Life is Beautiful

Motherhood, Sewing, Family

A 3 a.m SURPRISE

~ HOME, Jay's DIY

 

 

Back in 2009, two months after I had my second child, my brother got married in Korea so I took a solo trip for a month(my parents were living there at the time) with my 18 month old and a 2-month old. When I came home, he had a lot of surprises for me with our house such as a new fireplace, my new closet, a surprise for the girls and more, you can see the before/after photos here.

When I was in New York for 5 days when I was pregnant with my third child(Jay surprised me with a trip to N.Y to see my brother and my best friend), I came home to a spotless clean house with everything deep cleaned(even behind the oven and the refrigerator), a handmade chore chart that they all worked on by coloring it, laminating it, and with magnets on it, the girls listened so well and were happy, and the laundry all caught up. He made dinner with vegetables, went on a swim play date with my girlfriends and their kids where he packed handmade musubi’s for even my girlfriends and they all asked him for a recipe, basically he was me but x10 better. I asked Jay how it was and if he thought it was hard and he just said, “Hard? Nah, it wasn’t bad at all.” (see the post here)

A part of me was glad he not only survived but obviously thrived, but a part of me was like, “All I ever wanted to hear when I come home after a long trip is for my husband to say to me, “Oh, I don’t know how you do it, I have so much more respect for you and all the other stay at home parents out there, it was the hardest thing I have ever done.” But instead, I am the one feeling guilty that I should be doing more when he’s at work!

And last week when I was in Charleston, SC for a blog conference, I came home to find the biggest surprise ever. My husband’s hobby is to flip homes and rent them out and move to another old home so after renovating our first home, he bought our current home with the plans to renovate and rent. But life got so busy and even though he had intended to renovate every single year for the past 9 years, it never happened. This is the reason why we are building a new house, because after waiting patiently for 9 years, I told him I am done waiting and he has to set a timeline and really follow through on renovating and if he didn’t, then we get to move to a newer house that doesn’t need any major renovating, or we get to build a house.

So as you can see in the photos below, we’ve had this carpet for the 9 years we’ve lived here. NINE YEARS!!! It’s the carpet you find in your High School, the ones that are multi-colored and hides everything so it never looks dirty but it never looks clean either? The carpet where if you drop something, you just give up and walk away, it’s lost forever? Yeah, that kind of a carpet. We also have light brown shaggy carpet in our bathrooms too, don’t be too jealous. I am always hesitant in sharing our beautiful carpeted kitchen and bathrooms because the internet can be a place of jealousy and comparison and I never want people to think I am rubbing it in their faces. Because I am super humble!

Well, what I didn’t know while I was gone was that Jay decided the day before I came home, that he would replace our carpet with a new wooden floor. So without further ado, I introduce you to my carpet which I fondly named, Drop Something, Just Walk Away.

 

BEFORE

Now that you have seen this immaculate beauty, please take a deep breathe and remember the quote, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

 

PROGRESS

Jay says the girls helped out a lot!

 

AFTER

watch the video below for the surprise at the end!

(the first part is taken from my Instastory archives where I got so many comments saying, “Wait, is that carpet in your kitchen?” so I gave a little tour and it was probably my most engaged story ever! People loved that it wasn’t the perfect, Pinterest-worthy house that they see everywhere and an Instagrammer actually had an ugly house! Hahaha.

What do you think? Doesn’t it make our whole kitchen/dining area so much brighter? It only took him 12 hours to install them by himself! He did ask me what color I wanted our wood floors to be for our new house so he matched the color to what I wanted. Since we will rent this house when we move to our new house and wanted it to be low maintenance and last through all the tenants, he chose the luxury vinyl planks. I like them a lot and love that I don’t have to worry and stress when me or the kids spill something and am debating whether to get these or the hardwood floors for our new house? What is your vote?

And follow me on YouTube if you want to follow my new series, “My Husband is Building Me My Dream House!”

DIY DREAM HOME: MY HUSBAND IS BUILDING ME MY DREAM HOUSE! Episode 1

~ Dream Home Come True, HOME, Jay's DIY, YOUTUBE VIDEOS

 

 

Welcome to our 1st episode of “DIY DREAM HOME: My Husband’s Building My Dreamhouse!” Click play to see the design of our house, where we will be building and the difficulties we faced trying to design a home we love!

 

(Captions from the video):

I am so excited to share this journey with you!!! This series will be a year long series where I will take you on our home building journey from start to finish, tips, tutorials and the mistakes I am sure we will make along the way so you don’t make the same mistakes! In our 1st episode, I will be sharing with you how we chose the design we finally ended up with, the hardships we faced(even some fights we’ve had), how we were able to resolve our issues, our land where we will be building our dream house and a sneak peek of what our house will look like! So get ready, I am so excited you will be joining us on this crazy journey!

We were suppose to move into our house right now, like this month but we haven’t even broke ground yet. Ugh. I will tell you the reasons why it’s taken us so long.

M husband and I have completely different tastes when it comes to exterior style of homes. He’s more modern, I am more classic, he’s more trendy, I am more timeless. But we are both stubborn and strong-minded. Which equals a lot of disagreements. So we weren’t sure which way our house would go. But one day, on the 4th of July my husband’s favorite Holiday, as he was setting up all his ridiculous amount of fireworks he bought, he said to me, “Sarah, if you let me buy this many fireworks every single year from now on, without complaining or whining once, then I’ll build you whatever exterior house you want.” I thought about it for 10 seconds and said deal.

So it’s a win win, husband gets to explode plethora of fireworks every single year without me complaining that fireworks are money getting blown up, because it literally is, and I get a house of my dreams!

 

My Dream house

We tried to make my vision of the house work along with the floor plan that Jay picked out soon after, but it was a disaster. Jay didn’t want French doors, French windows, the design wouldn’t work with the floorplan, so after compromising so many things things I loved about the house and going back and forth with our architect tens of times and re-designing, the end result was a disaster. It looked nothing like my original idea, It was a really badly designed house, it looked like a big school house. I hated it. So I put my foot down and said, “We are starting all over and this time I will design the exterior of the house, and only THEN you can design the floor plan.”

 

The misaligned front door, the horizontal windows, the side buildings being wider than the center, and the weird side pop-outs with the sloped roof…. WHAT….

 

So we started all over, which set us back a good 9 months. BUT we have finally designed a house we love, both inside and out and we are so excited to get this started!
I do have to say we fought a ton during this process of designing in the beginning. We fought like we’ve never had before, it’s like parenting where all your worst faults get magnified by a 100x fold and this monster in you comes out that you never knew existed. Many people have told me it’ll test your marriage and lots of couples end up in a divorce through the process of home building and I understood why! I cried many times and one late night in the middle of our fight and I was crying, my husband looked at me and said, ‘If you knew just how much I loved you and how much I pray that this house will be the house of your dreams, you’d be less worried and trust me more.” And as he said those words, it was as if I was him for a moment and I felt exactly how his heart felt and just how much he loved me. It was such an overwhelming love that encompassed my whole being that I was so taken aback. I knew he loved me but I had no idea he loved me that much. That night changed our lives. We both ended up crying and talking it over and decided that keeping our marriage strong and respecting and making each other happy was more important than a perfect house or getting our way. Since then, we haven’t fought once and it’s been 11 months, and our marriage is better than ever.

 

My husband, when he was younger, helped his dad build 3 of their houses in Hawaii from scratch so he knows a lot about building and construction so he will act as our general contractor, saving us about 15-20% of the cost of our house. And he will try to build as much as he can himself, which will probably save us another 20-30%, so we are basically building our house at 50% off or more.

 

So are you ready to see our land and our house design? Let’s do it! Watch the video to see what our house will look like and let me know in the comments what you think!

 

 

 

Like this post? See similar posts:

Husband Renovates My Parents’ Kitchen/Dining room

Ugly 70’s Bathroom Renovation DIY

My Husband’s Man Cave/Tool Shed DIY

 

BEAUTIFY WHERE YOU ARE

~ HOME, MOTHERHOOD, SHARING MY HEART WITH YOU

 



I was the meanest mom the other day. We had to leave the house for the kids’ extra curricular activities with 10 mins. to spare. I thought to myself, ‘Oh good, I can straighten my hair and grab something to eat in the car.” But right then, my daughter came and asked if I could cut her bangs. I should’ve just told her I’d do it when we get home later that night. But I begrudgingly said fine and started snapping her hair. I was so irritated. I was hungry, I was sleepy, I looked like crap, I thought I had 10 mins. to do something for me, but nope! The story of my life. Between 3 kids, it’s non-stop questions, non-stop paying attention, non-stop requests. It is exhausting. That’s the word to describe motherhood perfectly, don’t you think? If we are being a pessimist for a sec. here? Have you ever been responsible for something that makes you as exhausted mentally, spiritually & physically, in every realm of your being? I don’t think so.

Then I snapped. “Ugh, don’t ask me to do something for you 10 mins. before we have to leave somewhere! Do you think I have nothing to do and I just stand around the house waiting for you guys to call my name for help? I have things to do too, I have a life of my own!” My inner-voice told me at this moment that this wasn’t her fault, that I was acting out on my own frustrations and anger towards myself to her. I knew I should stop. But I let the anger carry me on. She tried to walk away but I said sternly, “Come back here.” and made her come back. As I continued cutting her hair I said, “I was going to do MY hair, I was going to grab something to eat because I ate a yogurt today and that’s it, I had plans within these 10 mins. that I’m now spending on you!!!”

Then I saw a tear slowly roll down my beautiful, sweet girl’s face. My amazing, obedient, easiest child a parent could ask for. My heart crushed and I. felt. like. the. biggest. failure. I hated myself so much at that moment. The hatred and the anger I felt for myself was so intense. This was my meanest moment as a mother. I was so ashamed. Then I felt so much anger at motherhood. The endless emotional roller-coaster of frustration, anger, losing it and yelling, then instant shame, regret and guilt, then anger and hatred towards myself. Here we go again.

As I was beating myself up and feeling the lowest of lows as a mother, a thought came to me.

“Forgive yourself immediately and start beautifying right where you are.” Feeling guilt is necessary in order to motivate us to change. But as soon as we feel the guilt and we realize the wrong we have done and feel remorse, this is when we need to promptly forgive ourselves. And start beautifying our surroundings, no matter how much bad we’ve done or how low we might be. Have you ever had a moment where you made a mistake and then said to yourself, “I have already sinned, it’s too late, might as well keep sinning because I am a big failure, it’s too late now?” Well, THAT IS NOT TRUE! Two wrongs don’t make a right! One minute of sinning vs. two minutes of sinning are completely different. One minute of sinning is half of the sin as 2 mins. of sinning. You can stop at any second, that’s better than keep doing the sin. And beating ourselves more than necessary and feeling the guilt a second longer than it’s necessary is also a big mistake. The moment we feel sorry and feel remorse and vow to ourselves to do better, that is the very moment we need to forgive ourselves. And focus on beautifying our surroundings. Because if we keep focusing on our guilt, we can’t beautify. That’s how the adversity tries to get us to not progress. To get us stuck in the unnecessary stage of ongoing guilt and shame.

A few hours later, I saw how my big mistake beautified the day that much more. Since I felt so sorry for what I had done, I apologized to my daughter several times and asked for her forgiveness. I told her how every time I get mad at her, it’s always me and never her. That I am still trying to act in situations instead of reacting, to control the spurts of emotions that are not positive. I kissed her more. I hugged her more. I told her the wonderful qualities I admired in her. I paid more attention to her. I was more gentle and loving towards her. I felt very humbled and asked God to help me be more patient and strong. I saw how beautiful my life was. And how wonderful my husband and kids are and how much I loved and cherished my family. I felt immense peace, joy and humility. What a beautiful surrounding I had created the rest of the day from a single moment of mistake.

So next time you make a mistake, don’t keep doing it. Stop immediately. Then let the guilt motivate you to do better. Then immediately forgive yourself and start beautifying right where you are.

 

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this post, read more of my #sharingmyheartwithyoust posts.

DIY: UGLY BATHROOM TO A BEAUTIFUL NEW BATHROOM RENOVATION

~ HOME, Jay's DIY, YOUTUBE VIDEOS

 

Watch this episode on how my handy husband turned an ugly, outdated, carpeted bathroom into a clean, sleek & feminine bathroom in this bathroom renovation makeover.

We are building our dreamhouse so I hope you’ll join us for our “WE ARE BUILDING OUR DREAMHOUSE” series coming soon! In the meantime, you can follow me @dreamhomecometrue on Instagram for updates and design inspirations.

 

 

Want our bathroom? Shop it below(not affiliate links):

Allen + Roth white vanity with Carrera Marble top

Pfister Ashfield Brushed Nickel 2-handle WaterSense faucet

Pfister Ashfield Brushed Nickel 1 handle bathtub faucet and rain showerhead

Jensen Medicine Cabinet by Rangaire

American Standard Acticlean toilet

 

 

*Thank you to Lowe’s for partnering with me on this bathroom renovation project.

 

 

 

 

Like this post? See similar posts:

Dream Home DIY Episode #1

THE LAND WHERE WE WILL BUILD OUR DREAM HOUSE!

~ HOME, HOME BUILDING

 

 

ol1

We bought land to build our dream home! If you follow me on Instagram, you already know this but this is the first time I’m posting photos of our land!

ol6

This is about the width of our lot, it is pretty wide, but it is deeper than it is wide, it just doesn’t look like it from this view. We were very picky with the things we wanted in our land and knew we wouldn’t be able to find everything we wanted and would have to compromise on some, but luckily we found a lot that had everything on our list.

Criteria for our dream lot:
  • Flat land & neighborhood. I dream of riding bikes or scooters with my kids around the neighborhood and the house we live in now has a little hill which has prevented us from going on more rides than we would like to.
  • At least 1/2 an acre.
  • The shape of the land is ideal(a tall rectangle would be the most ideal), but it can’t be an odd shape. One lot we liked the location of and the price had an hourglass shape, it was so odd!
  • Price to be under $230,000 max. It kills me we have to spend so much on just a lot. That’s like a house in itself!
  • The neighboring houses aren’t super close to ours. We like houses to be further apart from each other for more privacy.
  • A stubbed land, meaning it’s ready to build with water, plumbing, gas, electrical lines all installed and ready. I think that’s what Jay told me anyway. To stub it ourselves would have cost over $10,000.
  • On the cul-de-sac.
  • No HOA.
  • Fireworks zoned.
  • Good location.

 

But we ended up finding one that’s better than our list! It has all of the things mentioned but it’s at the end of the cul-de-sac which is a bonus and it was cheaper than our maximum budget, and it’s 1 acre. We have been praying to find an ideal land and I believe we definitely had the universe helping us.

 

So let’s look at more pictures!

ol7

This will be the view from our backyard. The left side of our lot is this giant horse pasture.

ol3

This shows more accurately how deep out land is, the black truck is parked at the end of our lot.

ol2

ol4

The view of the horse pasture from the end of the road in our cul-de-sac.

 I am so excited to move! Did you know that I absolutely hated the house we are living in now? I think living in a house that has nasty carpet from when this house was built in the 60’s, everywhere, and I mean everywhere, including the bathrooms, kitchen, hallway, you name it, will make you feel that way after living in it for 7+ years, when you were promised it would be replaced and renovated the last 7+ year of living in the house. I have changed my attitude since then when my then 2 yr. old ran around the house exclaiming, “I love this house, I love this house!!!” one night after eating dinner. It took my son saying that to make me look at my house from a new perspective and realize that my home is beautiful because it’s filled with love, compassion, forgiveness, lots of laughter, and respect. My kids come home knowing that they will be safe, supported and loved no matter what. I come home knowing that I have a husband that loves me so much and my kids whom adore me so much that they never seem to want to leave me alone. That’s actually my husband too. 🙂
 
So a home is not what it looks like but what it feels like. And I am so grateful that we have been safe in our house and haven’t had the need to file any claims from damage or accidents, knock on wood! So while I’m super excited about our new house, I know the only difference will be the appearance of it because the feeling and the love that resides will be exactly the same, which is what truly makes a beautiful home. I will miss it because of all the memories we made in this home.
 
 
 
 

 

 
Some things we’ve learned as we bought land has been saving us a lot of money so I wanted to share them with you.
6 Tips For Home Building:

 

  1. Did you know that you have to put 25% cash down when buying land? Start saving now.
  2. Buy land without a realtor. We already found the lot ourselves by looking online and were able to save 6% by not using a realtor.
  3. Be the sub-contractor yourself, instead of hiring a builder or a contractor. Did you know that you pay a contractor 25% of the cost of your house, for them to sub-contract to various others? That is SO much money! If it’s a $400,000 house you are building, you are paying the contractor $100,000. It will definitely be more work on your part in trying to hire people from every aspect of building and will require a lot more time, but I think it’s worth it.
  4. Do not build with the mass building companies such as Ivory Homes, if possible. I talked to several different people who know much about construction and building and they have all told me that those mass builders care more about quantity over quality. They will do it fast and quick, use cheaper materials and if you want to customize any single thing, they’ll overcharge you a ton. You can build your house using much higher quality materials for the same price or less than what these mass builders charge. If you don’t have a choice but to go with one of the mass builders, I would do lots of research, ask people around, read lots of reviews, and find a smaller, honest and reputable company that also does custom building as well as mass building. I am sure there are good ones out there!
  5. Instead of being on a 30-year mortgage plan, do a 20-year or better yet, a 15-year! Downsize the house if you have to, in order to be on a shorter mortgage plan. We are on a 15-year mortgage plan with our current house right now and the money we are saving from a 30-year mortgage interest is enormous. Build a house a little less than what you can afford from a 30-year mortgage plan(if not building, buy a house a little less than), so that you will save tons and tons of money from interest. This is my biggest money saving tip I can give you.
  6. Get a good homeowners insurance. Research and find the best one that fits your circumstances and needs.

 

Esurance is a company that offers insurance for home owners, along with car, health, life, car and condo insurance. They cover it all! Their home insurance covers damage to the home itself, property theft and damage, and personal liability such as when guests are injured at your home. In some cases, the property theft can cover away from the house such as getting your laptop stolen from your car. They offer easy-to-use online and mobile experience by providing  intuitive tools that help take the hassle out of insurance. They offer 24/7 hour customer service so you can file claims or contact them anytime of the day, offer cash-saving discounts on your policy and offer property theft and damage I mentioned.

As we’ve been looking at home insurance for our future dream home, I have been impressed with how Esurance is simple and easy to use, on their website and on their mobile app. You can manage your policy, file a claim, get a quote all through their website or app. They have over 80+ years of experience in insurance with a “A +” rating which is very impressive!You can go to Esurance to get a quote on your house and find out more about the company.

So is anyone else not liking the place they are living in now? What do you wish was different?

 
 
 

 

 I started a new Instagram account Dreamhome Come True, of everything home, from inspirations to
pretty white houses around my neighborhood and updates on our home building process.
So I’d love to have you follow me there!