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Monday, July 13, 2015

Vote for Me Please!!!

Please forgive my absence as there have been some HUGE changes going on in my life in 2015 (which I will get into later), but right now I need some huge support from my blog friends!  My DIY painted backsplash was selected as one of the top six finalists for Frogtape's "Earn Your Stripes Contest" and now it's up to public vote to choose the $5,000 grand prize winner!

Anyone with a valid email address can vote up to once a day (so if you have more than one email address like me, you can vote mulitple times a day!).  Here is the link to vote for me:

http://earnyourstripes.readysetpromo.com/vote.html?__entry=5933774

Please vote often and share on facebook, your blogs, and with all of your family and friends!


If you are interested in seeing details on my project, you can check out my blog post here.  Please vote often and share on facebook, your blogs, and with all of your family and friends!

Thank you guys soooo much for your support!  I appreciate it very much!


Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Goals for 2015 {Lots of Lists}



Happy almost new year everyone! I’m not really big on New Years Resolutions, but this time of year I like to look back on what I accomplished in the previous year compared with what I set out to accomplish, and make a list of all of the things I would like to do in the coming year. Unfortunately, this year it doesn’t seem like I got too much done around the house, but I am giving myself a pass because I got a whole lot accomplished on a personal level.

This year I want to share with you my personal goals as well as my home-related goals to help keep myself accountable for everything!

Looking back...

Here was my list of things I wanted to do around the house in 2014 with an update on where they stand today:

1. Install kitchen lighting. Complete! I added under cabinet lighting, which you can see here and a pendant over the kitchen sink, which I have yet to take a picture of!

2. Complete the study. Complete! You can check out the room reveal here. There were a lot of DIY projects in this room too, including the built-in desk and bookshelves, a fabric covered corkboard, a craigslist desk makeover, and a file cabinet makeover and a home-made pillow to match the corkboard.

3. Complete the guest room. 0% complete…. Whomp, whomp :(

4. Paint and install decorative trim the foyer. 0% complete. I still can’t decide whether to hire someone to do this or attempt it ourselves.

5. Install trimwork in first floor doorways. 0% complete. Not that I would have gotten to it anyway, but we decided to push this off until after we put hardwoods in the living room and dining room.

6. Paint master bathroom. Complete! Check out what color I picked here.

7. Build landscape/retaining wall. 0% complete. This was the ONE thing I REALLY wanted to get done this year and we dropped the ball. Hopefully we can do it in the early spring of this year!

8. Plant more trees/shrubs. 35% complete. This will probably be on my list for the next 5 years. We have a huge lot (1.5 acres), that was completely bare when we bought, so we have a lot of planting to do to fill it out.  This year we planted 5 crepe myrtles, an oak tree, a red maple in honor of the baby we lost, another Japanese red maple, and a purple plum.


Moving forward to this year... In 2015 I would like to complete the following house-related projects:

1. Build landscape/retaining wall.
2. Install hardwoods in the living room and dining room.
3. Re-paint the morning room with a darker color.
4. Paint and install decorative trim in the foyer.
5. Remodel the laundry room.
6. Plant more trees.

I also have the following personal/profession goals that I’d like to accomplish in 2015:

1. Lose 20 lbs.
2. Complete 3 real estate transactions.
3. Actually learn how to blog… to make this a more measurable goal, I’m going to aim to do the following:
    a. Double my followers this year.
    b. Create an editorial calendar.
    c. Read up on and practice connecting with other bloggers.
    d. Read up on and practice how to take better blog photos.
4. Create at least 10 new products for my etsy store.
5. Participate in two craft shows.
6. Do a strict pull-up and 5 unbroken toes-to-bar (crossfit).
7. Rx a workout (crossfit).

It's not going to be easy, but I think I can do at least most of the things on my list by this time next year.  Thank you in advance for all of your support along the way!!


What are your goals for 2015? How did you do on your 2014 goals or resolutions?


And to close out the year, here were my top 5 posts from 2014 (click on the photo to go to the post):


DIY Giant Chalkboard Calendar



9 Pieces of Advice for Buying a New Construction Home



Home Office Reveal



DIY Fabric Covered Corkboard



Built-In Desk and Bookshelves