New Year's Resolutions (No Wonder We Are Tired)

The Farmer and I are coming up a bit blank on this annual question of New Year's Resolutions. Or rather, our goals for the year, as resolutions seems to be a recipe for disaster. I know they'll be broken by Sunday - tops - and so let's instead think of the things we want to accomplish this year. And yes, some sound an awful lot like a resolution. Potato...Potahto.

We are coming up blank because...well...we are tired.

Because this is what happened with our resolutions last year.

We bought a house.

We renovated said house.

We eloped.

And then we have our day jobs.

One of us farmed.

The other one recruited and traveled.

Oh, how'd that photo get in there?!?!??!?!!!

Don't tell The Farmer this was the day he was doing some big dirty icky job in the sleeting rain. 

Instead remind him I'm usually driving from high school to high school, seeking out Starbucks along the way, answering questions about how The College went co-ed in the late 1960s, so yes, we have boys. 

But as I look back on this past year, when I'm tired I try to remember...

We bought a house.

View from the road.

We renovated said house.

The original front entry. Inviting, yes?

The "new" front door.

Staining the doors was quite a project. Good thing The Farmer loves me.

Prepping for the new front porch.

Moving in the door!

Don't notice that it's not yet stained. We had to take it down right after we put it up.

The end result (OK, not really...we're going to wrap the porch to the side door next spring.)

The view from the old master bedroom (now the new front entrance).

This would have been the view from the entrance if we had only moved the front door. Thank goodness we decided the open plan bathroom was a bit much for a first impression.

The view from the entrance...a work in progress.

Drywall!

The new view from the new entrance (aka the old master bedroom). The beams denote the former walls.

Everyone wants carpet in the kitchen. And the refrigerator in the middle of the room. 

Down came the refrigerator wall.

We decided the carpet had to go too. Along with the pink/gray fan wallpaper.

Mummified in preparation for the messy drywallers.

The new kitchen!

Complete with all new appliances (that was a fun day at Home Depot).

The old view from the dining room. The yellow/green wall through the doorway is location of the new front door. 

That carpet had to go too (along with a few walls).

More drywall.

And the new (messy...someone should have moved that blanket before taking this photo) view from the same location (sorta) as the first photo.

The fireplace in the dining room. Before.

The in-progress view of the dining room from another angle. I'm standing where a wall used to be.

Flooring...because the old cork floor under the carpet just wouldn't cut it.

Note the new window frames too.

The old formal dining room, complete with pink carpet. And nowhere near the kitchen.

If anyone wants some pink carpet, we still have a remnant available. The Farmer will deliver.

My new office and craft room.

I've already removed the stickers from the floor mats. 

The left bookcase holds all my genealogy stuff...for my two other blogs.

A second fireplace in the massive living room. (It went away.)

The old front entrance is in the upper right corner.

We didn't like that carpet either.

We added a wall. The window through the doorway is my new office.

We painted. A lot.

Floors make the room.

And all new furniture to round things out. (More on the GDP of the window curtains later.)

The old master bath. This is a relative term, as you can see.  It was located behind the glass block half-wall you can see in the entry "before" photos.

Note the new front door behind the wall frame. The bathroom is in approximately the same location, merely "flipped".

The Farmer insisted on the jacuzzi.

I didn't argue.

Fun with tile.

The end result. 

Don't ask about the shower doors either. That was another GDP story for another time.

We saved two of the blue tiles from the upstairs bath. Why? I'm not sure. 

This bathroom is actually to scale. It is as small as it looks.

Fun with power tools. 

Yes, the tiny bathroom had a false wall. We had to keep the wall (plumbing ran along the base of the wall) but added a nook for storage. 

Still small, but much better. 

I don't miss the blue tile. At all.

One of us farmed.

We recruited and traveled.

(Photo deleted to protect the innocent.)

And most importantly...

We eloped.

What more could you ask for?

Well, if you have to ask...

A closet.

And these tiles in the middle of my bedroom floor to move.

And a finished laundry room.

It's a "choose your favorite color" laundry room!

Still in progress, but toned WAAAAAAY down.

I guess those are my New Year's Resolutions for 2013.

Pretty simple, I guess.

Oh.

And to have a successful one year anniversary party with family and friends.

Because we did elope. And a few people want to celebrate. 

And see the house we bought. And renovated.

Come see us soon!