I haven't lived in a house with a fireplace and mantel since we left Colorado in December 2008. We have a house in Colorado Springs, just a few miles away from my parents' house. The house has been rented out for the last three years by three different sets of tenants--all who have lived there two times longer than I have (and even more than that for Malu because he deployed two months after we moved in). So basically, I lived in the house for about five months before I got orders to move to Fort Bliss, Texas. I didn't even get to finish decorating the place.
When I moved to El Paso, Malu was still deployed so I rented out an apartment and put most of our stuff in storage, including my Christmas decorations and tree. Almost a year later, I packed that apartment up and deployed. Most of you know the story of that deployment (if not, click HERE) and I came back a few weeks later, pregnant. Since I deployed, Malu decided to hop into another deployment cycle, so when I returned to El Paso, he was gone. I rented a small house--no fireplace and most of the stuff that was in storage before, went back into storage again.
Well, fast forward to now...we were told that the houses/apartments in Germany were really small, so we left a good amount of stuff in storage. As a matter of fact, our packers didn't have much work to do because all they had to do was re-label the boxes that had never been opened almost 2 years prior and I mistakenly had them put our Christmas decorations and tree back into storage. They'll be there until we move back to the States in 2014.
The only Christmas decorations we have at the moment are the ones we bought at Ramstein last weekend for the real Christmas tree we'll be buying after Thanksgiving. Frankly, I was disappointed with how expensive decorations have become, even at the PX! And I haven't had time to go on the local economy to find cheaper ones. I will be trying to build my collection at the upcoming Christmas markets though.
I wish we had a fireplace and mantel to pretty up. We don't really have a focal point in the room that we could build a theme around. Our dining room doesn't even have room for some kind of hutch or buffet that I could decorate (and we left that in storage back home too), so it doesn't leave much for me to work with.
I just signed up for Pinterest because, frankly, everyone's on Pinterest these days and I can see why--it's freakin' addictive. I went crazy over these Christmas mantels today. At least I have some good ideas for when we move back to the States and I will make sure that the next place we live in has a fireplace!
Oh well...mantel or not, I'm still as giddy as ever about Christmas. Malu and I have so much in store for Sina, we can't wait!
Gosh, look at me...we haven't even done Thanksgiving yet!
When I moved to El Paso, Malu was still deployed so I rented out an apartment and put most of our stuff in storage, including my Christmas decorations and tree. Almost a year later, I packed that apartment up and deployed. Most of you know the story of that deployment (if not, click HERE) and I came back a few weeks later, pregnant. Since I deployed, Malu decided to hop into another deployment cycle, so when I returned to El Paso, he was gone. I rented a small house--no fireplace and most of the stuff that was in storage before, went back into storage again.
Well, fast forward to now...we were told that the houses/apartments in Germany were really small, so we left a good amount of stuff in storage. As a matter of fact, our packers didn't have much work to do because all they had to do was re-label the boxes that had never been opened almost 2 years prior and I mistakenly had them put our Christmas decorations and tree back into storage. They'll be there until we move back to the States in 2014.
The only Christmas decorations we have at the moment are the ones we bought at Ramstein last weekend for the real Christmas tree we'll be buying after Thanksgiving. Frankly, I was disappointed with how expensive decorations have become, even at the PX! And I haven't had time to go on the local economy to find cheaper ones. I will be trying to build my collection at the upcoming Christmas markets though.
I wish we had a fireplace and mantel to pretty up. We don't really have a focal point in the room that we could build a theme around. Our dining room doesn't even have room for some kind of hutch or buffet that I could decorate (and we left that in storage back home too), so it doesn't leave much for me to work with.
I just signed up for Pinterest because, frankly, everyone's on Pinterest these days and I can see why--it's freakin' addictive. I went crazy over these Christmas mantels today. At least I have some good ideas for when we move back to the States and I will make sure that the next place we live in has a fireplace!
Gosh, look at me...we haven't even done Thanksgiving yet!
5 comments:
I kinda can't wait for Christmas NEXT year because we'll be in a place that snows (finally!! I've wanted that my whole life!) and most likely, we'll have a fireplace.
I am crazy addicted to pinterest and actually saw a tutorial on there for how to build a fake fireplace out of a cardboard box. And it actually looked pretty cool. But, I don't really have the time or energy to tackle it so no mantle this year for me either.
I have always wanted to live in a place with a fireplace and mantel. It sure makes decorating around that area so much more fun and cozy. And I love what you found on Pinterest! It definitely sparked my Christmas mood x5!
This is the first year that we don't have a fireplace! I'm a bit heartbroken...and freakin' cold! lol Guess we will be hanging our stockings by the window with care. Ugh.
aw, it can still be totally festive with or without a fireplace!
I love Pinterest! I think I have a few of those mantles on my boards as well :)
Oh my, I can relate to boxes moved from one PCS move to another whose contents had not seen the light of day in years passing! (Although, here, my hubby has diligently unpacked, sorted out the contents of all those boxes that were in the garage! (He was able to do so and get rid of a bunch of things, since I was not "helping"! I am one that tends to keep things, ...cuz "ya never know when it comes in handy"! So, without my assitance, he was able to get rid of the boxes that took up the space that my mini would have parked in.
I love pinterest too! Stop by and check out some of my boards :o) I love our mantle and actually while living on post housing in Kentucky, I bought an antique mantle, since there wasnt one in there :o) We still have it in our bedroom...I love it :o) Maybe you can see if you can find an old mantle there.
Blessings & Aloha!
Thank you my dear friend for visiting and for your lovely comment. Yes, we are truly so thankful for all the awesome blessings.
Post a Comment