places we've been

 I've been wanting to do this little project since we moved in to the house. Yes, a year and a half ago.
Finally, last month I got it done.

It's our "places we've been" photo wall.
Every photo is a landscape shot from some of the places we've vacationed as a family or couple.
So far we've got France, Mexico, Mustang Island (Texas), Tony Grove (our favorite camping spot here in Utah), San Antonio, and Hawaii.

In the center is the photo of us in front of the Louvre on our honeymoon,
our very first "family" vacation. Our luggage was missing so all we had was a disposable camera we bought at a souvenirs shop. 
And it has become my very favorite picture of us.

I bought almost all of these frames from IKEA. I decided to go with white frames of varying shade and design and color pictures.

I spent three days looking at all these frames, trying to figure out how best to hang them in a visually pleasing arrangement,

finally got fed up with having to walk around them (I'd laid them out on the floor),

set up the ladder, got my nails and hammer, and just hung them up

one at a time, just eyeballing where they seemed to look right. I'm actually really happy with the casual finished result.

We've got a lot of wall above left to fill as we take more trips and go new places.

I figure each time we vacation I'll print out a photo, get a frame, and hang it up wherever it fits.

That sweet little world globe was a happy find at an antiques store that Kent's mom took me to in California.  I bought the little birdies from a garage sale.

I find myself stopping at the top of the stairs throughout the day, just looking at my photo wall.  
I tend to do that sort of thing whenever I finish a project.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who obsesses over a finally finished job...