" A picture is worth a thousand words"

We moved into our first home two years ago. I knew I didn't want to quickly buy art just to have something on the walls so I took my time deciding what would fit our room best.  This month, I finally decided it was time to decorate the wall in our family room!  I am a very sentimental person, so I decided to piece together photos for a "wall collage" of our favorite memories. It turned out to be such a fun project for me and was kind of like taking a trip down memory lane! 

I collected pictures that are special to me that probably wouldn't mean much to most people.  In fact, the quality in a few of the photos is pretty poor, but oh the memory!  If you are like me, then certain pictures are framed in your heart and mind forever.  A picture that can take you back to a special day or a specific emotion are priceless.  I chose a few from my childhood that captured moments I will forever hold on to.  Here are two of my favorites. 

In this first one, my dad is playing with me at the park.  I don't have very many pictures of my dad and I at this age and I love how happy I am in my daddy's arms.  

This next picture is so precious to me.  I remember seeing it years ago as Dee Dee and I looked through old boxes of pictures.  I sat and stared at this one for a while because it brought back so many memories of joy for me.  There were a lot of hard times when I was this age, but Dee Dee made sure there were times I could just be a child.  She took me to throw the frisbee and blow bubbles as often as she could!

It's funny how it all started out as my little "project"!  But before long, Mike was pretty excited about our wall!  We sat up one night thumbing through old albums and I loved watching his eyes light up as he remembered his childhood in Bogota.  Here is my favorite that we found of Mike and his father.  I love the sweet smile on Mike's face as he smells the flowers and the way his father is beaming with JOY over his son! 

I also included a few photos from places we've traveled together that mean so much to us.  In this picture, Mike is standing in the main plaza of Villa de Leyva, Colombia. This quaint little town is special to Mike because he spent many years vacationing there with his family.   A few years ago, Mike took me to visit Villa de Leyva while we were in South America.  I love this little plaza because during the day it is filled with laughter as children eat ice cream and play soccer.  Families fly kites and sit on the steps without a care in the world.  At night, the scene takes on a more romantic ambiance as couples sit under verandas sipping their wine and listening to Colombian music.  Such a beautiful little town!

These last two pictures are probably my favorites on the wall!  My grandmother is one of the most special ladies in my life and as I planned our wedding a few years ago, I sat with my grandmother Shirley looking through boxes of her old hats.  She told me stories of all the hats she owned and we searched til we found the perfect one for my wedding day. With a little bit of dye and new russian veiling, my grandmother's old hat became a treasure to me!  Here is a picture of Dee Dee putting it on for me.  

I didn't realize that my grandmother had a similar picture from her wedding day until this year when I looked through an album at her house.  When I saw it, I knew immediately that it had to go on my wall!  This is my sweet great grandmother Mildred putting my grandmother's wedding hat on.  Priceless! 

So needless to say, I am really happy with how our wall collage turned out! I collected all the frames from Goodwill so I could get a good eclectic mix of shapes, colors, and styles.  I also included a few random pieces or art and sketches to mix it up a bit.  A good friend recommended that I cut out shapes of the frames and tape them up for a few days so I could try out the new look before I made my collage permanent.  Excellent advice since I moved them around each day for a week before making up my mind!! Miller, our golden retriever, of course was involved in each step of the process...    

Here is how it turned out!  Each picture has a sweet story behind it and now I am reminded of all the joy and provision the Lord has extended to our family throughout the years.  I hope I continue to stop and thank God for all the blessings in my life each day as I walk by my wall of pictures.