100 Posts!

Wilt Chamberlain celebrates our
milestone with us, 51 years ago.

We've officially published 100 posts on our blog! That seems like a lot, so we're going to celebrate it. 

Since we started blogging on October 29, 2012 (almost exactly 5 months ago) a number of things have happened:

• 5.76 Million babies were born! (Welcome one and all!)
• 2.34 Million people passed away. (Our condolences to the families.)
• We've had a change in Pope! (Congrats, Catholics!)
• 159.2 cm of snow fell on our fair city! (Good thing a bunch of it disappeared, or else it would almost be up to my head!)
• Something called the "Harlem Shake." (And if you haven't heard of it, count yourself lucky!)

We're really excited to hit this milestone, because at times the blog has been a bit of a challenge. (I've definitely almost quit more than a handful of times!) It's hard to keep being vulnerable, sometimes I still feel embarrassed when people talk about it. Philip makes a joke that my dream for the blog is to have thousands of readers I don't know, but none of the people I do know. That's obviously a joke, because I love that our family and friends have been so supportive, but it sure is a lot easier to write these posts from the heart when I don't think about the people I know who will devote a moment in their day to reading it!

It's been a great project for Philip and I to tackle together; we both love writing and this is a fun way to do that as a couple. It's also a great challenge, pushing us to be disciplined with writing every day, coming up with new and interesting content, and hopefully pushing us to get more done on our house. We've had to branch out from house projects a little bit because we don't have limitless amounts of time and money to devote to renovating, but it's also forced us to develop an appreciation for the little things: a drawer better organized here, a small painted canvas there, even a random trip to Urban Barn.

Looking ahead, we have some exciting plans for the blog. We've heard from you iPad and iPhone users about your frustrations trying to comment on our posts, and we're working toward a resolution. As well, we have an exciting series or two up our sleeves. And more than anything, we're looking forward to reporting our bathroom progress (as you'll see from our April's upcoming banner, the weather's finally starting to warm up here in Winnipeg, which means we might be able to embrace our insulation challenges!). And after the bathroom, well, the To-Do list has some exciting things in store!
 
What would you like to see from our blog in the next 100 posts? Leave your answer in the comments below (or iOS users, go ahead and leave them on the Facebook page).

Quick note before we go: tomorrow is Good Friday, a statutory holiday here in Canada, so there will be no new post. Philip will return with the exciting conclusion to his "(Pipe) Dream Sports Room" next Friday, but you can look forward to another "Sparks and Recreation" this Saturday for your Easter Weekend reading pleasure.

Sparks and Recreation

We will officially be coming to your web browser 6 days a week! Every Saturday, we'll be sharing links (that sparked our interest - creating that punny title) to some of our favourite web news whether it be blog posts we liked, articles, etc. that we think are worth your time. We tried to keep it pretty balanced, choosing articles that we read in areas relating to home/lifestyle blogs, a marriage article, and an article to inspire and motivate our fellow bloggers. Use this opportunity to also share your favourite links from this past week in the comments! We'd love to read your blogs and get connected in this way. Hope you enjoy visiting some of the articles we recommend, leave a comment on their site too so they know you came to visit!

Bower Power Blog: Photoshop Tutorials
Every week, Katie Bower has been sharing Photoshop Tutorials on her blog. I'm the ultimate failure when it comes to Photoshop and have only just started to use it, on iPhone photos no less so definitely not good quality. She explains some really helpful things though and I've already started implementing a few of her tips! Not this one though, I have enough help in that department. 

Young House Love: Sir (Or Madam) Mix A Lot & Board & Batten 
Technically this was from last week, but we didn't have this series then and I can't resist! We've been thinking about reusing our kitchen trim in the hallway for a look similar to this, but this seems so easy that I might just convert! These kind of blog posts are my favourite, where I am able to gain some confidence to tackle a project that before might have seemed too hard for us beginners. 

Tidal: New Member Monday
In case you missed it, this is the interview that we had on Monday with Bob Vila Nation! Super exciting and fun to be featured on another website. We might be having a few more of these excursions in days ahead, including a guest post to look out for this month. 

Relevant Magazine: Does Marriage Have to be Hard?
Philip's a monthly subscriber to Relevant Magazine, so I check out their website once in a while. I find an article about marriage very refreshing once in a while as a way of reminding us that we have to put work into it even when it's not broken. 

Martha Stewart: 12 Lessons in Outdoor Living
This wasn't particularly inspiring, but I like remembering what it's like to be outside. I honestly can hardly remember what our yard is like under all that snow. Come out sun!

Altitude Summit: Maintaining a Small Blog with Pride
The Altitude Summit website provides great resources for bloggers who can't afford to go in real life (maybe someday!), I'm often motivated to keep going by their articles. You can also take relatively cost-effective courses to learn more about maintaining your blog. 

Is Justice Worth It? 
A great video that Philip found, definitely worth the 2 minutes and 9 seconds. 

Is Justice Worth It? feat. Micah Bournes from World Relief on Vimeo.

That's all for now folks! Remember to link up to your favourite posts to give some fellow bloggers some love, we'll be keeping our eyes peeled next week for some great new features to share every Saturday.