The Joys of Homeownership

This week, I celebrated the one year anniversary of buying my first house.

This past year has FLOWN by, so I thought it would be a good time for Ashley and I to reflect on the "joys" of home ownership, both sarcastic and real.

The "Joys"

Getting locked out. Not once, not twice.  THREE TIMES.  Including once on my birthday...at 8 am...in PJ's.

Calling a repairman, only to find out you didn't need him.  And having to pay him over a hundred dollars just to flip a switch.

Having to replace the battery in a smoke detector at 2 am.  Might I add that this was the night before a field trip.

Ashley's "Joys"

The smoke detector going off anytime the oven was on for the first month we lived here.  Electrician determined the detector was faulty and replaced it.  Smoke detector still goes off anytime we bake something and it starts to burn (encourages me not to burn any food!). 

Being in the middle of a true blizzard and the sensor of the garage door breaks...winds blowing 50mph, snow coming down inches per hour SIDEWAYS, and its freezing cold...Fixed that problem by myself by taking the door apart while the blizzard raged on the other side of it.

Again with weather.... just last week we were clocked in at 52mph wind gusts and some crazy storms.  After we heard a sound that resembled an explosion I discovered the wind took our outdoor gas grill and pieces of it were everywhere.  After cleaning them up (at Midnight) I noticed the rain was pooling up on my window sills INSIDE.... So needless to say I never went to bed that night as I stayed up mopping up the water that was pouring into my house. 

its been determined that our windows are not properly installed on the house...ANOTHER repair call.



The True Joys

Decorating for Christmas.

Being able to open my home to celebrate some special events for some very special people.

Doing random projects, especially with help from fun people.

Going to bed at night with the feeling that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.


Ashley's True Joys

Bringing our families together.  Hosting holidays and fun gatherings.

Having a place to call "home."

Feeling a sense of accomplishment when people congratulate you or mention how much they like something you have worked so hard to have.

How about you, do you own your own home?
What are some of YOUR homeownership adventures?

Check It Off the To-Do List!

I've said it once, and I'll say it again...my sister rocks.

I'm a pretty independent person, but there are some things I just can't get accomplished on my own.  This weekend, I really wanted to get a couple of just such things checked off my to-do list, so Ashley was kind enough to come over and give me a helping hand.

This was the state of my living room as of yesterday morning.  Pretty boring.  I'm hosting a baby shower for my good friend in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to pretty this place up!  Plus, the art I got for Christmas has been sitting on my floor for two months now...time to put 'er up!

The spacing was complicated, which is where Ashley came in.  She helped eyeball it...

...and was great at helping me remember numbers as I measured. :)

I am loving the finished product!  (Sorry for the glare...working on learning to take pics with the new phone.)  So far, they have not fallen off the wall.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Thanks again for the help, sis!  I am one lucky girl.

Did anyone knock some good stuff off the to-do list this weekend?

Pinterest Addiction

The two of us have a bit of an obsession with Pinterest.

If you're not on it...you should definitely change that.  Unless, of course, you value your time and doing things other than sitting in front of the computer.  Because, let me tell you, this crazy website will surely get you sitting in front of the computer.  It's genius!

So, today, I'm going to highlight some of my favorites from one of my boards.  Perhaps this will entice me to actually get moving on some of these projects, instead of just pinning...and pinning...and pinning.

Seeing as one of my new year's resolutions is to get moving on making my office look like it belongs to an adult instead of a broke college student, I'm going to focus on my "Decorating Ideas" board.  Here are some of my favorite pins:

This is one of my first pins, from houzz.com (the link from the pin doesn't take you to the right place, otherwise I'd give the exact link), and is my first office inspiration.  I love the corner desk concept...and just now noticed there are some bib numbers on the wall.  Woo for running!

I also can't help but go back and stare at this one.  I definitely want to do this in my little mud room/laundry room/basement.  The pin is from Made By Girl, and the blog  is super adorable.  Another great thing about Pinterest...it leads you to other fun blogs!

This is one of those that I was shocked to find myself repinning, because I am sooo not a green kind of girl.  However, I find myself more and more drawn to this color combo...pretty sure this is the route I'll take with my office (since it's a pretty blank slate and I can switch it out easily if I don't like it).  The pin is originally from Canadian House and Home magazine.

And finally, I'm loving this picture.  Why on Earth did she pin a picture of a kid's room, do you ask?  I don't blame you, because I asked myself the same thing.  However, this is the blue and green combo again.  In this one, I am loving the green accent wall with the curtains.  I LOVE the curtains.  Definitely on the to-do list for the office.  This one is from Little Green Notebook.

Hope you enjoyed this mini-glimpse into my Pinterest world!  It was fun to me to take a peek back at some things I pinned awhile ago!  Happy Pinning!

The Past Year!

So, we have already done a survey about how the year 2011 was for us, but this one takes a different approach for recapping the year...and like we've said, we love a good survey!

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Amy: Ran a half marathon
Ashley:  Got Married!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for 2012?
Amy: Yep...my resolution was to run 20 miles a month.  I made a bunch, as we discussed in our new year's post.
Ashley:  My resolution was to work out every day... I failed to keep it, but I did try.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Amy:  Two of my cousins had babies.
Ashley: Yes!  One of my best friends gave birth to my little godson!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Amy: Unfortunately, yes.  But I believe she is in a better place.
Ashley: Unfortunately Yes.  Our step-grandma passed away  = (

5. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Amy: More appreciation for what I have.
Ashley:  I'm going to have to give the generic answer 'money" because 2011 was full of wedding expenses. 

6. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Amy: Probably my sister's and friend's wedding days.
Ashley: 7/15/2011 A very special little boy was born,  9.17.11- My wedding day

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Amy: If I had to pick one I'd say buying my house...it was the biggest leap of faith I think I've ever taken.
Ashley: Planning my wedding and having it go glitch free,  moving into our first home! And a silly achievement I want to add... Taking Matt to the airport for a business trip AND picking him up, tollway driving+airport confusion is NOT my thing, but I did it!

8. What was your biggest failure?
Amy: Walking too close to the finish line at my 5k in March and missing my goal time by 12 seconds.
Ashley:  Not going back to school like I wanted to.

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Amy: Minor battle with shin splints, but nothing I couldn't conquer.
Ashley: Just a bad case of Strep Throat.  Otherwise I was healthy this year... hope to keep up the good immune system for years to come!

10. What was the best thing you bought?
Amy: Definitely my house.
Ashley:  oh goodness... I'd have to say our house even though we closed on it just before 2011.

11. Where did most of your money go?
Amy: Those fun mortgage payments.
Ashley: Wedding and mortgage

12. What did you get really excited about?
Amy: Buying my house, moving into my house, decorating my house...lol...Amanda's wedding, Ashley's wedding, my NYC trip, my first half, and finishing my masters!
Ashley:  My bridal shower, bachelorette party, wedding day, honeymoon, the holidays, Amy's 1st Half Marathon!

13. What song will always remind you of 2011?
Amy: Lol...first one to pop into my head isn't one I can blog about...
Ashley:  Way too many to count this year!

14. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
Amy: Definitely happier
Ashley: Happier
b) thinner or fatter?
Amy: Um...probably about the same
Ashley:  I actually maintained give or take.
c) richer or poorer?
Amy: Probably about the same
Ashley: Richer - in more ways than one!

15. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Amy: Spent time with friends I don't see much.
Ashley: Exercise.

16. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Amy: Worrying about things I can't control.
Ashley:  Being lazy and complaining.

17. How did you spend Christmas?
Amy: With my family at Matt and Ashley's house.
Ashley: Matt and I hosted it at our house this year.

18. What was your favorite TV program?
Amy: Glee!
Ashley:  Grey's Anatomy, The Bachelorette, Dancing With the Stars.

19. What was the best book you read?
Amy: Divergent by Veronica Roth.  OMG. Amazing.
Ashley: I'd have to say the last book of the Twilight series was pretty good. 

20. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Amy: Hm...just random songs I guess.
Ashley:  The Michael Buble Christmas CD!

21. What did you want and get?
Amy: Kindle!  Woot!
Ashley:  A new camera.

22. What did you want and not get?
Amy: A boyfriend, lol.
Ashley:  I think I was pretty fortunate this year.

23. What was your favorite film of this year?
Amy: The Help.  Actually liked it better than the book, which SO does not happen in my world!
Ashley: Bridesmaids was definately a great comedy.

24. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Amy: Went to lunch and to the flea market.  Pretty low key, but lovely for the big 2-7.
Ashley:  Celebrated with Matt and Amy and had a new recipe night and then craft day with Amy a few days later!  Such a fun gift.

25. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Amy: This year was a pretty satisfying one...I don't think I would change it.
Ashley: Going back to school.

26. What kept you sane?
Amy: Running.  Hands down.
Ashley: Trying to keep organized, taking time to relax when needed and my family.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
Amy: To believe in myself, because we are capable of more than we could ever imagine.
Ashley:  If you can't change it, then just stop worrying about it.

Sisters: Crafts!

A friend of Amy's and mine suggested the idea of a "craft club"--at least that is what we call it.  You take the idea of a book club and tweak it to make it into a craft club.  Tonight, we got a small group got together to make the same craft.  Since it was our friends idea she picked the craft, she picked jute wreaths.  They were time-consuming, but the final product looks fantastic!!  We used cardboard letters that matched the first letter of our last names, and hot glue guns and felt squares to make the rosettes.  You can use ribbon to create a bow as seen in the tutorial or you can opt to not add a bow.   I used ribbon to create a hanging loop.  Some of the other ladies made a bow that is shown in the final product of the tutorial.  All in all, we agreed it was fun!

Here is my letter prior to adding the rosettes.

And it's complete!  I plan to hang it in my newly-painted powder room and will post a picture of it hung up as soon as it's on the wall.

Amy's work-in-progress

Drumroll please...

The finished product!

The colors went perfectly with Amy's bedrom color scheme, and she's been wanting something above the bed...so this is it!  Now, she just needs a headboard!

Spaces: The Frosting on the...Windows

Before I start, I must admit that this may be one of the laziest projects I have ever not-completed.  Something that should have taken me an afternoon has taken me--literally--months.  And...I'm still not done.  Yikes!

What is this simple-but-not-in-Amy's-world project, you ask?  Frosting my mud/laundry room window.  This window is the only one in my house at ground level, and the fact that it is so exposed kind of creeps me out.  I didn't feel like it would look right with curtains, so I decided frosting it was the way to go.

I decided to do the same with the small window in my master bathroom, so I headed over to Lowe's (with a coupon, of course) and picked up a roll of window frosting film. 

(I must digress for a second...is it weird that every time I type the word frosting, even if reference to a window, I can't stop thinking about the cookies calling my name from the kitchen?  I didn't think so.)

Anyway, I ended up having to pick up two rolls for the two windows, and it knocked me back about 50 bucks when all was said and done...yeesh!

When I got home, I took a break and spent some time on one of my favorite obsessions: Pinterest.  Lo and behold, I stumbled upon this link that described how to "frost" a window with contact paper.  Six dollars for a roll of contact paper as opposed to the 25 I spent on the fancy stuff?  Yes, please!

So, I printed 7th House on the Left's awesome stencil template and got to work tracing and cutting.

Not the most entertaining of jobs (hence the WEEKS it took me to complete this phase of the project...motivation was not easy to find), but I persevered...if you could call it that.

So, after lots of tracing and cutting (and some frustration, because for some reason they didn't line up evenly), I was left with a bunch of cut out shapes and was ready to rock on my window.

I cleaned it really well and started sticking.  The trickiest part was the edges, because a full shape wouldn't fit.  Luckily, I had the tool from the expensive stuff (which I still used on my bathroom window), which made it really easy. 

At first, I was nervous, but I stepped back and was loving it!  And this...

...is as far as I got.  Despite the fact that I thought I had cut out plenty of pieces, the ones I had only covered half the window.  Then...school started.  And, hence, my window has not changed in the two months since.  Oops!  Now that the wedding and NYC trip are over, though, I'm planning on finishing this one soon.  So, be sure to come back next time, when Amy finally gets some motivation and finishes the fairly easy project!  :)

Gray-t Night...Amy's First Project

Worst pun ever...haha.  Sorry!

After closing on my house, I waited about a week before I officially moved in.  Before staying in my home, I really wanted to make the master bedroom my own.  For some reason, at any new place I've lived, I spend a good amount of time in the beginning being uncomfortable because I feel like I'm staying in someone else's bedroom.  I really wanted to avoid that this time around and be comfortable from the start.

Plus, I couldn't stand the baby blue on the walls...

My original plan was to paint the master bedroom taupe, but the comforter I ordered online turned out to be much more gray than the tannish color I thought it was in the pictures.  Should have known...seeing as the comforter was called "Malibu Gray."  Way to pay attention to detail, teacher!

So, I browsed a bunch of paint chips and finally decided on Behr's Mineral.  It had just the gray-brown mix I was going for and picked up the color of the darker stripes on my comforter well.

So, I bought a gallon and my lovely, artistic friend Kristin and I got to work!

Good riddance, baby blue!

In an effort to make the whole process move a little more quickly, I decided to forego the primer and just give it two coats (this was definitely against Kristin's suggestion, and you can probably guess where this is going).  We painted at night, and when I got to the house the next morning, the wall picture above looked like it had been sponge painted.  Baby blue showing through like crazy!  Definitely in need of a third coat...

So, my first morning in my new home was spent re-painting my bedroom.  However, the mission was accomplished, and I slept great in a room that I felt was 100% mine!

(Pardon the drying rack...obviously not a permanent fixture in the room.  At least you know my clothes are clean!)

It's been a few months, and I am thrilled with my color choice!  I find it very calm and serene--just what I was looking for in my bedroom.

Obviously, there is plenty of work still to be done in this room.  You can't see it in the picture, but the comforter has these subtle purple pinstripes within the white, so I want to use purple as an accent color in the room (hence the pillows).  To name a few, I plan to:

• Buy/make a headboard (would love to try one of those awesome DIY upholstered ones I see all over blogland).
• Get/make some wall art that picks up on the purple I'm looking for in the room.
• Find some new night stands so I can get rid of my good ol' college cheap furniture.
• Make a reading corner by the window.
• Get a console table for the wall next to the closet.

Here is my current dilemma--do I go with black or dark brown?  The current curtains and bench at the foot of the bed are dark brown, but, for some reason, I feel like dark brown is weird with gray walls.  However, the walls definitely have brown undertones, particularly in daylight.  Hmm...any thoughts?

Amy