Everything Happens For A Reason

This is one of my favorite sayings. I find truth it in constantly, but am always surprised to see the connections. Alex had been working on our table for quite some while. I had been thinking about chairs, we'd even looked at chairs, but there didn't seem to be anything that really spoke to us. We moved the table into the house and were pretty content to continue using the metal folding chairs until we found some more permanent options.

Last week my Dad was given a dining room table by a friend that's moving out of town. As a result of this, there were some changes made to my parent's dining room and they no longer needed their own set. The table is a drop leaf style so they were able to repurpose it in another part of the house. The chairs were destined for storage in the basement. The set of 4 chairs happen to fit perfectly with our new table, and are even the same color wood stain. We'll be able to reupholster the seats in order to personalize them for our space which will be an exciting project!

The chairs, which my parents have had my entire life, will play a part in our first house. It seems fitting that our chairs have signifance to us, since the table obvious does as well. Our entire table set holds memories from both of our families. After moving the chairs into the house, I had the realization that this domino effect of events would not have been significant had we already bought chairs to go with our new table. Considering my impatient nature and desire to have a completed dining room/kitchen set, I can now see the reason behind us not finding any viable options...



Chairs with reupholstered cushions



A Table to Gather Around

A couple months before our wedding Alex decided he wanted to make me a dining room table for a wedding present. He conducted research and made a plan and sketched it all out. I knew he was making me something, but I had no idea what type of furniture it was going to be until right after the wedding. Since he knew it wouldn't be done in time he decided to let me in on the secret.

Due to the fact that we were living in an apartment and didn't have any extra room for woodworking projects; the project was being housed at his Grandpa Harshman's in Cincinnati. Following the wedding we had both moved to Lexington so he was only able to work on it about once a month, if that.

Alex and his Grandpa would dedicate entire days and weekends to working on this table. Normally Alex's visits to his grandpa's also involved many other family members being in town, so this gave the two of them a chance to bond and share some quality time with one another. Finally, after more than six months the table is where it belongs, in our new house!

I was able to join the boys and help with the finishing touches, which seemed fitting. Although it rained the entire weekend the table made it down to Lexington withoult any mishaps (maybe it was all those coats of polyurethane...) My parents were gracious enough to allow us to use their truck. They joined us for the ride down to Lexington and we all had our first dinner together in the new house.

It was definitely one of those weekends that made me feel grateful for my family, and the family I have become a become a part of. Since I'm not a woodworking expert it's difficult to comprehend how many hours and how much TLC went into making the table, but I know it'll be around for a lonnng time and it'll always hold happy memories.

Here's to making many more memories gathered around this table made of and for love.

 

Housewarming & Derby

Last week Alex and I finished moving all of our furniture into the house. Everything is organized as much as possible considering there is still quite a bit of painting and furniture to purchase.

We accomplished our goal of painting the kitchen and living room before Derby. We moved and painted (with all coats.. 3x over) the largest area of the house in less than a week. There were also about 5 trips to Lowes in there as well... Knowing that we would would be having 10+ people staying at the house was a motivating deadline!

Our friends starting coming in last Thursday evening and stayed through Sunday. Although the initial plans were made solely for Derby, the timing of our move was perfect. We definitely needed the extra space, and it allowed our friends to celebrate our new house with us. The weather cooperated and everyone had a great time. Alex and I are so thankful for our friends, new and old.

Lexington is starting to feel a lot like home. There is still tons of exploring to do, but the beautiful weather should stay around for a while... finally!