Long and Short!

For my whole life, I almost always have kept my hair long.   The reasons for this are simple--I'm lazy and don't like the upkeep that short hair requires.    I don't like going to the salon for frequent trims to keep a haircut looking fresh.  I don't like washing my hair every day.  I don't like spending time blowdrying and doing other such tedious tasks that short hair requires.   So I usually wear it long and straight.   I get it cut once, maybe twice a year at most.   I almost always let it air dry and I rarely do anything other than wear it straight down.  I don't even love ponytails, because they give me a headache.  

The only hiccup to this low maintenance hair plan of mine is that I've inherited the "early graying gene" from my mom's side of the family.   I've been fully white headed since I was about 40, and my hair grows super fast.   I'm not quite ready to embrace being white-haired quite yet, so I'm forced to at least try to keep up with the color.   

So I buy boxes of color from the drugstore and do my best to keep up with it.     My hair grows so fast though,  I usually end up with some pretty serious roots by the time I get around to coloring again.  This picture shows my hair with  just a 3-4 week growth since my last color. 

Every once in a while, though, I get the urge for something different.   I'm not sure what triggers it in me, but lately I've been itching for a real haircut and some depth to my color.  

So I did it....

I went to the salon and got color, highlights, and a new cut.  

Do I like it?  

Absolutely.

Will it inspire me to keep going to the salon more regularly? 

Doubtful.  

If my history means anything, I'm sure you can come back and check out my hair in a year, and it'll almost certainly be about as long as it was before my cut! 

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Before and After Home Improvement Projects

We have decided that we need to sell the house.  Glen still doesn't know where his job may or may not take us, but it's undeniable that this is the course of action we feel we are being led to do.    After living in a house for eighteen years though, this is a big to-do.

I don't like house projects.  They stress me out.  I have anxiety when it comes to making decisions.  I dread calling and dealing with workers.   I hate feeling like our house is being invaded.   It's just not my favorite thing in the world. 

  My life has been completely immersed in house stuff lately, and  weirdly I have not felt anywhere near the stress and anxiety that I normally feel with even one project.  I can only explain it that I feel like Heavenly Father is giving me strength to do what we feel like is the right thing to do right now.    I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm enjoying the process, however I definitely am not hating / dreading / avoiding it near as much as usual...so that's a good thing. 

Do you want to see a glimpse of what we've been working on? 

I thought so!   

Here's the "before" of our HALL BATHROOM.  I had already taken down the medicine cabinet, so it wasn't a true "before", but it's close.  

Here's the after....

We put in a new vanity, a big new mirror, new light fixture, a new towel rack, painted the walls, and switched out the shower curtain for a nice neutral white.   It feels fresh and nice! 

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Here's the "before" of our BASEMENT BATHROOM: 

And the "after"...

We did a new vanity, mirror, paint, and vinyl plank flooring over the old tile.   It looks great! 

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Here's the "before" of our MASTER BATH:  

Here's phase one with a new vanity, recessed medicine cabinet, paint, and vinyl plank flooring

Here it is after we glazed over the tile with white.  The shower door is still to come.

I have mixed feelings about the white tile, however it does make our bathroom seem a little bigger, so I guess it's a good thing.   I can't wait to get the new shower door installed. 

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Here's my pride and joy project--the one I was most excited about doing, even before we decided to sell the house.  I've hated this fireplace from the moment we moved in....

And now it's finally beautiful!   And I tiled over the brick myself (with Adam as my assistant)!

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We also got new railings to replace the ugly wrought iron we had before...

BEFORE 

AFTER (before staining)

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We got new windows.

BEFORE 

AFTER

I love how much easier they are to open and close now!

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We retiled the entry way.

BEFORE

AFTER

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We got new light fixtures....

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We put vinyl plank flooring over the concrete in our laundry room and added some beadboard to the unfinished walls.  It looks soooooooo different, but I weirdly never took a before picture of that ugly part of my house.

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WE've also gotten rid of a TON of stuff and have been packing up most of the rest and moving it to this storage unit.

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We are feeling like we've accomplished a lot and that we are on a good path to get it on the market in a few weeks, but we still have a few big things to go. 

PROJECTS STILL TO COME:

new roof

painting

new carpet in basement

refinish wood floors in bedroom

take care of the yard

taking care of water drainage on one side of the house

In the meantime, don't mind me if I look a little bleary eyed and seem a bit distracted.  This hasn't been quite as painful as I expected, but let's just say that we won't be rushing to buy another house anytime soon.  

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Before and After Bedroom Pics

A tidbit that you may or may not know about me (depending on whether or not you've been inside our house), is that I am the very antithesis of Martha Stewart.   Not only does home decorating not really excite me, but I also find shopping tedious  and I tend to get very overwhelmed whenever I think of house projects.   It's so bad that my Better Homes and Gardens magazines actually cringe in horror when they cross over my threshold. 

Sad, but true. 

So, we are in process of trying to take advantage of the super low interest rates to refinance our house again.  I knew that an appraisal was part of the refinance process, but in our previous experience the appraiser has never had to come to our house before.   I was shocked and more than a little horrified when I learned that someone would not only have to see every nook and cranny of our house, but that they'd be taking pictures of it too. 

I actually wondered if it was worth the effort, but when I thought of the kitchen upgrades that we're planning to do after the refinance goes through, I decided that maybe the appraiser coming could be just the bee in my bonnet that I needed  to jolt me into action.    So we decided to start at the bottom of the barrel, which in our case was our bedroom.  Since nobody but us ever saw it, I never bothered to decorate it much or find solutions for the clutter.  Combine that with the fact that it's rather small and it's sadly become pretty pathetic over the years.  I decided that it was time for a change and the appraisal was just the motivating deadline that I needed to make it happen. 

Here's the BEFORE picture:  (yes, I know how ugly it is)  We have cluttery nightstands that don't have enough space, a bedspread that I've never loved, and kids drawings bedecking the walls with scotch tape. 

 I kind of enjoyed the researching part, but did not love the countless trips to Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Ross, Marshalls, and Target.  Nor did I love the hours spent poring through all the stuff, deciding what was worth keeping and where I was going to put what we did keep.  Organization does not come naturally to me and I found the whole process rather painful....   

...BUT, I AM SO EXCITED BY THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!!!!!

We got the new antique dresser thingy, storage bench, and nightstand from Home Goods, the lamp and curtains from Target, the chalkboard from Marshall's, and the bedspread from Ross(?).  We're waiting for a dust ruffle to arrive from Amazon.   Although it's not 100% done yet, I love having a place to put our things and I love that it actually looks pretty in here! 

I don't want to walk into another home store again for 97 years, but I am relieved that the appraisal is over and not only did I not have to be embarrassed, but I actually enjoy spending time in our beautiful, uncluttered bedroom!   

Next up....the kitchen!