Over the past few years we've perpetually had some roof leaks in our "office" that is attached to the master bedroom and has a flat roof.  Ryan has gone up there and fixed the leaks and re-sealed everything numerous times but it always eventually leaks again.  The roof is meant to be an area you can walk out on but it felt so spongy and soft like you might fall through so we knew we needed to make some repairs.  I'm not going to bore you with all the details but here's some fun pics of us ripping off old shingles and ply wood, cutting away and replacing rotted areas, rolling out a gigantic one-piece liner and putting on new shingles.  We're still not quite done with the details like trim boards and soffit but at least the major items are done and it's all sealed up.  Ryan put a ton of time into it and I helped quite a bit too!

For those who don't know, Ryan and I have one dog and one cat.  The dog is my precious not-so-little princess.  The cat came with Ryan...they were a packaged deal lol.  I affectionately call him "little monster" (I actually call him another name but it wasn't friendly enough to type in my blog lol).  Anyways, this cat is the most determined, stubborn cat ever.  When he's decided he's going to do something, he is absolutely impossible to stop.  And as he's gotten older he no longer likes his litter box.  We tried changing litters, adding extra boxes, etc.  But for quite a while he just decided he was going to pee on the carpet (particularly in one area).  Eventually we couldn't take the smell (doesn't matter how much you try to clean it, after a while the smell is permanent).  So we just cut out the carpet, lol.

It's hard to believe it's been almost two years but...Ryan finally finished my 2013 birthday present.  LOL.  Yes I have gotten other gifts since then but this one took a while to get done.  I had drawn up plans for a kitchen island that I wanted to build and he decided to make it for me for my birthday.  Click on the pics below to see the first two parts of this post or read on to see the finished island!

It's kind of funny how the change of the year leads us all to look back on what we did and make new plans for the coming year.  I mean, we could look back and review what we've been doing at anytime.  But somehow we've become trained to treat this holiday like the start of a new chapter in our lives.  This year was busier in some ways and less in others, let's take a look at what happened in 2014...

I was one lucky lady this Christmas.  Not only did we get to spend time with ALL of our parents and siblings over the past month, I also ended up getting some pretty neat toys :)  One of the cool new toys I got is a Cricut Explore!  Basically it's an electronic cutting machine.  You can connect it to your computer and use the Cricut Design Space on their website to make a design.  Then the Explore can cut the design out of paper, vinyl, fabric and more!

When my husband and I first bought our house, the home inspector pointed out several little things that we were able to ignore but there was a damaged valley on the roof that would need to be repaired.  We asked them to fix it but the countered with an offer to give us back some cash instead so we could get it fixed after the sale.  We agreed…but I wish we hadn’t, we’ve been in the house for 5 years and are just now getting around to fixing it.

Once I decided I was ready to decorate our guest room, I knew I needed a dresser to go in there.  I had a small dresser from when Ryan was younger up there but it was really the wrong shape dresser for the room - I wanted one long and low.  So I found this little guy on Craigslist - it was a little more than I would have liked to pay but I wanted one right away and this is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Ok Ok, I know I'm obsessed.  But when I start a project I like to go all the way, LOL.  So as part of finishing up the guest room, I thought I'd give this little chair a facelift to make it fit in better in the room.

Most of the closets in our house have wood slat style bi-fold doors.  And I HATE them.  I don't mind the way they look but the thing that drives me nuts is that they constantly come off the tracks or get stuck or some other thing that causes them to need to be adjusted.  I swear you can only open those doors about 3 tmes before you need to readjust them.  Super annoying.  So as part of the guest room re-do it was time to get rid of the non-functioning bi-fold doors.

Also while wandering around TJ Maxx I saw this little crate/box on clearance for $2.  I didn't have any use for a red crate but I could certainly use a white one.  You know where this is headed right?  Time to paint it!