A House Full of Memories

It's been a while!  I've been putting the house together, chasing after my crazy children & just getting to know the area.  I had a LOT of fun unpacking this time around.  It gave me a chance to sit back and reminisce my things.  As I was unpacking, I realized that most of my things were given to me by someone special.

When we first got married, I was in a MAD rush to fill up our house...only to realize that STUFF isn't what makes a house a home.  It's really the people that fill it and the memories you make with them.  I took a picture of a few of my favorite things so that you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.  (And I'm using the word FEW lightly:))

Each cross was given to me or bought somewhere special.  Here goes:  the Baylor cross was from my Gammy, the small yellow cross from Gloria, cross at the very top Ashley, Blue cross at the top right I bought in Cancun with the Honeycutts, small silver cross bottom right was from Mrs. Horky, far right cross was from my mom and the metal cross at the bottom was from my Aunt Darcy.  It's funny because each one of the glass ones has broken at least once in the moves, but gorilla glue has been our friend :)

This cross was made by Reverend Birkelback (spelling?) who baptized me as an infant.

Kinda silly, but this was the first thing James purchased for our new home in Wichita Falls. 

All given by my mom at some point.  I actually stole the coca-cola crate.  Thanks mom!

A gift from Megan I think 3 years ago!

A gift from Diana Kirklin.  Isn't it beautiful? 

Our housewarming gift from Gloria after we bought our first house on Basswood.

A random letter that Aunt Lisa gave me!  I think this might be from our wedding.

A wedding gift from Megan.

A special gift from Brooke.  This has hung everywhere...from a babies nursery to the bathroom and now in our master bedroom. 

A gift from my big sister Ashley.  I remember when she gave this to me...she was embarrassed that it was all she could give for my birthday.  Little did she know that it would turn out to be the most precious thing she has ever given me.  It sits on my bathroom counter & holds rings, necklaced, etc overnight.  It makes me think about her every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to sleep. 

More gifts from Megan (also in my bathroom).  The candle is my graduation gift from Baylor and the bowl is from her trip to Greece a few years back. 

Connor's first gift from Megan!

Jacob's first gift from Megan! 

These pictures were from my mom.  I remember when Connor was just a few days old, we sat out on the back porch soaking up sunlight while she finished.  I will always cherish those precious moments with my mom...when she was teaching me how to be a mom myself.

This is really the candle holders.  These were from my Gammy.  She didn't like them in her beach condo and gave them to me. 

This was a Christmas gift from my friend Amanda.  I have another one from her that is on the shelf right next to it :)

Butterflies that my sister caught and mounted.  She knows how much I love them!!

Most of these were given to me by my Aunt Darcy for each stage in James and my marriage.  The plate at the right was a gift from one of my hosts when I visited Kenya in 2005.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of just a few of my favorite things.  I hope to continue to collect things over the years that remind me of my amazing friends and family!