First Month of Home Ownership

It's been one month of being a homeowner (okay, it's really been like three months, but man! It's hard to blog and fix a fixer upper!). This blows my mind. One whole month. One month of demoing, of cleaning, of demoing more and cleaning more. Of finally getting to a point where we could start the process of renovation. Almost everyone who had saw the house in the "before" stage has been impressed with the changes we've made so far. This makes us feel encouraged.

The beauty of this project has been the joy it's brought both my husband and myself. It hasn't felt like a chore or a hassle to work on the house. It's a labor of love and we know that when we're done, we're going to love the house that much more. Even on Christmas Day as we pondered what we were going to do, my husband wanted nothing more than to go to the house and do some more work. Now that's commitment.

Where We're At

So what's been done in the first month?

From previous posts, you know we had a few weekends of people coming and helping us take basically everything out of the house and help us clean. This process was about ten days. I won't hit you over the head again with all of that detail again. 

The hubby -- proud of his water heater accomplishments

These last few weeks we finished the remaining projects of taking out the wall between the kitchen and living room, as well as the wall between the two bedrooms downstairs. Those two bedrooms have always been a little awkward, but for now we feel that leaving them open to one another is the best call. 

Friends also helped us as we put in our new water heater, fixed up a few things with our furnace, and put in a new gas line. These were not my forte, so I spent this time staring into nothingness while the guys worked. Oh! I did bring food, so I guess I could say I was somewhat helpful. 

We also took down wallpaper. Note to future renovators: do not, I repeat, do not paint over wallpaper. Unless you'd like to screw over future owners of your home, then paint on my friends! Because this wallpaper was not only painted on, as well as put directly on the Sheetrock, it turned out that taking the entire wall down was easier than trying to remove it. 

After we ripped up all the carpeting and subfloors, we realized the animal smell was going to hold on tight to the house, so the husband did some research and found a spray that would help neutralize the odors. It took three jugs to cover the entire house. There is still a faint smell but we've been told that a certain primer will help with this. We also plan to have the air vents cleaned in a few weeks, which should stop the circulating of animal scent throughout the house. 

I've been dreaming of this my whole life... or for one month

I can see clearly now!

bye bye wall! 

Kitchen Designs

Next up was designing the layout of our kitchen. We haven't finalized anything quite yet, but we've gone two different routes for our future kitchen. One was with IKEA. We had someone come out and spend a few hours measuring the space, marking where vents and outlets were, where windows were, and so forth. It was quite the process. A few weeks after that, we met with one of IKEA's designers and they helped put a plan into place. And man... that kitchen is beautiful! She did, at one point, tell us to move the refrigerator from one side of the kitchen to the other (how audacious of her!) and while it made me bristle with the sheer thought of it, by the end of the appointment I knew that she was right. We have a beautiful, big island planned out, as well as glass cabinets in some areas and open shelving. We have a giant pantry (seriously the most exciting part of it all) and a cleaning cupboard. It's amazing to see what we could do with our kitchen. 

Our other option is a friend of ours that does custom cabinetry. His work is out of this world! He came over, measured a few things and then we talked about wants, needs, and desires. We're still waiting on the bid from him, as well as a 3D rendering, but we're excited to see what he comes up with! 

Getting Quotes

We've also been working on getting quotes, not only for the kitchen, but someone to do the mudding and taping as well. Is mudding a word? OH well, today it is. Either way, that task is not taken lightly. The whole house has issues (i.e. where they punched in holes to get the cat out of the ceiling... long story) so it's not a simple mud and tape job. But we have someone in mind that we felt really comfortable with, and we'll probably go with him at the end of the day. 

Another wall going down!

As a helpful hint, it's important to get a few quotes for every task you plan on hiring out for. That's really hard for me to do, but it's smart to do if you care about your budget, or other opinions. Also remember to do this before you are ready for these tasks to be done. This whole process with IKEA has taken several weeks, and that's not even getting to the point of ordering and installing. And if we go with my friend, he has to literally custom build everything. We're looking at having the kitchen in three months! So make sure to get these things lined up to avoid waiting around and wasting time. 

Renovation At Last

That's right, in the last several days, we hit the renovation phase. Also known as the "where is all this money coming from" stage. But this is honestly more fun than what we've done so far. 

Lighting. This house was built in the late 70's. Apparently this meant that every room should have lamps and zero lights in the ceiling. But we are light obsessed and knew this wasn't going to cut it. And since the house is bare bones, it made sense to put it what we needed. But it's not as easy as being like, "three lights in this room please!" You have to measure everything out, space it adequately from both the previous light and the wall. And you must keep an eye out for those pesky tresses getting in the way. We may have hastily cut some holes and realized we were overlapping a bit with one of the tresses. Whoopsies. 

Friends, before you even get to the point of cutting any holes, you have to know what kind of lights you want. This requires loads of research. Do you want accent lighting? Task lighting? Recess? Pendant? Track? It feels like there are exactly 8 billion options, and 18 billion opinions on how to do it. In the end, it's your house and you have to make the final decisions. We think we figured it all out, but who knows, we may get everything ready to go and realize our house is now the sun. 

Electrical. This step is very important, especially while you have some Sheetrock torn away already. Because we are moving a microwave into the pantry, we had to create a new outlet for it to be plugged into. Same with the refrigerator and the dishwasher. And our cabinets are most likely going to have lighting underneath, so we had to think about where it's going to plug in. Always an adventure people.

My husband is also dead set on having a hot tub in the future, and that wire costs a pretty penny. But again, because the house is down to the studs, it made sense to run it now in case we ever do want it.

Drywall. Once we're done with the previous two options, we'll have to hit the drywall phase. Most of this is in the basement (i.e. cat holes in ceiling and painted Sheetrock). We've never done this before and we're hopefully lucky enough to get someone to help us who has done it a time or two. Time will tell. And we're not sure how long this will take, but we're budgeting a weekend or two for it.

There's plenty more to do, but this is what we've started with first. 

Here's a few other images of what we've been up to! The husband making some beautiful recessed lighting holes and dealing with some leaking pipes (like ALL the pipes). It's a never ending battle with a fixer upper -- but it's ours and I couldn't be happier

The Tale of the Fixer Upper: Closing/Demo Weekend

If you’ve been following my blog, you will know that I and my husband bought a fixer-upper on the western side of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. It’s been a whirlwind (see You Had Me At Purchase Agreement) and that it’s been nothing short of a struggle to get to the final stretch of the home-buying process. But recently, dreams became a reality and we were able to finally close on the house!

The Final Walk-Through

Before you sign your soul to your future home, you get a chance to walk through one more time. This is set up to make sure no major changes have been made since you’ve agreed to purchase the home. For me, this was only the second time I saw the house on the inside. Talk about making a commitment! I was choosing where I was going to live for the next dozen or so years based on ONE viewing. Looking back, it seems incredibly insane. Especially because time had desensitized me to the reality of the home.

The home was in terrible condition. That’s me putting it nicely. I cannot tell you how much stuff was left behind -- including things they said they would take. A pop-up trailer, lawnmowers, a plethora of doors, rotting food in the refrigerator…. And a refrigerator full of food downstairs that had been unplugged for months. Was this a house of horrors or our new home? It’s hard to know. I felt overwhelmed and again wondered what I was getting myself in to. But I remembered the vision for the home that we’ve been curating over the last month. I remembered the beautiful cupboards, the gorgeous American hickory floors we’ll be putting in, the layout for the upstairs that’s set up for hosting. We always knew that this house was going to require TLC times ten, so I quickly pulled myself up again and decided I still wanted to go down this path. At this point, I think we had to go down this path no matter what.

What Closing Looks Like

Closing, at least for us, seemed pretty straightforward. We met at the title company, where we had our lender, the seller, our agent representative (he was out of town at the time), and some family members present. We gave the title company our 20% deposit and they filled us in on everything that was going to happen. Over the next 45 minutes, dozens, if not hundreds of documents were signed. At the end, we were given lovely gifts from our agents as some first “welcome home” presents. Immediately after everything was settled and the keys were put into our hands, we headed over to the Ugly Duckling house.

Demo Weekend

Demo weekend is exactly what you think it is. We simply took everything that was on the inside of the house, and either burned it or threw it away. I cannot express to you how much stuff there was. Actually, if you watch our Ugly Duckling Tour, you’ll kind of see what we’re talking about. And then times that by five -- for all the things hiding in almost all of the drawers in the house. Yes, it was that packed of stuff.

The worst refrigerator of all time

Bless their souls

Originally we got the biggest dumpster on the market to throw everything. But little did we know that we’d run out of room sooner than later. The solution? Just burn it! My husband loves to burn things, and that’s exactly what he did. While the fire was consistently large for about a week, none of the neighbors seemed to mind; I think they were just happy to have us in the neighborhood!

Somehow for this weekend, we rallied ten of our friends to help gut the house. We had people working in the garage, in the backyard, in the basement, and upstairs. Every person was incredibly useful and, quite honestly, there were things I didn’t see exit the house until it was all said and done. That’s how fast everyone was working. We also realize how incredibly lucky we are to have such great friends to help with this kind of project. Naively I thought it’d kind of be a family thing, maybe four of us slowly emptying things. That, my friends, would mean we’d still be demoing to this very day. Maybe not for every demo situation, but when it’s almost on the brink of foreclosure and people quite literally leave underwear in the entryway closet, it’s going to take a while to get things taken out.

Within the first weekend, we removed cabinets, sinks, trash, refrigerators with molding food inside, carpets, subfloors, broken water heaters, trim, a popup trailer, appliances, five lawn mowers (yes, there were five!), and a lot of other objects scattered around the backyard and basement. My jaw still drops thinking of how much was removed. We’ve documented this all in videos and pictures, so make sure to check out my Instagram page!

What Next?

Even though we somehow managed to get an incredible amount of work done in those first few days, not everything is complete. We’re tearing down the walls that separate the kitchen and the living room, we’re ripping off some random spots of wallpaper, and we’re making sure to pull all the nails from the ground, baseboards, closets, etc. The walls need to be wiped down, and I’m pretty sure we’re going to have to find a solution to the intense animal smell within the walls, just short of burning the whole house to the ground. Yes, it’s that bad. No, we cannot live like that. From what the neighbors have told us, a multitude of outdoor animals had the pleasure of also being in the house (i.e. pigs, goats, rabbits). So you see where I’m going with this.

Here's some of my favorite images from that weekend. It's amazing to see the changes happening!

Have any questions about demo? Comment below and I’ll do my best to answer. Cheers friends!

Always,

A

Brooks Adrenaline GTS 18: A Review

A number of runners will tell you that one of the saddest days is the day they have to retire their favorite shoe. I would know, it just happened to me. I’ve managed to only go through four pairs of shoes, two that compensated for my overpronating gate. And every time the shoe has met it’s fate, a little part of me mourns the loss. That was the shoe I ran my first half marathon in or that was the shoe I bought before we moved away from our family. Shoes can mark big moments in our life and bring back all the memories, both the good and the bad. My go to brand for the last three pairs has been Brooks. I’ve always liked the feel of them on my feet and the extreme support they provide. The most important thing for runners is to try on a variety of shoes from a variety of brands. Feet are unique and they will let you know what’s comfortable. A simple trick is to head to your favorite running store (like the Running Room or Fleet Feet) and have an assessment. Some places will watch you walk or run, listen to what your needs are, and then find several shoes that they think will suit you best. These types of stores are the reason I found out I overpronate (my arches roll inward). Putting your old loves into shoe retirement can be sad, but it’s also a time of rejoicing: It’s time for a new shoe. For me, it was the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 18. If you’ve never owned a pair of Brooks, here’s an honest review of the shoe.

What I Loved

YIKES. I mean... why?

• Comfy. I don’t know if my other Brooks were less comfortable, or they had been worn so long that the cushion decreased in size, but putting on these shoes felt like I was stepping into foam. The entire bottom of my foot was being hugged by the Adrenaline.
• Stylish. There’s a fine line in running shoes of beautiful and uncomfortably hideous. Why must all running shoes be made of neon color vomit? I’m all about having fun and unique shoes, but it feels like runners are tricked into believe that this style is… well, stylish. A huge draw to these shoes for me are the color. The other difficulty is finding a color you like in shoes that you need. There aren’t that many options for overpronators. But what I loved about the Adrenalines was the variety of styles. I ended up with what I call “sprinkles”. A beautiful black canvas, sprinkled with dots of pinks, blues, yellows, and purples. The color is noticeable, but not in your face, and truly goes with everything.
• Supportive. This quality is especially for my overpronators out there. The amount of support needed will depend on your gate and your foot needs. But for me, a shoe that can hold my foot and ankle in place is a shoe I want to be in. Brooks achieved this by using their Progressive Diagonal Rollbar (PDRB), which is how they keep your body in alignment. Now when I say “supportive” I am not referring to “heavy”. These shoes feel extremely light!
• Open toe box. Maybe this is a personal issue. My last pair, the GTS 17, had a hard plastic piece up in the toe box. When I’d run, this would rub up against my toes and end up causing some sensitivity. I must note, I do not go a size up in my running shoe. I’ve read plenty of articles preaching on going up a size, but my shoe needs to fit my foot like a glove. So take this as you see fit.

Quirks:

• Seam in toe box. There is a tiny seem, almost invisible when I put my hand on it, that runs across the toe box. My toes sometimes graze it if I’m walking in my shoes, but this could be due to my shoes not being tight enough, or the fact that I don’t go up a size. It doesn’t affect me when I run, so it’s a minimal negative in my book.

First Runs

First Run: 3 Miles When bringing a new shoe to the lineup, it’s important to work them up to longer distances. Treat your shoes like you would a brand new car from the show room. You can’t go 100 mph right out of the parking lot. You have to warm up the car for the first thousand or so miles, slowly working it a little more each trip. My first trip with Sprinkles was an easy three-miler. I ended up tying them a little too tight (worried the seam would bother my toes or toe nails), but soon after the run began, my feet felt like they were not getting blood flow. Loosening them was the right call. I ran everywhere between a 10-minute pace and down to a 9-minute pace, testing different speeds to feel the shoe work in different ways. What shocked me the most was the level of comfort and how the show seemed to help propel me forward. Stopping at three miles was actually painful for me to do. Second Run: 4 Miles For my second run, I chose to run only a mile more than the first. Again, I had the same feeling of being propelled forward by the shoe. Running fast felt easy and encouraged me to run even faster. After both runs, I had zero issues with soreness in my shins, ankles, or arches (places where I’ve had difficulties in the past). My feet felt like they molded right into the shoe like I’ve been running in them for months.

Final Thoughts

Not every shoe is perfect, and certainly not perfect for every runner. Make sure to do your research, get your feet checked out, and get a sense for what your feet need. But for me and my running style, the Adrenaline GTS 18 is meeting all my dreams. I highly recommend checking them out the next time you bop into your running store.
What’s your go-to shoe and why? Are you more of a Nike fan, loving that barefoot feel? Or do you tend to be drawn towards Saucony?

Always,
A

Tour of the Ugly Duckling House

It's the moment you've all been waiting for. I know, you're anxious. You're dying to know, what the HECK does your Ugly Duckling house look like? Knowing that this would be something I'd never want to forget, I decided to document walking in to our home for the first time. Years from now, we may not remember what we went through so this seemed like the most logical path. Also get ready for some fun narration along the way! 😉

We Are Homeowners!

I hope you enjoyed the show! Let me know if you have any questions, or are absolutely dying to know more. I'm happy to share. 

Always,

A

Amy's Playlist: 2018 TC 10 Miler

What do you do when you are running? Are you listening to music? Watching Netflix while on the treadmill? Or do you love catching the sounds of the world around you, a car honk, geese overhead, water running, people’s chatter? There are a million ways to run, and a million ways make it enjoyable. 

Essentials: Shoes, shirts, bras, jackets, bibs, pants, headbands, and music

For, me, it’s 90% music. Sometimes on the treadmill, I can’t help but catch up on a show (seriously, I have no time to watch anything. Where did all my time go?), but otherwise it’s all music. Just a note: My running journey started via a treadmill. Not sure if this comes in to play on whether people love the distraction of music/podcasts, but it helped me get through those agonizing runs. Music quiets my mind and gets my legs moving. Whether it’s when a beat drops, a catchy chorus from the 90’s, or just a peppy pop beat, they all have a way to get me through that mile, that hill, that race. 

About a week before a race, I’ll start skimming through my old playlists, grabbing the classics, while also seeing what I’ve recently downloaded, figuring out if they have what it takes to make the cut. These lists used to be created a few weeks in advance, however I’d be too excited for the phenomenal new list that I’d wear it out before the race began. Patience doesn’t seem to be my virtue. 

A question you may have is, is there an order to the madness? The answer is no. Some songs have been on every single playlist. Others are probably only sticking around for the next few weeks. Others have good messages. I also put the music on shuffle, just in case I may have snuck a listen before the race starts. Knowing what’s coming next feels draining, the exact feeling you want to avoid mid-race. The surprise and delight works well for my motivation. 

Final note before I share this oh so incredibly mind-blowing playlist. I typically overshoot on length of the playlist, and I do this purposely. Earlier on in my running days, I accidentally had too few of songs. Nothing like getting close to the finish line and your music stops or starts over. No thank you. And while I try my best to stay on pace, I’d rather have the opportunity to skip a song that I’m not feeling, without worrying about speeding up my list too much. But to each their own. There is no perfect way to make a list. Heck, it might take a few lists before you find what really gets you going.

But if you need any suggestions, here’s my latest list: 

-- Panic! At the Disco, “Say Amen (Saturday Night)”

-- Panic! At the Disco, “High Hopes”

-- Cardi B Bad Bunny, and J Balvin, “I Like It”

-- Imagine Dragons, “Natural” 

-- Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats, “S.O.B.”

-- King Princess, “1950”

-- LSD featuring Sia, Diplo and Labrinth, “Audio”

-- BØRNS, “American Money”

-- Taylor Swift, “22”

-- Amy Shark, “I Said Hi”

-- Bridgit Mendler, “Ready or Not” 

-- Britney Spears, “Toxic”

-- Caitlyn Smith, “Starfire”

-- Danger Twins, “Make It Look Easy” 

-- David Crowder Band, “You Are My Joy”

-- Dua Lipa, “IDGAF”

-- Emeli Sande, “Hurts”

-- Fitz and The Tantrums, “HandClap”

-- FLETCHER, “War Paint”

-- FLETCHER, “Wasted Youth”

Team Amy ready to go!

-- Florence + The Machine, “Shake It Out”

-- Florence + The Machine, “Dog Days Are Over”

-- Flume featuring Tove Lo, “Say It”

-- Glee, “Me Against The Music”

-- Icona Pop, “Emergency”

-- Jessie J., Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj, “Bang Bang”

-- Judah & The Lion, “Take It All Back 2.0”

-- Julia Michaels, “Uh Huh” 

-- Katy Perry, “Rise”

-- Katy Perry, “Awake”

-- Kelly Clarkson, “Love So Soft”

-- The Killers, “Run for Cover”

-- Lady Gaga, “A-YO”

-- Death Cab for Cutie, “Gold Rush”

-- AJR, “Burn the House Down”

-- Rita Ora, “Your Song”

-- Sia, “Unstoppable”

-- Sia, “Bird Set Free”

-- Taylor Swift, “Look What  You Made Me Do”

-- Taylor Swift, “I Did Something Bad” 

-- Taylor Swift featuring Ed Sheeran and Future, “End Game”

-- Taylor Swift, “Dancing With Our Hands Tied”

-- X Ambassadors, “Ahead of Myself”

Gotta show off those medals!

This playlist features a lot of females, which isn’t always the case. It really depends on what’s on the radio, what I’m in the mood for, and who is just creating amazing tracks. Also, it’s clear that I’m still hooked on Swift’s reputation album. And David Crowder Band? That was a last minute addition and I actually had it play right after I crossed the finish line. It was a really moving moment for me and it couldn’t have been timed better. 

Now that you are armed with hopefully several new songs for your run, get out there and get to it.

If anyone is interested in getting this playlist, I’m happy to create one on Spotify and share it! 

Always,
A

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