Hello 2018

The past year has quite easily been one of the most difficult if not the most difficult of both our lives. It has been constant stress, heartache, headache, and often tears. It has challenged the strength of our relationship as well as the strength of our wallets and will.

But after looking back and seeing how far we have come, we are just so proud of what we have been able to accomplish. We still have a long way to go, both inside and outside our home, but it finally feels like we’ve reached a tipping point. Being able to live in the house certainly has made most if not all of the difference on our stress levels. We know that we can take a break at any moment, be it for a nap or a well-deserved vacation, and there will still be a livable home to come back to, and that’s an incredible feeling. We’ve felt like we’ve been treading water for such a long time, just trying to keep our heads up out of the sea…and finally it feels like we’ve found a little patch of land to rest.

Fatigue Takes Over

Now, when we started this whole journey, the plan was certainly that we’d end with beautiful freshly painted rooms, free of the old home wallpaper and mustard-colored paint woes. In order to get there, Brandon and I have largely taken up painting on our own, removing wallpaper, sanding baseboards and trim, painting behind radiators, and largest being drywall work and painting of our 3rd floor.

As of last week, we have painted all of the 3rd floor rooms and trim, our Master Bathroom is largely finished minus our windows, we have painted behind every radiator in the house, our laundry is painted, and our guest bathroom is primed and ready for final paint. In that time, in combination with all of the other work we’ve been doing in our yard, basement, and other rooms, my wrist has decided to give out… for the past two months. I have now resorted to physical therapy to try and rehab my wrist back into shape, and have largely recovered it, but painting the rest of our home has now become a much more daunting task.

Brandon’s least favorite activity is painting, he absolutely hates it. So with my wrist issues, he and I have made the call to get someone else to help us finish this stage of project. Calvin Garfield, our trusty contractor gave us his recommendation, a man named Jeff Mueller of RollerWorks Painting and Wallpapering. He is semi-retired from 35 years of professional painting, but agreed to take on our project with one of his friends.