Our Home!

"As we recall the commandment to stand in holy places, we should remember that beyond the temple, the most sacred and holy places in all the world should be our own dwelling places. Our homes should be committed and dedicated only to holy purposes. In our homes all of the security, the strengthening love, and the sympathetic understanding that we all so desperately need should be found."

"Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord?" Pres. James E. Faust

I found this quote about a year ago while taking a family history class, and when I read it I decided that I wanted my home to be like the temple when I had a family of my own. I sure am grateful that Casey feels the same way. As we've turned our little apartment into a home we've tried to keep this goal in mind, not only in the way we decorate, but also in the feeling that's here. It's been a fun adventure, finding all the things to decorate with...a little here and a little there, and we really feel like it's coming along nicely, we'll see what you think!

Here's our lovely bedroom, with our sweet Ikea lamps, and bedside tables. We got the bedding and pillows as a wedding present from my mom and sister. You'll notice Bolt the love puppy has a prominent place on our bed...mostly because he just matches so well!

Here's our little "Ikea corner" as Casey calls it. He thinks this part of our kitchen looks like a kitchen from Ikea, and I do agree. We especially love the cart and shelves, given to us by Casey's parents. The table was given to us by my sister and brother-in-law. We are really grateful for it. It definitely completes this corner, and it's very nice to have four chairs. (We only had two with the little table that came with the apartment.)

Here's the counter/sink/oven area. We're glad that many of the things we used to decorate we already had or got from our wedding. The sign over the oven says, "Good Cooks never lack friends", hopefully I'll acquire the famous Hickman women cooking skills, if not, I'm sure our children will.

This is our cute little microwave cart that Becca and Jake so kindly gave us. We wouldn't have any counter space without it, because the microwave used to reside on and take up 3/4 of the countertop, so we love it. The heart on the fridge is a spectacular valentine from Casey's mom.

Lastly, we come to the living room. Casey made this mobile out of chinese lanterns that I got for my birthday. We're still deciding how we feel about it, but it's pretty fun, and my visiting teachers think it looks very "modern".

This is the one wall we have decorated. Mostly it's pictures of us from our wedding. Casey feels that we need more variety, hopefully we can find some cool pictures to mix things up.

As I've been typing all of this Casey said that he thinks all of my commentary sounds like we're on a tv show where I'm trying to sell a house. I just love our little home, and want to help point out the things that we especially love! There are still many empty walls and things we'd like to fix up, but it's coming along, one day at a time.

Hope you've enjoyed the tour of our home!

Valentines Day (one week later)

We had a wonderful very first Valentines Day together. Katalyn made the most delicious heart-shaped pancakes ever!
And I stayed true to Pickett family Valentines tradition by staying up until 1 in the morning making this cookie.
It may not be the most beautifully frosted cookie, but I feel that what it lacked in aesthetics was more than compensated for with size as it was by far the biggest cookie I have ever made. We just finished eating the left-overs a few days ago.
Being Newlyweds has been wonderful thus far. We are growing closer together and learning how to be better companions. We have also been doing some serious home decorating, and thanks to a few very productive Ikea trips and a lot of Target gift cards, our little apartment is really starting to feel like home. We'll have to include some pictures in our next post. Also, I will probably make Katalyn write next time so that it will be longer and more interesting.