History Nerds

Chris and I are big history nerds, if you haven't already figured that out from our map wall a few weeks ago. I am probably the biggest history nerd though, which I already hinted at here. (In summation, I love Little House on the Prairie.)

Any-who, if we didn't already stamp our nerdiness on our house with the map wall, we definitely did in our preparations for my brother and his girlfriend's visit last weekend for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.  Just like most of you probably do when you're expecting guests at your house, we spent the week before their arrival cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. But, while cleaning for most people is probably just the basic dusting and vacuuming, cleaning for me also means finally finishing long-awaited house projects. More specifically, long-awaited projects in the areas that guests will see, like the guest bedroom and its surrounding areas.

The first project was a 1,000-piece puzzle of the United States and the U.S. Presidents. Uber-nerdy, I know. It was an old puzzle I found in my parents' basement when we were visiting at Christmas and I decided that it was perfect for Chris and I. And, it only took us a couple of days to put it together (while we watched the first Presidential primary results of the year!).

Unfortunately, we realized that we were missing about 7 pieces of that puzzle. Bummer. So, I found an identical puzzle on Amazon for around $10 that promised to have all of its pieces. (I know you are probably thinking that I'm super nerdy for ordering the same puzzle online, but I had to have it!)

The new puzzle didn't have all its pieces though. It was missing 2-3 pieces. And, the worst part, besides that the missing pieces were part of Andrew Jackon's mugshot, er, portrait (which is one of Chris' favorite presidents) ,was that the puzzles were not identical. Sure, they were the same "scene" but the cuts of the pieces were different so it wasn't easy to swap a piece from one puzzle to the other. So, after carefully testing out pieces from both puzzles, we were able to find the right combination to make it look somewhat normal. For example, Andrew Jackson's portrait and description aren't quite right . . . (if you don't know who Andrew Jackson is, I guess that's ok. He's the one in the middle with the white hair, big forehead, and crazy receding hairline. But not the almost-bald dude on the bottom, that John Quincy Adams.)

If you can't tell, his nose and chin are kinda weird, at least weirder than they're already supposed to be, and the dates of his presidency and party are a jumbled mess. But I didn't care, at least the puzzle was together!

Then, I went out a bought some Modge Podge (because for some reason I didn't already own it) and a pricier-than-I-wanted-it-to-be frame from Michael's. Not only was it pricey, but the frame's corner was broken when I unwrapped it. That's what I get for being inpatient and buying when things aren't on sale. . . anyway, we hung it up in the hall in between the guest bedroom and the guest bathroom.

It fits in nicely with the Presidential and American History books that fill the bookshelf beneath it. (Yes, we have a bookshelf devoted to our Presidential history books. And don't worry, I have many more history books not pictured.) Plus, the AWESOME Abe Lincoln bobble head and vintage globe my sister gave me round out the nerdiness. (Thanks, Danielle!)

Well, I lied. The top two shelves are Presidential and American History books. The bottom shelf is clearly Harry Potter, Jane Austen, LOTR, some yearbooks, and other miscellaneous big books. Someday they will all be history books when I decide to organize them (unless I move them to my future classroom!).

The other project was hanging up some awesome sketches of our U.S. Presidents' homes that my mother-in-law gave us over Christmas. She had had them since Chris was younger, so I thought the perfect place to put them was in the guest bedroom where his parents will stay when they visit. As usual, Chris did the measurements, while I handled the sketches and the frames. . .

They line the wall across from the guest bed. So, if you stay with us, you will get to fall asleep, or wake up, to these beauties. Cool, huh? (only if you're a nerd, like us!)

And, just for your information, as a rule of thumb, I usually hang frames 3 inches a part (I did that here and here). I think it provides enough space between the frames, while also seeming "close." Especially because I use chunkier/bulkier frames.

Here are all of the prints up close . . .

First, there's George Washington's Mount Vernon (top) and William McKinley's home (bottom). . .

Then, it's Warren Harding's home (top) and Prospect, Princeton University's Presidents' home, and hence, Woodrow Wilson's home (bottom), since besides being our 28th President, he was also the 13th President of Princeton . . .

We also have Polk Place (top), the home of James K. Polk, and Andrew Jackson's Hermitage (bottom) . . .

Lastly, we have Harry Truman's Missouri home (top) and James Madison's Montpelier (bottom) . . .

I think we are the ultimate nerds, don't you think? Can't you just wait to come visit us and join us in all of our nerdy-glory? I like to think that we're all nerds at heart, I just like to show ours all over our house!

Anyway, in non-nerdy news, Chris and I will be spending the weekend tackling our yard since spring summer has decided to come early in DC. Remember all of that work we did last year? Well, it looks the same now, but substitute1-foot high weeds instead of ivy. We're in for some fun!