Welcome to Puddy’s House!  I’m Leslie.  I married the love of my life, Bob, on January 12, 2008 in our new home.  Eleven months later, we brought home our dog, Puddy.  Puddy is so much fun and he has added so much life to our house.  And, yes if you are a true Seinfeld fan, that is where he got his name!

Puddy’s House is about our life with a focus on our home, DIY, thrifting, creating, and improving. Bob and I enjoy traveling too, so you will get some glimpses of that around here.  When we go to the beach, Puddy gets to come along, and he loves it!  And, just for fun, you might get to see some  tastes of my cooking with a few recipes when I have something good that I want to share.

If you are dying to know more, here’s a little bit more about me…..

Puddy’s House began on July 31, 2012.  I had been an avid blog reader for years and through my blog reading, I was inspired to create projects in our home that I never thought I could or would be able to do.  Because I was so inspired by other bloggers, I wanted to share my experiences too, and that is what I do on Puddy’s House:  Create. Inspire. Enjoy.

My creations happen in my free time.  By day, I am a Human Resources Executive.  I went to Millersville University for my BS in Business Administration, and began working full-time in human resources (HR) immediately after I graduated.  Then, a few years later I got the crazy idea to go back to school while I was still working full-time and got my MBA at Millersville too.  So, I’m very dedicated to my career and the profession that I choose.  But, I also like to be creative.

Besides home projects, my creativity is exercised in my scrapbooks.  I’m a proud Cricut owner and I love taking our picture memories and creating a story.  My goal in my scrapbooks is that you can look at them and I would not need to sit beside you and explain what everything is or who everyone is…the scrapbook should tell the story.

I’m not sure when or where the creative side came out of me.  I grew up as a farm girl, happy to be outside and play.  We participated in 4-H as kids, with dairy animals, and also briefly for sewing.  Mom taught me how to sew which has helped me in some of my house projects too.  I think growing up on the farm was a great experience, and not something I appreciated until I was an adult.  I have the distinct memory of going home after my first week of college and not wanting to back.  My Mom said that would be fine, but if I came home I had to milk the cows 3 times a day.  Needless to say, I readily agreed to go back to college.  So, even at  that time I didn’t appreciate it.  But, in my career, I know that growing up in a farming house gave me a work ethic that is great and is part of who I am each and every day at my job.

So, why do I blog?  I know there are other people out there like me.  They read blogs, or maybe they just browse Pinterest and see something and think I like that, but there’s no way I could make it myself.  Well, I am proof that you can!  I had never painted anything other than 1 bedroom growing up, and I think it took me a whole summer to do it.  I have no training related to my blog projects.  I just took a chance after seeing other blogger’s projects and decided to try some out myself.  I had an old table and chairs that we almost threw away when we moved and I told Bob that we should keep it.  It was my project.  I stripped the table and stained it and I painted and reupholstered the chairs.  That project told me I could do it!  It wasn’t easy.  I’m still no a huge fan of staining because I don’t have that much practice with it, and its time consuming and that always tests my patience. But, I know I can do it if I set my mind to it.

Since our house is new, you won’t find any major renovating our anything like that, but we aren’t afraid of updating.  We’ve had several tiling projects, and I still have a desire to add some crown molding and maybe even some board and batten or beadboard somewhere in the house!  Most of my projects are furniture or decorating, generally as a result of my thrift or yard sale shopping.  My whole craft room is filled with furniture that was all purchased used.  I like to decorate for holidays, so there is plenty posts showing you what our house looks like through the seasons.  And, we love to be outdoors, so we have spent years getting our landscaping to and patio to be our own paradise.  Our home is a place we enjoy and love.   Puddy’s House is to share that enjoyment with you.  So, I hope you pull up a comfy chair and stay a while.