I cannot tell you why we do this. Actually, I can. It’s because we hate mowing, too. Not yard work fans up in here.

This year, I insisted upon mulching everything the week before Henry’s party. Because clearly people care if the mulch looks good when they come to a one-year-old’s party.

Well, let’s just say that mulching this year was a nightmare. We thought we could get away with 30 bags of mulch. 72 bags of mulch later, we were done. And both of us were pretty sore and irritated.

But the yard looks nice. And I think the front looks pretty inviting.

Ooh, and there’s my fancy new rain barrel. This was my birthday gift from Ryan and it’s so stinkin’ pretty.

If we could ever get grass to grow, the side yard would look pretty awesome, too.

My plan was to also paint the back porch after laying mulch. Yeah. Let’s just say that wasn’t going to happen. So, we’ll just have to live with this ugliness for a little while longer.

The biggest change to the yard was adding a mulched sitting area where the vegetable garden was in the past. This area always looked terrible and it didn’t get enough sun to do well. So, since we don’t have the space for a deck, I thought this would be a great area to relax and wind down.

Because the fence is ugly and we’re so close to the house next door, we planted native grasses (that we got from Craigslist) and black-eyed Susans (from my in-laws’ yard). Once they get bigger, it’ll provide a little more privacy. The grasses are already taking off.

I also added these two Adirondack chairs (received from my in-laws). You guys, these chairs are the most comfortable in the world. Someday, I may sand and repaint them. Until then, they are still comfortable.

We did not intend to get black mulch. It looks okay now, but it will look terrible in about a month and trees start dropping more junk off them. But, bah. By the time we realized it was black, we were not taking it back.

I also wouldn’t use black mulch again because the dye on the mulch MAY get on your dogs’ paws. Which would mean that said dogs would come into your house and get the black dye all over the sofa. Hypothetically.

So that’s our mulching adventure. And by adventure, I mean, not so much of an adventure. Or a really terrible adventure.

Have you been working your yard lately?

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Our little man is almost a year old. I’m sure I’ll write more about this at some point, but suffice it to say that this year went by in a hurry. Just like everyone said it would when I didn’t believe them. Because sometimes the minutes and the days seemed long. But, those people were right.

Ryan and I were on a date on Saturday night and he asked me how crazy it was that a year ago, we were oblivious to the fact that we would be parents in a week. And now we’re getting ready for his big party on Saturday.

All this to say that I may be a little scarce this week as we get ready to entertain and host some very special guests. And celebrate a pretty fantastic year. But until then, my little guy in his second-to-late picture of the year.

Check out all of Henry’s weekly photos on the Henry tab.

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No more!

When I read this great post with six easy designs for homemade cards at His and Hers, it was like the lightbulb went on. I can do this, I thought to myself.

(See full post at His and Hers)

So for Mother’s Day, I made some cards for the grandmas. They were seriously quick and simple and they turned out really cute (if I do say so myself).

I had come across this sentiment on Pinterest a while ago and it tickled my funny bone. And it’s perfect for cards from Henry, since he’s clearly the favorite of all. Next time, I’ll add a layer of scrapbook paper to the full card, but I’m still happy with how it turned out. And grandmas liked it, too.

So, this is just a simple encouragement to try new craft. Maybe you’ll find that it’s actually kind of fun to go outside your crafting comfort zone.

So, are you a paper crafter? What crafts have you shied away from?

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• Check out my friend Jenny’s DIY Library-style Murphy Bed at Anything Pretty. I do not say this lightly, but this may be one of my very favorite DIY projects on the Internet. Ever.

•  Try this yummy recipe for crunchy cashew Thai quinoa salad from Ambitious Kitchen. It’s unique, crunchy and yummy. (I’ve tried it so I’m speaking from experience.)

• Plant your own vertical garden with help from Michelle at Decor and the Dog.

• Create your own chic Greek key drapes like Kelly at View Along the Way.

• Make my kid a no-sew teepee like this one at A Handmade Home. Heck. Make ME this teepee. 

• Get your home squeaky clean with this DIY citrus vinegar cleaning solution at Denise in Bloom.

Man. The Internets has good stuff.

You can follow all my finds on Pinterest. I just share some of my top, must-see you-musts once in a while.

Carry on.

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Check out all of Henry’s weekly photos on the Henry tab.

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I am a notorious painter. But, a stainer, not so much. We’ve only taken on a few large staining projects in our years of DIYing – namely our hardwood floors in three homes and the deck.

And since Ryan is really the one who did all the floor refinishing and staining, I think the only staining project I can take partial credit for is our deck staining back in 2010. It turned out really nice, but that’s not because I had any idea of what I was doing. I didn’t. But I loved the deeper color and the fact that the deck was protected more from the elements.

I think I’ve always been a bit unsure about staining – Do I need to prepare the wood first? How will I know what the color looks like? How do I apply?

But now Flood® Wood Care has made staining pretty simple with this cool interactive selection guide:

Just answer a few questions about your project to get customized results about which products to buy, how much to buy and even a supply list and  how-to videos.

So, since there’s no longer a reason to avoid stain – there’s a small staining project I’m adding to the to-do list. (The to-do list is long. But I should be able to get to it before Henry graduates college.)

The idea is inspired by these two projects –

These DIY shelves at Shanty-2-Chic

And this Instagram photo display at Charleston City Paper.

Since we have a garage full of barnwood, I’d like to make some fun shelves that will hold frames and also quickly change out artwork or Instagram photos to the front with the clips. Won’t this be super cute in our living room?

By adding some stain to the barnwood, I’ll get the color I want and also protect the wood.

And once this project is over, I may finally feel confident to tackle our fence. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Better Backyard Sweepstakes

Flood Wood Care is also hosting a Better Backyard Sweepstakes*. You can enter to win a $1,500 gift card for staining and other backyard projects! You even have the chance to win a $10 gift card (12 each day).

And since I have about 1,400 backyard projects on the agenda for this spring, you better believe I’m entering. Crossing my fingers and toes that I win.

For details and to enter, check out Flood Wood Care on Facebook. The sweepstakes ends May 17, 2013, so you best get over there right away!

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.  Legal residents of the 50 United States (D.C.) 18 years and older.  Ends 5/17/2013.  To enter and for Official Rules, including odds, and prize descriptions visit http://goo.gl/CFN2U. Void where prohibited. This Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to Sponsor and not to Facebook.     

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Because something doesn’t seem exciting enough. Or it’s a bit of a downer. Or I just don’t have the time. Or I full-out forget.

I haven’t intentionally been holding out on you, but for some reason, I never told you about two more houses we purchased in 2012.

So, I guess now’s as good of a time as any.

We bought two duplexes in 2012.

So, we now own and manage five rental units (including the first single family rental we purchased and renovated in 2009). Which is great since we didn’t have anything going on before. (Insert sarcasm font.)

Anyhow, I realized that I never mentioned it because we’re in the process of getting one of the units ready to rent again after we had to evict a tenant. Which is a whole other story. For another day that will probably never happen on the blogarooski.

How did we end up with two more duplexes?

We’ve had really good luck with the first rental house. We’ve actually had the same tenant for nearly four years, no major issues and quickly paid off the loan. So, Ryan knew that he wanted a few more rentals – with the goal of adding to our net worth and diversifying our income.

He has a tendency to quietly house hunt without me even totally realizing it. I catch him online looking at houses (and tractors) more often than I care to admit. Anyhow, by the time I realized what was happening, we were touring the first duplex and Ryan was telling me how great it was going to be to own it. I exaggerate – but it’s true that Ryan was the driving force behind buying the properties.

Property #1

(Up-down duplex)

Property #2

(Up-down duplex)

We bought the first duplex last winter, when I was pregnant and too tired to argue about purchasing another house. We bought the second duplex in August, when I was still on maternity leave. His timing seems suspect, now that I think about it. I was pretty fragile.

Anyhow, the beauty was that neither of the properties needed a great deal of work right away – which was ideal for both of us with full-time jobs and the Henry-man. The updates and improvements could be put off until the units were vacated. The first property already had two tenants. The second  had one tenant and we had the downstairs unit filled relatively quickly after cleaning, painting and finishing a few updates. Here’s the interior, which actually has some charming details.

What we’re up to now.

We planned to fix up the units as they came empty. So now that we have one empty, Ryan’s working on a one-bedroom unit right now (in the second property above). If we can improve it, we can ask more in rent, which is obviously a good thing for us. And for the renters.

But, this unit needs a little kitchen reno, all new flooring, paint, new lighting and some bathroom updates. Ryan’s working on this after work and on weekends while I am on Henry duty.

I didn’t get any pictures until after Ryan had ripped up all the flooring and started patching walls. Here’s what we have to work with.

What do you think? Surprised by the news that we picked up a few more houses?

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You may have noticed bloggers making the switch for a while now. This is just a quick post about why we did it and how it went. And because Laura is awesome, she’s offering a special promotion for NewlyWoodwards if you want to make the switch, too.

The Why

If you’ve been around a while, you’ve heard me joke that when I started NewlyWoodwards in 2008, I thought I was brilliant. I mean, I was going to start a place where I could blog about our home renovation, our marriage and all our other projects. NO ONE HAD EVER DONE THAT BEFORE.

I didn’t read blogs and I didn’t know anything about blogs. Clearly. But, I quickly learned that there were a lot of great blogs out there doing what I wanted to do. Much better. But, I continued on and blogging became a really fun outlet for me and a great way to document our lives.

I started the blog in Blogger, which served us very well. It took all of 5 minutes to set up, was easy to modify and post and added more and more capabilities. But, I started getting annoyed when Blogger would mysteriously go dark. And, I learned that I would have a lot more flexibility and control by moving my blog to WordPress. But the migration seemed WAY beyond my capabilities.

A few reasons I was leaning towards making the switch:

• There seem to be more options and flexibility in WordPress. In addition to having ultimate flexibility to the site, you can also add countless widgets to improve your blog.
• Blogger “owned” my blog. If Blogger decided any content was inappropriate, they could remove it. It really freaked me out to have the possibility of years of content being removed. With little I could do to stop it. On a self-hosted WordPress site, you own your own blog and content. You pay for it, but it’s yours.
• Google kept making changes to Blogger, which made me worry what was coming next. Google Reader will be going goodbye soon, and this is a perfect example of Google making big changes that could affect us. Who knows what will come next? There is also very little support for Blogger, meaning that you are on your own if there’s an issue. Sometimes, no amount of Googling helps.
• Everything I read about SEO tells me that WordPress is just plain better. The better the SEO, the more people come to my blog. And who doesn’t want more people coming to visit?

There are tons of other reasons that bloggers have. But these are a few.

It also helps that my friend (Laura – from Candyland Studio) knows a LOT about WordPress, and was awesome enough to help me through the transition.

The How

There were several things I had to do before I could migrate thousands of posts, comments and followers.

1. First, since I already purchased my domain name within the Blogger platform, I determined where it was purchased.
2. Then, I purchased a hosting package, which is where all my “stuff” will live. Unlike Blogger hosting, I now own all of this.

Then, I worked with Laura to move everything from Blogger to my new self-hosted WordPress site. Honestly, this was a bit stressful. And I definitely wasn’t comfortable doing that myself. What would happen if I lost all my posts? Or followers? That would have been pretty sad.

Laura made sure that didn’t happen. There was a bit of a downtime for NewlyWoodwards while everything got migrated from blogger to the new host (about a weekend). And a few moments of “what the…?” when we realized there were a few moving parts that popped up.

When she transferred everything, she set me up a Genesis WordPress template. I went with her Intermediate Web Package because then I didn’t have to spend time learning how to change my theme colors, create a new header, set up the navigation menu, and sidebar stuff … Laura set most of it up for me so I could log in and keep blogging as seamlessly as possible.

In the end, I was left with a self-hosted WordPress blog that gave me so much more flexibility. And within a month, I had a noticeable increase in traffic and subscribers, which I attribute to better SEO. (Although I’d love to say it is just because NewlyWoodwards is so awesome that no one can stay away.)

So far, I’m super happy I made the switch. While I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Blogger and it served me very well for nearly five years, there are some valid reasons to migrate to WordPress.

Are you interested in moving to WordPress?

If you are, I’d highly recommend using my buddy Laura. (She also offers other web design packages.)

If you want more information, check out her website and an outline of her packages.

Plus, she’s offering a special offer to NewlyWoodwards readers. (That’d be you.)

Do you have any questions? Or have you made the switch and have other

input?

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post, but my friend Laura and Candyland Studio did migrate NewlyWoodwards from WordPress to Blogger. I was so pleased that I offered to share my story on the blog and she graciously offered my readers a discount on her web services.

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I love the color. And the paint went on really, really quickly and dried so fast. It was also my first time using wax, which went on pretty easily and left the wood and ceramic with a nice finish. I didn’t choose to do any distressing.

What do you think of my “new” end tables?

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