We were the family that had to wait at the top of the stairs on Christmas morning. My dad would take his time down there making sure the presents were sprawled to perfection and Mannheim Steamroller was playing as mood music. He'd turn on some lamps and then take a nap. Okay, probably not take […]
In an evening and a half, we got all of the green covered. Woot! I mentioned that from our front door you can see a slew of green, yellow, white and dark beige paint. Well, we got one out of four covered, and since green was definitely the majority--we are patting ourselves on the back. […]
I am one of the biggest fans of online classifieds and thrift stores and as-is sections. You know this. Chris knows this. We ALL know this. I love getting the best deal possible and I feel like I can give these maybe otherwise worn out things, a new life and purpose with a little Jules […]
At Home Depot this morning picking up paint:Honey, I am nervous. Babe, what are you nervous about?? Is this gonna be too dark? Too much? Nah. It will look great. I don't know. I'm so nervous. We were gonna buy the paint right then and there without even taping it up to see how it looks […]
-I started P90x lean program again. If you want to join in with me, I'll keep my schedule to the right. I realized I need to do something for me. To empower me and to give me more energy. This exercise program is always the answer to that. -I am finishing up painting all the […]
Chris stays pretty hush when it comes to DIYing and all of the things he fixes around the house. He'll gush about food and an awesome meal he makes, but gets incredibly humble and fleas the room when I suggest blogging about the latest project he took on: our closet. You may have got […]
There is no doubt history repeats itself. This is especially true in the fashion/design industry, but it trickles through everything else. We are pulling out of the 80s. There are less and less neon leggings, straight-legged jeans (I just got mine) and big hoop earrings. Now bell-bottoms and extreme flare jeans and fake big glasses […]
There is no shortage of bad-choice lighting in our home. To refresh your memory: (The fan in our bedroom, The chandelier in the dining room, the huge, rectangular fluorescent eye sore in the kitchen, and the very typical, boring light fixture in Greta's room--just to name a few.) Yesterday, I set out to remedy […]
Greta's Room Before Talk about a before picture, huh? What ISN'T wrong with this room? The stenciling on the top and bottom of the walls. The corner shelves which were completely damaged and covered in wax and "I love___" notes that can only be found in a little girl's room. The windows are missing trim. […]
Oh wow. I can breathe again. Waiting for the internet to get hooked up has been harder than the actual move. Really. We missed them when they came by on Friday to hook it up because we weren't LIVING here yet, and we thought for sure they would be able to come yesterday, but nay, […]
We closed. We closed. We CLOSED!!! And that's about all the excitement I can give you right now. It was pretty much an all day thing with our grant closing at 10 am this morning down in Provo and our actual closing at noon up in Salt Lake. We didn't get back home until almost […]
Last night, we finished packing up the kitchen and pantry. Whew. So now we are shoulder deep in boxes and living off of eggs, quesadillas and anything else we can cook on a flat skillet--as all of our pots and pans and plates are packed up. So, even though Chris hasn't posted one of his […]
Our new home has 3 sets of stairs. THREE! I always wanted a house of my own where you could go upstairs. The home I grew up in had 4 levels. A basement, a first floor, the second floor and then the attic--which was fully finished and the coolest bedroom in which I spent at […]
We did it! Our very first yard sale was a success and a learning experience. People were showing up an hour before it started. And when our friend came to pick up Greta for a few hours while we played merchants, they took that as a sign we were ready for them. We were not! […]
I DIDN'T cut my bangs. I promise. In fact, this whispy "fringe" (I believe that's what they are calling it these days) is finally growing in from when I lost what felt like half of my hair after having Greta. It's usually sticking straight up if I don't wear my hair just right, but now […]
Did you know I have 4 sisters? I'm the second youngest of five girls. Although, now that we're all in our mid to upper (ahem Vic and Kris) twenties, sometimes it is hard to tell the age order because we are all so close together. Krissy was born in 81, Vicky in 83, Patty in […]
or Avert your eyes. Whichever you feel more comfortable doing, because this place is in shambles! Organized shambles (bet you'd disagree), but a mess nonetheless. You may have noticed from our left sidebar that our crazy minds decided to throw a moving party sale this upcoming Saturday. We have a bunch of stuff that we […]
She hardly ate a thing all day. She was cranky. We thought she needed a longer nap--it didn't work. Once Brandon, Stephanie, and Matt came over for dinner she perked up. Running around. Showing off all of her clothes--bringing them into the living room one at a time. She danced around as Matt and Chris […]
Thanks to everyone who entered the contest for the Ikea as-is pepper mill. We loved reading all of the awesome memories of horrible meals, and we definitely learned a few things NOT to try in the future- including and especially: Congratulations, Natasha! You are the winner of a brand-new (sort of) pepper mill from the […]
What's more fun than buying a house? Buying a house on TV. Or at least we think so. Last year, when this whole house-hunting process was getting started, we applied to be on House Hunters. Appropriate, no? We got an email back a couple days later saying, YES! We would love to have you on […]
Looking for our favorite things? A place to shop our home room by room, or just catch up on what Julia's wearing / loving right now? Browse the CLJ shop
Another way for us to stay in touch! Joining our weekly newsletter gives you access to exclusive content, never-before-seen photos, your questions answered, and our favorite DIYs. Sign up below!
Welcome to our online community where we've posted home, DIY, style, renovations, and family since '09. Renovating our #cljmoderncottage in Idaho and headed for new adventures in Raleigh, NC. #cljfam #cljtransformations
