Stephen and I sat down together at the beginning of the year and came up with a plan for the order we want to tackle projects on the house. It’s not necessarily “set in stone” but it helps us be on the same page and is helpful when budgeting. Speaking of budgeting, if you haven’t checked out our money talk videos, you can HERE!

In the current season we’re in with Stephen going through the IPUG (instructor pilot upgrade), Ellie’s nap habits and routine, and with me trying to grasp mamahood while also pouring into my Young Living business and this blog, we mostly tackle projects Friday night through Sunday (I do work on small things here and there during nap times! It just depends on the day!). Don’t get me wrong, some parts of updating a house like this quite frankly suck but overall, Stephen and I find a lot of joy in the process so we don’t mind spending our weekends doing it. However, in the South Carolina house we spent the first year or so working on the house and then after we were done, we hiked so much and explored more. We want to do that from the get go here so we considered that when coming up with this plan.

Originally we were going to just focus on getting the house back to “blank canvas” but now we’re tackling the entire room at once: ceilings, paint, and decor. Always working off our design board for the room, of course! We are going to go back and change out all of the floors. Right now that’s planned for July-October but we’ll see how things are looking when that time comes.

• February – Ellie’s nursery
• March – Office + exterior landscaping
• April – Finish up landscaping + living room
• May – Hallway + start master bathroom
• June – Master bathroom
• July – Guest bathroom
• August – Take a break and tie up any loose ends before….
• September – Kitchen!!!!
• October – Kitchen
• November – Deck the halls
• December – Soak up the holidays

“Why do you do you spend time and money doing this when you know you’re going to move?”

I’ve been told by some people that we’re crazy for doing this sort of thing. Isn’t it so cool and fascinating how we can be wired so differently?! Here’s the thing though you guys, we find joy in the process. I love the designing and dreaming, Stephen loves learning new things and working with tools and making something out of nothing, and we both love to WORK and we really love finishing up projects and looking back at them on how our two noggins came together to produce something that we love.

One more thing… No. We’re not going to wait until Stephen retires from the Air Force and we can settle down somewhere “for good”. Life is TOO DANG SHORT. We should live for today. Not tomorrow. Because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. We’re not going to waste our days planning for what we will do someday when by the grace of God, we have our brains, skills, patience, and work ethic to use now.

Another great part about coming up with a plan like this – you guys have some idea what’s coming! We’re thankful to have you along for the ride!