Simple Home and Happiness

I could write about how excited I was that the plumbing was hooked up and I was finally going to have a toilet. I could write about how dissapointed I was when the water valve turned out to be buried six feet under frozen ground. I could write about how upset I was when they dug out the valve and turned it on and water began to gush out. I could write about how we had to abandon the original water line and reroute a new one. I could write about how they cut the fiber optic line to the internet and phone while trying to fix the Hub's water tank. But I won't write about any of those things. They are simply to depressing. I will show you this. I finished staining all the old house floors last night! I could tell you how I drove all around town today trying to find 'lambs wool' or a 'synthetic pad applicator' that the directions on the polyurethane label call for. I could tell you how none of the four, FOUR, hardware stores in town sell either of tho...

I have primed eight room and painted eight rooms so far. I say so far, because I still have four rooms left to paint. I am nearly done priming though. One small wall left in the dining room and priming will be all done. That's a lot of painting and priming. But the end is in sight and I am still in love with the kitchen color. So in love, in fact, that I went to the local hardware store and had them color match it so I could do the living room in the same color. We are in a major time crunch overhaul. My carpenters are trying desperately to finish up with my house so they can move onto their next job and I am desperately trying to finish all my projects so we can move in by the end of the month! Yesterday morning I did a walk through with my iPad and took a bunch of photos. They are not perfect pictures, but who needs perfect when things are still in the crazy stage?! Carpet is in upstairs. It is a bit more white than I imagined when looking at the sample. It didn...

The other day was rough. I vented. I feel better now. It helps that the kitchen color rocked my socks off. Like blew my mind, amazing! Just seeing the new color on the kitchen walls, makes everything seem so much better. Two coats of paint are done in the kitchen, and all I have left is the edging. I am gambling with this house and not taping off the ceiling or anything else for that matter. Quite frankly I don't have the time to tape off a gazillion rooms. So far feehanding the edging is working out, and let's face it, when was the last time you sat at someones house having coffee and thinking to yourself, "Man, they really didn't do a very good job edging!" I really hope you answered, "Never!" I digress. The kitchen looks amazing, Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter. In other news, I started priming the cabinets. Sorry Grandma, I am painting them for sure. I have known all along I wanted white cabinets. Hate me if you want, wait, no...

Today was exhausting. So far in the remodel, we have had very few surprises or setbacks. Sure, there's been a couple little things, like the kitchen floors taking more work than expected and there's been the usual waiting for a sub-contractor here and there. Small things. Today I went to Lucky and discovered that the new door is defective and had warped around the glass and wind was blowing in. The frame was covered in frost and since temps here today were around negative ten without wind chill, it wasn't a great time for a north door to give out. Then I found out that the garage doors cost nearly double what I had budgeted for. Since we got a really large door so the Hubs can fit his feed truck in, it was more expensive than I had expected. Next thing. We recently decided to rip down the drop ceilings on the second story because most were dropping and it would clean things up a lot to get the dirt and mouse poo out of the drop ceiling. Well today we found out ...

Last years word was Calm . Boy did I ever have to strive for that one! In 2013, we bought a farmhouse, moved into onto a new foundation, I became my own general contractor, jumped head first into a full renovation, and took on more than ever before, as well as still being Mom and wife. I can't believe that I made it through, let alone that I feel overall, like I actually remained calm. Now I'm not saying I didn't have moments of hysteria and snot faced crying, but generally speaking I feel that I was much calmer in the past year than ever before. I didn't allow myself to dwell on the things I couldn't change. I did my best to avoid being sucked into drama. I lost myself sometimes, and would regroup and try again. This years word is a direct result of last years. I was looking back at how well I did being calm, and looking at my weak points. I didn't even have to think about my word, it just came to me instantly. Patience. I am not a patient person. I find mysel...