Home Sweet Home

Before Pictures from August 

After 8 months, lots of headaches, and even more money our shipment finally arrived.  It was Christmas in March for the Kuemmerlins.  We boxed up the 35 boxes so long ago I literally forgot what was in them (maybe we have a little too much stuff?!?).  

Exciting Saturday morning...

 We were so glad to finally have our things it didn't even matter that it was early Saturday morning.  Poor Jess went to see Armin Van Buuren in Sao Paulo the night before and was running on fumes.  The men began bringing everything up and I had flashbacks of Arsenial Hall whoopin as I saw our apartment began to fill up. I'm not ashamed to say that I jumped up and down and did multiple dances around the apartment as I opened box after box.

The last things they brought up were our furniture pieces, I really didn't know if they were going to get them all the way up to the 5th floor.  They got the armrior up with no problem, but the buffet cabinet was way too long for the elevator so they had to carry it five floors up a spiral staircase.  They were troopers, I'm so thankful they were stubborn and wanted to get it up here. 

Left and Center: Hallways Right: Entry Wall (I made the paper garland, still trying to decide if I like it there)

We opened all the boxes and did God-knows-how many loads of laundry.  Note: laundry here takes forever, okay maybe only 2 1/2 hours, but then you have to hang it up to dry.  No dryers here...so let's just say we did laundry all week.  

Since our walls are concrete we decided to hire a handyman to put up the artwork.  He came another Saturday morning (bright and early) and he and I got to work.  It was a challenging morning because neither of us knew the other's language, but I felt successful because I was able to communicate what I wanted.  SCORE!

The view from the living room into the dining room

It's amazing how much having artwork and other decorations can make your home feel like a home.  Each one of these pieces was bought on one of our trips and a wonderful memory is tied to each piece. I clearly remember my first trip to Bangkok as I sat starry eyed watching a street artist create a beautiful elephant out of cow hide.  Or bargaining in the Beijing dirt market for my first piece of artwork I bought.  A weekend trip with Jess to buy our first pieces of furniture together.  Buying the Apsara in Cambodia with Stephanie, Jennelle, and Anne.  Although the pieces aren't worth much, they mean the world to me.  I am so much happier at home stealing glances of memories from the past three years in China.  

Jess and I decided maybe we should start collecting other things other than artwork, as we don't have many more places for it.  We still have some work to do on the apartment, I want to make a headboard and we need to fill on more place.  But that's the beauty of it, we get to do it together and build our decor with memories of living this international life.