Before
It will be fun to one day look back and reminisce about all the changes we’ve made to this house. Our little fixer upper is growing up so fast already. Sigh.
Behind the Scenes
Elbow Grease
It was truly March Madness for us – A month for the record books. We put an offer on a house, had it contingently accepted, had to make a mad dash to sell a house, and a bunch of aftermath that we’re currently weeding through. There were many, many things that needed to take place in order for everything to fall exactly into place. There was probably some divine intervention, because whatever took place was of superhuman effort. Good thing we know some pretty super humans 🙂
This is a sampling of what we needed to do. The majority of our work was taping, mudding, prepping walls, painting walls, shampooing carpet, getting everything into boxes and out of the house, repainting coats of paint and generally polishing and deep cleaning every square inch. Joe’s house cleaned up pretty nicely! But few of us got to be behind the scenes. Lemme tell you, it wasn’t so pretty. But it was all worth it in the end.
To-Do Lists
Storage Alert
Bookshelf Hack
Not exactly a hack, but I’m using a bookshelf as shelving for pants. I have a bad habit of over-stuffing drawers full of my clothes, so I needed a remedy. Bingo – used bookshelf! It’s now an extension of my closet and dresser space. I swung by the Goodwill and snatched this up for the cool price of $3.99! I was hoping to find an old dresser that I could gut and refinish, but this thing is the perfect size and needs no work at all. Practically new. And for the price, I couldn’t say no.
S’more Summer Ventures
Hold on!
It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
These days, we’re trying to get the most out of each summer night. We’re on the lake 2-3x/week and squeezing in any and every outdoor activity possible.
Although I love summer, I love fall just as much and can’t hold back my excitement for all things autumn. Look, the foreign exchange students are already back in my building! Saint Paul Prep School is now in session.
I got the first day of school jitters this morning just seeing them 🙂
Back to summer…
July Updates
Hello August
July has been fun, but August looks just as bright! This week we’ve got some legitimate updates, some random things, and some cute things… So let’s just dive right into them, in that order.
Plant
I’ve purchased a lovely new plant. The YMCA was selling them for charity, so I picked it up for $10. I seem to do ok with tropical plants, and nothing else.
It’s called a Sago Palm and is not really a true palm at all! It’s doing well so far. (2 weeks)
Mulch Madness
Woodchippin’
Like Scottie Pippen. I don’t know what’s up with the hoops references; we just finished softball. (My team lost first round in single elimination playoffs last night. Meanwhile my brother’s team took the championship in his league — Way to go!)
Hot Tub Speakers
Turn Down For What?
What, the neighbors called? Oh ok, we better turn down.
In full disclosure, we did this way back in October. Some of the details of the process are a bit fuzzy in my memory, but I’m sure Joe could replicate it in his sleep. This is by far one of the most-used spaces of the house (yard). So the speakers were a huge upgrade.
If anyone wants to listen to music outside, they only need to bluetooth their phone or mp3 player to the sound system. You can even leave the phone indoors — safe from the water. Volume control is an arm’s length away. Nice for the wintertime. We did this all in one night, so bare with me on the documentation. Should have taken notes, goshdangnit!
Started with a standard outdoor pair of speakers.
Inspiration: Trees, TV’s and Bamboo Keys
Weekly Inspo?
Maybe this needs to be a series. Summer gets busy, but the projects don’t stop. They just fold in around grad parties, cabin weekends, weddings and BBQ’s. I’ve been playing softball every Wednesday and Joe’s been jetskiing his heart out. My baby brother just graduated from college and is in France. I’m so proud of you, Luke! I’ve been following his jazz adventures here and I can’t wait to see his photos.
Ice Dam[age]
Ice Dam
Remember that phone call we got about the ceiling leaking? Flash forward. We have the situation under control now and learned a few things about how to handle an ice dam. Firstly, we should have seen the signs. They were written on the wall roof. We know the deal now and have to say, it’s not so much fun. A little preventative maintenance is much better than a whole lot of cleanup.
So what is an ice dam?
Looks a little something like this:
Leaves Leave
It’s a bird, it’s a plane! It’s… a leaf mower?
