Happy House-iversary!

Yep, we've officially lived here for a whole year.

Crazy, crazy, crazy. Other things that happened a year ago: the government was shut down, Obamacare was fudup, Putin was nominated for a Nobel, and apparently Disney on Ice was in Charlotte. Those things seem like they were forever ago, but my little house still feels so new. Most years in apartments, that lease term seemed like a death sentence that never drew closer. Home-ownership is an intangibly beautiful thing.

To commemorate, let's take a look at where we are on day 366. (If you need a refresher on where we started and where we've been, there are the links).

There's a lot of pictures here, so I'm breaking it up into inside and outside.

Today we'll do the outside and we'll stroll through the inside next time.

Holler for fall, y'all. Sure, autumnal decor is not official part of our year-long improvements, but I just want to look at it every chance I get.

 

That sign, from Garden Ridge At Home, was made with a little wire hanger to hang on a wall. I snipped that right off and used some floral wire to string it to our wreath to add a not-so-creepy Halloween spin.

Our plants are growing quite well, although some are growing more crooked than others. The hope remains that with mature plants we'll be able to rid ourselves of that "new construction feel" sooner rather than later.

Just like last year, our tree has turned red. However, this year, there is a fence, a grill, and some patio furniture in this picture. And a lot less mulch. We need to buy some mulch.

While these changes are a far cry from last year, it's nothing compared to the progress we've made inside over the past year. I really enjoyed digging through my old archives (specifically last October and November) to see how different everything looks. Like those 10 lbs. I didn't plan to gain, I hardly noticed the changes day-to-day, but looking back it's sooo obvious.

Addendum: I was mistaken, our move-in date was actually October 2nd, not October 3rd. Damn archives for obliging me to information accuracy. Still, happy belated birthday to my house-baby.

I'm Falling for this Fall Front Porch

Can you feel that chill in the air? Ahhh, that crisp, cool autumn air is here. Fall officially starts the countdown to my favorite seasons in ascending order: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. All my friends and family know how seriously I take holidays. Sweater weather and pumpkin-spice everything are only perks.

Another of my favorite perks is all the Fall home decor goodies. My collection is still growing, so our home interior needs some (pumpkin) spicing up.

Despite that, the outside of our home is officially all Falled up.

Right now, we're relying on hay bales and mums to carry our front porch, but as we get later in the season, we'll add a lot of pumpkins. And yes, I had just watered the mums when I snapped this pic.

I also added some acorns and pinecones to our topiaries and some faux mums to the R wreath.

This is our first go-round with big Fall decorating outside. When we moved in last October, we were too exhausted to decorate, so we added some mums and called it a day. Of course, never having cared for mums (or any non-succulent plants for that matter) I killed them really, really quickly. Like cats-running-for-the-kitchen-when-you-open-the-can-opener's-drawer quickly.

This year, I'm feeling more confident in keeping my little mums alive. It's been a week and they're still kicking.

It's crazy that our house is the most decorated for Fall in our neighborhood. It's like I'm winning a contest I didn't even know existed. Part of me says calm down, and reminds me that some people went all out for Christmas last year. Then again, I'm kinda crazy (definitely crazy when it comes to holidays) so it's only fitting that I raise the psycho-bar for us all.

Chalk It Up To...

Have I told y'all about my chalkboards?

Like most girls, I have a serious thing for chalkboards and chalkboard art. Like, we're not-seeing-other-people serious.

We have two chalkboards in the house: one in the foyer and one in the kitchen.

You may have seen them floating about in some wide shots, but I don't think I've ever shared them. Seeing as I have a serious disability when it comes to staying up-to-date with holiday decor, I love that this little thing only takes a few minutes to change out. Count on this: when all my other knick-knacks are two months out-of-context, my chalkboards are up-to-the-minute accurate.

I've only recently started cataloging my drawings, but here's a brief history to bring you up to date:

 

Pat has even tried his hand at designing chalkboards. I don't know what A September to Remember means (is it a sports or movie reference I don't get?), but I appreciate the input. He also gets writing cred for July Not So Dry.

Now I'm not delusional: I know I'm not Little Baby Garvin awesome with my designs, and you won't see a Woodward Place Etsy shop popping up anytime soon. What I can say with complete confidence is they make me happy and I feel like a little (very amateur) artist.

So that's that.