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30 things about this 30-year-old

Today is my 30th birthday, friends. I've been nervous about this day for the last five years, but also a little bit excited. I hear 30's are the new 20's - amiright? So in honor of this momentous occasion, I've put together a list of 30 things about me that you may not know.<br /><br />Since this is a home blog, and our main focus is our home and DIY projects, we don't share a whole lot about ourselves. You've seen tons of pictures of Justin building things, but since I'm behind the camera, you don't see a whole lot of me. So today I aim to change that and give you a peek behind the camera.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/22623969@N03/8120002665" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="The Wall by Home Coming, on Flickr"><img alt="The Wall" height="457" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8046/8120002665_27febc993e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><b>30 Things about this 30 Year Old</b><br /><br />1. I can't start or end my day without updating my to-do list. <i>So this 30 things list is right up my alley</i>.<br /><br />2. I've ran at least one half or full marathon a year, for the last six years.<br /><br />3. I'm <i>(for real)</i> addicted to sugar. If I try to cut cookies, donuts or cupcakes out of my diet, I'll have dreams about them until I eat some.<br /><br />4. I eat desert <b>before</b> my meal so I always know I'll have room.<br /><br />5. I don't drink coffee or caffeine of any kind.<br /><br />6. I don't watch movies, but am obsessed with TV shows and watch them so much it's like the characters become a part of my family.  GoT, True Blood, Homeland, Dexter, Grey's and HIMYM are some of my favorites.<br /><br />7. The only movies I do watch are Christmas movies like Home Alone and Santa Clause.<br /><br />8. I love baseball.<br /><br />9. Justin & I have been on a co-ed kickball team for the last 3 years<br /><br />10. I've never owned a vehicle.<br /><br />11. I pride myself in riding my bike to work a few days a week, 24 miles round trip.<br /><br />12. I've lived in 3 states and have visited 36 states, mainly through road trips and my job.<br /><br />13. I'm an adrenaline junkie. I've skydived, scuba dived, sailed a boat, white water rafted, surfed, snowboarded, rappelled down a mountain - as well as a cenote, hiked mountains, cliff jumped, zip lined, and went parasailing.<br /><br />14. Justin and I have been together for 11 years, and married for 7.<br /><br />15. I'm the anti-1950's housewife. I don't cook. I only do my own laundry. I suck at cleaning. And I will not be the stay-at-home parent when/if that time comes.<br /><br />16. I don't know how to cook <i>(at all).</i> If Justin isn't home, my go-to meal is a bowl of cereal and a glass of wine.<br /><br />17. I could eat pizza or pancakes every day for the rest of my life. Oh...and Sonic. Don't forget Sonic.<br /><br />18. I read 2-3 books a month. Any recommendations??<br /><br />19. I have a phobia of metal. I'm deathly grossed out and afraid of touching it. Especially jewelry, keys and change. Other things like utensils and doorknobs don't bother me <i>(as much)</i>.<br /><br />20. Buzzfeed thinks Cory Matthews is my Boy Meets World Soul Mate.<br /><br />21. Buzzfeed also thinks I should live in California <i>(and sometimes, so do I)</i>.<br /><br />22. We've owned our house for 7 years, but only lived in it for 4.<br /><br />23. I have a bold, minimalist style, but can't get rid of enough of my shit to truly be a minimalist.<br /><br />24. I have a black thumb. I've killed just about every plant I've gotten my hands on.<br /><br />25. I work a full-time job. Blogging is one of my hobbies, and DIY'ing is my creative outlet.<br /><br />26. I have two dogs. Even though I'd <i><b>never</b></i> thought I'd ever be an animal person, they're my babies.<br /><br />27. My drink of choice is a local brew, no matter where I am.<br /><br />28. I still watch MTV religiously.<br /><br />29. I love to travel and have been to 6 other countries. We're slowly working to add more to our list.<br /><br />30. I'm equal parts excited and sad to leave my 20's behind and rock my 30's socks off.<br /><br /><br />Anything surprise you? Or anything you can relate to?<br /><br /><br /><div class="shareaholic-canvas" data-app-id="6612612" data-app="share_buttons"></div><br />

30 things about this 30-year-old

Today is my 30th birthday, friends. I've been nervous about this day for the last five years, but also a little bit excited. I hear 30...

7:32 AM

I got him!

I got him!

Seven years ago, Justin & I got married. Three bookshelves later, I'm happy he's still mine.

12:17 PM

With a couple months of blogging for Home Coming under my belt, I've decided to start expanding the areas that you're able to follow...

1:10 PM

Ten whole years

Ten whole years

Justin and I met ten years ago today! I feel old even saying that, but it's true. Check out my pos t on My Greatest Hits to see how the ...

7:40 AM

A little about me

<span style="font-family: inherit;">I really do love my followers. Wonderful Faith from <a href="http://pikesplaceblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Pikes Place</a> nominated Home Coming for a small blogger award! Faith has been a follower of my other blog, <a href="http://fashionsgreatesthits.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">My Greatest Hits</a> for awhile now, and has followed along with me to my next blogging endeavor.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Liebster Award is given by bloggers to up-and-coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. It's to show new bloggers that they are appreciated, and to help spread the word about new blogs. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are some rules that go along with it:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>You must post 11 random things about yourself.<br />You must answer the questions the nominator set for you<br />You must create 11 questions for the 11 blogs that you've chosen to nominate<br />You must link to your 11 nominated blogs and let them know they were nominated.<br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #666666;"> </span><img class="CSS_LIGHTBOX_SCALED_IMAGE_IMG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Spp0VB7KfLYxkg3hsmTBoqqyjj7UZpSuEzJ00jBRUEXJ0xXTmB0SmKqCsSP0aUli2bZNYbBg5IeS2xljlmZBsAVNZNnlK3RWAOd75ZKD9yYY5tPtVmjVmYKIxdcSBRFnq9sJrABV-TU/s1600/liebster+award+pic.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border-bottom: rgb(238,238,238) 1px solid; border-left: rgb(238,238,238) 1px solid; border-right: rgb(238,238,238) 1px solid; border-top: rgb(238,238,238) 1px solid; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; cursor: pointer; height: 79px; outline-color: rgb(0,0,0); outline-style: solid; outline-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; position: relative; width: 227px;" /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So here are my 11 random facts:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">01. Justin and I have moved a total of 9 times in the past 5 years. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">02. We've lived in Minnesota, Colorado and Virginia.</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">03. I've historically been a Grinch around Christmas, but since returning to MN, I'm starting to become more festive. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">04. My least favorite part of Christmas is trying to find gifts for the 14+ people I have on my list.</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">05 My best friends live all around the country (Arkansas, California, DC, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois) but only 2 in Minnesota, and they live over 3 hours away!! <em>Miss you girls!!!</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">06. I'm addicted to sugar like people are addicted to coffee (or cocaine). If I don't fill my sugar-fix each day, I get crazy-bad cravings! I even have dreams about cupcakes & cookies. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">07. I'm an avid reader, reading 2-3 books a month and at least a dozen blogs weekly....or daily! </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">08. I'm a complete disaster on a bike. So I've decided to try and become a better biker and purchased my first road bike in September. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">09. I'm also a complete disaster in the water, so I plan to take adult swim lessons in the future so I can participate in a triatholon someday. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10. I'm a marathon runner and try to run at least one race a year. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">11.  In high school and college, I tried so hard to be a 'grown up' and now I'm trying desperately to NOT be a grown up. All I want to do is evade as many responsibilities as I can for as long as I'm able.</span> </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Next up, here are </u><a href="http://pikesplaceblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Faith's</a><u> questions for me (with my answers!) </u></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><strong>01. What is your favorite movie of all time?</strong> Honestly, I'm not much of a movie person. I get much more into Television shows because you build such relationships with the characters week after week, year after year. I'm OBSESSED with Dexter, Homeland and The Walking Dead. </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><strong>02. If you could have lunch with one person (living or dead), who would it be?</strong> This is a hard one....Madona? </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><strong>03. Are you left handed or right handed?</strong> Righty!</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><strong>04. What is your favorite room in your house?</strong> Until recently, I despised my entire house. But now that we're remodeling, I'm really starting to like my living/dining space. </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><strong>05. What is your favorie food or drink?</strong> Donuts!!!! That's considered a food, right?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><strong>06. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?</strong>  I'd move back to Colorado in a heartbeat. </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><strong>07. How long have you been blogging?</strong> I've been blogging for nearly two years now on my style blog, <a href="http://fashionsgreatesthits.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">My Greatest Hits</a>. This blog was birthed about 3 months ago. </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><strong>08. What is your decorating style?</strong> I consider myself to be very modern. The cleaner the lines, the better. </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><strong>09. Who is your favorite author?</strong> Jodi Picoult. She has such a way of developing her characters that I feel like they're part of my life. </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><strong>10. What is your favorite song or artist?</strong> AWOLNATION. I'm such a suckeer for the rock/DJ combo that he's doing. I also love being part of a small, almost "underground" following. Once a band or artist 'makes it big', I'm no longer interested. </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><strong>11. Do you have any weird habits?</strong> I get bored easily, so I'm always jumping from one project to the other, typically leaving a wake of un-finished projects around the house. </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">So, now it's time for me to nominate some wonderful bloggers that I'm obsessed with. Here are my nominations:</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://southerncolor.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Southern Color</a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://thisdiylife.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">This DIY Life</a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://werejustdandy.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">just d and y</a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://halfassedcrafter.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Half-Assed Crafter</a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://twoeverydaydivas.com/" target="_blank">Two Everyday Divas</a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://kirstenerickson.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Through the Front Door</a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://lifeloveandpuppyprints.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Life Love and Puppy Prints</a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;">Congrats ladies! (yes, they're all ladies...)</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><u>And here are my questions for you lovely ladies: </u></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">01. Who is your favorite blogger that you follow religiously?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">02. Do you read blogs across categories? Meaning home blogs vs. fashion blogs vs. family. Or do you focus on one area specicifally? </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">03. What is your favorite color to decorate or accessorize with? </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">04. What is your favorite room in your house?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">05. Do you think that home style influences personal style, or vice versa? </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">06. What are you most hoping you'll get for Christmas? </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">07. What are you most excited for this Holiday?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">08. If your home style were a TV sitcom or movie, which one would it be? (For example, do you have a Full House or Boy Meets World style home?)</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">09. Speaking of 90's sitcoms, what's th eone TV show that you wish was still on-air?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">10. What's your favorite television show on-air now?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">11. If you weren't blogging about your home, what would you be blogging about?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;"><br /></div>

A little about me

I really do love my followers. Wonderful Faith from Pikes Place nominated Home Coming for a small blogger award! Faith has been a follower ...

2:57 PM

Moving home

<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We’re officially in our house, again. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The movers brought all of our things and dropped them off at our house. They offered to unpack them all as well (included in our relocation package with my new employer) but I just couldn’t figure out what to do with anything yet since Justin is still finishing up his remodeling things. So we told them we'd unpack everything ourselves in time. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So now our house looks like this.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22623969@N03/8110661223/" title="IMG_6045 by klacowsky, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="IMG_6045" height="480" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8046/8110661223_d8d0f5dfcd_z.jpg" width="640" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22623969@N03/8110666590/" title="2012-10-198 by klacowsky, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="2012-10-198" height="457" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8110666590_19a385e259_z.jpg" width="640" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first time we moved into this house I took a completely different approach. Filling rooms with whatever was there instead of thinking through the purpose of each room & each space and really planning out how to best utilize and best dress the space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>But not this time. This time I’m going to be more of an adult about this. I want the house to be functional and beautiful. Not just a random piling of things that don’t look or work well together. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So until I figure out my strategy, I guess we’ll have a few boxes sitting around the house. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Who knew being an adult was so difficult? </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22623969@N03/8110657865/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6049 by klacowsky, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="IMG_6049" height="457" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8466/8110657865_7ca3e5b402_z.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unpacking is sooo exhausting</span></td></tr></tbody></table><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22623969@N03/8110664670/" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="2012-10-199 by klacowsky, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="2012-10-199" height="457" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8183/8110664670_6f652d057a_z.jpg" width="640" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>

Moving home

We’re officially in our house, again. The movers brought all of our things and dropped them off at our house. They offered to unpack them al...

6:55 AM

I can't believe we're doing this

<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a lot of unbelievable things that I'm about to tell you. First, after 19 months of having <i>one</i> blog, I've decided to start <i>another</i> one. I first graced the blogging world with my style blog, </span><a href="http://fashionsgreatesthits.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My Greatest Hits</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> in March of 2011. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22623969@N03/6329483096/" style="cssfloat: left;" title="IMG_4501 by klacowsky, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="IMG_4501" height="286" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6033/6329483096_1e782514aa_z.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">While this blog is still in full-force, I’ve decided to pick up another project. Which you already know all about, because you’re reading it! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My husband, Justin, and I have recently been making a lot of transitions in our lives. I’ve decided to (kind of) change careers and go from working at an advertising agency to working in the marketing department at a large corporation. This change came after a multi-year struggle with work-life balance, wanting to spend time with my husband and friends and to actually enjoy what time I had left to be young.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So after six + years of working in the advertising world and four years of living in fun places across the country like beautiful Denver, Colorado and the sauna that is Richmond, Virginia, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">we were finally coming home to Minnesota. </b></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22623969@N03/7543760554/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Midwest is best by klacowsky, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Midwest is best" height="400" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8162/7543760554_c6786bb8ee_z.jpg" width="308" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's true.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our families were ecstatic. Justin, being the family guy that is, was ecstatic. And I was, well, surprisingly ecstatic. We made the transition home just three weeks ago and it’s gone fairly smoothly thus far. My new job took great care of us in terms of relocation, packing and moving our things, storing it while we’re living in corporate housing, and paying for anything that they could so it didn’t break our bank. Thank god for them. Other than <s>some</s> lots of lost mail (ugh!), it’s been great. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But our biggest piece of unbelievable news is that we’re moving back into our <u>house</u> in Minneapolis. Honestly, when we moved to Colorado four years ago, we had both hoped that we’d never see this house again. After rushing into buying a house when we were far too young, inexperienced and not financially fit, we immediately regretted it. The house didn’t have a user-friendly layout, it was tiny, it was old, and it took up far too much of our time and money to keep it running.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22623969@N03/8068014378/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="House3 by klacowsky, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="House3" height="400" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8169/8068014378_e92706b5da.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unfortunately, with the housing market crash right after we purchased, there was no selling that thing unless we wanted a short sale. Which we didn’t. So we’ve held onto it and rented it to a wonderful family the entire time we’ve been gone. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now we’re home and are going to own up to our “mistake” and actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">live</i> in the house that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> own. Oh, lordy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You may not know this, but Justin is a wonderfully skilled craftsman. He’s been a carpenter for 15 years doing everything from framing houses to trim work to roofing to cabinet work. Having someone this handy around the house (or apartment) has been absolutely wonderful. If anything is broken, he fixes it. Simple. No need to hire a handyman because Justin’s got it taken care of. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22623969@N03/8068015643/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="justin5 by klacowsky, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="justin5" height="300" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8182/8068015643_66ab1da014.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We're so funny. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because he’s so handy and we truly were dreading moving back into such a dysfunctional house, we had big dreams of remodeling. Ripping down half the house (that was built in the 1920’s) and completely starting from scratch. Our list of benefits was immense. Making the rooms bigger and improving the layout. Adding air conditioning. Fixing the air duct system, better insulation, better this, better that, better, better, better. We were excited and ready to get started until two weeks ago when our renters moved out of the house and we walked through it for the first time in four years. It was not quite what remembered. It was actually <i style="font-family: Calibri;">smaller</i> than we remembered! Our remodeling ideas weren’t as cut-and-dry as we had thought. It would take <i style="font-family: Calibri;">a lot</i> more work and <i style="font-family: Calibri;">a lot</i> more money than we were anticipating and we realized we probably wouldn’t get a return on our investment.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, back to the drawing board. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After getting upset that we had to move back into this terrible house when all we wanted to do was rent a cute little condo overlooking Lake Calhoun, we came up with a new plan; Work with what we’ve got.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22623969@N03/8068014484/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="house2 by klacowsky, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="house2" height="375" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8303/8068014484_95d6d77dd8.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Look at how little we are! The first picture with our house taken back in 2007. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We looked at what we disliked about our house. We prioritized those to things that we could immediately change, and other things that we’d need to save and plan for over time. We came to three, very cosmetic things for our immediate list.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Strange, non-user-friendly floor plan. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wasted space. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Too small of rooms for our furniture. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And then we figured out a way to change those three things. Why not just rip down a couple of walls? It would open up the floor plan and in-turn get rid of that wasted space in leiu of larger rooms that would fit our furniture. The solution seemed so simple that we couldn’t believe we didn’t think of it before. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So now we’re remodeling our house, one little, baby step at a time. We’re working from our immediate list first, then slowly, over the next few years, making our way down to the more involved or expensive items. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And that’s where you come in. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We want to share our progress with you! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We want to show you what we’re doing and how it looks. And maybe some of you out there are DIY’ers too that want to learn how to do some weird, crazy, handyman type-thing. Well, I have a carpenter as a husband so what better way to show you how to do it, than to blog a few How-Tos while I’m at it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Welcome to our journey to make this small, awkward little house we own, a home.</span></div>

I can't believe we're doing this

There are a lot of unbelievable things that I'm about to tell you. First, after 19 months of having one blog, I've decided to start...

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