Yesterday was the one year anniversary of us getting the keys to our home, Emberly House. I can't believe this day has come so soon. I said yesterday while cleaning our kitchen, "it's crazy how quickly a place becomes home to you." This is truly my home...my sanctuary...the place where I find rest, peace, and great company.

I am a romantic at heart. Not just in the way of love but in everything. I always wanted a home that I could feel was a place of rare beauty to me...a place I could protect and nurture. When we were selling our Barrie home, the agent asked us why we were in a rush to sell and I began to gush about this home in Dundalk I had fell in love with. He told me that some homeowners make the mistake of turning home buying into an emotional experience. I was kind of floored. This is the place I will grow, laugh, cry, raise my children...how could I not allow choosing my home to be an emotional process? Sure at the end of the day, having a roof over our heads is all that really matters but we invest so much time in our homes and I think it's important to feel a connection to the place you reside. We will spend a huge chunk of our lives here and I knew I wanted this home to be somewhere that burns gold in my memory.

So...that's me in a nutshell. Fed too many L.M. Montgomery novels :)

What else is there to say about this year with our home? We have made so many great memories here with friends and family. We hosted some fabulous parties. We grew so much closer to our housemates. We got through a $1000 heating bill. We rearranged the livingroom probably 10 times. We got used to keeping a bucket in our window for when it drips, to the point that this sentence doesn't strike me as odd even though I know it is. We transformed rooms. We hosted family Christmas. We can look back on this year and smile. It's been a very great year, even with it's trials. We are thankful. Taking a risk in life is…well…risky. But it's so very worth it when you are doing the right thing and one you feel passionate about.

As for what's in the works for this year...lots of important renos! We managed to make it through the winter without putting too much extra insulation in. We are hoping to finish all of what's left by next November. We also are going to be building a new shed this summer which will serve as a shop for woodworking. Other than those two bigger expenses, we may redo our roof if we can and will mostly be focusing the rest of our time this summer on landscaping. Nothing major on the list, just building gardens, putting some grass seed down where needed, and repairing a couple bad fence spots. If we suddenly stumble across a bag of cash hidden under the floor boards, we would LOVE a hot tub! But that will likely not be put in for a few more years :)

So here are some fun before and afters from day 1 right to what it looks like today on day 365. We have so much farther to go, yet it's great to pause and see how far things have come!
Thanks for following along with our journey. The feedback and encouraging words are so wonderful for us to hear and lift us up when we want to take a sledgehammer to half our house! haha

So that's the tour so far! The apartment is occupied right now by friends and the rest of the house isn't quite "reveal" ready yet :)

One of my best friends Kendra has started a home blog since purchasing her new (old) brick farmhouse just north of Barrie. It's a lovely home with tons of character situated on a really cool property with lots of fun exploring land in behind the house. Here are some photos I took during the moving weekend: