Love at First Sight ... and Eight Years Later

Do I believe in love at first sight? Well, that’s a complicated question.

If we’re talking shoes, handbags and my pets, then yes. 

But if we’re talking the more traditional, girl sees guy and *bam* it’s love. Well, not exactly, but maybe sorta. 

I met my husband online. On Hot or Not, to be exact. He has said when he read my profile, he thought, “I could marry this girl!” 

I wasn’t quite as blown away by his first email to me, but I was interested. 

We began chatting online, and I quickly started falling for him; however, it wasn't until I saw him standing at my door for our first date, the verdict was in: HOT.

Due to his being late (on purpose, since he didn’t think a local concert made a good first date), we ended up winging it. We went bowling, got milkshakes at Dennys, and played at a playground near his house in Rancho Cordova. 

It was the most magical first date this girl could have. I think I started falling in love that very first date, and I think that’s about as close to “love at first sight” as you can get. I went home that night thinking, if he's for real, I could marry this guy. 

And so I did. Exactly a year later, he recreated that first date, and at the end, proposed. On June 23, we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. It’s been eight years since that fateful first date. 

To mark the five-year milestone, we took wedding anniversary photos at the park that started it all, Hagen Park in Rancho Cordova. 

Here are some of my favorites. Thanks to Christina Campbell, Lifestyle Photographer.

 

 

 

 There's even more here.

Updating an Antique Bedroom

I recently got it in my head that I wanted to update our bedroom. We never really finished the bedroom since moving back in after last summer's mold problem. The only catch was, no extra money with which to do it. That might be a problem for most people, but not a thrifty pro like myself.

Problem No. 1:

It never actually looked this neat, except when we had company. Coloring is off in pic.

Our pressed-wood bookshelf style headboard was driving me crazy. The open space made it nearly impossible to prop up pillows to watch movies. And I was getting tired of all the random stuff left on it.

Solution:

 This super-sturdy wood headboard not only has the shelf that my husband loves, and the solid back for pillows that I desired, but it also has a built-in reading lamp and two cubbies to store all the things that cluttered the last headboard!

Price: Free from Craigslist.

Problem No. 2:

Our white Ikea Kajak always looked messy, took up a lot of space and didn’t match our antique-style bedroom. It spins so you can show the mirrored side, but it was always so overflowing with towels, spinning caused towels to fall on the floor. 

Solution:                 

 

This pressed-wood pantry fits perfectly next to our entertainment center, works well as a linen closet, and I love that it has doors so no one has to see our linens! Bonus: The bottom shelf stores Aaron’s music books, notebooks, harmonics and "box of stuff" that cluttered the entertainment center.

Price: Free from a friend.

Problem No. 3:

I don’t have a night stand. Not really. I have a wobbly bookshelf filled with beauty stuff. I pull a modern blue nightstand and a floor lamp in front of that at night. Tack-y.

Problem No. 4:

I had already dug into the mess when I took this.

The clutter! Although my husband is mostly to blame for this, I admit my part. He piles things on the entertainment center, the headboard and his dresser. I stuff the small built-in shelves with papers and random things that belong in the bedroom but don’t really have a place.

Solutions 3 and 4:

The small shelves now house all my lotions, body sprays and nail polishes. Lining everything up prevents me from shoving random items there.

This space is now officially my girlie corner of the room.

I sorted through my collapsible organizers and made better use of them. One continues to hold my belts and hair scarves. The second holds sunglasses, glasses, sunblock and all those little things I would stuff in the shelves (with plenty of room to toss in more). I moved the third to the entertainment center to hold the CDs and DVDs that were always lying around.

And I finally convinced my husband to unpack his boxes of stuff that sat on the entertainment center, driving me crazy.

Now, I just have to secure the perfect nightstand to fit between the bed and my antique dresser and decide on curtains. Aaron's agreed to hang curtains for our five-year wedding anniversary ... he really hates hanging things.

I'm also toying with the idea of some romantic word art above the bed. Something along the lines of this.