700,000!

You may have noticed that we haven't been posting much lately. I'm still dealing with some health issues, and circumstances have resulted in our month looking like this:

The states in blue are the ones we will be driving through this month. Three trips. Fifteen days on the road. Thirty states visited (plus Ontario, Canada!)

Our first trip was to Washington, D.C. for our appointment with the Dutch embassy to renew our son's Dutch passport.  Unfortunately, due to Niels being a new dual citizen, there is another pile of paperwork that needs to completed first. So, we will be going to D.C. again soon. We did have gorgeous weather for site seeing though.

The next week we were in the Toronto area for a friend's surprise birthday party and to drop off one of my favorite quilts yet to a friend and her super adorable baby girl.

Now we are off on an epic road trip so that we can go to my gramma's funeral (in Arizona), Niels' work conference (in Nevada), and the benefit for my dad and stepmom to rebuild their house (in Minnesota). Of course, all three events take place in the same week!

But then, we will be home all summer!

600,000!

Holy cow! We hit 600,000 total page views today! Or, as I like to call it, the milestone my craft table built.

A huge chunk of the last 100,00 views came from friendly folks who pinned, shared, tweeted, or featured my craft table including: Becoming Martha, DIY Dreamer, DIY Projects World, Grace Langdon, Hometalk, Inspiration DIY, It's Overflowing, Life After Laundry, Little Miss Celebration, New Nostalgia, Organize and Inspire, Practically Functional, Tatertots & Jello, Threading My Way, Will Cook for Smiles and probably many others that I don't even know! Thank you all very much!

Some of you may not know that I live with a brain injury. It's been a decade now, so I kind of know the drill, but still occasional it kicks my butt and I'm not able to do much beyond making sure the bills are paid, there's food in the frig, and our kiddo is alive and well.

In addition, my heart has been in Minnesota where my dad and stepmom are dealing with the aftermath of the fire that destroyed my childhood home.

On the plus side, I'm working on a new project that I'm very excited to share...but you'll have to wait until March for the big reveal. In the meantime, here are a few of my favorite posts since we hit the half million mark.

Keeping Time with Family Around the World

The Sparkle Box Christmas Tradition

How to Make Saving A Little Less Painful

Gevulde Speculaas: Almond Stuffed Gingerbread Bars

Reversible Checkers/I Spy Quilt

Hopefully, I'll be back to posting regularly again soon. I'm getting quite backlogged with projects I still have to share! Thanks for sticking around!

Linked to:
Fluster Buster 

500,000!

We hit a BIG milestone yesterday: 500,000 page views! Thanks to everyone who has visited our little home on the web! In the last two years, we have written about designing and building our dream house, settling in and turning our dream house into our dream home, struggles and acceptance of my living with a brain injury, recipes for green living and healthy eating, parenting a sweet, smart little boy, and my growing obsession with quilting.

To commemorate this occasion, I took a walk down memory late to curate my highly subjective top ten
posts.

In no particular order.

1. Seeking Sole Mates Missing Sock Holder

2. Christmas Wish List

3. DIY Craft Table

4. Thankful Tree

5.  Irish Chain Memory Quilt

6. Book Nook

7. Fabric Scrap Organization

8. Reward and Consequence Jars

9. Growing Up Gallery

10. Nine Years Ago

If you've been following along with our journey, leave a note and share your favorite de Jong Dream House post.

Linked to:
The Chicken Chick * Clarks Condensed * DIY Dreamer * Dizzy, Busy & Hungry * Embracing the Good Life * Fluster Buster * Kitchen Table Art * Real Coake * Sparkles & A Stove *  Tatertots & Jello

400,000!

It's a big day here at the de Jong Dream House! We're celebrating 400,000 views here on our little home on the web. 

A little history. 

First post: May 22, 2011

In our humble first post, we announced to the world our friends and family that we were going to start the process of building the most energy-efficient, earth-friendly, accessible house we could afford.

100,000 on July 29, 2012

We hit our first big milestone on a big milestone in our personal life: our fifth anniversary. It was five months after we moved in and 14 months from our first post. We learned that those who watched our house be built stuck around to see how we made our new house a home. Our most popular posts during those first fourteen months were My Perfect Pantry, Seeking Sole Mates Missing Sock Holder, and our Growing Up Gallery.

My Perfect Pantry was a peek into the pantry at our old house and my hopes for our new walk-in pantry.

Our Seeking Sole Mates Missing Sock Holder is our most popular post ever.

This gallery of frames ready to be filled with our son's school pictures is the most popular of our nine photo galleries. The others are our anniversary gallery, we do gallery, visual book shelf, heritage gallery, chair rail photo gallery, printable gallery,  great moments, and mini-gallery.

200,000 on January 29, 2013

It took only six months (exactly!) to hit our next 100,000. Our most popular post during this period was our uses for tension rods. Our readers loved to see how we started getting organized!

Tension Rod Organization

300,000 on May 12, 2013

This year we started to pick up speed. It only took 3-1/2 months to hit 300,000. Our most popular post during this short period was my sort of healthy Nutella recipe, in large part to a feature by New Nostalgia. 

Sort of Healthy Nutella

400,000 on August 16, 2013

Here we are at another milestone. It took just over three months, which was a pleasant surprise because we were in Europe for a month of this period, and recovering from jet lag for a few weeks after that. Needless to say, we weren't as post-heavy during this period, but you loved my new craft table made from Ikea Expedits and an unfinished door. 

DIY Craft Table

In the coming weeks, you can expect to see more peeks at my craft room as I work to get it organized. With our son starting all-day pre-K in a few weeks, you can bet that I will be spending some serious hours in my new favorite room. We also have some BIG news to share next month that will hopefully get us to that BIG half million mark a little sooner. 

Thanks to everyone who has followed along our journey. And if you really like what you see, you can also follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Blog Lovin', Hometalk, Google+ and/or Twitter.

Linked to:
36th Avenue * Balancing Home * Crystal & Co * House of Hepworths * Life After Laundry *  Little Miss Celebration * New Nostalgia * Practically Functional *  Real Coake * Sew Much Crafting *  Sew Woodsy * Sparkles & a Stove *  Will Cook for Smiles

300,000!

As you may have noticed, we're taking a short break away from our computers to enjoy the great outdoors. I have lots of posts in the works, including my first Silhouette project! In the meantime, I had to post a quick thank you to everyone who has visited our site and all our new followers on Facebook, Pinterest, and Bloglovin' for getting us to our 300,000 page view in record time! We appreciate your company, so please come back soon!

One Year Walk Through

This is going to be one of those posts our earlier followers will appreciate, but our more recent followers may not find interesting. It's the first of a series of posts we'll be writing as we review our home building process now that we've been living here a year. For those of you skipping this post, no worries, we'll be back soon with photos from the slew of projects we completed in the last two weeks.

We don't know if it's typical for builders to do a one year walk-through, but our builder scheduled a walk-through with us today to discuss the issues we've discovered in the year we've been living in our house. We thought it might be interesting for those who have been following along to see what items are in our punch list one year later.

Three points worth noting when reading the lists below:

1. Overall, we are thrilled with the quality of our home. The items on our walk through list are fairly minor and minimal. Charis has been fantastic to work with in the year since we've moved in, and has quickly come to fix things along the way. 
2. For the most part, Charis has been aware of the items below, and in many cases, has already been working with vendors to fix them. The final walk through is meant to make sure that both we and Charis are working off the same punch list. 
3. The man doing our walk-through, Kurt, is a much needed addition to the Charis team. He came on after our house was complete so this was his first time seeing our house. For that reason, his response was often that he need to go back to Todd, our contractor, to discuss. We expected this and because of our builder's proven history in making things right we didn't take these responses as inaction.

General Building:

• HAVC Pressure: We have had various error messages on the control unit. The furnace itself is working without any issue, for the rare times it needs to kick it. Our house maintains a constant temperature extremely well. The initial recommendation from our furnace company was to use a lower MERV value filter, but when we went down from MERV13 to MERV8 we still had two of those pressure warnings. We want to be able to use the MERV13 to maintain the air quality in the house. Action/Response: Our builder will consult with the furnace company
• Flaps on the bathroom fans: With strong winds the back-pressure causes the flaps to open and close loudly since it's bare plastic against bare plastic. We wonder if a gasket or pad of some sort could be added to muffle the noise. Action/Response: This has been an issue with several houses and they are still looking for a solution. We will also do some research to see what we can learn.
• Door bell doesn't always ring: We have had several people tell us that they rang but the bell never engaged. Action/Response: First, we changed the batteries. (We should have thought of that!). The bell still worked sporadically. When the doorbell was brought inside, it worked every time. We will check with the electrician about moving the main component closer to the front door which should be easy as the system is wireless...)
• We have several nail pops: We know these are common as the house settles. They aren't in every sill, but in several of them. Action/Response: the painters will come back to fix those.
• One of the outside faucets leaks: Small drip, but since it's near the foundation we had our builder take a look. Good thing we have ICF so the water can't penetrate and goes straight down to the weepers. Action/Response: the plumber will replace the broken piece tomorrow.

Garage:

• Let there be light: No light switches on the inside to turn on the ligths. Action/Response: There are light switches for the lights on the garage door openers. We just didn't realize it. Oops. Case of hiding in plain sight...

Kitchen:

• The kitchen islands 'flexing' when you walk by: You can hear the plates and bowls rattle when you walk by. Although great for catching people trying to sneak into the kitchen it is not a 'feature' we had on our list. Maybe in 10 years or so, but not for now... Action/Response: The lumber guy is already making plans to add additional blocking to support the joists below the kitchen
• Floor transition -1 -: The transition between kitchen cork and mudroom tile is too high for our ADA goals. Action/Response: Our flooring guy will be replacing it.

 

• Floor transition -2 -: There is 1/2" or so gap between the cork and the transition. Action/Response: Our flooring guy will be replacing it.

• Glue residue on one of the Quartz counters: There are were several bits of installation glue on the baking center quartz. Action/Response: Canton Cut Stone was able to remove the glue last week.
• Main sink disposal drain connection loose: The drain connection from the main sink garbage disposal was loose causing water to spill into the cabinet and on to the floor. Action/Response: The plumber was here today and replaced the joint. We are very grateful for the prompt response...and that we have two sinks in the kitchen!

Downstairs Master:

• Cold draft below sliding door: When you sit on the floor in front of the sliding doors - as we often do while playing with our son - you feel a bit of a cold draft coming from underneath the sliding door frame. Action/Response: Because we have carpet in this room, we can't have a shoe against the door frame. Since this door goes directly outside, we are thinking of pulling out a strip of carpet, laying down a strip of tile and then putting a shoe against the frame. (Note: If money wasn't an object, we wouldn't mind replacing the carpet with cork, but that will wait a few more years until D is in school)

• Ceiling fan wiring / remote: The current fan is our third fan in this room. The first two were bargain ones from Tuesday morning that both stopped working after a few months. The new fan works, but we can't have the fan on without the light. Also, we can only turn on the fan with the remote, not with the switch. And, when the remote is used, it also operates the fan in our master bedroom upstairs! Action/Response: The electrician will be coming out.
• Recessed outlets: We would prefer a recessed outlet where we are planning to hang a TV on the wall. This is one we didn't pay too close attention to during the build. That happens to the best of us... Action/Response: Our electrician will bring the outlet with him when he comes to fix the fan, and we can pay him directly for the work.



Leviton 689-W 15 Amp 1-Gang Recessed Duplex Receptacle

Upstairs Master Bath:

• Rust stain behind left faucet: We saw some rust appear behind the left faucet between the countertop and backsplash. Action/Response: Canton Cut Stone came by last week and resealed and recaulked the granite. The faucet wasn't leaking when the plumber looked at it, but he could see that it had been. He'll check it again when he comes to fix the outdoor spigot.
• The light above the bathtub is flickering: When we want to use the light above the bathtub it always seem to flicker (no offense to our Dutch readers...). Action/Response: This may be an issue with the kind of bulb we're using, but we should be able to use CFLs. Our electrician will be looking at this, too.

Upstairs Family and Downstairs Master Bath:

• Caulking by the tub and shower: Some parts of the shoe are not caulked and/or caulked in the wrong color. The parts where the caulk is missing could allow water to seep under the floor cover. Action/Response: The painters will come and redo this.

 Upstairs Laundry:

• The window needs a screen: For some reason, we haven't had much luck getting the right size screen. It's not a big deal to us, but it will be good to have it in eventually. Action/Response: The proper size screen was ordered a few weeks ago and should arrive shortly.

Downstairs Laundry:

• Washer / Dryer stability: need something to stabilize them since they bounce around like a hyper-active teenager on hormones. Action/Response: One option is a rubber appliance mat like this.

Rubber-Cal Heavy Duty Appliance Mat

Another option we found are these cork WashPucks. 

• The riser looks unfinished: This was one of the very last things done, and done by a sub with whom communication was a challenge. We should have made a bigger deal then but we were weary of working with him so we put it off. Action/Response: Kurt will talk to our Todd about what can be done.

So, one year later, only twenty relatively minor issues with the house. One was our cluelessness(hello, garage opener light switch!) and another one was a simply a matter of changing our mind (hello, recessed outlet!).

However, we are glad to say that we have no structural/foundational issues at all, and our goal of building a earth-friendly, energy-efficient, universally designed home far surpassed our hopes.

One Year in the Dream House

We can hardly believe that one year ago today we were moving to our dream home! We're working on a post detailing how we feel about our home now that we've lived in for a year: what we love, what we might have changed, what things we're still tweaking. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, here's a little trip down memory lane.

first boxes in the kitchen. Unfortunately, that one on the left scratched the marble. Patina!

Our great room before we figure out a layout. 

Unloading the Penske truck and POD.

I love this picture because it shows what awesome new neighbors we have. Most of the street came down to welcome us and  bring heavy furniture upstairs!

And we were greeted with cookies! 

It was an exhausting, wonderful day!

200,000!

It's a milestone day for us here at the de Jong Dream House. Today we hit 200,000 page views. Still small potatoes compared to the major bloggers, but it's big news for us.

A little history:

• We started this blog on May 22, 2011, thinking only our family around the world would see it.

• We hit 5,000 page views on August 4, 2011, 11 weeks into the blog and 24 days into our build, the day the trusses for our roof went up. We started to get the idea that other home owners were looking for people like us who somehow found the time to document each step and decision of the process.

• We hit 100,000 page views on July 29, 2012, 14 months from launch, our fifth anniversary, and five months after we moved in. We learned that not only did the folks who watch our house being built stick around, but we made new friends as more visitors were curious to see how we made our house a home.

• Today, January 29, 2013, we reached 200,000 page views, just 6 months after hitting 100,000. We are settled in and enjoying life, still learning new ways to be green.

Thanks to all our friends, old and new, for sharing this adventure with us. If you'd like to stay informed, please considered following us via email, RSS, or on Facebook. 

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Very recently, we hit 100,000 page views on our blog. Compared to the "professional" bloggers out there, that number represents about a day's worth of visits. It took us just over a year. Considering that we started this blog as a way to keep our family around the world up-to-date on our build and as a visual reminder of why we made the decisions we did, a hundred thousand is a pretty big deal to us.

Thanks to Pinterest, posts like this one and this one have brought a new visitors to the blog, but for the most part, we really didn't know if anyone was checking in on a regular basis. This morning, I received a comment notice that made my day. HH6 at Household 6 nominated me for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award. First of all, how cool is that? Second of all, it's proof that someone is actually reading our blog. And, as a former writer her mourns her loss of influence, I loved what she wrote on her blog about our little home on the web.

This woman inspires me in two ways. First, through their blog, she and her husband have chronicled the building of their dream home. They have built a eco friendly green home that looks just as beautiful as any home could be. What I find amazing is that they've done it in a way that still allows them to live their normal life. They haven't let their desire to have an earth friendly and energy efficient home get in the way of having the home of their dreams with all the little extras that fit their lifestyle and vice versa.When the LT gets out of the Army and we are able to settle in one place we want to build our dream home and I would LOVE to have it be as eco-friendly as their house. She is also crafty and loves DIY projects and getting to re-use or re-purpose things which I love. The other way she inspires me is that she has taken her battle with her body and health in stride and doesn't let it stop her from being the person she wants to be.

If I had been asked to describe how I hoped our blog (and my challenges) would be viewed, this is it. A big part of why we built our home was so that I could enjoy more good days, despite my disability, Granted, I don't post on my bad days, but I'm glad that I am coming across well when I do post.

So here are the "rules" of accepting the Very Inspiring Blogger Award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them in your post. 
2. Share 7 interesting things about yourself. 
3. Nominate 7 bloggers you admire. 
4. Leave a comment on each of the blog’s letting them know they have been nominated. 

So, as I mentioned, I was nominated by HH6 at Household 6. I don't actually know her name, or even if she has commented on our blog before. I learned that Household 6 is a military term that comes from two things: 1) household is where a military spouse spends most of her time, and 2) 6 is the designation for a commander. The term "Household 6" or "House 6," for short is sometimes seen as degrading, but she is taking it and reclaiming it with a badge of honor. Thanks for nomination! I look forward to learning more about military life from you.

Seven Interesting things about me/us. (These may not be big news to those of you who follow, but may be interesting to those who are new).

1. Niels is a Dutch citizen. He's been in the States since 2003 when he was transferred to his company's IT headquarters.
2. I (Jen) sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in 2004 and have been unable to work productively full time since. I have a fantastic medical team that allows me to have more good days than bad at the moment, but Niels and I are very intentional about how we structure my days to keep it that way. We built our home to be a safe, quiet place for me to live for the rest of our lives, with accessibility features to making aging in place easy for us.
3. I have written two books. The first was completed just before sustaining my TBI: Generation Ex: Adult Children of Divorce and the Healing of Our Pain. The second was written in the middle of the night when our son was six months old. It was a total gift from God, because I was really mourning that fact that I couldn't write for D. I recently signed a contract for its publication. Look for But I Don't Wanna Go To Bed on Amazon very soon.
4. I love being a mom more than I ever thought I would. I'm grateful to my TBI for taking away the option of not being at home with my boy. It's exhausting, but the best job I ever had.
5. I love thrift shops. I love looking for a bargain and finding a new use for my treasures. I think it reminds me of all the hours I spent with my dad on our visitation weekends at the local flea market.
6. I love to cook. I got started when our son was a baby and I wanted to teach him to have a healthy relationship with food. The best book I've read on the subject is My Two-Year-Old Eats Octopus. 
7. I was always afraid to get married. Gary Thomas' book, Sacred Marriage, made me want to get married. With five years of marriage under my belt with Niels, I can't remember what I was afraid of. I can't imagine a better partner in life.

My Seven Favorite Blogs (in no particular order)

House of Hepworths
I can't remember the first time that I visited Allison's fabulous home decor blog. I suspect it may have been around the time I was drooling over West Elm's Capiz Shell Chandelier, which we did install in our dinette. I love Allison's style, decor tricks, and love of Barney Stinson. I also blame her with my obsession with wanting to win (or eventually buy when I save enough nickels) a Silhouette Cameo.

Stay At Home-ista
I found Jessica when I started participating in linky parties. I keep clicking on her links. She has a great sense of style that leans toward transitional, like us. It can be challenging at times to create DIY projects for your home when you aren't into the rustic, weathered look, so Allison inspires me on a regular basis. She and her family also recently built there home so we are in the same place of making our house of home. I especially drool over her library.

Kayotic Kitchen
I found Kay's blog one day when I was looking for one of Niels' favorite Dutch recipes. The blog is in English, but she writes of all things Dutch, including some of my new favorite Dutch recipes. I am especially grateful for her Ketjap Manis recipe, which is an Indonesian soy sauce that is very hard (and pricey) to find here in the States.

Budget Bytes
The blogger at Budget Bytes combines two of my favorite things: cooking healthful meals for my family and saving money. Hers was one of the first food blogs I followed, when I was still stocking up on my pantry staples, so I really appreciated that she broke down the cost of each ingredient. I also like that she takes photos of every step, which has been really helpful in growing my confidence in the kitchen. My all time favorite recipe for Budget Bytes is her cinnamon raisin bread which I have made dozens of times.

What Megan's Making
Another food blogger I follow is Megan at What Megan's Making. In addition to introducing me to lots of delicious recipes, I like her blog because she lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I lived for eight years before moving to Ohio to get married. (We never met, but we have mutual friends). She also includes several posts about her adorable white pup named Scamp, who joined her family just after we lost our adorable white pup. I had to take a break from her blog for a while as my heart healed, but I'm now back to drooling over her sweets. I really appreciate her idea posts, like this one with Easter food ideas.

Eco Karen

I can't make a list of favorite blogs without mentioning at least one green blogger. Since we moved into our new home in February, I've enjoyed experimenting with making my green cleaners. I've learned a lot from Karen about what works and what doesn't. I found EcoKaren when I pinned her "Front Loading  Washer Maintenance" post. I've saved myself from a moldy laundry room by following her instructions. I also use her recipe for laundry detergent.

Not Your Average Widow
Finally, the most inspiring blog I follow belongs to Erin at Not Your Average Widow. Erin and I "met" online through a forum for December 2008 mamas. Her son and mine were born a day apart. Erin's brave husband of six years, EOD Staff Sergeant Bryan Berky, was killed in action on September 12, 2009, when our sons were only eight months old. She started the blog when her grief was still overwhelming her, and through the following months, she has shares so graciously her process of healing, the joy she finds in raising the son that reminds her so much of his father, her deepening faith, and her stunning photography. Every time I see my son's face light up at the sight of his daddy, I say a prayer for Erin and H. I love reading Erin's blog because I love seeing how she has found joy in life again and can't see where God takes her next.

I encourage you to take some time to check out each one of these fabulous blogs!

100,000!

It's a week of milestones. Niels and I are celebrating 5 years of marriage today and...we hit 100,00 views on this blog. Thanks to all the family, friends, lurkers and stalkers who have followed our journey of green building and green living!