A Year in review

Welcome to 2012 Everyone! I hope everyone had a great holiday and New Year!

January 2011: Was under contract on my first home. Anxiously awaiting my closing date while beginning to pack up my 1 bedroom apartment.

February: Began the blog as the closing date bounced around.

March: Closing time arrived and I wrote a bit about that. I was welcomed with a stocked fridge thanks to my realtor.

I plunged head first into stripping wall paper in the dining room, hosted a "work" party, had some of the pecan tree trimmed up, painted the living room, chose a dining room color and had my rockstar buddy Crystal tackle the tedious task of stripping wallpaper in the bedrooms.

April: I began to convert an area of the backyard to my veggie garden. The weather was warm enough to work outside before the heat of summer kicked in. My focus for the month was to shape up the outside a bit. In addition, my laundry was connected in the shed, eave vents added around the exterior of the house etc.

May: Finished up building compost bins and gave 20+ bags of leaves a home finally. Introduced Gracie to the family, as I rescued her from the streets April 30th but was unsure if I'd keep her or not.

I began to demo the soon to be craft room from it's stark knotty pine wood paneling and had brand new electrical pulled, additional outlets added. I also began a huge battle with Fleas that left me less than thrilled. The craft room finished up with insulation and I harvested the first veggies from the garden.  

June: Drywall, baseboards, and crown were completed in the craft room. I began to burn out and loose motivation. 

July: Began to work on the "cloffice" area of the craft room, skim coating the rough walls in there. Refinished the floors in the craft room, uncovered the original hardwood floors in the kitchen.And began to strip the wallpaper in the kitchen as well.

August: Kitchen floor began to get torn up,

Craft room saw french doors hung, kitchen was painted, hallway leading to the bedrooms was painted. By the months end, a floor company was found to sand. Props to Frank and his team at Against the Grain! It was no easy feat and multiple companies I contacted turned down the job.

September: The kitchen floor and paint was finally finished. Appliances were delivered and it made for a happy Megan. My kitchen finally began to look and feel like a real kitchen!

Overall not a lot happened in September house-wise. Some boxes were unpacked and some little projects here and there were completed.

October: I contemplated a front door color and a style of curtains for the kitchen (which have yet to be done).. and then there was the horrible no good very bad break in that happened right before Halloween. It sent work screeching to a halt and prompted the installed of a security system and caused many sleepless nights.

November: Right after the break-in I received a call that my cousin Nick was killed in Afghanistan. An impromptu trip to Chicago ensued. The front door saw new panels,

 I celebrated my birthday amongst friends, a pedicure with my bestie and concluded the birthday weekend with the Lady Antebellum concert where I was practically on the stage! (Yes this pic is from where I was standing. AMAZING)

By the end of November the front door saw a paint color,

December: I began to decorate for Christmas, the craft room had temporary light fixtures installed and finally had power again to all the outlets etc. The "cloffice" finally saw organization and some hidden "under cabinet" task lighting:

The mantel was decorated, the tree skirt made, the tree(s) *Yes I have two* saw ornaments.

I contemplated (still am) additional craft room storage and welcomed my mom to town seeing the house for the first time, celebrated Christmas with friends, opened gifts and was semi-spoiled by Santa and Elves.

I also celebrated the 1 year anniversary of when I first walked the house with my realtor.

Cheers to 2012! More projects surely to come!