I repeat this is not HGTV....

I didn't grow up in a house where HGTV was always on or with a mom that changed pillow covers out with the seasons. Our house stayed most of my life, for the most part, looking the same. I remember in my mid-teens my mom decided to freshen up the kitchen by painting it pink (It was the 90's) came home and started painting. The only problem she started painting mid-afternoon and well into the night by the time she finished it was probably around midnight. We all woke up the next morning to a kitchen that looked like dusty rose had thrown up everywhere. They re-painted the next day and that was the end of that. I did, however, have a dad who was a builder, he built most of the houses in our small little town including the one I grew up in. Watching my mom and dad become a team to build a house together from the ground up was something at the time I didn't think much of. Seemed like that's what all families did. Not until later in life when my husband and I took on our first rehab/renovation project together did I understand. It's not for the faint of heart or the faint of a marriage. I think it's easily underestimated in today's T.V world which will show an entire house renovation or flip in 30 minutes and we are filled with before & after images that make it seem like the process is so seamless. When I started this blog I knew right away I wanted to steer clear of projecting only those images instead my hope is this more of a process blog, what it's like working day to day, waking up in the morning in a house with no flooring or bathrooms or walls or sometimes hot water because been there done that.
​This life isn't for everyone and I have some days where I think it's not for me either. I will be in the middle of finishing something important and will have kids whining at my feet for snacks or dinner, three loads of laundry stacked up, and a garden that needs attention. Some days I wake up to three kids in the bed and that's where I want to stay for the day watching movies and cuddling and let me tell you a little secret ...I do just that. In the beginning I can remember pushing to get the project finished. Now I know there is always tomorrow and it's better to quit while you're ahead. It's not an easy road by any means, but it's a rewarding one. Appreciating things you probably would have never notice in the past. As a realtor especially having the opportunity to walk through so many people's homes and I now take the time to really look around. How do they decorate, what finishes did they choose what colors are the walls? These are things that people put their hearts and souls into to express themselves it's not always a total house rehab sometimes it's paint colors, bathroom curtains, and light fixtures but even minor changes have a process. I believe what the ultimate end goal comes down to is turning a house into a home, how we get there is half the fun. ​

​ I have no idea where this love came from or when it began or why it fills the space in my head daily. I think there's a part of me that likes to challenge myself and whether it's making cushion benches or re-designing a bathroom the idea that I'm capable of anything I put my mind to sets my soul on fire. I also go back to my childhood and remember my mother no matter how large the task always at least tried to do it herself without asking for help. I'm sure as I sit here some of that is now in me I'm just lucky enough to have a husband that believes in my crazy ideas with a willingness to try new things because even through all the hard times I don't see us slowing down anytime soon.