Hello!

Back when James was a tiny baby, Kelly Stamps did a blogging series called, "Show Us Your Life." Some of you may remember it, but it was a lot of showing your home, your favorite things, etc. I wrote a LOT of those posts and I found a lot of women to follow through those link-ups years ago. The link-up is on Fridays, but I didn't see it until this morning so I'm linking up today. Today is all about re-introducing ourselves. SO...

I'm Lauren. I've been blogging for EIGHT years. I started blogging right before Eddie and I got married because we were moving to a new town. It was an easy way to keep our parents and friends informed about working on our new house and then it came a great way to keep them updated {with pictures!} on grandchildren.

I'm 32 years old. I'm married to Eddie and we have two VERY busy boys, James {6} and Will {4}. James is our very bright, very grown-up kindergartener. He has THRIVED at school this year and it is so cool to see how much he is growing and changing every day. He is SO smart and was just moved into the gifted program at school. I'm excited to watch him work in that class! Will is our shy but wild preschooler. He is such a JOY. Will is a mama's boy and likes to feel every situation out. He loves to be with James because he looks to him to make things ok. He's had to become a little more independent this year without James at his school and it's been fun to watch. He amazes us DAILY by doing things we didn't know he could do. Just Thursday I asked him to write his name on something and he did it like he'd been doing it for months. Nope. He'd never had any interest in it! He's a stinker.

I was an English teacher for three years before we had James and I became a stay-at-home mama. I loved it, but I don't know if I'll ever go back. I "teach" preschool now four days a week. I'm in the nursery class so we have babies from 7 months to 18 months. It's a fun way to spend my mornings! I'm also a consultant for Jamberry and Keep Collective. I LOVE my other "jobs," too. 

I love reading, writing, the beach, day trips, painted toenails, coffee, soundtracks, Netflix, clean sheets, and summer break! {I am SO ready for school to be out. Two. more. months. June 1st I'll be ready for school to start back, but for now I'm ready for adventures with my guys and I'm sick of the germs! I miiiiiight be a little bit of a germaphobe. Okay, I'm a serious germaphobe.}

So that's me! If you've stopped by from the link-up, welcome! If you've been here for eight years, THANKS for continuing to read! Muah!

Before...And During.

Here we are! T-minus 4 days from moving!!! Can you tell I'm a tiny bit excited? I packed up the boys' toys (well, some of them) this morning and hauled them over to the new house. One load down, one million to go! I'll haul another few loads this week by myself when I have time, Eddie's going to take BIG stuff on Friday - the sofa, the recliner, the washer and dryer, the boys' beds and mattresses, the freezer - and the movers will be there Saturday. Shockingly, I'm not at all stressed, just anxious to get started...hence the hauling by myself today.

Painters are almost done with their painting (they'll come back and spray my mantle and built-ins in the den once the builders finish those today), carpet is going in one day this week (I'm not in charge here), and the house will be a MESS come Saturday so I thought I'd share the "during" photos for you. Whew! It's come a LONG way. The paint didn't look so bad when we first bought the house, but it looks CRAZY now that we've toned it down. I'll do the afters in a few weeks when everything is in and unpacked. Maybe James will give you a VLOG tour. ;)

Foyer

Before on left, After on right.

We went with Porter Paint in Almond Cream on the main living areas (I think...sheesh I tried a million). It looks DARK in the after, but it is the same color as the dining room in the next photo.

Dining Room

Before on left, After on right.

See ya, RED. Whew. I have never been so happy about a neutral paint color.

Kitchen

Before on left, After on right.

This room still needs the most work for me. We'll re-do counters, sink, and backsplash in a few years. It's definitely livable. It isn't like the previous kitchen (holy COW....I'll post that below), but it's not my favorite and it looks dated. The paint made a big difference, though! The first paint I picked the painter said, "I like how it picks up the orange/terra-cotta color in the backsplash." And I said, "Well, then that is NOT the paint we'll use." Ha!

Whew! White walls, white cabinets, we rearranged the stove/fridge layout, PURPLE counter tops, YELLOW floor. We've come a long way. See the whole re-do HERE.

Master Bathroom

Before on left, After on right.

WOW. That crazy wallpaper gave me a headache. It is PLAIN JANE, but that's ok. I may change out light fixtures and faucets. There's no color consistency there. Some are nickel, some are chrome, some are both...it just doesn't make any sense. Porter Paint Colonial White.

Boys' Bathroom

Before on left, After on right.

Simple, easy fix here! We took off the stickers on the walls and painted it Colonial White. Easy, peasy!

Boys' Bedroom.

Before on left, After on right.

They are THRILLED to no longer have a pink room. Now to take the butterflies off the ceiling fan. :)

So there you have it! So far, so good! The next few days will bring GREAT things. Can't wait to share them with you!

Just for future reference for me...

Porter Paint "Almond Cream" (or Almond Paste???) in kitchen, den, dining room, foyer, and halls.

Porter Paint "Real Simple" in master bedroom and boys' bedroom.

Porter Paint "Colonial White" in all three bathrooms, playroom, and office.

Show Us Your Life: Kitchen

I've shown these pictures before but I thought I'd link up today with Kelly's Korner and post them again.

We purchased our house in 2008. It was bank-owned and a fixer-upper. I didn't want a foreclosure because of the fixer-upper part. Eddie wanted it because of the price tag that came with it. I'm certain a fixer-upper would be easier if one does not find themselves pregnant about six months after purchasing, but we did. Ha! The list of "to do's" came to a screeching halt and there are still lots and lots of things that I want to finish on our home. I remember standing in the kitchen with Eddie and Mr. Tommy while we were looking and telling Eddie that it was only okay to place a bid on this house IF he was willing to work on a "honey do list" that would come with it. He definitely finished those items in the kitchen...thank heavens!

This is what it looked like the day we bought it:

Wow. Thankfully for this house, the kitchen was the only ugly room. :) The floors and counter tops HAD to go, of course, but also notice the strange placement of the refrigerator and stove. There was no large counter space area on which to work. I put in my list of fixes VERY quickly here.

Here's what we did:

1. New floors. (That we don't actually like...but they're better than these. We're not sure we actually got what we picked out.)

2. New countertops.

3. Move stove/oven and microwave to where the refrigerator was.

4. Shift cabinets down and place refrigerator on the end of them.

5. Paint cabinet doors.

6. Replace hardware.

7. Replace sink.

8. Remove cabinet above sink and cut window to the den. (BEST THING WE DID!)

9. Paint!

10. All new appliances. (I had a refrigerator and we actually kept the one pictured but moved it to the garage.)

During:

And after:

Before and after:

Now if only I could get Eddie to buy me a new stainless steel fridge! :)