Holy cow — has it really been five years since we started blogging? Time has absolutely flown.

It feels like yesterday that we put together a simple page with a bright blue background so friends and family could follow our very first kitchen makeover. Back then it was just a hobby, a place to document projects and share photos. Five years later the little experiment has grown into a full-fledged blog that’s shaped our lives in unexpected ways.

For our fifth blogiversary we considered throwing a full-on parade with homeowners marching by waving paint rollers and hammers. That plan was quickly vetoed (safety first), so instead we decided to celebrate with a week of behind-the-scenes stories, giveaways, and plenty of reflection on the journey that brought us here. Over the years we’ve marked these milestones with similar celebrations, and this year we wanted to make it a little bigger, a little more thoughtful, and a lot of fun.

Here’s a look at what we’re sharing this week as part of the blogiversary festivities:

• A detailed timeline of how we met, fell in love, started this blog, and eventually arrived at where we are today. We couldn’t resist putting the timeline right here in this post so you can follow along from the beginning.
• A big giveaway packed with multiple prizes to celebrate five years — we’ll be honoring the milestone with some generous rewards as a thank-you to everyone who’s been along for the ride.
• A “day in the life” post that documents an average day for us, complete with photos and the small routines that keep our household and blog running.
• An honest, numbers-driven breakdown of blog growth, traffic, and other stats. We’ll share lessons learned, surprising insights, and a handful of bloggy facts that still make our heads spin.
• A candid Q&A video answering questions you submitted on social media — everything from personal curiosities to practical blogging advice.
• A goals post laying out what we want to accomplish in the coming year and how we measured up against last year’s goals.
• A roundup of favorite posts, the most challenging projects, the weirdest moments, and the posts that really stuck with us over the past five years.
• A getting-to-know-you feature where we spotlight readers, hear your stories, and learn about the people who visit this site. We can’t wait to hear from you.

Without further ado, we’re sharing a timeline that traces key moments back to 2004. Looking at the span of events makes it easy to see how much has changed — and how many small, seemingly insignificant choices ended up shaping the course of our family’s life. Some of the moments on the timeline are deeply personal, others mark turning points for the blog, and a few of them still make us a little misty-eyed when we think about how things unfolded.

We truly didn’t expect any of this when we first started tapping away at a blog platform. What began as a way to document a kitchen renovation became an unexpected career, a creative outlet, and a community that has supported and encouraged us through moves, a wedding, building a family, writing a book, and the everyday grind of home projects. The blog has become an integral part of our lives, and that’s something we don’t take for granted.

Time really does fly when you’re busy building a life and enjoying the ride. Are you in a place now that you never imagined five years ago? For us, this blog has been both a mirror and a map — it’s shown us who we’ve become and guided us toward opportunities we wouldn’t have found otherwise. We’re grateful for the readers and friends who check in, share feedback, and make this community possible. You’ve turned a small passion project into something meaningful for our family.

If you’re curious about how this blog evolved into a business — the mechanics, the learning curve, the things we stumbled through and the practical steps we took — we’ve written extensively about that process. From how the blog grew to how we generate income, work with sponsors, manage taxes, and handle the nuts and bolts of running a creative business, we’ve shared many behind-the-scenes posts that dig into the details. We’re still learning as we go, and we enjoy pulling back the curtain to help others who might be starting their own journey.

Thanks for sticking with us through five years of projects, progress, mistakes, triumphs, and all the in-between moments. We’re excited to celebrate this milestone with a week of content and surprises, and we hope you’ll join in. Bring the chest bumps, the fist pumps, and maybe a tissue for the sentimental moments — we’re ready to party, blog-style.