July 6th has been an exciting day in our house. 3 years ago we closed on our land and construction loan and 1 year ago we sold the home we thought would be forever. (read about that here) I imagined that 1 year later we would be in our new house but that isn’t the case.
The last year of our lives have been fairly difficult. We moved out of our house thinking we would need a place to stay for about a week while we got electricity and water to the shop but the electric company was behind and that week turned into over a month! We had gracious friends and between 2 families welcoming all 7 of us, and hotel stays we made it work (I won’t say it was stress free!)
House plans took longer to finalize than we expected, loan process took longer than expected, so we didn’t even get to start dirt work until NOVEMBER! Then weather kept us delayed and framing wasn’t completed until January. It has been the longest process but that is certainly how construction goes, especially if you are doing a lot of the work yourself in “free time”.
In the fall we had to make a really hard choice. We knew we had to close our business of 13 years. This was not easy nor what we had planned but it opened the door for us to do something we both had dreamed to do. Joel applied for his contractors license and together we are now building and creating for other people! How fun to get to work with your spouse using both your gifts and talents? Joel has the knowledge and skill to do the work and I help with the design and management aspect.
I wanted to share a few pictures from a photo shoot we had done a few weeks ago (on the hottest day so far this year, in our house with no AC yet!). I had a vision to capture us in the building process. Our kids, in action, by our side helping us build our house. They all help along the way, from picking up trash, to helping move tools, paint, stain, caulk, and so on.
We are all so thankful for Joel’s hard work and his dedication to our family!
Since we are doing this as a business I also wanted to capture Joel and I working together.
We try to have fun in the process! It is stressful living in the shop, trying to run a new business, and build our house BUT we really try to have fun as often as we can!
The house has changed so much since these pictures! Countertops are in, flooring is much further, we have lights (and electricity!). We are currently working on finishing floors and lots of little details. Tile work will start soon too. We are waiting to paint the exterior until we move in and it is a little cooler.
This journey is full of ups and downs, fun and chaos, smiles and tears. It is real, unscripted, and rarely goes as planned but we all are learning along the way and making the best of each step!
(photo credit to Whorton Films)
All the things 