What Ana Does

The garage at our new house was just not meeting our needs. I'm not sure how else to say it. And it's such an important part of the house to us, especially to be functional. So, we moved it up the priority list of things we wanted to tackle (with help) and made a plan.    First, there's the gym. Dave had a whole CrossFit gym set up in our last garage, which turned out to be wildly useful once the pandemic hit. This new garage is falling short of being used as a gym for two reasons. The first, the ceilings are just a bit too low and, the second, the floors slope (for good reason) and the bar bells roll down toward the door -- which is not safe -- and the rig couldn't be correctly installed.  The solution, we need to even out the floor in the gym space and open up the ceiling (empty attic above) so we can dedicate space to the gym.  Add to that, the floors are super GROSS . I mean, worse than most garage floors. There are piles of crud or sticky stuff in almost every ...

Like most kids, our girls were in virtual school all last year thanks to the pandemic. I could go on and on about how frustrating that was. How unfair to Leah who had her Freshman year experience yanked away from her -- as almost all kids did. And how they suffered social set backs, education set backs and so much more. Sure, we all spent lots of time together, but these chickens really need to fly the coop, a least once in a while.  Though, to be fair, a pandemic will disrupt a lot of things. And most of the world population was suffering in some way. So, our year wasn't unique at all. And probably easier than many many others.  OK ...  But we're now a few days from starting to school here and we're all READY. New school, new people ... and we're ALL excited. Leah can't wait to "socialize with people NOT in my family" and Alice is looking forward to meeting new friends. READY.  We did orientations last week and got schedules. Toured the schools. Got bus t...

I don't remember us using the the backyard as much as we have in this house, so far this summer. Sure, it's mainly due to the pool, but it's still a good excuse to update what's there. There is definite room for improvement.  Number one on my list was adding chaise lounges next to the pool. BUT ... what is the DEAL with these chaise loungers being so dang expensive!? Who knew?!  After months digging through shopping sites, I've just given up. I simply won't pay over $400 for one, let alone nearly $1000 for two. And not for something that will only last one season. I'll wait for the winter sales and it will be part of next year's upgrade to the deck. In the meantime, I still need some pool-side seating, so I bought two club chairs (on super sale). When the kids are swimming, there's a comfy spot to the deck to hang out and watch. Chairs from Overstock Then, there's the dining set. Remember I was going to update that summer 2020 ( plans here ) ... ...

It's the "front room" or the "living room" or the "morning room" or my "office" -- whatever we end up calling it, it's the room just opposite the dining room and nearest to the front door. It's the room I take my coffee to in the morning and stare out the window while I sip (it faces east). And where I sit all day while I'm working. It's an important, multifunctional room.  So, it was the obvious choice for the next makeover. Here's what it looked like when we bought the house. Clearly, it was used as a "formal" space. The room only guests got to enter -- which let's all agree is an outdated construct, ok? Then we moved in and it looked like this ..   Curtains came down and our well-used sofas came in. Quickly turned into a multi-use room. But that red accent wall and tan had to be updated. I put up many paint chips on the wall with the guidelines that: it had to coordinate with the dining room and foyer, it ...

When we first looked at this house, we spent the most time next to the pool. Not because we were impressed by it, the cover was on it, but because we were late to our appointment here and only had about 15 minutes to run through the house. The outside, we could linger and talk about our impressions of the house and neighborhood.  And I'll admit I was very nervous about owning a house with a pool. What are the liabilities, the risks? How hard is it to maintain? How much will it cost us monthly, annually? Can we even use it this summer? What about injuries? How do we keep everyone safe? Ugh. It all weighed heavy on my mind.  And when we initially lost the house to a higher bidder, we were very bummed but I was a teeny tiny bit relieved we wouldn't have to figure out that pool. "It might be a money pit!" I remember thinking. "We didn't even see it without the cover." Fast forward to the present and one of the hottest summers I can remember. And the absolute...