ghent, belgium

On our last full day in Belgium, we took the train to the city of Ghent, which I believe is the second largest city in Belgium.  I don't think I mentioned this in my previous entries, but Belgium spoke two main languages.  The city of Louvain is the Dutch-speaking town, while Brussels and Ghent are French-speaking.  Just a little bit of information for ya!

Oh no!  Has anyone seen Harry Potter?  He seemed to have lost his glasses.

tune-y tuesday | august playlist

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I guess you could say this is the last playlist of the summer.  Can't believe it's almost over!  Anyway, I had a few more to add to this but unfortunately, they're not available on Grooveshark just yet.  Maybe next month!  Happy grooving!

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Take a Walk / Passion Pit

Enough Said / Aaliyah (ft. Drake)

Best Friend / Dent May

Dance For You / Beyonce

Thinking About You / Frank Ocean

For more Tune-y Tuesday playlists, click here

brussels, belgium (part 2)

Back in Brussels on Day 2, we ran into some sort of sporting event near the city hall.  I have no idea what the whole point of the game was, but the crowd sure was getting into it. 

We couldn't leave Brussels without going home with some Brussels chocolates.  They're big on pralines and they were delicious!

For dinner, we ate on the patio of an authentic Belgian restaurant (so they say).  The waiter was awesome.  Sadly, it started pouring, so we had to take the party inside. 

TGIF!  Happy weekend!

our first home | kitchen + breakfast nook

I don't think I've ever featured our kitchen before, except briefly on this post.  It is not always the neatest and we haven't really done too much too it.  Like the rest of the house, this area got the same, too yellow Behr paint on the walls.  When I couldn't stand it anymore, we decided to paint it a minty green (Behr paint in Palm Breeze).

The breakfast nook was slightly neglected.  With the upgraded plantation shutters though, it really gave it a good boost that it needed.  We inherited my in-laws' dining room set which was a lot bigger than the sad one you're seeing below.

I added some accessories on the wall, some stools, and here it is now.

I think I've mentioned this before, but after painting the walls mint green in the kitchen, I wanted to paint the cabinets a very dark, chocolate brown.  I figured since I wasn't going to get the granite countertops I've been dreaming about, at least painting the cabinets and adding some hardware would do it.  Sadly, that never happened, but we've managed to live with it.  The cabinets aren't too shabby anyway.

Next on the tour is the family room.  There's a little preview for you.

{recent photos were taken by a professional}

louvain, belgium (for dad)

One of the main reasons why we chose to visit Belgium was to see Louvain (or Leuven).  Our Dad went to the University of Lueven from around 1969 - 1972, and he spoke often of his times there.  He wanted to take us there someday, and so we thought we'd pay a sort of pilgrimage on his behalf. 

our first home | formal living + dining

Since we're moving, I wanted to feature our first home for memories.  Also to show off how awesome our house looks in these pictures, taken by a professional that our realtor hired.  He made our house look ginormous in these pictures! 

First up are the two front rooms, the formal living and dining.  You've seen these rooms several times before, but thought I'd start from the front of the house and work our way to the back. 

As soon as you walk into the house, the first thing you see is this. 

This is how it looked like when we first got our keys back in September 2009 and walked in for the first time as homeowners (well that's a lie - this was the day after).

I think the first thing I bought was that rectangular mirror which I found at Ross.  I was so excited when Paul bought me the console table for my birthday.  I've been hinting at him for months that I found the perfect console table at Target. 

I found this picture of Paul painting the first coat on with Behr paint in Desert Camel.  A few weeks later (if not A week) we changed it to Sherwin Williams in Camelback because the previous one was a little too yellow.  Lesson learned:  see if you like the paint in natural light first before continuing on to paint the rest of the house. 

Here's the formal living room and dining before:

We even had my family over for lunch one day and had them choose their top two favorites.  We ended up choosing a Behr paint that my Dad really liked (hi Dad!).

Our awesome makeshift blinds.  We put them on there when we painted the room and never took them off.  It was like this for almost two years.  Goodness.

 

And here it is now, as you've seen it lately on this blog.

Don't mind the blanket on the couch.  We forgot to remove it before the pictures.  That's Bailey's favorite spot, her go-to place when she wants to get away from us.

I've been meaning to put some artwork and a bench on that bare wall but never got around to it.  Maybe in the next house.  I think we put most of our hard work (and money) into this front room.  There was a lot to fill up and we basically started from scratch.  I am probably most proud of this room, and I hope I can duplicate this in the next house, if not make it better.

Up next is the kitchen.  I hope you have a good weekend!

brussels, belgium (part 1)

This was the first time in Europe for most of us, and to commemorate the event, my sister took this picture of me and my Mom right when we landed.  Such tourists, we are!

Our first stop was Belgium.  We stayed in the heart of Brussels, Belgium's capital.  We were blown away as soon as we got out of the train station. 

 Most people rode on bikes.  These were rentals parked right in front of our hotel.  And notice the cobble stones?  As soon as I walked out of our hotel, I tripped on one of them.  It was definitely a foreshadowing of the days to come.  They look great in pictures, but they're a pain to walk on.

white coat ceremony

Just got back from Kirksville, MO yesterday.  The main highlight of our weekend was of course, Karina's White Coat Ceremony, officially inducting her as a student doctor.

Her biggest fans.

She looks pretty good in her white coat, if I do say so myself!

And here are some pictures of downtown Kirksville.  I must tell you, it is a HAPPENING place!  Most (if not all) shops close at around 5-6pm, and there is no Target.  I.would.DIE!  They do have a Walmart (thank God), and little antique shops.  There are two Universities (Truman State University, and A.T. Still University, which is my sister's school) just a block away from each other, so I guess this is technically considered a college town. 

And man, am I jealous of my sister's view from her apartment window!  That's Kirksville, MO, keepin' it classy for ya!

Who knows when we'll be back in this town.  Probably not until my sister graduations in 2016, especially with a little one in tow by then.  This is the first time EVER that we'll be living in two different cities, and I will surely miss her.  But I know this is temporary, and she will be coming home every other month.  Change is good, and she is going after her dreams.