2018 in Review (Did you miss any of these posts?)

(*Click on the highlighted/linked text throughout the post to visit each blog post, if you missed it.)

I know that we are ALL saying it right now, but “How in the world is it 2019?!!”

The older I get, the quicker the time is going by, and I DON’T LIKE IT ONE BIT!  I truthfully want to kick and scream about it!  I NEED time to slow down.  REALLY SLOW DOWN!!!

I looked back over the posts I wrote in 2018, and the very first one made me cry.  Not a good start.  haha!

This year was a big change for us because Jonathan, my first born,  moved to Nashville in February.  I wrote THIS POST about Jonathan in January.  That’s the one that made me cry.

Then I read THIS POST about the weekend we dropped him off at “church camp” in February, and I cried some more.   

That was a tough adjustment for us, but we made it through.  I still miss having Jonathan home with us all the time, but I am so proud of all that he is doing in Nashville.  We are having so much fun traveling back and forth to Nashville and watching his music career grow!  There are some exciting things happening in 2019!!

On the DIY Home Front…..our garage finally got an exterior makeover that we LOVE!

You can read about this transformation HERE.

On the inside of our house, we started turning our old laundry room in a “butler’s pantry.”   Cy and I were just talking about how this was one of the best transformations we have completed in our home.  

We started by wood planking the walls with inexpensive luan that Cy cut in 5 inch strips.  It gives the look of wood planked walls but on a cheaper budget.  You can see how we did it HERE.

I show you how Cy build the cabinet frames and the inspiration pic for my butler’s pantry, along with a video update, in THIS POST.

We also tore out the old desk in my office and installed an easy butcher block desk.  You can find the tutorial HERE.

Cy built me new shelves too, but we didn’t do a tutorial about those.  :(

In May, we finally painted the exterior of our guest house!  We have always dreamed of finally having the time and money to update the guest house, but it’s taken us 7 years to finally get there.  It was a “painter’s studio” for the original owner of the house who was a local artist.  We used it for storage for the first few years that we lived here, and then last year, Jonathan turned it into his “music studio” and lived up there most of the time! haha!

You can read about our guest house HERE.

May was a busy month, because inside the house, we were still working on our butler’s pantry. 

We added new cabinet doors, a new quartz countertop, and a beautiful new faucet to the sink!

Away from home, Cy and Jonathan went on a life-changing trip together to Haiti to help with YaYa’s House.  You can read about this amazing experience HERE.

 

The last project in the butler’s pantry that we shared was installing the tile flooring from Wayfair. 

In August, I announced I was moving to Tennessee!  I didn’t actually “move,” but I was going to be traveling to Nashville several times a month to stay with Jonathan and help him with his music business. 

We originally thought I would be traveling down there for a few days every week, but it has ended up more like every other week, and it has worked out just fine!  We are all used to this transition now, and it feels pretty normal. :)

September was an absolute blur for our family!  We actually started renovating the kitchenette in our guest house.  We have some film crews here filming us for something crazy cool, but I can’t share the details with you.  (Insert scrunched up face.). I’m hoping that I might have exciting news to share with you in 2019.  #fingerscrossed 

But I did have time in September to share my fall kitchen with you.  You can see all of it HERE.

I also had fun sprucing up my den for fall, especially with new sign above my fireplace from Two Daughter’s Heirlooms.  You can check out that space HERE.

Even though I didn’t get to share the whole process of building our guest house kitchenette with you, in October, I shared some after pics of the space.  You can see more HERE.

The post that got the most comments this year was the one I wrote about “the question that Sania asked that punched me in the gut.”

I was blown away with the response on my blog and on my social media.  You are the most loving community, and your comments were like hugs to me.  Thank you so much!!!

 

And the most fun thing I did in October was getting to see Jonathan sing at The Blue Bird Cafe in Nashville.  That’s a dream for many singers, and for him to get to do it at age 19 was surreal.  It was a night neither of us will ever forget!  You can read about that night and hear  the songs he sang HERE.

 

In November, Jonathan released his first music video that my son Luke, filmed and directed it.  It includes our whole family, and it was a blast to make.  You can see it HERE.

 

I had a LOT of Christmas home decor posts in November and December, so if you missed them, just click on the links below…

Simple Christmas Kitchen Decor

 

Christmas Tablescape

 

 

Christmas Family Room

 

Christmas Master Bedroom

 

A great end to our year was announcing that we purchased a house to flip in our home town.  It is quite the fixer upper, so it’s going to be a lot of work, but we are excited to share about it here on the blog!  You can read about it HERE.

 

It was also fun to see my home featured in Vintage Style and Better Homes and Garden magazines this year too!  Both were complete surprises since the pictures they used were taken three years ago. :)

I always LOVE these yearly recap posts because I realize that I actually got a lot more accomplished than I thought.  Sometimes, I feel like I still have so many projects ahead of me, that I don’t take time to stop and enjoy how far we have come in our home.  

It was definitely fun to look back on 2018, and I am OVER THE MOON excited about 2019!  I think it is going to be one of the most exciting yet! And I am so thankful that I get to walk through it with my little crazy tribe of humans.  I adore my family beyond words, and I thank God every day that He put us all together.  

Happy New Year, friends!

Love, The Hutchersons!

Cy, Traci, Jonathan, Luke, Adam, Eli, and Sania Louise

4 Comments

  1. I enjoyed reading this post Traci! I agree with you, that the older we get the quicker time seems to go by. I wish it could slow down. I am looking forward to seeing your posts on the house y’all are going to fix up then flip. That is so exciting! God bless y’all in this new year!

  2. Your family prospered in the year 2018. I do not believe it could have been accomplished except thru grace and given wisdom. I am looking forward to reading about your hearts desire being fulfilled in 2019.

  3. You and your family are so sweet. I so enjoyed finding you from your sisters blog and you’ve been so inspiring. Blessings to you all in 2019.

  4. I’ve always liked you and you’re blog, from the very early days. But following you on insta this past year and watching your stories… now I love you and your family and your home lol. You’re amazing, such an inspiration and such a big heart. Thank you for sharing it with your readers/watchers.

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