Whose blog is this?

My name is Heather and my husband, who I'm sure will be mentioned repeatedly, is named Shoe. We are both writers in advertising fields.

I am the dreamer. Shoe is the realist. I start multiple projects at once. Shoe finishes them one at a time. I make large messes. Shoe works orderly. I take risks. Shoe panics. We balance each other out.

We also have two cats - Wall-e, the bold, and Arnold, the timid. They are trouble. And we are obsessed with them.

Before July, Shoe and I lived in apartments. In fact, Shoe and I have lived in four different apartments in three different states - North Carolina, New York and Texas - since we moved in together. Some were disasters and some were much nicer, but all were maintained by landlords and/or angry maintenance men. In other words, we learned very little besides basic communication skills.

I haven't lived in an honest-to-God house since I graduated high school in 2000. Shoe rented a house when we first met, but it's hardly the same as owning one. My dad has tried, often futilely, to teach me basic life skills for years and years and years. I remain inept and lacking in common sense. Shoe didn't have lessons in home maintenance, but he does have natural common sense.

And in July, we bought our first house.

This is a log of what happened next, what's happening now and what we hope to do in the future. Welcome to our home.