Happy Monday! This past Saturday was July 1st meaning we are half way through 2017! Can you believe it?! Back in January I wrote a post listing goals I had for the year, so this past weekend I sat down with the list to see how things were going.

I wanted this to be a true judge of where I’m sitting with my goals so I honestly didn’t look at this AT ALL until I was writing an update of where I am now. Looking at the list was a little disheartening because unfortunately Continue reading →

For those who don’t know, I work part-time with a school system. I am an instructional mentor for 16 teachers, across 4 different schools, one of them being a high school. Nearing 30 years old, this is my first time being immersed in high school culture since I myself walked the halls of my high school. Continue reading →

I had a friend look me in the eye the other day and genuinely ask me, “How are you always happy?”

Well let me first begin by saying that I’m NOT always happy. Continue reading →

Thanks for checking back in on our humble abode!

Before I even get started on my original plan for this post can I just say that I just got to use a gift card at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and At Home?! I found some great stuff y’all! Can’t wait to knock off more house stuff on my 2017 goal list!!!! Anyway, back to the why we’re here. Last week I shared pictures from the photo shoot we did when we bought our house (Click here if you missed it!) and I promised that I would share another post of things we have done around the house.

Now this house was completely live-able HOWEVER we weren’t 100%  happy with it. It isn’t old (built in 2000!) but it isn’t young either! The previous owners and/or builders had many things in the house that worked just fine, but it was obvious they were either the cheapest route or not done to the best of their ability. No bueno!

With that being said though, this isn’t our forever home so we’re only willing to spend but so much on the changes we want to see. Realistically many of them may never happen. Honestly, I hate that, but it just doesn’t make sense!

Okay, before we start let’s take a moment to appreciate our first meal! hahahah

Okay so here’s what we’ve done so far (down to some very small details):

Miscellaneous:

• Replaced the broken plastic doorbell with a brushed brass one
• Added decorative static cling window film to the tiny windows beside our front door (If you had told me I would do this, I would have been like “heck no, how trashy!” but it looks legit and beautiful. I love how it turned out!)
• Replaced every. single. flippin. door knob, exterior and interior, from brass to brushed nickel
• Replaced the brass hotel lock on the front door with a brushed nickel one (I wanted to remove it completely but the holes in the frame work were going to cost more time and money to fix than just switching out the lock)
• Replaced blinds on 5 windows throughout the house
• Replaced broken outlet covers
• Hauled away an abandoned grill, rusted outdoor decorations, and a garden bench
• Installed an electronic garage door with keypad

Living room:

• Painted one wall in our living room “colonial blue.” (Love it! We were going to do the entire room, but then fell in love with the accent wall)

Kitchen:

• Raised the cabinets (my father builds custom homes and this was 100% his idea, he says it gives it a more “luxury feel”)

• Replaced oven, dishwasher, and refridgerator with stainless steel appliances
• Added a microwave to the kitchen
• Replaced a light fixture

Half bath:

• Painted the walls a sea foam color (found the paint in the garage when we moved in, which is funny because none of the walls in the house are that color)
• Replaced the light fixture (I fell in love with the lighting in a friend’s bathroom and they gave it to me when they replaced their’s. Score!)
• Replaced the outdated faucet
• Replaced the brass toilet paper roll holder, and towel bar with brushed nickel (you probably guessed that, right?!)
• Replaced square contractor-grade mirror with round mirror

Laundry room:

• Added knobs to the cabinetry
• Bought a washer and dryer

Master bedroom:

• Painted all four walls grey, with one darker grey accent wall

Master bathroom:

• Removed towel bars (they weird lengths and wooden (and actually they were the very first things to go in the house!))
• Replaced wooden toilet paper roll holder and  plastic shower curtain rod with brushed nickel pieces
• Added knobs to the cabinetry

Guest bathroom:

• Replaced brass towel bar with bronze towel bar (you thought I was going to say brushed nickel, didn’t you?! haha)
• Added knobs to the cabinetry
• Replaced plastic shower curtain rod with bronze shower curtain rod

Nursery:

• Painted walls cotton candy pink (I never wanted a baby girl’s room to be pink, but my hubby picked this color out and I love it so much!)

After taking the time to organize the thoughts on all that we’d done I realize that I am seriously lacking in pictures!!!! Although we’ve been here 3 years we definitely still have a long way to go. This motivates me to finish those things still on my list so that I can take some before and after pictures for you guys!

For now, here’s us the night we got our living room furniture and finally had somewhere to sit and eat! haha

We never had any intentions of leaving the TV on that table, but for that night we plugged it in and watched a few episodes of Friends! Also, how much do you love our pasta dinner in those yellow plastic cereal bowls?! Hehe

And here are some other silly pictures during the move-in process! We were all (including my family of helpers) sleep-deprived! Did I also mention that we moved during a snow storm?!

This is my car the morning of moving day

My sweet boy; he’s been with me since my first apartment! (Don’t mind my half work/half chill outfit haha)

The moving crew…with a picture in my brand new vanity! Yay!

Professional photographer on the job hahaha

And our dog discovered that it really is fun to finally have a yard to play in….

Oh and did I also mention that on the day owe rented a U-haul and moved everything in we also had an ADT rep and Verizon rep here and had our furniture delivered, and all of the kitchen appliances delivered and set-up. It was absolutely over-the-top CHAOTIC, but I think I would do the same in the future. It all (mostly) got knocked out in one day!

This post wasn’t the norm and I know it was pretty long, but I hope you found some joy in our journey to being homeowners!

xoxo

Three years ago today we bought a house! It is our first home ever and the home we brought our baby girl home to so it will ALWAYS be special. Honestly, there are many, many changes we’d like to make. Well, many changes we have made, but many more on the list! Some will get done and some we don’t want to put the money and time into because we know this isn’t our forever home. For now though, it is absolutely perfect and I will forever be proud because it’s our’s. 

Per my request, my sweet dad did a little photo shoot for us and I think they turned out great!

Here are a few of my faves: