Mr. Clean Magic Erasers will remove rogue Vintage Teal paint from white trim.

Spiders are a statewide epidemic and apparently rather immune to exterminator spray. Freak me out.

Living without a garbage disposal is a time warp.

If you take the cover off of a fire detector and then turn on the hall light in the middle of the night, it will beep loud enough to make you almost pee your pants.

Creaky floors make for creepy 3:00AM feedings.

Everything is about twice as expensive and three times more difficult than you imagine it will be before you start.

Nothing makes a place feel like home like cooking your first big meal and sitting at the table as a family.

A lit candle goes a long way.

And most of all?

Shit isn’t going to be perfect.

For a type A personality like myself, it isn’t easy recognizing that things aren’t always going to be perfect. Right now, we’re in the middle of about three projects. Not only that, but there is a list about five miles long of stuff that needs to be finished and touched up and cleaned. It is overwhelming and hilarious. Why is it hilarious? Because we said we wanted a fixer upper. We wanted to be sure we could put our stamp on our home. And guess what?

We got what we wanted!

What we didn’t realize was that our list would probably take us at least five years to finish. Because you start something, and then you realize you’re out of paint and Lowes is closed, so you start something else because you can’t quit working until midnight as you’re hyped up on black coffee and Diet Coke. So then the next day? You have TWO rooms that are halfway painted, and you spend the next couple of days trying to finish them.

But seriously, I’m not complaining. I’m just reveling in the funny things about being a DIY couple who isn’t quite sure what we’re doing. Like last night, we flipped on the switch in the kitchen, and two light bulbs blew out. BOOM. How does that even happen? They were brand new! And then, the transition that Taylor’s worked on for several hours the night before broke apart when his foot caught it just right. This morning, our kitchen drain clogged up due to not scraping a pan well enough before letting it soak. We’re still missing cabinet doors, and Taylor is about to go out of town for a few weeks for training which means we’ll probably continue to be miss cabinet doors until he gets back.

Overall? The last couple of weeks have been humbling, eye-opening, and grounding. We’re quickly learning the difference between “want” and “need.” Between “must be done now” and “can wait a while…or a year…or more.” We’re learning, dare I say it, some patience? We’re learning that we don’t have to work until 1:00AM every night and that sometimes, it’s better just just switch on a movie, scoop a bowl of ice cream, and call it a night.

Now, we live just five minutes from a downtown. Our new downtown is small but quaint and filled with high end boutiques, cafes, upscale restaurants, thrift stores, homemade pottery galleries, and spas. It is no New York City, but it has everything we could need or want for an afternoon with the family. On the outskirts of downtown, historic Bungalows and Victorian homes line the streets, and a park with a brand new play ground is just up the road. While for some, it may seem boring to live in a small town, we finally feel like we’re “home.”

On Saturday, we loaded up the boys and took off in search of ice cream. Though we have driven through the downtown area in passing, we haven’t had a chance to stop and really explore. It was a beautiful day, so we jumped on the opportunity.

We stopped in at one of the first ice cream places we found and were happy to see a huge list of options that included some homemade varieties and wonderfully sinful options like, “Chocolate Frosted Cupcake” (my choice). Tay went with the homemade Blueberry, and Sully picked out “Crazy Rainbow.” It looked disgusting, but he was thrilled.

We wandered around a little more, taking in the charm of an old, Southern town.

It feels like the start of good things, y’all.

A home.

A community.

A sweet, southern charm.

A fresh start.

A new coat of paint.

And maybe a third baby….in the future, of course.

I even let Taylor take a couple pictures of the Beebab and me. I’m trying to get better at being comfortable in front of the camera. I don’t want to look back ten years from now and realize I have no pictures of me with my family. That seems so very sad.

On Mother’s Day, I got a twelve pack of Diet Coke, some lilies, a shiny new (old) piece of promotional Pyrex I’ve been eyeing, and the opportunity to lay around in bed until 10:00AM. Life was perfection. I even got a last-minute visit from my own mama. I could not have asked for more.

I feel so loved and so lucky to have spent a weekend with some of the people I love most in this world. I hope that all of you had a special Mother’s Day. To all you new mamas, hang in there. Life will return to normal soon. It will be a new normal, but it will be wonderful. To all you seasoned mamas, thanks for doing what you do. Your job is the hardest and yet most rewarding. To all you mamas who have lost babies, my heart was especially with you yesterday and every day. I hope y’all had a day filled with love and appreciation for the women you are.

XO.

And everything is crazy and chaotic and messy and dusty, but we’re here!

And we had to pay a $300.00 bill for air already…boo. Clearly our house is teaching us the joys of home ownership early. But it is what it is, right? And so we coughed up the money and moved on and we will soon have air that works better than it does right now.

So anyway, we’ve spent the last week nesting and fixing and painting. Oh my God. The painting. There’s this nasty little secret all the DIY blogs have, and it’s called “Paint Hell.” They post pictures of before and after and la-di-da this took no time and look how lovely it is now! And they are liars. LIARS. Painting takes for-freaking-ever. We’ve finished our bonus room and dining room walls, but we are currently in the process of painting the foyer, hallway, built-ins, and formal living room. We chose a bold peacock blue for the hallway and foyer, and while we are LOVING the results, the paint is taking three coats (that means three times rolling all of it and three times cutting in…bummer), so it’s taking way longer than expected. Then I’ve primed the built-ins, but the primer had to dry before I could start painting them, so I went ahead and tackled the first coat of the formal living room while I was waiting.

What does all this mean? It means our house is a hot, painting mess. But that’s okay because anything is better than the butter yellow and green khaki that was taking over when we bought it.

Here’s a little tour of what is currently in the works. First, I’ll show you our living room:

The color is Valspar’s Academy Gray in Satin. I LOVE it. At first, I almost freaked because it just seemed so dark. We generally steer towards light and bright colors, but this room and our foyer/hallway were a step outside of the comfort zone, and I’m so glad we gave them a shot. I honestly don’t even hate the gold fireplace cover anymore. I can’t promise that it will stay, but it’s definitely not on the top of the “Must Get Rid Of” list. West Elm is delivering our couch today, and I plan on finishing the painting tonight. Updates to come!

Next, take a walk into our foyer:

We chose Valspar’s Vintage Teal in Satin for this job. The color looks a little bright in this picture, but it gives you an idea of the shade.

This picture is a little truer of the exact color. I am LOVING the pop of yellow against the peacock blue, and I’m so happy I went ahead and painted the back of the door.

Next up is our dining room. We chose Sea Salt by Sherwin-Williams in Satin. It’s a lovely gray-blue that is calming without being cold. The color is so soft and pleasant. We also used it in our bonus room and will be using it in the guest room once we tone down the horrible wood paneling.

The built-ins will be Vintage Teal as well. It will help tie the color into the rest of the house. I’m grateful to have gotten rid of the maroon. It was way harsh for the house. Please note the massive amount of Pyrex strewn about the room. The first thing I did was unpack it and arrange it on the built-ins only to have to take it all back out to paint. But it makes me happy, so I was determined to use it to help make the house feel like home when we arrived.

Next up? Our almost finished kitchen. We still have to add a few cabinet doors that are currently being painted by our friend Mark’s shop class in South Carolina. Those will go up in the next week or so, hopefully. We’ll have to add hardware to them, and we need to paint all the trim. Taylor is close to being finished with the baseboards and shoe moulding, so I can’t wait until that is finally finished.

I adore the countertops. The white shows all the spills and messes, which makes me happy. Weird, right? But when I clean them, I can tell that I’ve gotten everything up, and they just look so nice and fresh. The subway tile is wonderful, too. I need to add back all the outlet covers…but that will happen soon! Even though it’s a small kitchen (110 sq. feet), it seems spacious because of the bright colors. We even added a small island, and I am SO happy to have it.

We’re getting use to a few things…like the washer and dryer being in the kitchen. I don’t LOVE the concept, but it’s actually super convenient. I can do the laundry while I watch the babies in the bonus room. It also keeps me on top of the laundry, and I don’t let it get out of control because I don’t want it all sitting in the kitchen. Our washer and dryer really quiet, so noise isn’t an issue.

Next up is the Bonus Room! We basically live in this room. I set up a little play area, it’s where my desk is, and it’s where the TV is situated. It’s huge, and it houses plenty of room for playing, working, and relaxing. Now, before any of the Young House Love nazi readers come out to play, let me mention something about the rug; I bought it before they bought their new rug. I found it on Overstock.com, thought that it would look great against the dark gray of our Karlstad sectional that we were planning on purchasing (yes, because we loved theirs), and snatched it up for just over $200.00 right before I bought the sectional. YHL posted about buying theirs from Joss&Main not long afterwards, and I knew someone would have something to say about me “copying” them, so I wanted to go ahead and throw this out there. Apparently, the YHL folks and myself just have similar taste, and that’s all cool and groovy with me. I’m finally getting a chance to set everything up, and I’m really happy with the way it’s coming along.

I have plans for a built-in shelf bookcase and chalkboard wall in this play area. We’re also going to set up a little table and chairs for coloring and any crafts. I can’t wait to get to work on their corner of the house.

Finally, I’ll share our Master bedroom. We haven’t started painting in here, but we have replaced our bedding, put down a couple of rugs and an end bench, and set up the painted side tables. I love it so far. The bedding is from Anthropologie if anyone is wondering.

The boys are settling in beautifully. They are sharing a room, so we’ve had some ups and downs including a couple nights and naps that began we a screaming fest, but we’re working through it. I think they are really loving the extra space to stretch out and grow, and they really do love having a room together. The other afternoon, Sully got up from a nap after Arlo, and the first thing he asked was, “Where’d Beebab go, Mommy?!” It makes my heart smile. I can’t wait to see them grow closer over time.

There you have it! Lots that has to be done. Ever more we WANT to do someday. But I could not be happier to have our little place in the world. Now that I have internet, I’ll be able to follow our journey a little more closely over the next months (ahem, years).

It means I’m running around like a crazy person, packing, wiping butts, convincing the hubs to let me buy more pillows from Target, and potentially hooking up an IV to my vein because drinking wine from the glass cannot possibly get me drunk enough for the craziness that is about to ensue.

Totally kidding about the wine, by the way. Hangovers while moving? Sounds pretty awful. But maybe not as awful as moving while sober? I haven’t decided.

Arlo is napping, Sully is “helping” pack, and I’m jittery enough to stand out like a crack head in the grocery store. I’m excited. Like, so excited it’s annoying. And I’m totally okay with sleeping on a mattress on the floor tonight because it means we are getting the hell out of Virginia!

Virginia. It’s been real. But your overwhelming spider population and curvy, narrow roads that make my heart drop, and neighbors who refuse to smile have put a damper on my feelings for you. Ta-ta for now!

I’ll be gone until Monday, I believe. But I will have email access from my phone, so if you have some huge desire to talk to me, feel free to contact me there. I know you’re all going crazy thinking you won’t hear from me for a whole weekend.

Wish me luck and wine.

XOX.

Taylor wasn’t in it.

Or may he was, but he left. Or we weren’t married. It’s all fuzzy, but what was clear was that we weren’t together and I was scared.

These dreams don’t happen often, but every now and then, I wake in a cold sweat with the fear that my husband isn’t mine. It’s a silly, irrational fear, but it could have been true. One missed call. One declined visit. One bad fight. And we might not have been. Our courtship was a whirlwind of emotions. Love we had never felt before and fear of what that love meant. Joy and happiness and late night tears as we let the drama of college life get in the way. I spent a few afternoons in my dorm listening to Bonnie Raitt’s rich voice as she belted out, “I can’t make you love me if you don’t….” over the speakers of my lap tap. Taylor spent a few nights drinking a bit too much Evan Williams and watching me try to make him jealous on the dance floor of Theta Chi.

Let’s just say…we weren’t always at our finest.

But we made it. I knew he was supposed to be mine. He knew I was supposed to be his. We found a way to make it work, and then we clung tightly to each other. Ever since, he’s been my life raft, and I’ve been his calm in the storm. I look at the world we’ve created and the thought of that not existing is…unthinkable.

What if we hadn’t decided to start our family when we did…would Sully exist? Would we have our best, little friend with the dark, cunning eyes? Or would there be a different little boy in his stead?

What if we had taken everyone’s advice and waited to have our second? Our sweet Beebab might not be here to bring us so much joy.

What if we had decided to wait to buy our house? We would be on the hunt now. Or maybe we would have just purchased something else. Certainly nothing as much a “fixer upper” as we have now. We would have missed out on the memories of hanging cabinet doors backwards at 12:30AM and sleeping huddled together on couch cushions on the floor. Would the memories in a different house be as sweet without our sweat and tears (his sweat, my tears) in the foundation of our home?

How different would my life be if I’d stuck on the path I choose for myself before college? The girl with the law degree and political aspirations? Who had plans for Georgetown and a tiny apartment in the city? Who swore she wouldn’t be married before twenty-seven and might not ever have children? Would I be happy? Maybe.

But I wouldn’t have all this.

I wouldn’t have the cry of a baby over the monitor at 2:30AM and the sweet snuggles in the quiet of the night. I wouldn’t have a man who is my aboslute best friend. I wouldn’t have this toddler who is unbelievably frustrating and hilarious and loving all at once. I wouldn’t have a home that I can pour my soul into and that, in turn, wraps around me like a favorite quilt. I wouldn’t have learned of the sacrifice of motherhood, but I also wouldn’t know the awe-inspiring, primal, instinctive, maternal love that comes with your baby’s first cry. I wouldn’t know how to put up a backsplash or kiss an “ouchie” until it doesn’t hurt. I wouldn’t know how to listen and truly care in the way only a wife can after a long day’s work. I wouldn’t know the exhiliration of freedom with the night on the town and the heart pangs a mother gets after being away from her children for just a few hours. I wouldn’t know that love in a marriage ages like a fine wine as you spend the years together. I wouldn’t have discovered the calm and happiness that seeing my words flow onto a computer screen can bring me. And I wouldn’t be the woman I have become today.

No, when I think of “what might have been” it’s not with a misty eye and a vision of the lofty goals I once hoped to acheive. Instead, it’s with a deep, grateful sigh and an eye to the Heavens. It’s with a muttered “Thank you, Jesus,” and the awareness that God has better plans than I could have dreamed for myself. It could have all been different in just the blink of an eye, and I am so, incredibly glad it isn’t.

Until then, we are just killing time. And being super cute. You know how it is.

I took these pictures the other morning after Arlo’s nap. It was the first time I had walked in to him pulling up on the crib rail. Sully asked if he could, “Get in Beebab’s bed with Beebab?!?” and I said yes because, really, how cute is that? Taylor lowered the crib that evening, which is always a weird/sad/cool milestone. But ever since, Sully has jumped in the crib with Arlo after every nap. They love to bounce around together. Arlo, he’s pretty scrappy. Sully can’t push around on him like he would probably like to because, according to Sully, “A Beebab will bite you!!!” so instead they tend to play pretty well together.

And remind me…is today only Wednesday?! Really?!

UGH.

I am SO ready for this weekend. A couple more days to go before the new journey begins!

By the end of the night, more transitions were done and the backsplash was grouted and caulked. That bitch took me over four whole hours. It was ridiculously slow moving, but it was done. We got up early the next morning. We had rented a U-haul for the day, but the dump was only open until noon and we couldn’t pick up the truck until 8:00AM. So, that gave us exactly four hours to make as many trips as possible to the dump with all the nastiness the previous owners left us. Lovely. But somehow we managed. Tay was a rockstar loading and unloading all the trash himself. I continued to work on cleaning the inside of the house, and a girlfriend of mine came to help with some painting (thank you, Laura!).

And now? The house is ready to move into, and I’m ready to give you an almost full tour. I say almost because I forgot to snap a final picture of our bonus room and garage, but this will do for now.

Welcome to our foyer. Please ignore the door hanging around in the hallway. It will go up once Tay can finish the closet transitions. They are the last to go. We still have to paint and change out the light fixture here as well as trim up the floor boards.

To your left, you’ll see our formal living room. It still needs paint, trim, new hardware on the fireplace, a new light fixture, window treatments, and fixin’s in the window seat.

To your right is our dining room. We already have a light fixture for it, but we will have to paint the walls and built-ins, replace the old fixture with a new one, put up window treatments, and add trim.

Through the dining room, you have our kitchen. We are thrilled with how far that we’ve gotten with the work, but there is still quite a bit to go. We need to trim with baseboards and quarter round, install the fridge/washer/dryer, paint trim, and decorate (the fun part!).

Now, let me take you back to the back of the house. I’ll introduce you to our guest bathroom (aka, the bain of Taylor’s existence). Tay hates this bathroom. I think it’s kind of adorable. It’s 100% original from the 60s.

If it was in better shape, I would try to talk Tay into letting us keep it for awhile. Unfortunately, tiles are starting to look a bit rough, and the vanity, mirror, and lighting have all seen better days. It’s next on the list for a gut job.

Now, here’s the hall way. Lovely. Lots of paint, new fixtures, and trim needs to happen in here soon.

The wooden wonder of a guest room has received a half-hearted prime job. We ran out of time to do much more. Clearly, it will need to be primed and painted as well as get new light fixtures, window treatments, and trim.

The boy’s room needs paint, lighting, trim, and eventually a built-in book shelf system. I guess I’m missing a picture of their room as well, so here’s our master. It still needs paint and trim as well as window treatments.

And finally, our Master bath. It apparently underwent a lovely 1980s renovation, and it will need gutting eventually. Fortunately, everything is in good condition, so we will make it work until we save up enough for it. It will probably be a few years before we tackle it.

So, there you have it! We have TONS of work left to do, but we can finally move in without worrying about our children living in a wasteland. I’m so thrilled when how much has been finished before move in day. We’re packing up this week, and we’ll be out of Virginia on Saturday. I can’t wait.

I will try to be back in action early next week.

XO.

The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
-Psalm 23

.

I started with this recipe by Giada from the Food Network, but while I was giving Arlo his nighttime bottle, I found this recipe from my beloved Pioneer Woman, so I meshed them together to make a bangarang pasta that was filled with all the things we love.

Ingredients:
*You can use whatever veggies you have on hand. You can add more or less veggies. Next time, I’m adding more. These were our ingredients.

1 cup of carrots cut thinly (we used baby carrots sliced into round circles)
3 heads of broccoli cut into florets
1 yellow bell pepper
1 cup of sugar snap peas
1 cup of baby spinach
15 halved cherry tomatoes

1lb of pasta (we used Whole Wheat Rotini)
olive oil
Chicken broth
white wine
kosher salt
fresh, black pepper
tsp of butter
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
dash of garlic salt

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2) Cut all your veggies up (we like ours small for the kids) except for the tomatoes and spinach, then toss them in enough olive oil to give them a generous coating. Sprinkle kosher salt and black pepper on them, then stick them in the oven. They will need to cook about ten minutes. After ten minutes, check them out. Give them a good stir, and stick them back in for about five minutes until everything is nice and brown. Do not burn your broccoli!

3) Meanwhile, cut up your chicken. Heat up some more olive oil until it’s super warm. Use enough to coat the skillet. Sprinkle your chicken with garlic salt and toss it in. Make it get nice and brown before removing it. Go ahead and put your pasta on now, too. Remember to salt and oil your water. You’ll only cook this to al dente.

4) Remove your chicken when it’s cooked through and golden brown. Add in your garlic and butter. Stir that garlic! You don’t want it burning.

5) Pour in white wine and broth. You need about a half a cup of each, but I just eye balled it. You want enough to coat your pasta. Don’t use wine? Double your broth as per the Pioneer Woman’s recommendation. Let all that yumminess cook up for about three minutes.

6) Add in your tomatoes and spinach. Remove it all from the heat. The tomatoes and spinach will cook without being on direct heat. Toss in your chicken, veggies, and drained pasta. Sprinkle with the parm and stir it all together.

ENJOY!

So…here we go!

1) How did you learn to do all this stuff? I’m too scared/nervous/not handy to try to DIY.

We went into this project knowing, literally, NOTHING about home renovations. The extent of our reno work prior to demo-ing our kitchen came down to a few cans of paint, a fence (a project I did with my dad years ago), and a treehouse Taylor did as a young child. So. You can imagine how overwhelming it was to face our new nest as we prepared to tear it apart and attempt to rebuild it. If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s to ask questions. LOTS of questions. From anyone who can help you in any way. We ask people at Lowes. We send emails to people who know more than we do. We talked to my dad, a plumber, and the guy who did our home inspection. We watch YouTube religiously, and we stalk various home improvement blogs. When we are too afraid to tackle something (like electrical work or weird pipes), we call in experts. But we have come to see that the vast majority of DIY projects are things that can be tackled by even inexperienced homeowners. Just go slow and easy, take your time, and don’t be afraid to ask about something.

2) How do you find the time to do all this?

We were lucky. Very lucky. That we had four months since purchase until move-in date. However, it was also a curse in that we’ve spent who knows how much on gas and travel expenses. Not to mention the mortgage and rent payments we’ve had to make along with insurance and utilities. Ouch. But this time has allowed us to do the big projects that would have been hard to do once we move into the home. Taylor has gone down almost every single weekend. I’ve gone one or two times a month to help. It’s been exhausting and rewarding.

3) You do all this yourselves?!

Well, not quite. Everytime we both go to the house, my parents keep our boys. We wouldn’t have gotten even half of it done without their help. My father helped Taylor put in the floors for two full days. We hired a good friend, Mark, to do electrical work for us. Taylor’s mom bought our backsplash materials for us as a house warming gift. My nana bought the floors in our kitchen and dining room for us as a Christmas present. My mom purchased a leather loveseat that I had been swooning over as a housewarming gift. Every bit of Christmas/Birthday money we have received from family has gone towards the home (for us, not any gifts for the boys). We have been very lucky to have lots of help and love pouring into this home.

4) How did you decide what to do first since you were working with a limited budget?

Our timeline kind of decided for us. We knew we had four months before we moved into the home, and we wanted serious projects done that would interfere with life once we were there. Floors were the first priority. Our previous floors were destroyed carpet that was saturated with dog pee (or something). They had to come up because we did not want our babies having to breathe in the nastiness of the carpet. Second, the kitchen was in horrible shape. HORRIBLE. Only the stove worked, so all appliances needed replacing. We figured if we were going to replace appliances, we might as well tackle the rest. We planned on keeping cabinets, which would have been super expensive to replace, so that saved us a huge chunk of change. Once we tackled floors and kitchen, everything else was just icing on the cake to get done before we moved in (thankfully, but we haven’t gotten much else done).

5) How did you manage the budget?

We very quickly learned the difference between “want” and “need.” We needed floors. We didn’t super expensive, exotic floors that were installed by someone else. We needed a stove. We did not need a double oven stove for $1300.00. We needed new countertops. We did not need $89.00 per square foot quartz. We purchased our home knowing how much we had in savings, about how much we would get for tax refunds, and how much we were willing to spend. When we tackled a new project, we always set a budget before we started ripping things apart, and I think that really helped. We did take advantage of a few 18 month no interest financing options. For our floors, we financed them, and then paid them off agressively. They will be completely paid off before interest kicks in and we have to pay more. We did not put anything on a credit card where we would have to pay interest. What we did NOT expect was how much more expensive things would sometimes be than what we even planned.

6) What’s next on the list?

Phew. Our list is so, so huge. I won’t cover all of it because it’s just so much, but a basic run-down includes:
-Grout, caulk the backsplash
-Paint all the rooms
-Paint the built-ins
-Paint all the ceilings
-Spray all the hardware on all doors
-Replace two exterior doors
-Renovate guest bathroom
-Renovate master bathroom
-Replace old windows
-Paint exterior trim
-Paint interior trim
-Install crown moulding
-Paint the storm door and replace hardware
-Landscape (including raised flower beds/gardens)

Are you tired yet? I am. But we plan on taking to so slowly and seeing where our priorities lie once we’ve moved in and lived there for awhile.

I hope this answered a few questions. I’d love to hear any advice/questions you happened to have about renovations! We are such newbies. So we really, truly, have no idea what we’re doing. We’re open to any and all advice!