Happy New Year 2023

Word of the year and Reading List

Savor

I am definitely easing into 2023 and not feeling like it’s a new year entirely yet. We still have our Christmas tree up and the extra snowy days have kept me cuddled up inside. I haven’t sprung into action yet, but I think that is ok. The word I’m choosing for this year is Savor. We have so many sweet things happening right now including growing a baby girl, I just want time to slow down to fully enjoy this special time.

Last year’s recap shows that 2021 was a really good year overall. I’m officially a certified appraiser and have been loving the independence and the work. It feels like such a dream that I am doing this now, and I am thankful every day. I love my job and people I work with, and that I do not take for granted. Work is slow this year with rising interest rates and economic recession factors at play, but hopefully spring will pick up. Although I will be on maternity leave with baby girl. Joe is as busy as ever with work and his business, which has grown tremendously. We still have plenty to learn, but he has expanded his client base and the team seems to be getting into a steady rhythm.

I can’t believe we remodeled the kitchen last year! It has been an amazing transformation. I really fell off the wagon doing blog posts, but it turned out beautifully. We started around Thanksgiving, and finished just before Easter, making it a 5 month total project. Which is pretty dang good in my book. Our house is still ever under construction, and we’ll be working on a nursery very soon. Pregnancy has been good to me so far, my boobs are a whole size up! Praying for a smooth labor and delivery.

Victory

My word last year was victory, and I think I lived into that. We lived it up. We also have started an AirBnb/VRBO investment up in Breezy Point on Pelican Lake! An opportunity fell into our lap, so we took the plunge and are currently remodeling that. I was on the fence about us taking this on after just finding out I was pregnant, but after some prayer and journaling, it was quite clear that we had a green light. I can’t believe in just 4 months we will be renting it out, and have a newborn. Life is amazing, and I want to savor every day of it. I know parenthood will be the hardest thing we’ve ever done, but it will also be the most incredible and I hope I can remember to cherish that on the hardest days.

2022 Bucket List

  • Finish the kitchen by spring ✅ (Technically we still have crown molding to do, but we did great on this project overall)
  • Write more letters and notes of encouragement ❌ Oh wow, forgot about this one. Maybe I can work on that…
  • Get a new car – maybe not this year, but I would like a Hybrid Toyota Hylander 2018 or newer ✅ Oh hey I did get a new car! By necessity. And since the used car market was so ridonculous, I got a new new car. How exciting! Still on the waitlist for a hybrid, but the regular version is perfect for now and perfect for baby.
  • January Yoga with Adriene 30 day challenge✅ Yes this will be my 3rd year? I will have to make some pregnancy modifications, but so far so good.

Reading List from 2022

Malibu rising : a novel by Reid, Taylor Jenkins author. I have read several of her books now and highly recommend!

Laughing at my nightmare by Burcaw, Shane, author – kind of fell in love with him and his now wife and their YouTube channel, especially since they live in Minnesota. Such an inspiring, funny couple.

Strangers assume my girlfriend is my nurse by Burcaw, Shane, author. Another one from them.

Not so different : what you really want to ask about having a disability by Burcaw, Shane, author. And his children’s book

Firekeeper’s daughter by Boulley, Angeline author. One of the better books I read this year. I think technically it is a YA/teen fiction book, but there is a lot of Native heritage and culture that I really appreciated about this book!

Cozy minimalist home : more style, less stuff by Smith, Myquillyn, author. Not super noteworthy, but I good read for decluttering your home, but keeping it cozy.

The interior design handbook : furnish, decorate, and style your space by Ramstedt, Frida, author. I actually really enjoyed this book. It is something of a textbook, but is super simple, and reads in a straight-forward voice. It has practical tips for design and guides and measurements with visuals. It covers a variety of topics.

Magpie murders by Horowitz, Anthony, 1955- author. This was a fun British murder mystery, and a book within a book.

Memphis : a novel by Stringfellow, Tara M., author. A pretty good read! Multi-generational story set in Memphis.

The lies I tell : a novel by Clark, Julie, 1971- author. Ooh yes, now I remember this one! Super good read that kept me guessing.

In the time of the butterflies by Alvarez, Julia author. Probably my #1 fave for the year. It is about the Dominican Republic early 1900’s dictatorship and uprising against it. The story follows 4 sisters involved in the communist party. It is a historical nonfiction, which I am fond of.

The beekeeper of Aleppo : a novel by Lefteri, Christy, 1980- author. A heavy read, but good one and fairly short. Based on Syria’s civil war and was written by someone who worked closely with refugees and immigrants.

Once there were wolves : a novel by McConaghy, Charlotte, author. Another really good one. This is based in Scotland and is about reintroducing wolves in to the ecosystem. But it is a fictional murder mystery story. Some interesting elements.

The good sister by Hepworth, Sally author. I just finished this one and it was great! A quirky but dark book about twin sisters, where we are trying to uncover the truth about the “good” sister from the start.

Bad vibes only : (and other things I bring to the table) : essays by McInerny, Nora, author. I’ve read a few of her books and this was probably my favorite. Very funny essay-style short stories that are the perfect length.

Will Smith, Will – I read this at the beginning of the year before he went and flushed his reputation town the drain. I do really love his ghost writer Mark Manson, so it was a good read for me.

Atlas of the heart : mapping meaningful connection and the language of human experience Brown, Brené, author. I have read most of her work too, and again one of my favorites.

2023 Bucket List

-Get an accountant for our businesses!

-Financial planning

-Have AirBnb done by March

-Enjoy a babymoon vacation

-Savor the special 1st year with baby 🙂

How to Host a Non-Awkward Baby Shower

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April Baby Showers

Taking a little breather from the kitchen to attend alllll the baby showers. For a few years it was all the weddings, but now we’re onto the next chapter I guess! Thought I’d share some fun games and ideas for baby showers that are not awkward.

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Kitchen Remodel | Design

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We’ve gone through about 3 demo’s on this kitchen, so I think it’s time to share some design and lighten the mood! We have most of our selections made, not all of them, but the big ones. So here I’ll share what we know for design direction for the kitchen remodel.

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Kitchen Remodel | Demo

Kitchen Demo

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The wall is gone! We demo’d the kitchen sometime between Christmas-New Year’s (It all blurred together) and now we are completely gutted. Take a look at some footage.

Gutting the Kitchen

Whew, I get tired just watching that. It’s a pretty long video, but it was a much longer day I assure you. We were sore, tired and hungry by the end. It was a lot of fun tho – everyone loves to demo amiright? Here’s a slo-mo shot of Joe busting through the wall.

Old Appliances

Kitchen Demo

We started by taking out our old appliances. I was bracing myself to find extreme nastiness behind the fridge and stove, but honestly it was way less bad than expected.

Kitchen Before

Fridge and oven gone. Joe’s sister is getting the oven and I think an old neighbor is getting the fridge for their garage, so it’s nice our appliances get to have a second life. As much as possible, trying not to waste.

Kitchen Demo

Joe looking happy to rip out the old cupboards. Upper cabinets are going to use in the garage so that’s another plus. I am a very dainty demo-er, I’m usually trying to salvage, just like Christmas wrapping paper while opening presents 🙂

We do have a pretty good junk pile going though for sheetrock, old sink and lowers – we should probably get a small dumpster… We were able to salvage a lot of 2×4’s too. Which is like gold right now.

Kitchen Demo

Nobody wants our old dishwasher, I promise!

Broken Dishwasher

It actually broke just a day or two before demo!

Knocking out the Kitchen Wall

Kitchen Demo

And now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The Berlin wall is coming down!

Kitchen Demo

The wall came down pretty well. I was tasked with hammering off all the tile backsplash first. Then we went to town with hammers and pry bars on the sheetrock.

Kitchen Demo

Everything in here is double sheetrocked for whatever reason, so it was a bear to rip out not one, but two layers of everything.

Kitchen Demo

And yes, we made certain it was not load bearing or structural in any way. There was some electrical running through the post, which you can see dangling down the middle of the room. (Breaker turned off).

Kitchen Demo

The whole previous electrical situation was kind of a mess, but that’s a topic for another post. Can I just pause and say Wow, it looks more open already!

Kitchen Demo

Goodbye old pantry! I will not miss getting smashed by a door anytime someone came in from the garage.

Kitchen Demo

This was by far the toughest part to dismantle.

Kitchen Demo

Here’s Joe rewiring everything.

Behind the Scenes

A photo dump of some miscellaneous demo stuff:

We found this wedding invitation from 1981 behind our old cabinets! I hope they made it to the ceremony! I thought it was really cool we opened it on January 3rd 2022 and the wedding was for January 2nd.

Kitchen Demo

Pro Tip: Make sure to turn off your furnace while demo’ing so sheetrock dust doesn’t clog up your vents. We are lucky to have a wood burning fireplace, so we’ve been chopping wood like crazy and keeping that stoked.

Our borrowed hot plate for making mac n’ cheese. Don’t judge! At least it’s Annie’s organic. 😅

Kitchen Demo Dishes

And because we like to keep it extra real, here’s our dishes situation! In the laundry room sink, complete with ironing board as drying station. It’s honestly no big deal, I grew up without a dishwasher so it’s nothing for me. Really trying not to use paper and plastic, but understanding the occasional paper plate is OK given the circumstances. We will definitely appreciate new kitchen appliances that much more!

Kitchenette

Kitchenette

Speaking of, here’s our little temporary setup. The kitchenette is coming in handy! We have a mini fridge, toaster, pizazz pizza maker, microwave, crockpot and new this year – air fryer and instapot! (Please send your quick+easy recipes).

Temporary Kitchen

We also have this beverage station/coffee station. I also use my nutribullet quite a lot.

Kitchenette

We’ve been eating meals at this table in the movie room.

Up Next

That’s all for now! I think we’ll be ready to share the ceiling next. Then we need to finish electrical and new drywall.

-Leah & Joe

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2022 WORD FOR THE YEAR & READING LIST

2021 Recap

It’s always so interesting for me to look back on these – I just read my time capsule from last year. 2021 felt like it flew by. We all had high hopes of 2021 being the new “Roaring 20’s” with the introduction of covid vaccines, but here we are 2 variants later, plenty of people sick after this Christmas. I don’t intend to dwell on the pandemic, but it’s so wild to look ahead and behind on this weird time in history.

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Kitchen Remodel | Prep Work

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Preparing the Kitchen

The kitchen is about to get rocked, it doesn’t even know. There are some things we need to do before the big demo, such as installing new windows and running electrical. Read more for some of the things we’ve done so far!

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Kitchen Remodel | Planning

The secret is out! The kitchen remodel is underway. Well, not exactly. We plan to start early 2022, but we have some groundwork to lay between then and now. I’ll try to keep this update short and sweet, outlining our plans for the dream kitchen.

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Addition Bathroom | Final Reveal

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We officially passed final plumbing inspection, and I finally (wait, let me move one more candle) have things arranged. Hop on into the post for all the final reveal pics!

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Addition Bathroom | Progress

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This beauty of a bathroom is getting its final touches now. After tiling, we installed the bath tub, vanity, sink, toilet and got the wallpaper and trim up. If you like seeing the progress right before the “after”, this post is for you.

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Addition Bathroom | Tiling Walls

We’re done with the floor, now onto tiling the walls! We have a lot of tile in here and it’s making a big splash. Follow along for the final weeks of this bathroom build.

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