Once there was a bathroom...

And that bathroom just happened to be hideous. Take a step inside.


It wasn't just the dirty linoleum or the bulky shower door that was installed backwards. No, the pink counter top, the goopy caulking around the shower, and floral blue wallpaper also contributed to our unfortunate master bath.

And yes, that is a powder blue toilet seat. Thanks for noticing.

Despite its obvious problems the space isn't bad. It isn't huge, but it has a good sized shower and and room for a bigger vanity. All in all, I didn't mind it when I was forced to use it. After a while I learned to ignore the gobs of caulk that attempted to clog my shower drain, the "girl tiles" (Brian's special title for the rose-and-ribbon accent tiles), the baby pink counter that oddly extended over the toilet, even the backwards shower door that would often slide off its track and trap me in. I got used to everything except that powder blue toilet seat.

Just when I got comfortable this happened -

and i couldn't be happier about it.


Demo happened a while ago, here's where we're at now -


We're kind of at that phase where we really just want easy remodeling solutions because there is so much to do. We decided on slate for two reasons - a. We love how interesting and different every tile is and b. We suffered a momentary lapse of brain function.
Has anyone ever tried to lay slate? It makes my perfectionist brain seize uncontrollably. Yes, every beautiful tile is beautifully different in color and pattern. Every beautiful tile is also slightly different in size and thickness making it that much harder to maintain a smooth surface and a consistent grout line, something that Brian needs in his life to achieve inner peace. I also discovered the tiles are a little tricky to cut since they break apart easily in the saw if you push them through too fast. Brian decided he needed something to distract him from his obsessive tile adjusting and made me use the tile saw. I don't think he actually wanted to teach me how to use the tile saw for any useful purpose. I think he just really needed to laugh and I'm an easy target. The tile saw involves several things that Brian knows make me nervous - loud noises (I'm jumpy), large rotating blades, and projectiles, or in this case the possibility of projectiles. Little did he know, I'm an impatient speed demon. By some miracle the piece I cut, which I remember cutting at an agonizingly slow pace, didn't disintegrate and was usable. For the safety of the limited amount of tile we purchased, I have not been invited back to the tile saw.

life so far

We got married

Then we went on a cruise to Cabo. Our cruise started off great, then we hit ridiculous weather that made our entire ship sea sick for 2 1/2 of our 4 day cruise. We also had a mild outbreak of food poisoning so if the 25 foot swells didn't get ya, the food did. I think Brian was the only person on our boat who wasn't throwing up or on Dramamine. Once we got down around Cabo the weather was amazing. We went on a mini jeep rhino excursion that took us through the desert and to a beach away from the tourists. We had a lot of fun!
This was supposed to keep the dust out of our faces. It didn't work. Now we're just left with memories of tying used, sweaty bandannas around our faces.

10 points to anyone who can name this towel creation. It just looks like a giant folded napkin from the mandarin to me.

Then we came home and had to unpack/finish ripped out bathrooms/rip out other bathrooms and deal with our inherited dog. It was a lot of work that we are still working on 3 months out.

Brian loves his life. Chance does not.

and as if the large blue cone of shame wasn't enough to cement in this dog's brain that I am not to be trusted, I recently tied him to the door for 2 hours while I cut the extensive matting out of his hair. That sealed the deal. He hasn't willingly come within 5 feet of me since.