There’s one home improvement foe that everyone hates. It’s sticky and tedious and miserable. Peeling off wallpaper. Nobody likes to scrape tiny pieces of outdated wallpaper off their walls. Scraping and scraping and scraping some more, wondering how in the world this horrendous print was ever in style, but trying not to offend your relatives who put the wallpaper up many years ago. The excitement of a huge piece peeling off an area is exhilarating. Then you grab for another piece and half an inch peels off. The excitement is over. Back to scraping tiny little pieces.

One thing my mother and I learned is it helps to wet the wallpaper. After scratching at immovable dry paper, dust flying and arms burning, we discovered the sponge. I will NEVER again peel wallpaper off without the beloved sponge.

My family and I have been trying to get the home ready that my fiancé, Jacob, and I will live in when we’re married in September. Painting, laying down floor tiles, changing out light fixtures and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning having been taking over our lives. I’m so grateful for my parents and grandparents who have been helping me get the house ready while Jacob is away. Mama should’ve been an interior designer. She’s made that bathroom from the 70s with the brown tile and brown paneling look like a modern nautical masterpiece, with fresh blue and cream paint and light floor tiles.

And if you want to work out your arms (and your whole body for that matter), use a paint roller. On the entire interior of your house. I’m not going to want to see paint for a long time after this is finished. Rolling over paneling is no fun. Good thing I have a wonderful family who is helping with everything. I wouldn’t be able to do it all by myself.

I’ve just been walking around the house, imagining what it’s going to look like when it’s all finished. That’s what keeps me going when the unpainted great room and list of improvements overwhelm me. What’s even more overwhelming is that Jacob and his four-year-old daughter, Paisley, have had to move in already. Working around the big pile of furniture and boxes in the living room sounds like climbing Mount Everest. I’m glad Jacob is so laid back. He just walks around the mess, getting things done, while I stare at it, breathing heavily.

Paisley seems to be content. Right outside our windows are two horses and a pony. Across the road is my uncle and aunt’s swimming pool, and a few feet away is my MoMo, who always has a snack and a storybook ready. Yesterday, Paisley helped feed the horses, went swimming and played at MoMo’s house. I walked in her room I had begun to organize and tiny little toys known as “Squinkies” were EVERYWHERE. She has made herself at home.

Meanwhile, the grown-ups are getting angry at resolute paper and trying to slather on enough paint to avoid that dreaded second coat. Floor tiles have to fit around the toilet and it’s hard not to strip old screws. The house is slowly blooming into a home for my soon-to-be family.

Lifestyles Editor Jessica Boyd can be reached at The Daily LEADER at 601-833-6961 ext. 134, by email at jessica.boyd@dailyleader.com or you can write to her at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, MS 39602.