Checking In

Well hello everyone! This has been a nice summer filled with nice weather and lots of house/dogsitting opportunities :) I'm currently house/dogsitting for my friends who are getting married in New York! Exciting! Unfortunately for you, that means I haven't had a thing to update on this here blog. Oh also and football season started, and you know what that means :P

Just wanted to check in and let you all know that I haven't abandoned you. Once the weather takes a turn, I'll have plenty of forced indoor time which will hopefully lead to more projects and more blog updates with substance! I hope I'll have something new for you soon...

-Megan

Dogsitting

Well hello there! I may sound like a broken record, but nothing has been done on the house since the vent fan install. As I said before, it cost more than I anticipated, which is a big factor, but I've also been housesitting/dogsitting this past week at a friends' place. Isn't she sooooo cuuuute?

Fluffy!

I'm really happy with the vent fan so far. After purchasing the one I wanted, I read reviews which weren't the best, but I decided to go with it anyways, and I'm glad I did! I can leave the door open when I shower and the smoke alarm won't go off! The mirror isn't foggy anymore, the walls aren't damp anymore, and I don't feel like I'm still in a sauna when I'm toweling off. I'm really happy I got it done when I did, because come wintertime, I won't have to leave the bathroom window open all damn day!

I have a fairly busy weekend coming up (woohoo, volleyball tournament!) but the next couple aren't booked up yet so hopefully I'll be able to force myself to do *something* on the house. I haven't even put up any pictures/art on the walls...I need to remedy that!

-Megan

Checking In

Hey all! Well, this past weekend I had plans to physically do stuff with the kitchen, but then my trip to Ikea with Wendy...well, you know how those go :) I did make purchases directly related to the kitchen though! It's just the installation phase that never got completed. I still also need to make a backsplash-related decision before that will be finished, and I'll be able to do the big reveal! In other news, I've been dog-sitting for the past week +, which has been quite an adventure :) It made me realize that even though I now have the space, and now that I no longer have a landlord dictating the choice, I am not ready for a dog!

Aww but look how cute he is...

Kahlua wasn't a happy camper, but she got over it after a day or so. They even will put their faces next to each other without her hissing or him barking! He goes back to his mommy this evening, and then it's back to normal for me. I'm not sure how much I'll get done this weekend, if anything, because it's my last weekend before I go visit my Dad on the east coast. Plus, if you haven't heard the news already, next week is my last week at my current job! I start my new job the day after I get back from my trip. So basically, this weekend/next week will be busy and emotional. Oh and also I'm watching Wendy's dogs while she's in Disneyland. Oh and also I'm jealous that Wendy's going to Disneyland again :)

I had a plan to have a big party for my 30th birthday at my house, which will be the weekend after I get back from my trip/the weekend after the first week at my new job, but with all that's going on I think I'll do something else, and instead have a big party for my 1-year House-aversary sometime in late June! Hopefully I'll have a ton more done on the house by then too, and it can be my official housewarming party :)

-Megan

Checking In

Hello all! Well, it's been a week and a half since my last post and nothing, nada, zilch has happened with the house in that time. Well, besides me making my first lasagna ever! Here's a picture, since the blog has been severely lacking in the image department lately:

Yummm!

This past weekend I helped my super best friends Wendy and Adam move into their very own house (rental) here in Portland, which makes me very excited! Now that they'll be living in town, maybe I can trick them into coming over and helping more often? :) Actually, I think it would behoove me to make another renovation schedule because I definitely think it helped kick my butt into gear last time. Plus, recent weekends have been unusually nice and not rainy out, so it's hard to force myself to do non-fun stuff when I could be doing fun stuff :) I definitely think that because the rest of the things I need to do are almost purely aesthetic, I'm not getting that sense of urgency I had with getting the kitchen functional. So any motivation ideas are greatly appreciated!

-Megan

*breathe*

Well, it has been just over 2 weeks since my kitchen and bathroom has been fully functional! It is great, let me tell you :) So far, I've cooked a few big meals, had some friends over for a "soft opening" of sorts, and I've enjoyed brushing my teeth in the bathroom for a change! And can I just say how much I love my dishwasher?! Who knew that a dishwasher was the one great thing that was missing from my life? :P While I definitely still have a ton to do, I feel like I have just been catching my breath for the last couple of weeks. It felt like for a while, every day was a stressful push toward functionality, and now I'm just relaxing and leaving the aesthetic stuff for later! :) Also, not to mention, all of that work in such a short time definitely cost a TON and I'm trying to lay off on the spending for a while so I can catch up.

I did clear out the spare room and sort of "staged" it for when I had people over, but now the garage is a mess of boxes! I think my next big project will be organizing the garage...fun!

I'm off to California for a few days so obviously I won't make any house progress this week, but I'll post some pictures when I get back! I hope everyone has some happy holidays and a great new year!! :)

-Megan

A Little Help from my Friends

By the way, can I just say I have the best friends in the world?? To everyone who has already helped me, everyone who has offered help, everyone who has given me advice and recommendations, and everyone who has just leant an ear to my stress-induced rants, I couldn't have done any of this without you! When the kitchen is, well, a kitchen again, I'm going to have a great big housewarming party with all of you as the guests of honor! Be ready for an evite in the hopefully not-so-distant future :)

Welcome!

Hello to friends, family, and random people who have stumbled across this blog :) I will officially be a first time homeowner as of tomorrow! I signed the paperwork last week, but I won't have the keys for another day or so (it's a long story, I may delve into it at a later date). I will still be renting my current apartment for roughly 5 more weeks so that I'll be able to move over to the new place slowly and get as many of the big, difficult projects out of the way as possible before I officially reside there.

A little background about me: I'm currently working full time in an office job as well as part time at a gym. I also have been going back to school for Interior Design for the past couple of years! It's been slow going...with all of my other obligations, I have only been able to take one course per term, but I'm getting the itch to do as much hands-on stuff as possible. Since I'm still relatively early on in the program, I don't have a ton of experience yet so this new house will really be my "Project House", a place where I can experiment with design, color, and DIY projects as well as learn practical things such as woodworking, electrical, and plumbing (that stuff scares me a bit though!)

By following this blog, you should be able to get a glimpse into a first-timer's attempt at making a fixer-upper beautiful. I can promise a lot of mistakes and hopefully a lot of successes! I will try to at least post weekly with updates on my progress, and I'll include pictures whenever possible.

I hope you enjoy following along!

-Megan