First things first...

DEMO! We did so much demo!  I know I posted about this before, but then I kind of fell of the face of the blogosphere so I wanted to start over with posting this journey.  We saved about $2,000 in labour etc. by demoing the bathroom, kitchen and floors ourselves. The first picture is from...

The Kitchen...

This is what the kitchen looked like when we bought the place.   Two windows that don't open, and are not in functional positions, a dishwasher that was the tenants (sink connect style), a sink and electric stove/oven that were apartment sized.  A very skinny and tall fridge in a...

The Bathroom....

This is what we started with: Right?  Right? This is awful. That shower is so dark it's like a cave.  The vanity has this curtain hiding storage, not shelves, just empty storage space.  Light fixtures that don't work together and a ceiling fan that was vented into the attic.  The...

Appliance Rebate

Before moving in, we are doing some pretty extensive renovations.  Namely our kitchen and bathroom.  The kitchen was pretty dismal.  It had a poor layout, no dishwasher, a pocket fridge and an apartment size stove/oven in an IKEA plug and play counter. We decided to upgrade all of...

Managing Electricity Usage

Managing our electric bill is a priority for both Jordan and I.  To start, Jordan and I have upgrade appliances to energy efficient ones.  During this summer and our renovation phase, the breaker for all of the baseboard heaters has been turned off - and we plan on managing which are turned...

Annual Utilities

I've never lived anywhere before that had annual utility bills. It's interesting.  Also, it was a bit of a surprise.  After taking possession of our new house, we paid for the year (pro-rated).  Here's the breakdown: Garbage - $125.04 Recycling - $31.08 Water - $246.60 Sewer - $313.20 Hydro (electricity) is billed every other month, so time will tell what we can expect there.  |The...

Coffee Cake

Guys!  You need to try this cake. For my birthday this year, I was craving coffee cake.  No, no, no.  Not the cake that you have with coffee, cake that tasted like. Not sure where or why I got this idea, but it stuck.  I googled, and googled, and googled and eventually found...

Vacation! Yay!

A little slice of lovely.  My mom has a cabin an hour or so from home, and we have enjoyed time at the beach with this little go...

Employment Insurance...Coming to an End

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since I started my Maternity Leave.  I had left work two weeks before my due date, and went two weeks over due.  So my leave ends with Little Man is just shy of 11 months old.  When I say left work, most of you know that it wasn't a mutual separation.  I was advised when my leave was starting that my department was shutting down and...

July Spend Report

Here it is! Groceries was higher than I expected but the previous month it was less...it all averages out eventually. Most other categories are on track for what we typically spend. This month has kept us busy with renovations.  I'm excited to start posting some before and after shots now...