased, of course, but it definitely was not going to be the focus.  Those of you who have only known me for a few years know me as "the photographer" but before that I was known as "Rachel".  And that's it.

I also wanted to show my crafty side, some of my favorite things, and some of my favorite people.  Here's what I came up with.

The linen background is one of my favorite fabrics.  Yellow is my favorite color.  The bird cross stitch shows my crafty side.  The coral glass beads are a souvenir from my recent trip to Ghana and show my love of nature inspired design but not necessarily nature itself.  The locket includes a few picture I've taken of my favorite two people in the world - Andrew and Emma.  And yes, I said people when I referred to my dog.

Two down, ten to go.  These will eventually go in my hall archway displayed kind of like this inspiration picture.

I have a feeling the final product will look even better than the inspiration.  What do you think?