Marriage is the most wonderful and blessed experience that I have ever known. Most of the time it always seems to make sense. Cody and I are on the same page on most everything except....Home improvement. We are totally different on house projects. For so many couples it seems like home improvement is a bonding experience that just really strengthens couples, but for the Nelson's, it is high stress. When we were engaged, we painted my kitchen. I seriously thought after a day of working together, he was going to ask for his ring back and I was going to throw it at his eye! Our first married summer we stained the fence, luckily the stain was not the verbal blood shed we had gone through in the process. For us it comes down to the differences in the way we work. We are both hard workers. I like jobs completed quickly and efficiently, Cody works carefully and methodically. I would rather paint for 36 hours straight with no breaks or food so the job would be done. Cody would rather paint for 36 days at one hour a day to make sure it was done right.
Currently in the Nelson home, we are converting our guest room and office into one room so we have a room for Carley. Her nursery is almost complete and I love it. Cody did it all and he did awesome. (I was not allowed in there so we didn't fight). Lubbock people, you need to stop in and see her room. Well, now we are trying to get the office/guest room into one room. Cody has been working slower than Christmas on it and this Saturday I decided to step in. We did well for a long time until we got to decorations. He feels like a quality decoration must involve a fire truck, hydrant, badge, etc.. I think it should be a fun room filled with pictures of friends and of course my John Denver and Star Wars memorabilia. We will make room for all of it. We will get it done and it will be great, but I was reminded that the process of 2 becoming 1 is not always smooth and it isn't always the big things that make it hard. It is the little preferences that we admire in the other until it infringes on our personal preferences or plans. Any ideas on how to do home improvement together? Are you with me at all?
IHGB #342: The Tortured Poets Department
2 weeks ago
9 comments:
The joys of home improvement! We have given up most projects together! We have lived in our fixer upper for over 2 years and the list is still long! I think that's why I want to move! So I have no advice on how to handle that one! I have given up the battle of the ugly "college" couch of Jonathan's that is in the living room. I think it is a permanent piece for the rest of our lives! I can't wait to see Carley's room!! Post pictures!!
Yes, Yes.. some of our classiest moments have been while holding a paint brush and annoying the other to death. But, it's a memory you share of the time and effort you out into something that you will cherish. Take lots of pictures of before and after. Ken and I are both perfectionists-with different ideas of 'perfect.' It makes for an interesting time to say the least! Great post!
Girl, you need to post pictures of this nursery, so non-Lubbock people can see! I'm sure it looks awesome!
We have yet to cross the home improvement hurdle, but it's one I'm excited to jump!
I guess the only home improvement that I can think of in the last 5 years is when we did Kyler's room and Kole's nursery. I was pregnant and couldn't go the painting so Mike and a friend did it all. That is probably why it was peaceful, because I wasn't in the room.
Hmmm...we've done lots of projects but they usually involve me starting/helping and Andy finishing. It frustrates Andy sometimes when we paint because he has to go back and do the top third of the room since I'm height-challenged. We try to identify things we're good at and don't overlap--I do the cutting in and he uses the roller. It helps if you have a room that you can give to him. He gets his study (decorated with a wall-size map of the world and hundreds of National Geographics) and I get the rest of the house. It works out pretty well.
Okay, so the home improvement projects have gone well for us...not fights or anything! But I think I lost all of the "before"pictures of our house! That right there might cause a divorce. :-)
I feel you girl! We have yet to tackle any home improvement projects together, but we have definitely had our battles when simply trying to make a homemade pizza together, setting up our computer, and assembling our futon! We refer to these projects as "stubborn meets stubborn."
Holly and I outsource.
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