I dabbled in interior design courses, thought about switching my major a few times, but I also felt called to be a nurse and was SO CLOSE to accomplishing that goal.

Well, sort of.  I grew up with a single dad who was a plumber.  On the weekends he would work odd jobs and I would tag along.  I quickly got to know the names of all the tools as he shouted, "Christine, hand me the ____."

So when my husband, Lance, and I got married in 2010 it was no surprise when he came home from work one day and I had taken a sledgehammer to our 1950's bathroom.   

So in-between my 12 hour shifts I created Honey Built Home and let it sit for two years without a single post.  I didn't know how to blog, or grow a designer social media account, so I didn't do anything with it. 

The summer of 2016 changed everything.  Lance's mom, who often watched our kids while we worked, suddenly passed away.  Lance had changed careers a few months prior, and with two babies (13 months apart) it became too stressful for us to balance our kids with our unpredictable work schedules.  We made the decision for me to stay home.  

finding myself in diy

In the middle of the busiest time of the year (basketball and holidays) and with 3 kids  4 and under I did my very first instagram project, a herringbone board and batten accent wall. 

In 2017, after completing our basement in our first two homes with the help of Lance's uncle, and a few bathrooms from scratch with the help of my dad I found our "could be dream home."  It was a two bedroom home with 2400 sq ft of UNFINISHED basement space that we would quickly need to turn into space for our kids. OH THE POTENTIAL. 

But with a bigger home, came a bigger mortgage.  I had to go back to work.  At this point I had 3 kids ranging from 6 months to 4 years old, working 12 hour hospital shifts wasn't feasible with Lance's coaching and real estate schedule.  So I became a telephone triage nurse.  It felt like the best of both worlds.  Predictable schedule, working from home while my babies slept, and DIYing on days off during nap time. 

I still had @honeybuilthome, in the back of my mind and felt like it was time to show up and share.

I took the greatest part of being a nurse, patient education, and began to apply that to an online community of (mostly) women to make power tools and the complexities of home renovations not so intimidating.  And have been fulfilled beyond measure to see thousands of women pick up tools to DO IT THEMSELVES too!

So if you are into a real girl sharing her real life with lots of messy middles and pretty cool projects, stick around!