In February, we finally closed on our first home in Tennessee.

After undergoing several weeks of desperate waiting, we finally got to sign the papers at the title office, and we were handed the sticky keys to our 1930s fixer upper. Our “new” house certainly isn’t for the faint of heart, as it requires a whole lot of time, hard work, and self-motivation, to get it to a more livable state. The house was left heavily trashed, extremely dirty, and horrendously smelly, and it was our job to make it a home of our own. We spent four full days scrubbing the place from ceiling to floor, and we only made a small dent in making the home look, smell, and feel somewhat clean. Needless to say, we will be cleaning this place a thousand times more before we feel comfortable moving our belongings in.

Our house before renovations—

Once we deep cleaned the living soul out of the space (which still wasn’t enough), we were able to properly see what all we wanted to do with the house. With this being our very first home, we needed some help figuring out what we would be able to accomplish on our own, and what we needed the experts to complete. Chad’s parents gave us some advice, as they’re rather knowledgeable in the home renovation realm, and we figured out a nice list of everything we (and the professionals) will be doing to the house. Here are our current thoughts and plans (things are subject to change, of course):

Kitchen: We will be removing all upper cabinets from their original place, aside from the corner pieces. Some of those cabinets will be reused in the laundry corner, on the opposite side of the kitchen, and others will be reused in the bathroom. All cabinets will be sanded and painted a light countryside green before being reinstalled in their respective places. Open shelving will be added on either sides of the windows as well as on the opposite side of the kitchen, where the laundry corner will be. All of the current backsplash will be ripped out and replaced with white wainscot. Extra counter space will be added by the laundry corner, and a small island will be placed in the middle of the kitchen. The stove and the dishwasher will be sold and replaced, and a hood will be added above the stove. (The previous owner did not have a vent in the kitchen.) More lights will be added (original light fixtures will be replaced), and walls and ceiling will be painted.

Living Room: The air-conditioning unit in the window will be removed. The living room holds the front door and a square of awkward tile behind it. The square of tile will be removed and replaced with hard wood. More lights will be added (original light fixtures will be replaced), and walls and ceiling will be painted.

Bathroom: The washer and dryer will be moved out and placed in the kitchen. A cabinet from the kitchen will be placed in here, along with some open shelving. The mirror, sink, and toilet will all be sold and replaced. More lights will be added (original light fixtures will be replaced), and walls and ceiling will be painted.

Master Bedroom: That wall, separating the bedroom from the closet, will be removed, along with the floor and the ceiling in the closet (they both had water damage). The closet floor will be leveled to the height of the bedroom, and the carpet will be replaced with hard wood. The current window in the closet will be replaced (it’s broken) with two new windows on that wall, and a large closet will be added along the left wall. More lights will be added (original light fixtures will be replaced), and walls and ceiling will be painted.

Office/Studio: The ceiling in both the bedroom and the closet will be fixed, and the carpet in the closet will be replaced with hard wood. White shelving will be added to the closet. More lights will be added (original light fixtures will be replaced), and walls and ceiling will be painted.

Guest Bedroom: The carpet in the closet will be replaced with hard wood, and white shelving will be added. Original light fixtures will be replaced, and walls and ceiling will be painted.

Other things the house needs—

1. A new roof: The current roof has undergone some fixes in the past, but the fixes weren’t good enough. The entire back roof needs to be pitched at a higher angle, so that water can properly drain off into the gutters. Speaking of gutters, there are none. The roofer will have those added when redoing the roof.

2. A new HVAC system: The current system does not work at all and is actually too small for the house. We are hoping a new system will help with the air quality and our desire to rid the place of the horrid cigarette and garbage smell. (The previous owner only used an air-conditioning window unit in the living room and floor heaters.)

A book I read—

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (with illustrations by Anna Bond): I chose to read this book in February, because of the Queen of Hearts and Valentine’s (always on theme). Throughout my entire childhood, I watched the 1951 Disney movie on VHS with my sister, and to this day, there are so many little things from that movie that inspires my art, my writing, and the way I experience the world. It wasn’t until this month that I read the original book it was based on. (Huge thank you to the kindest soul who gifted me this book from our Amazon wishlist.)

The book was twelve chapters of the most specifically random creatures and scenarios, and I found myself thinking far too hard about how Carroll came up with all these wild things. What made the read even more grand was the darling illustrations, bringing fantastical life to a story with endless visuals. Whether you’re a child or an adult, this book will have you lost in wonderland in a truly magical way. Here’s a link to the copy of the book I have.

ICE FISHING and REINDEER RIDE in FINLAND’S LAPLAND

We tried our hand at ice fishing and enjoyed a magical reindeer ride underneath the northern lights before heading out of Lapland. Here is a link to the video.

FINLAND’S WEIRDEST TOURIST ACTIVITY (emergency suits in freezing water)

This was the weirdest experience we’ve ever taken part in. We rode an icebreaker vessel out to the middle of the Gulf of Bothnia and then floated in freezing food water in emergency drysuits. Here is a link to the video.

LIVING in a 1973 LAND ROVER with a ROOFTOP TENT (full tour)

While waiting on our house, we got to spend 24 hours camping in a 1973 Land Rover for Valentine’s Day. We found a free campsite in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and enjoyed a spectacular night under the stars. Here is a link to the video.

DEEP CLEANING OUR FIXER UPPER HOUSE (disgusting)

Our fixer upper house was the grossest house we’ve ever seen or smelled, and we had to deep clean the living life out of it. Here is a link to the video.

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Claire (and Chad)