What is the Sunshine Shed?

When we purchased our home a few years ago, it came with a gross brown shed in the back corner of our lot. It had broken, mismatched windows and spray paint on the walls inside. It was an eyesore for a long time.

Photo from our backyard wedding. You can see the brown shed in the back.

Photo from our backyard wedding. You can see the brown shed in the back.

Once we were finally a little less house poor and could afford to do a few things that weren’t just necessities, my husband decided to tackle making the shed prettier. He swapped out the windows for new, matching ones, replaced the siding, painted it a crazy blue color that I picked out, and made the inside a lot nicer. Last summer, he added a beautiful porch around it from some leftover wood.

View from our back porch. This was when poor Thor had an eye injury. Isn’t he adorable even while wearing the dreaded cone of shame?

View from our back porch. This was when poor Thor had an eye injury. Isn’t he adorable even while wearing the dreaded cone of shame?

Now this backyard garden shed is an oasis. It holds my craft storage and is amazingly quiet, so I will sometimes sneak over and read in there. The bright color reminds me of sunny, blue summer skies during our gray Oregon winters.

I’m Bec

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I'm an expert procrastinator and wannabe Martha Stewart. My husband and I live in the Pacific Northwest with our two adorable and very spunky dogs. While we're mostly homebodies, we also enjoy short camping trips in our motorhome. I am a pretty good cook, gardener, and occasional crafter.  

Six random things about me:

I love the library. I'm also really good at racking up late fees. Womp womp. As a kid, the librarian in my little hometown had my card number memorized and we would often hear her sweet voice on our answering machine reminding me that books were overdue. I’m much better about returning books on time now, but still occasionally rack up fees. Luckily, my local public library offers cans for books a few times a year where you can donate a food item for each dollar that you owe. So I’m really being a philanthropist!

I love the library.

I'm also really good at racking up late fees. Womp womp. As a kid, the librarian in my little hometown had my card number memorized and we would often hear her sweet voice on our answering machine reminding me that books were overdue. I’m much better about returning books on time now, but still occasionally rack up fees. Luckily, my local public library offers cans for books a few times a year where you can donate a food item for each dollar that you owe. So I’m really being a philanthropist!

I am a reluctant yogi. I have never been into sports or terribly active. But last year when I was feeling really down, I started going to yoga again. I had taken classes before and liked them, but it wasn’t really my thing. Then a new studio opened up in our town. I found a few teachers that I love who offer classes that work for me, and since then I’ve been a regular. I may fall of the wagon occasionally, but always end up going back because of how much better both my mind and body feel after a class.

I am a reluctant yogi.

I have never been into sports or terribly active. But last year when I was feeling really down, I started going to yoga again. I had taken classes before and liked them, but it wasn’t really my thing. Then a new studio opened up in our town. I found a few teachers that I love who offer classes that work for me, and since then I’ve been a regular. I may fall of the wagon occasionally, but always end up going back because of how much better both my mind and body feel after a class.

I never make the same dish twice. This is much to my husband’s chagrin. I’m a pretty decent cook, but no matter how hard I try and how closely I follow a recipe, I never manage to make a dish the same way. Sometimes I’m just throwing things in a pot, not paying close attention to amounts or for how long, and magic happens. My husband will ask me to make the dish again and it tastes… not the same. It’s just my way of always leaving people guessing, I guess.

I never make the same dish twice.

This is much to my husband’s chagrin. I’m a pretty decent cook, but no matter how hard I try and how closely I follow a recipe, I never manage to make a dish the same way. Sometimes I’m just throwing things in a pot, not paying close attention to amounts or for how long, and magic happens. My husband will ask me to make the dish again and it tastes… not the same. It’s just my way of always leaving people guessing, I guess.

I can’t sleep if the closet door or dresser drawers are open. If my hubby’s the last one up and I haven’t completed my evening ritual of closing everything, he gets to be the one to hear multiple times “can you please close that?” Lucky guy! Not sure if this is a holdover from monsters in the closet from childhood or if the clutter in there disturbs my dream. ;-) Either way, close the door!

I can’t sleep if the closet door or dresser drawers are open.

If my hubby’s the last one up and I haven’t completed my evening ritual of closing everything, he gets to be the one to hear multiple times “can you please close that?” Lucky guy! Not sure if this is a holdover from monsters in the closet from childhood or if the clutter in there disturbs my dream. ;-) Either way, close the door!

I am a reformed plant murderer. For years, nothing green managed to survive and thrive in my hands. When I was in college, I kept an African Violet alive an entire school year. I was so thrilled and proud of myself. Then I packed up my bags and headed home for the summer… and accidentally left the plant in my sorority house window. I decided it was not worth the six hour roundtrip to try to rescue it and it was nowhere to be found when I arrived back in the fall. I killed the first few gardens that we had at our house. We had nary a tomato or cucumber, and my house plants looked like they were on death row. One day, bless him, my husband suggested that perhaps I should set a reminder on my phone to water the plants. I scoffed at him, but then secretly did it and now our house plants are thriving and we’ve had enough lettuce for several salads and even a tomato or two.

I am a reformed plant murderer.

For years, nothing green managed to survive and thrive in my hands. When I was in college, I kept an African Violet alive an entire school year. I was so thrilled and proud of myself. Then I packed up my bags and headed home for the summer… and accidentally left the plant in my sorority house window. I decided it was not worth the six hour roundtrip to try to rescue it and it was nowhere to be found when I arrived back in the fall. I killed the first few gardens that we had at our house. We had nary a tomato or cucumber, and my house plants looked like they were on death row. One day, bless him, my husband suggested that perhaps I should set a reminder on my phone to water the plants. I scoffed at him, but then secretly did it and now our house plants are thriving and we’ve had enough lettuce for several salads and even a tomato or two.

I am really good at buying arts and crafts supplies. But really bad at actually completing the projects themselves. If you walked into my crafting space, you would probably think I’m a regular Martha Stewart based on my stash. The ladies at Joann Fabric practically know me by name! While I mean well, I often get super excited about a project and run out and buy everything I need. Then I get distracted by Real Housewives or I need to make dinner and then a year later, I realize that I never made that wooden no soliciting sign that WE NEEDED RIGHT THIS MINUTE for our front door. Anybody else feel me?

I am really good at buying arts and crafts supplies.

But really bad at actually completing the projects themselves. If you walked into my crafting space, you would probably think I’m a regular Martha Stewart based on my stash. The ladies at Joann Fabric practically know me by name! While I mean well, I often get super excited about a project and run out and buy everything I need. Then I get distracted by Real Housewives or I need to make dinner and then a year later, I realize that I never made that wooden no soliciting sign that WE NEEDED RIGHT THIS MINUTE for our front door. Anybody else feel me?

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