Meet Stephenie and Jason
We're Stephenie and Jason and we're addicts. We have addictive personalities that drive us to become obsessed with stuff. Once we get started on something, whether it be a hobby, exercise, eating healthy, or collecting something, we become passionate about it and can think of nothing else.
Fortunately, our addictions are good for us. When we bought our house, we learned of another addiction: renovating and decorating.
Many people thought we were insane to have purchased our house in the first place. It looked like Rainbow Bright was the interior designer. There were primary colors on nearly every wall, fish and eyes were decaled on walls, and it smelled like cats.
Many people thought we were insane to have purchased our house in the first place. It looked like Rainbow Bright was the interior designer. There were primary colors on nearly every wall, fish and eyes were decaled on walls, and it smelled like cats.
Fortunately, we were able to see past the hideous decor and see the potential of the home.
At the time, Jason didn't even own a power tool so this entire house has been a learning experience.
Our first priority was to get the house in some sort of half-way presentable fashion. Now that we have basically passed that phase, we've moved beyond just making it look normal, to making it look beautiful and to making it feel like home.
We have done all of the work ourselves with the help of our friends for things we didn't know how to do.
It has been a slow process since we both work full-time jobs and have a nine year old daughter, but we look back on what our home used to look like and we are proud to have done this ourselves. Along the way, we have learned many skills: tiling, trimwork, painting, installing hardwood floors, hanging light fixtures . . . the list is endless.But most of all renovating this home has brought us closer together.
We didn't buy our house with the intention of writing about it. It's only after three years of renovations and sharing our story (and pictures) over and over again with friends and family that we decided we should share it with everyone all at once through this blog. We hope you enjoy the journey.
Meet Imani
This is our daughter Imani. She is addicted to music. Imani has been playing violin since she was five years old. She started learning the instrument through the Suzuki Method of violin instruction where children learn with their parents through listening and copying what they hear rather than through reading music.
Imani also plays piano and guitar. It is her dream to become a musician. At night when she is laying in bed, she often creates lyrics to songs. She hears music in everything, even home renovations (see Circular Saw Lullabies).
Meet Noah
This is our son, Noah. He is addicted to all things silly. He likes to dance, play with his big sister, chase our dog, Maggie and master puzzles. He loves anything soft and fuzzy. He has been known to pull giant teddy bears and pillow pets off of shelves in stores and lie down right in the aisle to snuggle.
His laughter is contagious and fills our house with joy.
Meet Maggie
Maggie is addicted to treats. Maggie was a gift from Jason to Stephenie and Imani two and a half years ago. She is a Pomchi, which is a fancy name for a mutt. She is half chihuahua and half pomeranian and although she is only supposed to weigh between 4-6 pounds, she is about 8 pounds because of her addiction (and her owners' inability to say no to people food).
Maggie's favorite person in the house is her Dad.
But that's probably because he breaks the rules and gives her people food all the time.
Because she also shows Imani love too.
When we first got Maggie, Stephenie was excited to have a small dog so she could dress her up, but Maggie was having none of it. She hates wearing clothes and being girly. She likes just being a dog but occasionally, Stephenie can get Maggie to cooperate, at least for a photo.
Now you've met all five addicts.
We hope you enjoy our addiction as much as we do.
