Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Blogiversary 5: Since You Asked…

…we did our best to not be completely and utterly awkward beyond belief. Did we succeed? You be the judge. Just like in past blogiversary weeks, we invited you guys to ask us some personal (i.e. non-decorating) questions over on our Facebook page last week. And after over two hundred questions came rolling in, Sherry and I sat down and answered as many as we could while Clara napped one afternoon – and then culled it down into this 20 minute video. Among all of our shocking and jaw-dropping revelations (note the sarcasm) you’ll learn:

  • If there’s a bun in Sherry’s oven
  • What kind of money we’re earning for our book
  • How working together has affected our marriage
  • How many readers have knocked on our door asking for a tour
  • If we fear stalkers
  • If Clara will be home-schooled
  • How many bras Sherry owns
  • When we’re moving again
  • If we’ll ever get started on the playroom
  • If Sherry’s dad is invisible
  • What we’d change about our old house’s style
  • Why we try not to pick our noses in public
  • What we hate most about our job
  • What we each find romantic about each other
  • How Sherry plans to bribe me into seeing the new Twilight movie
  • Who we’d want to play us in a hypothetical YHL movie
  • Sherry’s thoughts on Ramona from the Real Housewives of New York City
  • What part of DIYing we like the least
  • If Sherry feels competitive with Katie Bower
  • How long it takes for a project to get posted about
  • How Clara acts like a toddler

So now that your appetite is sufficiently whetted, here goes nothing…

A few notes:

  • Sherry’s insanely embarrassed that she leans in towards the camera the whole time. We didn’t realize this was happening until we were done with the whole video and watched it back, so there you have it: my fidgety wife.
  • You might notice the lighting/focus changes towards the end of the video. The camera actually fell asleep and shut off, so we had to tape the end part in a second take. Yup, we actually chatted long enough to bore the camera to sleep. High five.
  • Clara (and Burger apparently) were napping, hence their non-appearances, but we decided to do a little bonus Q&A video featuring the real stars of this show – Clara and Burger. Since this is the first blogiversary where Clara can actually string words together into something semi coherent, we thought it’d be fun to let her take a turn in the hot seat. And by hot seat, we mean handling questions like “what’s your favorite number?” – oh yeah, we’re grilling her.

So there you have it folks have it – nearly 25 minutes of us blathering on about all things personal and not much home stuff (which feels weird and fun at the same time). Did you learn anything that surprised you? Or hear something that sparked another question in your brain? We can’t promise we can get to every answer in the comments of this post, but feel free to ask away as potential fodder for next year’s video…

Psst- Speaking of other years, here are the Q&A posts for 2011, 2010 and 2009 (and 2009: part 2).

Comments

  6. Jessica Marsh says

    Thanks for sharing! You guys do such a great job of being “real;” felt like I was watching a video of friends – ok, so maybe we are friends in my mind :)

    Keep up the good work!

    Reply

  8. Cori says

    Aw…I love you guys. Thanks for sharing your lives with us! Every time I tell my husband about something you’ve done, I usually start with, “You know, my friends Sherry and John…” He finds it amusing. :)

    Reply

  12. Jennifer says

    Too fun. Maybe it’s just me (& I am pretty open) but the things people want to know about you all are odd. Some things are better left to tell in their own time. Of course we will know when you are pregnant, bc you will tell us. I think it’s wild you only have 1 bra too, but I wasn’t really worried about you giving into “blog peer pressure” to buy another one.
    Good for you guys for being so transparent and open and sharing what blog readers want to hear…for whatever reason! I think that is a part of why so many people love you guys!

    Reply

  13. Morgan says

    Sorry guys but Clara and Burger wanting that treat was my favorite part! Now I cant wait for next year to see how Clara has grown even more.

    Reply

  14. Sarah says

    love the video! thankfully i got the link through FB bc for some reason it is not showing up as the lastest post when i go to your website… (when i refresh your page the today’s entry does not show up)

    Reply

  19. Laura (Blogging Over Thyme) says

    So much fun to watch! You guys are hilarious. Also–I would love a post (someday) on how you streamline blogging to make it more efficient, etc. I feel like the behind the scenes part of blogging, uploading pics, writing, and all that jazz take a lot more time than people realize, and I’m sure you have come up with ways to make that part as least time consuming as possible. I would love your tips!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh I wish we had tricks! One of them is probably just chipping away at things. If we waited for a span of four hours to sit down and size pics and write a big post tutorial we’d never do it, so we’ll do the pics for half an hour one morning, start writing it for another half hour in the afternoon, and finish it for a few hours in front of the TV at night.

      xo
      s

  20. Michelle Kersey says

    You guys are great. LOVE your personalities. Probably one of my favorite parts about reading your blog, your personalities really come through, even in writing. John, I can totally see Paul Rudd playing you. And Sherry, you know Anna Kendrick was in Twilight too, right? ;) And, wow, Clara is such a talker!!! Sooooo cute! And Burger jumping for the treat. Awesome. :)

    Totally curious, what was Clara munching on? If you say a popsicle I’ll get shivers down my back… I’m not an ice cruncher ;)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, yes! We both watched that back and said “uh why didn’t I say ‘from Twilight’ – and it’s a singing movie that she’s about to be in… not a dancing one” – oops! Oh yes, and that was a popsicle. It was the only way we could get her to sit still!

      xo
      s

  21. Elisabeth says

    I have to admit that I’m jealous of Clara’s vocabulary. I have a son who will turn two on Saturday and his vocabulary is only about 60 words. I also keep in mind that he was a preemie by five weeks so he might be a little slower to get on that whole talking in semi-sentences thing. I know kids develop this skill at their own pace, but do you have any suggestions that really helped Clara learn? We read a ton already. It seems like the ability to communicate also keeps Clara from getting too frustrated. Thanks in advance!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, I think you’re all set up to have a chatty son! We read to Clara a lot so we think that plays into it and we just chat to her all the time. Sort of narrating things (ex: “It’s time to change your diaper, first I’ll take this one off and where does it go? That’s right, in the basket!”). Just reading and interacting/talking to her seems to help her learn new words and expressions. Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

  22. Julia says

    Two things: How do you even make it with one bra? What happens when your one bra is in the wash. OMG what happens if the strap breaks!!!??

    Second: does Clara have a convertible crib, or do you have plans to DIY her toddler bed eventually? Do you have a bed that you’ve seen for her that you are in love with? When do you think you’ll need/get to upgrade her to a big girl bed?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, I wash my bra at night when I’m braless. So far it has worked and there have been no strap-breaking issues (when a bra gets old I replace it, so for a brief moment I have two until I toss the older one, haha). As for Clara’s crib, it’s not a convertible, but we’re planning to upgrade her to one of the daybeds we had in the sunroom. It has a twin sized mattress on it, so it should be great. We have even heard that you can turn it around towards the wall so the back is sort of a guard to make sure she doesn’t roll out. We’ll let you know how it works out!

      xo
      s

    • Roxanne M says

      Agree with Beth! Hope you can come To Minneapolis/St. Paul! :)
      Can’t wait to check out this video after work. Love my job but we’re a big open pen w/ zero privacy.

  29. Karin K says

    Loved the videos! Something is obviously wrong with me, because during the scene where you were discussing stalkers, my eye kept going to the kitchen window behind Sherry’s head, and I thought it would have been hysterical if you’d had a friend out there looking in through a camera.

    Reply

  31. Teenah says

    I LOVE your blog. The videos were super cute! I’m laughing and smiling at my computer (at work shhhh) and my coworkers probably think I’m crazy now :) Congratulations on 5 years!

    Reply

  32. Britt @ Honest to Goodness Living says

    These videos just totally made my morning… “Can you say reupholster?” ;)

    As for the are you preggo question… I get that one ALL THE TIME from virtually everyone in my circle – people always try to read between the lines – even when you say NO! LOL.

    So glad you guys are celebrating Blogiversary 5 :) You all rock!

    Reply

  33. Christina @ Homemade Ocean says

    Is it weird that the highlight of my day will be getting off work so I can go home and make a bowl of ice cream and curl up with….I mean to watch the Petersiks.

    On a totally unrelated note, we just went to Richmond a couple weeks ago. I wondered how many people had asked if they could hang out with you, and how you handled that.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw, you’re so sweet! Hope the ice cream is awesome. We haven’t really had many people ask to meet up with us when they’re here, but we’re usually so busy running around and working around Clara’s schedule that we’ll say “it would be awesome to bump into you if we’re out” but we don’t really make it a practice to make appointments to meet up with folks- just because there aren’t enough hours in the day! I think that’s why we’re so excited about the book tour, because we get to meet so many readers and put their faces to their names. We literally get crazy excited just thinking about it, because so many of you guys aren’t just “commenters” you’re friends at this point!

      xo
      s

  36. Christa says

    Awwww, you guys are so wonderful! Thanks for the daily house inspiration and the dailyl dose of sweet-happy-family.
    Here’s to another 5 years!

    Reply

  37. Kimberly says

    That was adorable. Your blog makes me smile and your videos make me laugh (in a very friendly, happy way.)Congrats on your FIVE years!

    Reply

  39. Kait says

    Hahahaha, I can’t believe you picked my question! I’m the one who asked about the Real Housewives. Glad you like Carole as much as I do, and I agree that sometimes Ramona can be really funny and oddly likable. Great video, your Red Robin story was adorable and hilarious. Happy Blogiversary!

    Reply

  41. Jenny says

    You guys are awesome!! Love your video! My 14 month old daughter LOVED the video of Clara! She especially loved once Burger joined in the fun! I think she was having a conversation with both of them! I also love how Clara talked about not pulling Burger’s tail or ears…she must hear that often! ;)

    Reply

  43. Shunta says

    Loved both videos!!! I have a question (although I can’t say it was sparked by the video, but maybe it was…?) We’ve put moonshine on the walls of our soon to be nursery in squares to test (I love it SO much in your house!) and sometimes it seems to have a lavenderish read when the light is on. We don’t know if we’re having a boy or girl yet (I just wanted gray walls with white trim for either) but have you found this to be true with the moonshine walls in your house? I wouldn’t want a lavendar feel in a boy’s nursery. Thanks so much for the inspiration!! We had the moonshine color matched using Olympci Premium paint in the little sampler. (an idea we also borrowed for you)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, I’d go with another color since different homes have different light and something that’s gray in our house can totally look lavender in yours. Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

  44. natalie says

    love the video, just wanted to say sherry the way john looks at you when you’re talking is so cute. it’s so obvious you guys adore each other!

    Reply

  45. Laurie says

    You almost got me in trouble at work! I’m was smiling the whole time and laughing at the two of you. I don’t know why you don’t think you’d make a good show. You are totally cute and funny together.

    Reply

  49. Julie says

    Is it totally weird and nerdy that I think you and Katie are my “friends”? (Not in a scary “I hear voices kind of way” I just think we’d be friends if we got to know each other in real life.) Thanks for sharing so many deets, the 20 minutes flew by! I know you don’t think so, but I’d totally watch your reality show if you had one!

    Reply

  50. Cathy says

    That was great! So fun to watch and learn a little more about all of you. Love how the bike kitchen towel disappeared and reappeared during Clara’s video. Did she have it in her hand at one point? Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

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