I'm more in love with my house every day

I was reading my cousin Kim's blog the other day about all the renovations/upgrades she and Danny are doing to their house and it got me to thinking about our house. We've been so busy working on things lately that I've forgot to step back and look at all that we've done to it since we moved in, so I thought I'd share some of the new things with you all. Plus, I wanted to let my husband know just how much I appreciate all the hard work he's been doing to make our house beautiful.



Shawn's big project the past few months as been the backyard. He has become obsessed with making it perfect. OK. Maybe not perfect but it sure does look a 1000% times better than it did when we bought the house. He did get some help from my dad, of course, on his last trip out here since Shawn's never had such a big yard to take care of. Shawn finally got all the weeds and flowers taken out and put sod in those areas along the concrete patio, along the flowerbed, and around the tree off the dining room. He also filled in patches around the yard that were dead. At first we were a little sketchy on whether or not the sod was going to grow, but after a few weeks of Shawn watering it and tending to it almost every day, it's all thriving and looks great. We've been having a lot of rain here lately in the afternoons, so the lawn is super green and growing so fast that Shawn has to mow it every week. Joyous would be his response. Shawn also trimmed the Aspen trees in our backyard that were looking a bit dead. There were also two trees, one on each end of the flower bed, that were growing out of control and, come to find out, thorny little buggers, so Shawn dug them up. The back of the yard along the fence looks so much better now and not all overgrown. He's also becoming the weed fanatic and continuously sprays Round Up along the walking paths on both sides of the house. Like I said, the yard is looking pretty fantastic in my opinion. I know it's been a lot of work for him lately, so I want Shawn to know it hasn't gone unnoticed. It's been so awesome getting to sit in the backyard on our new patio set and have our dinners out there. Inara and I have even taken advantage of this during lunch on several occasions. I really love having my own backyard, barbecuing and having a family dinner, and looking out at the mountains in the distant. It's a bonus of homeownership I've gotta say.



While Shawn's been tending to the yardwork, I've been dabbling in planting flowers. I must say it ain't no easy task growing flowers. I've had several die on my already. But I'm plugging away trying to add some color to our front and back yards. I bought two really large flower pots to put in front along the single car garage and planted purple and pink flowers that are doing well so far. I've also got several other potted flowers along the driveway and two terra cotta pots along the ledge outside the dining room window that I'm trying to grow flowers in. I am determined to get better at gardening even if it kills me and the plants too.



When you walk into our house, you walk into a large foyer where there are 7 windows at the very top of two of the walls. I've noticed that when the sun starts beating down in the late afternoon, those windows get a lot of sunlight and glare. I had gone to a home expo and met a rep from a local window film company. We had them come out to do an estimate and learned a lot about their company and product. One thing we had to consider was the position of the windows directly hits the thermostat, so it might make the AC turn on more frequently throughout the summer. I also knew, and the man confirmed, that the sun coming in was beating on the hardwood entry, which could lead to damaging the floor. We decided to have the window film installed since it wasn't going to cost an arm and a leg. I noticed a difference on the glare immediately, especially when standing in Shawn's computer nook at the top of the stairs. I'm so glad we chose that upgrade already.



To also help keep the afternoon heat out, we installed new curtains in the front living room/playroom. I wanted something bold and colorful, so I got red silk curtains, although Shawn said they look too nice to be in Inara's playroom. I say just because Inara plays in there doesn't mean we can't have nice things like curtains in there. The color also brightens up that room a lot since before it was all beige.



In the front foyer, I also started a family photo collage on the wall above the bench. I love the HGTV show Dear Genevieve, and one of the things she's always recommending homeowners to use are family pictures when you walk in a house because it gives the entry a very personal touch. Funny thing is when my mom and brother were here they were both telling me to put the picture of Shawn, Inara and I from a few months after she was born up on that wall. Guess they knew what they were talking about.



In the family room, Shawn's other big project was installing a ceiling fan. It was already prewired, but Shawn was still a bit nervous about installing the fan. After my suggestion, he took one of those free classes at Home Depot and came home confident he could do it, and he did a fantastic job. I love our new fan, and it's made a huge difference in that room. Yes, more reasons for us to not have to run the AC when the weather gets warm.



One project we both would love to do now but know we have to wait on is finishing the basement. We were having a hard time imagining where to place the rooms, so we went ahead and had a contractor come out to take a look and give us some suggestions. I had met this man Mark at the home expo and was really impressed by him. He was super nice, and Shawn liked him as well when he came to the house. He took the time to walk through the basement and give us ideas on how to finish it. One thing he suggested was to hang old sheets where walls would be so we can see if we like the layout. I really liked his ideas because he allowed for lots of storage space and left a lot of open space as well. Shawn also asked him about doing a built-in entertainment center in the family room. We both really liked his ideas for this as well and will more than likely have him do this before we are anywhere near finishing the basement, unless we win a large jackpot soon or something. It still felt good to talk to Mark about the basement and get an idea for a layout.



The other night Shawn and I started reminiscing about searching for houses and how we fell in love with this house from the get-go. Next month will be one year that we signed the papers and bought our first house. Hard to believe it's already been a year. But each day that we live here, I fall in love with my home more and more. We sat and talked about all the things we love and dislike about the house. Not hard to believe that our love list was miles longer than our dislike list. All the things I first fell in love with our house have all held true: the location, the open circular floorplan on the main floor, the family room opening into the kitchen, the large front living room, the guest room and bathroom on the main floor, the laundry room on the main floor, the large master bedroom and bathroom, Inara's room and bathroom, the backyard and patio. I love it all! Today I hosted a baby shower and several moms who had never been here before commented on how beautiful my house was. This made me so proud to call this my home. It's no easy task caring for a house, nor is paying for one, but I can honestly say that I want to live here for as long as possible. It has everything we want and need and love. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing house. So Shawn, thank you for giving Inara and I this awesome home. We love it!