7 Reasons Why We Don't Feel Like Chip and Joanna Gaines

It is safe to say I am not Joanna Gaines. Renovating a house is very challenging. It takes a lot of work, money, time, will power, vision, help, etc. Joanna and Chip already have their structure for renovating a house set. Shane and I however are still working on it. Through this process I have found that things do not always turn out how you think they will, but you have to learn to roll with it and figure the situation out. I feel like that is a strength of Shane and I's especially through this renovation. We are in the middle of renovating a 1940's brick house, and are excited to finally be seeing some progress, but it didn't always feel exciting. We love Chip and Joanna Gaines and love watching Fixer Uppers. Here are the 7 reasons we definitely do not feel like Chip and Joanna Gaines.

1. They are gorgeous people and we definitely do not feel gorgeous while renovating. Yikes! You do not want to see me when I am a paint hot mess! I literally wore the same clothes for several days in a row because I didn't want to get paint on anything else. Can you blame me? I did a pretty good closet clean out and now I don't have any extra paint clothes! And you don't want to see Shane while he is covered in dust from sanding the floors. He looks like an old man because his eye lashes are covered in dust and they look grey! It is an adorable reminder of how I can't wait to grow old with him!

2. It is not easy. House renovating is not easy. At. All. Right now I don't encourage it. Although transforming a house into its original glory is pretty thrilling. Joanna and Chip make it look so easy with their funny jokes and fun personalities. And on the show it shows them talking about getting rid of a wall and the next shot is a completely open room, voila! What it doesn't show is the sledge hammer someone had to use to wack that wall down. Wacking the sheet rock down, knocking down the concrete, the wood, then the support beams. Then you are covered in junk and have dry wall up in your nostrils. Then you have to clean everything up! Or should I say you get to clean everything up because you just knocked down a wall and now have an open floor plan? Basically what I am saying is that Shane and I are definitely out of flower land where walls are just knocked down. It is hard. But it still seems worth it to me.

3. A letter from my husband. "Dear Chip and Joanna Gaines, you have cost my wife and I a ton of money. You make it look so easy, but in reality it is a trainwreck."

4. It is different when you are not the one forking up the money to renovate the house they just get to renovate it and decorate it. We are forking up the money, and renovating it, and decorating it.

5. I am surprised I have never seen Chip Gaines pick his nose. Every time you pick up a hammer you just know you are going to have some dried nasty boogies. Sorry, but it is true. That stuff just gets breathed in and collected.

6. They must have some serious child care or a structure that really works for them. Thankfully Amelia has been amazing through this whole process and loves being at our "new house". However, there have been several times when I wasn't able to work because Amelia needed me. I am not complaining, I am just saying you don't account for that lost work time when you are on a deadline. She has been watching a lot of movies and has thoroughly enjoyed herself I think. But nap time is out the window. Some days I will put Amelia in her car seat and drive around until she falls asleep, and then Shane will get the car seat with her in it sleeping and bring it into the house where she can take a little nap in it while we work. That has worked a couple times. Aren't the Gaines kiddos adorable though? I love when they are on the show.

Mattress shopping.

7. Documenting the progress is challenging in itself. Having a camera crew would be really nice. It takes quite a bit of time to take pictures and video of everything before, during, and after everything. It will be well worth it in the end though when we can see what we have done. I am really looking forward to that!

To finish this blog off I have to say that I am very thankful that we have this house. Booker, TX is a hard place to find housing. It has been such a fun and challenging experience in the last 2-3 weeks. We wouldn't take back this experience for anything. We know that when it is all said and done we will be so appreciative we had this adventure. And to Chip and Joanna, keep on keepin' on! You guys are great!