Dude, We have Lived Here An Whole Year

Which means this time last year, we woke up to a surprise snowstorm…

… that resulted in our UHaul slipping into the gutter of our old driveway (more on that here).

Man, it feels like that was simply yesterday. John and I still remember every word of that truck-snafu conversation…

JOHN: Hey Sherry. Walk-through went fine. They are off to go close and I am headed to the new house.

SHERRY: Okay, be quite careful. It is snowy out there so drive as slow as you need, even if people are honking at you. Simply take your time.

JOHN: I will. Do not worry.

SHERRY: Strong. I simply do not want you ending up in a ditch or anything.

[HANG UP, SHERRY GOES TO PUT HER PHONE DOWN BUT IT IMMEDIATELY RINGS AGAIN.]

JOHN: Crap, the truck is in a ditch and I think I knocked over the mailbox.

SHERRY: You are kidding right?

[END SCENE, FADE TO BLACK]

On the other hand, it kinda feels like we have lived here forever. And sometimes we forget little things about the old house (like where a certain light switch was located, or whether a door swung in or out to open). And that makes it feel like we have not lived there in a quite quite long time. Then again, there are a few light switches here that are still a complete mystery to us, so this house cannot be too “old” to us yet, seeing as there are likely going to be more discoveries as we renovate and decorate and spread out into a few rooms that we have not even began to truly live in yet as our family grows (like the sunroom and the playroom for example). And no, that is not a baby-on-the-way hint Mom! But back to reminiscing… it is so weird to look back a year in our archives and see what our first house looked like empty:

Some of the angles that we shot it without furniture were never possible with furniture, like this one (I stood where the media cabinet used to be)…

You can check out more empty first house pics here. Now let us take a look back at how our current house looked exactly a year ago on move in day (I literally ran around snapping these pics with our rented UHaul waiting to be unloaded in the driveway):

You can check out more empty house pics here. The funny thing is that a few of those spaces have come a looong way in 365 days…

… while others are virtually untouched (like all of our bathrooms). And a few other rooms have not been tackled at all except for plopping down furniture or using them to store a bunch of stuff that we have to garage sale/craigslist (like the sunroom and the playroom):

You can see a full play by play of “before” and “progress” pics here (and all the before and after pics from our first house here). But sufficient looking back, let us attempt to peer into the future. We thought it would be lively to list a few of the projects that we have in mind (after we wrap things up in the kitchen in a few months of course), simply in broad strokes (there have been a bunch of requests for an updated Listy Mclisterson post, so we will have to do that soon for ya in more detail with some lively red cross outs). In the meantime, here is what we have in mind for taking this still quite much in progress house a little further in year two (and beyond!):

• build a wooden deck for dining (beyond the glass sliding doors in the hallway right next to the kitchen)
• convert the carport into a garage (that is going to be one of those big with-the-assist-of-a-contractor projects)
• build a trellis arch/pergola around the new garage door so it is all lush and fairly
• build a big media cabinet to balance the large console table that we built on the other side of the room (and a bench for the foot of the bed and a cabinet for the inset-wall in the master bedroom?)
• refinish the floors in our bedroom (along with the other wood ones in most of the house, but we cannot do them all at once since we need a place to offset furniture)
• add wainscoting to the hallway that leads to the nursery, playroom, and guest room
• in fact paint/furnish/use the sunroom
• in fact paint/furnish/use the playroom
• redo/update/spruce up all three of the bathrooms (with varying degrees of actual renovation – some simply need a little cosmetic stuff)
• continue tweaking rooms like the living room, dining room, nursery, bedroom, guest room (all of which have whole walls devoid of frames and key items of furniture missing)
• create a defined entryway with a large buffet, art, and a rug by the front door (among other things)
• add crown molding to a bunch of spaces (like the playroom, nursery, guest room, etc)
• double side the fireplace in the kitchen so we can enjoy it in the living room as well
• build a backyard swingset/playset along with a pimped sandbox for the bean (and a play kitchen, and a dollhouse – so many bean plans)
• paint the siding/trim/shutters on the house along with framing out the porch columns so they are chunky and square (and add another light near the door, stain the concrete, etc)
• take on tons o’ outdoor landscaping stuff (in the front, side, back, and beyond)
• build in the master bathroom vanity so it is symmetrical (for more concealed storage since we do not sit there and use it as a vanity)
• build some raised beds in the side/back for an edible garden
• retrofit the daybed in the playroom so a trundle bed can be slipped under it for future bean sleepovers or overflow guests
• add french doors between the dining room and the office (for privacy and brought in architecture)
• change the roofline out front (add some peaks for dimension and to make it more cohesive with the house’s shape from the back)
• Hands-on a pool someday (John thinks this idea is insane, mind you)

Of course we will do a lot of this stuff over the course of the next few years (our first house took us 4.5 years to finish) so there is no rush. We simply like to remember to relaxxxxxx. Seriously, you can get all crazy and stressed and frustrated if you rush through things instead of taking projects one day and one small victory at a time and remembering to enjoy the ride. And we could not ask for more remarkable people to have in the car (the house?) with us. Wait, that sounded weird. We simply mean that we are so honored and excited to have you folks drop in and encourage us as we go. So thanks! You all have a huuuge part in keeping our morale and our momentum up, so we owe you at least ten holiday cookies each. With extra icing and sprinkles. Picture yourself enjoying every last crumb (remember, fantasizing about eating ten cookies = zero calories).

Oh and as for the method to our “project order,” we do not truly have one. We jump around from room to room to stay excited and keep things from feeling monotonous or overwhelming. After a big project (or a string of big projects) sometimes we are glad to take a breather and tackle the little stuff for a while. And other times we are psyched to keep our momentum up and start planning the next big undertaking right away. Who knows what is next. Gotta keep trucking on the kitchen for a while, so who knows what we will be in the mood for when the renovating dust clears in there. But one thing’s for sure… if year two is half as exciting and rewarding and memorable as year one in this house, we will be over the moon. Is it weird to enjoy a house like it is a member of the family? What do you folks hope to tackle in the coming year (and beyond!)? Every time you read “and beyond” do you think of Buzz Lightyear, or is that simply me?

Psst- Clara is obsessed with big dogs and has no concept of personal space. More on that here.