It all started in 2007..and 2008. In June of 2007, Andrew and I got married and moved into a teensy 1940's rental house, where we lived for less than six months. Within only a few months of our wedding, Andrew accepted a new job which took us away from the little corridor in Illinois where we lived 45 minutes (in opposite directions) from the towns in which we'd grown up.
So on to Iowa we went, in one moving van and with a small caravan of good friends to help. We lived in a spacious duplex built in the 1930s until our first year lease was up, and after a summer and fall of half-hearted house searching, we fell whole-heartedly in love with a small 1920's bungalow in nearly the same neighborhood. In September of 2008, right as the housing bubble burst, we bought our first house.
At the time, I was teaching writing at two community colleges, part time, and Andrew was working as a journalist. My good friends from home and college were scattered all over the country, and although my grandparents lived roughly 40 minutes away (and helped us immensely), I found that without family and friends nearby to "show you how to do stuff," home-owning was one big game of trial and error. The stories I'd share with loved ones over the phone typically had to do with the silly or creative ways we had tried/learned/attempted to make our home truly ours. My friend Jamie suggested I write this blog, after I told her of the evening when Andrew and I locked ourselves out and had to break in to our house with the help of our neighbors. That was the first entry.
Since starting this blog, Andrew and I have conquered projects that we never would have thought we'd ever attempt. We've refinished woodwork (trim and doors in our master bedroom, floors in the both bedrooms and hallway, and on the front porch). We are pros with heat guns, scrapers, sanders, and stain. We've laid tile, applied caulk, painted (a lot), laid pavers, spread dirt, planted flowers and vegetables, taken down drop ceilings, and pulled up carpet. As we've tackled much bigger projects or repairs have been needed, we've also been able to experience the joy of working with professional contractors in addition to doing things on our own. Last summer, we expanded our home by adding a finished basement and bathroom. Before the winter, we got insulation in our attic, and this summer, we finally put on a new roof.
We've also fallen into our own style, mixing our plethora of hand-me-downs with antique or thrift store finds and a few careful splurges on new items. We've researched Bungalow/Arts and Crafts style to adopt what works for us, and try to respect the character and history of our home while keeping it updated and functional. We love Prairie Style (even though it doesn't always work in our home) and have visited as many Frank Lloyd Wright homes as we can. A girl can dream, you know...
And in the midst of all the changes around our home, we've grown up a lot, too. In the last five years, we've grown more spiritually connected to each other and to our community. We've made friends, changed careers, learned about ourselves, and had a whole lot of fun.
Five years later, we're still figuring things out as we go, holding on to that newly-wed feeling, and living in a small house with our two cats in the Midwest that we inexplicably love.
-Katie
November 20, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment