My fiance (未婚夫) and I were excited about shopping for our first home. But our funds were______, and none of the houses in our price range seemed satisfactory.

One agent______a house in particular. Although her description sounded wonderful, the price was______our range, so we refused. But she kept urging us to have a look______. We finally did and it was______at first sight. It was Our Home, small and charming, overlooking a quiet lake. Walking through the rooms and talking with the owners, a nice elderly couple, we felt the warmth and______of the marriage within that home. As perfect as it was , the price remained too high for us. But every day, we would sit by the lake, looking at the house and dreaming of______it would be like to live there.

Days later, we made a(n)______far below the asking price. Surprisingly, they didn’t______ us. They renewed their offer______. It was also much more than we could afford, but far______than the original asking price.

The next day, we got a______message that another buyer had offered a much higher price. Even so , we decided to talk with the______directly. We made our final offer, which______was thousands of dollars less than the other buyer’s bid. We knew it,______we had to try.

When 19-year-old Chloe Mitchell’ s senior trip was canceled because of the pandemic, she knew she couldn’t just lie around the house. Not only is she an ______ volleyball player with a healthy lifestyle, but she’s also a teenager. Being ______ in the house all day with your parents isn’t ideal — no matter how much you love them.

“I was bored. I was really depressed because quarantine (隔离) had taken away my senior year,” she explained. “I needed something to ______ worries in my mind. I needed ______ . labor I needed space ______ my family.”

As a self-described DIY obsessive (痴迷者), Mitchell saw the shabby shed (破旧小屋) in the yard, a relaxing space to call her own. Unfortunately, as she set about ______ the forgotten shed into a stylish vacation home — “She Shed”, Mitchell was upset that social-distancing rules meant she couldn’t invite her friends over. So she decided to share the ______ with her 34 followers on TikTok, ______ close friends, letting them know every step she did during the following days.

Over the next 10 days, Mitchell began to ______ the contents of her small shed first so that it could be cleaned easily. After that, she wiped down the original wooden beams (梁) before giving them a fresh layer of white ______ . Once the paint had dried, she hung fairy lights, ______ the space with plants and added a television and refrigerator donated by neighbors. She ______ built herself a daybed (躺椅) and bought a little bed for her dog, Lilly.

Happy to be out in the sun, putting her DIY skills to good ______ and sharing the experience with her friends, Mitchell could never have ______ what happened next. Known as “She Shed Girl”, Mitchell now has a(an) ______ 2.7 million followers on TikTok, ______ she shares DIY tips and moments of her life as a freshman at Aquinas College in Michigan. ______ by the success of her first work, Mitchell turned her attention to the family’s pool house, imagining it as a charming pub shed.

Commenting on Mitchell’s ______ shed renovation (翻新), the experts at Му Tool Shed DIY said, “Pressure levels have ______ rapidly in the last year due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now more than ever people need time to do something they love. Having a ______ space like a ‘She Shed’ can be perfect for this.”

Linda from Florida was setting up her new home. She badly needed furniture (家具) but couldn’t _________ to buy anything new or used. So she decided to look for free furniture on the website Craigslist.

She was _________ to find a lovely furniture set that was being _________ for free. It looked _________ used and Linda knew she could make a comfortable home for her family with the furniture.

Linda then contacted the owners of the free furniture. _________ she got it home, she began to set up the house as all mothers do. But she noticed something a little _________ about one of the chairs. It looked like something big was under its cover.

To her _________, she found some envelopes full of money! Instead of keeping it, she _________ right away she needed to contact the owners of the furniture set and give the money back. She didn’t even bother to _________ it. Even though it was a(n) __________ to make ends meet, Linda never thought once about __________ it.

Much to her surprise, she later __________ there was over $36,000 in cash. The owners of the furniture had no idea! In fact, they didn’t know why their parents __________ money by hiding envelopes of money in furniture.

Linda’s __________ turned into a double blessing (好事). Not only did she find free furniture, but she also got a(n) __________ from the owners of the furniture as well! They gave her $2,200 in cash to help her buy a new fridge that she badly needed.