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2015 has already brought some exciting new developments to our little neck of the world! First, we got our new mail slot. I know, I know…so freakin’ awesome. The insulation we bought this summer… We finally put it down in the attic. That has served us well in these ridiculously cold temperatures that have me seriously thinking about moving south. My husband, Mark, is now doing some VERY COOL work in his professional life. Because…

My husband took his first vacation since buying and renovating our house. I begrudgingly went along with him. (HA!) We went to the warm beaches of Longboat Key, Florida where we did absolutely no remodeling, but LOTS of sitting. I guess we have good mojo because the weather was beautiful and hot almost every day we were there. While we lounged, swam and played with our nephews, it was easy to forget that we had…

2014 was awesome. Really, really awesome. We bought our first house together and immediately went to work. We tore down walls, got really dirty and inhaled a boatload of dust. Our parents, siblings, friends and family came over, pitched in and encouraged us even when we were ready to throw in the towel. My husband, Mark, turned into a master renovator who upped his game…he has more brains and brawn than I ever knew. His…

We’ve got déjà vu fever at our house…the mudding and taping and sanding is back! That means Mark’s rotator cuff injury has reared its ugly head once again. Pop a few Motrin, drink a couple of Heinekens and he’s good to go! There’s not as much drywall downstairs, but the ceiling is a bear. Time is of the essence because Mark will be very busy work-wise when the new year starts, and we might only…

This is the extent of our Christmas decorations…2 stockings that Mark hung from our hamper. Aren’t they festive?! Just because we aren’t winning any holiday decorating awards doesn’t mean we don’t have the Christmas spirit. In fact, I think we have MORE Christmas spirit this year than ever! This season, we’re celebrating in the first home that we own TOGETHER. And even though we aren’t finished with the renovation, it’s becoming apparent that this JOURNEY…

If we sent out a Christmas card, it would look like this… Merry Christmas from Mark, Courtney and Sally (our staircase.) We love this staircase so much, we took 20 different pictures of it. It’s like our baby. On Friday, our electrician, Dominic, brought over 5 burly men, and Mark and the burly men lifted the 760 pound staircase and got it up. Mark poured concrete in the basement and put in a support post…

This blog is a judgement-free zone. Keep that in mind as I share with you the current state in which we live. Our stairs are gone. They were only temporary and my husband, Mark, took them down to finish mudding and taping all the drywall downstairs. So, how am I supposed to get upstairs?? Remember, you promised to withhold judgement. Here is my husband’s solution… Yep, that’s a ladder and that’s how I get to…

Yes, he is…a DIY genius. Excuse me for a minute, while I help Mark squeeze his BIG head through the door…his ego is swelling with this post. 🙂 I’m not good at visualizing things, but Mark has said for months that putting that old elevator door on the ceiling would be awesome. He was right. Mark did it all in one day. I went to work with a huge hole in my living room ceiling….

A public shaming can work wonders. In my last blog, I lifted the veil and revealed that the hubs and I would rather sit and watch TV than finish our downstairs. There was no hidden meaning…it was only a truth I was sharing with the universe. Mark took it as a dig, and he’s been working on the downstairs like a mad man ever since. Totally fine by me. 🙂 Several months ago, we told…

We. Are. 2. Lazy. Mofos. For real. For months now, Mark and I have been feeling SO GOOD about our DIY home renovations. I write this blog and show all of you wonderful people how we’re just killing it in the remodeling department. How far the mighty have fallen. I don’t know if we’re burned out or what, but the last 4 weekends have been mostly spent in bed binge-watching “Entourage.” (Amazing.) Mark tries to…