Welcome!

Hi!  I feel a little weird...how do you start a blog?  First off, my name is Ashley.  Last May I married Dylan, who is handyman extraordinaire.  

Seriously, Dylan is amazing.  He gets stuck doing all of the dirty (but necessary) jobs in the house, while I get to do the fun stuff.  The year before we got married he bought a seen-better-days foreclosure in the middle of nowhere, Missouri.  Here's an exterior shot, which doesn't look too bad (aside from the overgrown bushes) but the inside was a whole other story.

Even though I didn't live in the house at that point, I still spent a LOT of time working on the house, scraping layer upon layer of wallpaper off of most of the walls, just to prime and paint over and over and over again!  By the time he proposed, he was sure we'd make it for the long haul...I mean, if I stuck with him in spite of spending 4 hours scraping layers of western-style wallpaper out of a stuffy and humid 4x6 bathroom until my fingers went numb, we could take anything, right?

This house has been an amazing opportunity for me, as I've always liked crafting things.  When I first discovered wedding blogs as we planned our wedding, and later home DIY blogs, I realized what I'd been missing out on for so long!  I've found tons of places where I am inspired daily to take on new and exciting challenges and stretch myself as a creative and thrifty person.

So here I am.  My first blog post.  I'm not sure how long this will last or how many people will willingly open themselves up to all of this chatter, but I'm excited to get this out of the way and get on to the good stuff!  I've been "saving" up blog post ideas for over a year, and am glad to have this outlet.  I've learned so much from the blogs I follow, especially from the comments people leave, and I can't wait for this to become a place that documents all of the learning experiences Dylan and I have in this house!