Be original

I hope one day Estelle looks back at this and laughs. She is so funny & literally has no inhibitions. Stay super Stellie! I love your free spirit!

Waiting for Cupid ❤️

We are by no means in any hurry to get to spring, because that means yardwork. We have so many indoor projects that we have to wrap up before it gets nice out. But there is that longing for longer/brighter days in warmer weather. I do enjoy the spring time holidays. They break up the boredom. And although we are extremely busy with work in the home, it does give us little milestones to look forward to. 

Since the family room is under construction, I have been reduced to this small area to decorate!

Someone is sneaking chocolates 😍

Sweet treats from Small Cakes says "I love you" ❤️🌹

& the holiday would not be complete without a gift from Cupid ❤️

Doing what we love

This is definitely not a sappy post about making our wishes and dreams come true in terms of fantasies. It's just a post about how we do what we love within the budget that we have. So many of my friends ask how we are able to travel or refinish our home while buying organic groceries and having nice clothes. We do travel quite a bit, usually 2 to 3 trips a year. They are not exactly cheap trips either. We also buy new furniture, refinished rooms, paint, decorate, etc. continuously. 

Do you want to know the secret? We have a small modest house with a small mortgage. We literally bought our home at the lowest it could ever be and it certainly needed work. But over the last six years we've been chipping away at it. That's the key - doing it slowly over time with the money that you have. We don't rack up credit card bills and we try to spend within our means. And if that means that instead of getting new carpeting so we can go on a family vacation- so be it. 

Justin and I always talked about having a small house that we could totally deck out. I grew up in a massive home my parents built together that was 3200 ft.². But it was so large my mom couldn't even afford furniture to put in it. They were definitely house poor. I wasn't interested in that. Although we do talk now about expanding because we have another baby coming and we literally are living to the max capacity here in this house already, I am anxious to get rid of what we have. I don't want a larger mortgage because I like the lifestyle that we have. I like to shop when I want. I like to plan trips when I want. I like to buy a new bookshelf if I want it.

- But we also need to live comfortably so it's something we are chatting about. The price has to be right and I have no doubt that we will make an excellent turn around on our home. Just some food for thought as many of my friends are drowning in superhigh mortgages with large interest rates and tons and tons of credit card debt. And then they wonder why they can never go on a vacation. You have to spend wisely and decide what's important to you. 

And although we do buy nice clothes, I usually get them at a super cheap price. I am definitely a penny pincher. I try to be savvy when it comes to shopping. I don't snip coupons, but I watch sales and I make good choices. The upside is also that Justin and I are not into super fancy things. I don't need to have designer handbags and high-end jewelry or clothing. We aren't "super decked out car" people either. We pay off our cars and drive them till they die. We also don't have to have the latest and greatest electronics. It's just not important to us. We basically buy food & clothes. The rest is towards basic bills and house upkeep. We try to put aside money for trips because we know that eventually we will hit the road again. 

We are looking forward to going to Disney this fall and I am already planning on putting away money each month. We have been to Disney many times and we know the cost of just a basic hamburger. It's wise to save. Save save save! I'm just hoping one day my daughters will read this and follow the road that their parents have laid before them 😊

Warm weather wishes🌷🍄🌈☀️

That's an iliteration! It's January and of course I am thinking about beautiful spring time or a spring break vacation on the beach 🏖. It never fails after the holidays! The days are boring and cold. We have stayed extremely busy with this massive renovation to our family room, however it doesn't subdue the wishes we have for a nice ocean resort on the beach. 

It happens all the time that I find myself watching beach vacation travel videos or Disney documentaries. We could've done a warm weather spring break trip this year since I am finished with school, but with a little boy due in April it would've been too risky. We did get away to Minnesota to enjoy some indoor fun. Being sick the entire time did sour my mood, but at least it was a break away from reality in a very nice hotel room. I am looking forward to the little boy coming, he will add so much joy to our lives. And then we shall be free to travel again unrestricted! I even asked Justin if we could take a trip on my maternity leave. He absolutely does not want to do that! I can understand the needs of a newborn are so frequent and time consuming that to take him on a trip 12 hours away would be quite the expedition and probably more work than fun.

Today was a very lukewarm day for January. It has been a beacon of light through the subzero polar temperatures we've recently been experiencing. Probably the coldest string of weeks I can remember. Finally it's so warm that it's raining although it won't last because it supposed to snow tomorrow morning. I had the girls in rain boots today and maybe that's what prompted me to really wish for spring.

They enjoyed the muddy puddles, however my oldest looks like a sulking teenager because she claims it's still too cold. It's 40° which feels amazing! It's a heat wave! 🏝🏝🏝

Back to the renovations

It's been a loooooooooong time since I posted some of my room make overs. Looking back in 2012 I thought "wow, my homemade stuff was so ugly!" Well I have come a long way! I realized over the years that me trying to remake or redo things cost just as much as buying something new half of the time! Arts and crafts are not cheap! Fabric is ridiculously expensive and paint has gotten more pricey as well. Also, sometimes homemade just looks like crap. 

Once I got a more stable job position and was making better income I decided to slowly chip away and buy the things I really wanted. I am no longer doing any DIY projects unless it's something worth while. For example, I am going to refinish one of our giant desks because it's a nice piece of furniture made out of solid wood and I don't want to replace it. But it does need a facelift. Other than that I'm buying new pillows and furniture and artwork! No more homemade!

Someday I'll put together a post of my entirely finished home, but for now you're going to see the room that I've been anticipating for a long time! We are refinishing the family room. We are finally covering the paneling with drywall and hopefully replacing the flooring this spring. This has been on my to-do list since the moment we bought this house. I am just waiting for a start date with our contractor for next week. I'm very excited and can't wait to post the progress. So here you go! Here are the before photos!

Progress !! 😁😁😁

Well I decided on a paint color and of course I am uncertain about it. I think I want it lighter, but I am willing to wait until everything is pulled together before I decide to change it. 

  

We plan on doing board and batten. See the inspiration below: 

Getting a little closer 😍

 The board and batten is complete and wallpaper has begun. Just need some touching up on the crown molding and ceiling. Carpet has been measured! Getting there! New carpet update! In love! 😍

Before ⬇️

And after ⬇️