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Hello.

My name is Jamie, and once upon a time, I was a blogger here at Medium Sized Family.

😉 😉

Life in our medium sized family has been c-r-a-z-y for the past year. So much so that I had to let a ball drop. Unfortunately, that ball turned out to be the blog.

You know, sometimes I look around and see other rock star women who manage to homeschool their children, do a home makeover, and run an amazing blog, all while giving birth and keeping a well stocked freezer. And it turns out, I am not that woman.

(No, I did not give birth again in the past year. But the homeschooling and home renovation stuff, yeah. We did that. I also ran for a political office in our small town. And now we have 3 high schoolers, all in different high schools.)

But for now, let’s focus on that whole home renovation part, shall we?

We Have a Second Bathroom!

(Spoiler alert!)

A dream that we’ve had for the 13.5 years we’ve lived in this house is to have a second bathroom.

Having 8 people in a house with only one bathroom goes EXACTLY like you would think it would go.

There’s always a line. Always.

(Really? It’s 2 a.m. and someone is in the bathroom? Uh huh.)

The room smells like 5 boys use it all the time.

It’s not pretty, no matter how many ways I try to paint it.

That was life for 13 years and 6 months (almost exactly) (but who’s counting?).

But finally, my dreams have come true! I have my own bathroom in my own master bedroom!

It’s everything we dreamed of when we were living our #yearofno.

Exciting Stuff!

The addition isn’t done yet. And of course we ran into the kind of trouble you’d expect when you live in a 1950s home.

In 2021 and 2022.

When everything is running behind and/or held up on a boat somewhere.

Finding grocery bags where there should have been insulation was an interesting twist, though.

I do not recommend you use that as one of the five ways you save money this week.

Our Real Life Home Addition

I’ll dive in to the dirty details of our home addition over the next few weeks.

Just remember, this is no home decorating blog. This is real life.

We didn’t have any sponsors pay for anything, and we had to get creative in paying for things and making all those darned decisions.

But if you’re looking for ideas that work in a real live home, boy have I got those for you.

Want a Sneak Peek?

Here’s what the bathroom looks like!

The flooring isn’t quite done (we’re missing some transition pieces that haven’t come in yet) and haven’t had time to do the trim.

And since this photo, we did add a medicine cabinet and a little decor.

But, oh yes, this is my oasis. I can just come in here and sit.

And take a bath! With, like, 60% less banging-on-the-door-asking-when-I’m-getting-out than before!

It’s Been A Long Year

I never imagined that it would take us 14 months (and counting) to get this small house addition pulled together.

And we aren’t even close to finished yet.

But it’s been so worth it!

So Am I Back to Blogging?

If you’ve been a reader around here, you probably know that I’m a sucker for a new year and goal setting.

And this week, I’ve really felt the tug to get back to the blog.

So I’m looking forward to sharing what we’ve accomplished, and to hearing about how you have saved money lately, too!

Leave a comment or join us in the Facebook group! (By the way, I owe the other Jamie a huge thank you for helping with the group while I was away!)

See you soon!