Joy and Austin 18: 234 Days Since the Wedding and Counting

[Georgiana]

I personally give everyone a mulligan when it comes to house decorating/furnishing. When I first moved into my house, I painted everything bold, uncoordinated colors, hung all the curtains incorrectly, and so much more that I've blocked out of my mind I'm sure. There's a lot that goes into decorating that can be hard to execute on your first try with little preparation. 

Now my house is a stylish mid-mod number with coordinating paint colors. 

Joy's house looks very college pad , and that's exactly where she is age wise. She'll grow into her personal style, she just needs time and space to do that growing.

[Jessalyn]

I would accept a puke colored kitchen with bright pink floors if it meant I got those brand new appliances as a newlywed 

[just_ordinary]

2 hours ago, Kangaroo said:

I don't do big posts on social media or anything, but when I go out with friends and we order food I have to say "I can't have this". Then they forget and so when we go out next time I remind them again. I've tried to educate myself as best I can help them understand if they ask, but it's utterly infuriating when people treat it like it's a choice. (They're welcome to stand near the bathroom after I've had dairy!)

I do encourage my friends/family to try some lactose free alternatives because I want them to see there is very little difference.

I promise I am not trying to be mean here but I don’t get your post entirely...

What is the problem with going out? If anything it should be easier as you can order what you want and make sure you are ok with it no matter what your friends eat. 

My best friend is intolerant to lactose since her middle twenties and she actually opened my eyes to how many people make it a big thing when in reality as soon as you are properly diagnosed, it’s not. She avoids certain foods (never thought baguette could be a problem when hard cheese isn’t) and when in doubt she takes those pills. She never makes it a big thing. Those pills are her lifesaver. Of course she cannot eat a bucket of normal joghurt and just swallow a pill. But for small to normal intakes they are great.

Now, when I cook and she is invited I try to use lactose free milk, butter and cheese. But sometimes I cannot because she comes over spontaneously or it was sold out. Not to mention they are more expensive than regular products (not a problem for me but could be for others). I think it is common curtesy to try avoiding food someone can’t have, but really if you cook for lots of people there could be as many food requirements. In that case I will only ever go for the life threatening ones (anaphylactic shock) and let them know so everyone can prepare.

And lastly those products indeed do taste different. It is sweeter and I could never use them on their own. Tastes very artificial because that is what it is. I wouldn’t want to use that stuff if I didn’t have to.

[Meggo]

6 hours ago, Jenn The Heathen said:

My first Heathen’s nursery was done like two months before he was born. The second time around, we didn’t get it done until after he was born because we knew he’d spend like the first month or so in our room. 

We adopted The Waffle - so when we found out about his existence - he was three days old. He was early - so wasn't slated to come home for another few weeks (he was in the NICU for almost a month). We never really had a nursery.

Hubs is from a huge family that has a bajillion kids all around that age - so we cleared out our guest room and the next day, a crib showed up. Then a stroller and car seat. A pack and play. A few bags of clothes a day or so later, a baby bath tub...

To this day - almost 5 years later - we leave our car unlocked at family functions and find garbage bags full of clothes.

It was a lifesaver. Really. We were still woefully unprepared for the reality of a 5lb baby (like anyone is ever prepared for their very first night at home with their first kid) but that helped. I never did get to decorate a nursery though. We did have baby showers - but by that time- he'd already been home for a month or two.

We were spoiled. (and he is loved the world over)

[rainbowbabycakes]

I love the wood in the kitchen!

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

6 hours ago, justoneoftwo said:

I would be so stressed about everything left to do in the nursery, but thats just me.  Ours was done in December, he was due in May.

The nursery would bother me too, but only because she's got what between 4 & 6 weeks left. But all those tools the unfinished bathroom would have me freaking out.  I do think that video was shot awhile ago, she was wearing short sleeves and s short skirt (short for a Duggar) and it was only in the low 30's today.  Not saying anything other than she had to be cold if she was outside in shirt sleeves and most likely barefoot.  UGH, she's barefoot and pregnant and only 20 years old.  

The house is cute, what is done, I love the island in the kitchen, and the colors she's got, the master bath is really nice looking too.  It looks like a great starter house, it is small but well done, it is perfect for a VERY young couple that are just starting out, and the wife wanting  (or forced to be) to be a SAHM.  Our 1st house was small, 900 sq feet, and it was perfect for us, big enough for 4, 2 being under 5, and inexpensive enough that I was able to stay home like I wanted too. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

4 minutes ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

But all those tools the unfinished bathroom would have me freaking out.

Then, by all means, never EVER try to renovate a house while you're living in it. lol   

[NachosFlandersStyle]

The decor's not my taste, but that's a pretty nice place for a pair of what, 20-year-olds? New appliances! Double sink in the bathroom! 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

1 hour ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

These people wouldn't "gender neutral" any damn thing. No way. No how.

The Duggar's wouldn't but who knows about Austin.  I'm guessing he is the one who wanted to keep the gender a surprise and of course Joy was joyfully agreeable. 

5 hours ago, VineHeart137 said:

I was so proud of how far in advance we finished the nursery. Then my kid refused to even nap in it for 7 months after she was born.

Also am I the only one who heard Joy say something along the lines of "There's our room with all of our sh- stuff?" Like she was about to say the s word. That's totally something I would do on camera.

With #1 we moved into our 1st house 6 weeks before I was due with him,  I made my mom, DH and BFF crazy because I HAD to have the nursery done the day after we moved in. I had mom hang the boarder,my BFF to help me wash the baby stuff I'd gotten at my shower the day before (yeah I had my baby shower the day we moved into our house) & DH put the crib and changing table together. The next weekend was Thanksgiving & DH wanted to do all this stuff that weekend. But 12 days after we moved in my water broke and I had my son 4 weeks early after spending 23 hours and 40 minutes of Thanksgiving day laboring. So I wasn't crazy to have everything done early and DH apologized for teasing me.

#2 was a scheduled c/section 10 days before my due date, and a week before my scheduled section, I started nesting like a mad woman, hubby was like aw crap another early baby.  She was being born on a Friday, and we had a huge snowstorm the night before and they called me to say they were rescheduling me to Sunday, but I was like umm I think I'm in labor, they were all sure you are.  But I went in and yep I was contracting every 7 minutes and was 3 cm and 50% effaced so they did the c/section at the scheduled time.  The reason I did the c was because I couldn't push out an 8 lb baby after 4 hours of pushing, and she was 9lbs. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

1 hour ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

Then, by all means, never EVER try to renovate a house while you're living in it. lol   

I watched the video again, I guess the bathroom doesn't have tools in it, just a mop and cleaning supplies, so that isn't a big deal. I live with a new construction plumber, I get the tools, I HAVE the tools, all over my garage and basement, they are necessary. The tools could be put in the shed/garage out of the way, but still accessible.  The house looked like it just needs to have stuff put away/organized, construction looks mostly done, so I'm not sure about them taking up such a big corner of the front room. I'm not a neat freak by any stretch but those tools on my new floor would set me off. 

And I've lived in a house we've renovated and yeah, I hope I NEVER EVER have to do it again. NOT FUN. 

[Million Children For Jesus]

It's an amazing house for a 20-year-old to own. It's amazing to own a home at any age. That house would be about 1.4 million in my neighborhood. I would kill for that house as a starter home, a midlife home, an empty nester home, basically any stage of life. I would be ecstatic living there, even with 19 kids in it. Even with tools in the corner. I bet it has a yard, too. Sigh. 

[SorenaJ]

I have a question. I often see in American houses, Joy and Austin's as well, that the front door opens directly into the living room. Where do they put their shoes and coats? What if it's raining, and they have muddy boots? Do they walk through the house to a mudroom? Or do they have a separate entrance to put coats/boots somewhere? Help. I do not understand. 

[DillyDally]

14 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

I have a question. I often see in American houses, Joy and Austin's as well, that the front door opens directly into the living room. Where do they put their shoes and coats? What if it's raining, and they have muddy boots? Do they walk through the house to a mudroom? Or do they have a separate entrance to put coats/boots somewhere? Help. I do not understand. 

I've wondered so many times about this, too, same with Jessa and Ben's house. The main entrance to the Duggar mansion opens straight into the living room as well, but at least they got that weirdly named "good-bye room" and I guess that's where they put their shoes, coats etc. I also think it's just really not that comfy when you think that people on the street could see you hanging out on the couch when somebody opens the front door (but that may just be me, I'm a very paranoid private person) 

In Germany, even tiny flats have a separate hall which usually leads to the other rooms. And we never wear outdoor shoes entering the main living area. (Never as in, my experience as a native German)

Anyway, back to Joy. She sounds so over it in the video which made me a bit sad. She didn't sound excited or proud at all to show off her new home (and owning a house in your early twenties is such a huge accomplishment, imo). It gave me the impression she just filmed it for the leghumpers/TLC/those snarking on the windows.

[Chewing Gum]

1 hour ago, DillyDally said:

 

Anyway, back to Joy. She sounds so over it in the video which made me a bit sad. She didn't sound excited or proud at all to show off her new home (and owning a house in your early twenties is such a huge accomplishment, imo). It gave me the impression she just filmed it for the leghumpers/TLC/those snarking on the windows.

Yeah I definately got a “now shut up asking me about it” vibe from her video. 

[Million Children For Jesus]

1 minute ago, SorenaJ said:

I have a question. I often see in American houses, Joy and Austin's as well, that the front door opens directly into the living room. Where do they put their shoes and coats? What if it's raining, and they have muddy boots? Do they walk through the house to a mudroom? Or do they have a separate entrance to put coats/boots somewhere? Help. I do not understand. 

@DillyDally

My house was built in the '40's and the front door opens straight into the living room, which is typical for a ranch style home built at that time. It is similar to Joy's.

Entryway?

Newer homes typically have formal entry spaces, even if they're very small spaces. In a large home, it might be somewhat of a hallway feature, but in a small home, the entryway would still be open to the living room without any separating walls. Some entryways include a coat closet, but it isn't uncommon for a coat closet to be located in an adjacent hallway, off of the living room, especially in a ranch style home, so yes, you do sometimes walk through the living room to hang up your coat.

I've attached a pic of a typical ranch layout, (yellow pic) although this would be a newer ranch than mine. It has an open concept. Mine has walls separating every room.

Shoes Inside? Varies by region.

It is standard in my area for people to wear their shoes inside, except in the Asian and Polynesian communities, where you leave your shoes either on the porch or on a shoe rack just inside the front door. Some people just use baskets instead of racks. I currently have a shoe basket near the front door for the shoes we wear most often, or for guests who don't like wearing shoes inside. I have noticed that in wetter climates in the US, it's expected to take your shoes off inside.

Most houses will have both a front door and a back door. My kids automatically know to use the back door when they're muddy. They leave their muddy shoes on the back porch.

For those that live in an apartment without a back entrance, I guess you would be more inclined to have a shoe rack outside or near the inside of the front door, and dirty kids entering the living room would just be part of apartment living. Most apartments have carpet to absorb sound, and might have a small tiled area by the front door, 3' X 3' or larger, to make it easier to keep the entrance clean, but apartments do not typically have formal entryways. The front door opens into the living space.

Coat Closets?

Some homes, (in my warm area), especially older ones, don't have coat closets. Most people don't really need coat closets in this neighborhood because we don't really need coats. On the coldest days, we can get by with layering, but coats are nice, too, if you like the look. Most of my friends use their coat closets for seasonal storage and sports gear. The coats of guests get hung on the back of dining room chairs or guests might put them on the bed in a guest bedroom, (if you're lucky enough to have a guest bedroom), or whatever bedroom the hostess chooses, usually based on whichever bedroom is clean enough for guests to see. Nobody has a good-bye room, lol. 

Mud Rooms?

I've never seen a mud room in an older home, or even in a renovated home, in my area. I have only seen mud rooms in new construction, tract home developments, where they are popular selling features, and also when visiting homes in colder climates, where they seem to be common. In colder climates, they were being used as an entrance, like a heated covered porch area. That's not the case in the tract homes in my area. Here, they are used for storage, like giant coat closets.

I've attached a pic of a first level floor plan for a new construction home that has a mud room. It does not have an entry door, and is not near the entrance. It isn't even near the laundry room, which is upstairs. I often see mud room/laundry room combos in tract homes.

[freethemall]

4 hours ago, DillyDally said:

I've wondered so many times about this, too, same with Jessa and Ben's house. The main entrance to the Duggar mansion opens straight into the living room as well, but at least they got that weirdly named "good-bye room" and I guess that's where they put their shoes, coats etc. I also think it's just really not that comfy when you think that people on the street could see you hanging out on the couch when somebody opens the front door (but that may just be me, I'm a very paranoid private person) 

In Germany, even tiny flats have a separate hall which usually leads to the other rooms. And we never wear outdoor shoes entering the main living area. (Never as in, my experience as a native German)

Anyway, back to Joy. She sounds so over it in the video which made me a bit sad. She didn't sound excited or proud at all to show off her new home (and owning a house in your early twenties is such a huge accomplishment, imo). It gave me the impression she just filmed it for the leghumpers/TLC/those snarking on the windows.

I believe there was a porch, if it was a muddy or rainy day they'd probably just leave their shoes outside. Many houses have a mud room but not all, or even just a small space when you enter the house for shoes and coats. I grew up in New England where most people enter houses through back or side doors into a mud room, front doors are for show.

[Jenn The Heathen]

My house is a ranch built in the 70s and the front door opens directly into the living room, but to the left of the doorway is a closet where we hang all our coats.  We want to add a bigger family room off the back and turn the living room into an entry room/sitting room eventually.

[NanisBlessing]

It is a nice house....I do not like the coloring much ( not much into brown colors ) and I do not like the "dining room". I thought is was a place for them to pray together since it is unusual to sit next to each other while eating ( would drive me nuts since I like to look at people when I have a conversation during dinner, lunch etc.

[SapphireSlytherin]

Generally a "mud room" is not accessed from the front/main entry. They're typically inside the garage (or back) entry of the house, and quite often also contain washer/dryer and maybe even the water heater. 

[Seculardaisy]

10 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

 

These people wouldn't "gender neutral" any damn thing. No way. No how.

Yeah, I think they would. They would just add very pink or blue tones once the baby was born. 

Remember when Jessa was pregnant with Spurgeon and they went and bought her neutral clothes including a football hat. Jinger bought a bow and said “and if it’s a girl you can just add this bow!”

5 hours ago, SorenaJ said:

I have a question. I often see in American houses, Joy and Austin's as well, that the front door opens directly into the living room. Where do they put their shoes and coats? What if it's raining, and they have muddy boots? Do they walk through the house to a mudroom? Or do they have a separate entrance to put coats/boots somewhere? Help. I do not understand. 

Our first home was a smaller style bungalow. The front door opened into the living room and there was a closet to the left of the front door where we kept shoes and coats. I hated that people walked into our living room in their muddy/snow covered shoes though so I’m glad we’ve since moved into a larger home.

[albanuadh_1]

Question: What is valentina sauce?

[VBOY9977]

8 minutes ago, albanuadh_1 said:

Question: What is valentina sauce?

Mexican hot sauce

it’s delicious!! My brother puts it in pretty much every meal

 

[JesSky03]

Is a guest room a requirement for all Duggar households? I live in a 3 bedroom ranch that is maybe a little bigger than J&A's house (just me and hubby with a baby on the way) and I wouldn't want to dedicate a whole room just to an occasional guest.  How often do they really have people coming and staying over anyway- I thought they were within a reasonable driving distance to both families? 

I love the kitchen cabinets. I don't care for the little dining room setup- why are the two chairs at the table on the same side and facing the wall? I know I don't want to stare directly at a wall while eating- why not having them on opposite ends so they could actually look at each other? 

[AtlanticTug]

The clutter would drive me nuts but they seem to still be in reno mode so it makes sense. I think it's a good starter house for them and the open concept main space will make it easy to keep an eye on all the blessings.

I didn't use our nursery for anything other than storing baby clothes for the first 6 months so although I had it ready early with my first I really don't see much utility in it unless you intend the baby to sleep in there from day 1. 

[tabitha2]

When you have a family the size of  Joys and the way some Fundie families travel for weddings, speaking engagements, Etc someone is alway visiting and staying a while.