Third times' a charm

I promised myself when I bought my first house I would blog about it. I bought a marijuana grow house to remodel after all - there would be no shortage of commentary. The first set back was losing my camera charger in the move, hard to blog about before and after accomplishes with grainy Blackberry pictures. Then there was the internet. $50 a month for internet could go a long way towards the reno budget. Oh and I can't forget my absolute fear of learning how to blog... but then my friend Lily sat me down and went over it step by step. Like a teacher would a fifth grader. 

Project after project I SWORE I would catch up and write down my progress, the injuries, the phone calls to my mother swearing I had no right to buy a fixer upper as a twenty something single woman, sharing my accomplishments, how much I hated the process getting there. Then suddenly, my project list shrunk, and I found myself re-painting rooms just because (actually, I did this even when my project list was ginormous, if you know me you know I like to re-paint rooms. And re-paint again). The house I swore I couldn't tackle was done. All grown up. Lucky for me the market had grown up as well and it was time to sell. In just over a month my very first home was under contract and I was on my way to a new town, a new job and the hunt for another home to tackle. And sadly, no blog to recount the beautiful disaster that it took to get it there. 

This time, THIS house I would blog about. I had no excuse, I could well afford internet now. And I not only had an iPhone to capture before and afters but a fancy schmancy DSLR. Not to mention a blog domain I had been paying for monthly for the last year and a half - and I thought about Lily helping me all those months ago. No excuses. Then life happened, as it always does, and my beautiful 119 year old house grew up in half the time as the first one, and so did I. I started a new job, met the love of my life, prioritized my remodel list and staked a rental sign in the front yard to start my new life in yet another town, with my beautiful quirky new family. Still - no blog. 

They say the third time is a charm and this being the third time I promise myself I will blog. I'm going to do it. It's a scary thing starting a blog. I think about Carrie Bradshaw writing about her life for all to read and it seems so glamorous and easy. And then I remind myself that opposite Carrie in New York, I live in Longmont Colorado, own not a single pair of Manolo's yet far too many Target brand shoes - but most of all, who would want to read what I have to say?

This year has been amazing - probably my best year yet. By no means has it been easy - just amazing. So I decided... I care what I have to say (in true only child fashion) and if nobody reads this but me - that's ok. I won't do it just because I promised myself I would but to document my life. (This makes me think of my beautiful Aunt Lanita who studies our ancestory - wouldn't it be grand if our great great grandmother had just made the time to write a blog Lanita?) I would write it to remind myself why I chose certain paths, and what I learned from them. To look back on all that I've accomplished and what I have left to continue working on. To laugh and cry over the memories and to remind myself each and every time I look at this blog how lucky I am. 

My new promise to myself is to make this blog fun. Focusing on the things in life I love most, the projects that I get so excited about (both completed and on my to-do list), the people that I can't live without, the places we visit and those we dream about, my sweet little Lucy and food - gosh I love food. And maybe, just maybe to give back. To let those people in my life that I can't live without know how much I love them. To share something I learned - especially if I learned it the hard way. 

Rules for reading this blog... If you haven't noticed already I write just like I talk. My first boss out of college told me that and if there ever were a place to make this trait shine, well here it is. I like to write incredibly long sentences and I catch myself having conversations within conversations. It's fun, you'll see. I absolutely love to entertain. I have an addiction to china, cake plates, brass candlesticks and anything gold. Pinterest makes me feel like wonder woman so you will see many a project that I pinned, even the Pinterest fails. You should know that I give things, people, places, experiences - everything - a nickname. 

Whether this is the next Pioneer Woman blog or merely a place for me to vent - thank you for looking on with an open mind.