2014 has brought a renewed desire to blog. The past few years that desired waned and things were pretty quiet around here. Life happens.

I at least try to keep up with my favorite bloggers. It’s fun to stay current with what y’all are doing. As time marched on, I really missed having the progress on this place documented. This is purely selfish & self-serving, of course. It’s really handy to have something on the Internet to quickly reference when you can’t remember what color the living room was painted.

The stagnation here on the blog is not reflective of the progress on the house. The stoop is done! Like for realizes!! That’s hugely exciting.

The kitchen is slowly rolling forward. I’ve only been without a kitchen since June 2012. Yes – as in a year and 7 months. I mean…WOAH; right!?

Who lives without running water on their first floor for a year and 7 months?!?

This girl, apparently. But I’ve been working really hard to change that.

To give me that extra little fire to crack down and get ‘er done, I immediately thought of my friend Sarah’s kitchen renovation. Sarah at Ugly Duckling House has been chipping away at her kitchen for a while too. (Not year-&-7mo ‘while’, normal people ‘while’.) Like me, she had a few unexpected projects (like a laundry room) pop up that diverted her attention away from the kitchen.

When Sarah put out the call for people to do another round of Dueling DIY with, I was all, “Duuuuuuuuuuuude! Our kitchens would be perfect for this!!”

And she was all, “Um. Do you even blog anymore, slacker?” (She didn’t actually say that.)

And I was all, “I would if it meant finally finishing this freaking kitchen and kicking your butt in the process!!” (OHHHHHHHHH, SNAP!)

And then I spent an entire evening taking ridiculous selfies with my iPhone and Paslode so she would have something to use in the creation of this masterpiece –

Oh it’s on like donkey kong, my friend. Donkey.Kong.

Kitchen.

BRING IT.

So what exactly is this “Dueling DIY” thing?

Every Wednesday, Sarah & I will update on our kitchen progress (if there’s been any) (which there will be).

Nothing like a little friendly competition to keep us focused on the task at hand. For me, that’s finally having running water on the first floor and finishing this kitchen already.