A Before and After

We have already done an incredible amount of remodeling to our house (when I say 'we' I mean Ron) and it has been quite the journey. To give you an idea, I'll start with our kitchen. Here is the kitchen when we first looked at the house.

We knew this was not the look for us. I admit, when we first discussed purchasing this home, I was a bit wary. I only know how to spell the word remodel. I don't know how to do it. But Ron convinced me that he was the man for the job so I said, "Work your magic." Next thing I know, we move in and I come home one day to this.

I know what your thinking. It was the same thing I was thinking. Where am I supposed to make my lunch? AND I was planning on baking cookies that day.... But I did not panic. I simply asked, "And how was YOUR day?" If I remember correctly Ron's response was, "Surprise!"

This started the days of endless knocking out of walls, ripping of carpet, peeling of wallpaper and being covered in insulation. I may sound crazy but I was so thankful for Ron. I know my friends were worried but I had faith in him. We set up our daily lives in the basement where Ron had fixed up a bedroom and a "kitchen" for us to use while we (again, Ron!) remodeled the upstairs. We chopped vegetables on the washing machine and grilled out most nights. I could sense Ron's fear that I was going to choke him if the upstairs wasn't done soon. But I reminded him of how I had lived in many apartments much less comfortable. I was pretty used to using old boxes for night stands and covering them with table clothes to add some flair. I had once lived above a pizza pub and on my first night I realized I lived above the kitchen where dishes were washed and stacked all night long. I often had to leave to avoid tears welling up in my eyes from the vents spewing up smells of chopped onions. I was overheated by not having air conditioning but mostly due to the fact I lived directly above the pizza oven. Cold showers and sticking my head in the freezer never really worked and the thought of sleeping in my van was kind of depressing. I think it was when my neighbor showed me his collection of Pringles boxes he used to somehow conduct a connection with the wifi from the coffee shop next door that I started to realize that maybe I wasn't living the dream of a twenty year old. This is when Ron nicknamed me GG, which stands for Ghetto Girl. So, while yes I was anxious to place my cutting board on a counter instead of a laundry machine, I didn't mind so much. And it was worth it because now we have this:

Every day I wake up and fall in love with our kitchen counter. I could sleep on this thing. It was all Ron's vision and I'm so glad he saw it because it is an amazing transformation. Go team Ron, go.

Nice to meet you

Welcome to our new blog where we plan on writing about our life on our new property. While our lives are probably pretty boring to most people, what the heck. Why not write about it and see who gives a damn.

I should mention that we aren't farming anything at the moment. But we have grand plans. And we like calling our property a farm because Ron gives me a funny look when I say something about the "yard" and calling it a field makes it sound like it should be big enough for a soccer game.

A little background on us would probably help. I am currently in the midst of figuring out what I am doing with my life. 32 isn't too late, right? I do lots of things to keep my wheels turning in the meantime. I am going to school part-time, working at a restaurant and in the cellar of a winery. And I play the harp too. I enjoy flexing my muscles, which is handy because I have to use them every day on our property. Currently I am learning how to use a lawnmower and we have lots of hills. I'm doing pretty well except when I fall over or slide down a hill. Embarrassing? Probably but the nice thing about having property is that nobody can see you! Well, some people can but I just pretend they aren't there. Anyway, back to flexing muscles. Lucky for Ron, I like to be active and lucky for me, I have many things to keep me active on our property. And did I mention I love wearing Carhartt pants? Have you seen how many pockets they have?! My husband, Ron, is a physician assistant in orthopedic surgery and probably the funniest person you will ever meet and VERY handy. Not only are we working on our farm, but Ron is remodeling our entire house. I am not handy so I pour the drinks and vacuum.

Another thing you should know about us is we are obsessed with our two border collies, Bernie and Roscoe. I even started a blog about a year ago just about our dogs! But I got bored after two posts, realizing that I was probably the only one who cared about Bernie's obsession with balls and Roscoe's fear of aluminum foil. I mention them here because they are a huge part of our lives, which means they will be a part of the blog too.

And cooking. We LOVE to cook. I mostly bake and make salads (counteracts the butter and sugar intake right?) and Ron does everything else. We are pretty crafty, I would say, and we aspire to be more so. I make batch upon batch of jams and jellies while Ron smokes pork belly and brews beer. Much of this blog will be about food because that's mostly what we talk about when we hang out. And currently I am on a baking binge so get ready for lots of baking rants. But it will also be our way to document what we have changed with our property and home and keep a diary.

I hope those who read our blog enjoy it and please post suggestions on any projects we are doing. For the most part, we have no idea what we are doing.

Cheers.