Weekend Coffee Share.......Building a House

Front of house now. The part on the right is the new section we are finishing.

Back of house now. The part on the left is what we are finishing now.

Before we built a house, I never thought twice when someone said "we're building a house". Now I question (sometimes only in my head), "as in, with your own hands, or are you hiring someone to build your house". Why? Because we did (and still are) build(ing) this house with our own hands...It took 2 1/2 years to complete the first phase. The second phase sat framed for several years before we could start working on it again, and hopefully we'll be able to finish that with any luck by the end of this year, but maybe next year. This next part we are having to hire parts out because my hubby's job just doesn't allow for him to have the time to do it. It's hard work, but it does feel good to know you did this almost all by yourself. Okay, my hubby and friends did most of it, but I painted, supplied food, and moral support. 

Before we built a house, I never thought much about the phrase "hindsight is 20/20. We had a plan, a house plan that is, however, we didn't take into account our daughters becoming crazy dedicated soccer players, with games every weekend for the rest of their lives (well, until they were seniors in HS). We didn't anticipate my husband, rather suddenly needing to make a shift in jobs that left him little time to get a house done. We didn't anticipate codes changing which then somewhat forced us to make a decision to revamp our house plan. Had we had that hindsight, we would have went much simpler, and finished it all at once, but you can't go back, so no sense dwelling on it.

Before we built a house, I had grand ideas...now I just want to be done, (knowing, that I'll then want to redo things in the part we've been living in since 2008, because there are things I want to redo already....lol). I've had several friends in the time we've spent trying to finish our house have houses built and sometimes we can become a bit envious. I'm just ready to be done building so we can maybe landscape (someday). There have been times we've been tempted to sell our home, let someone else finish it. But would we be happy with that? I don't know. Because we did this ourselves, our costs were lower, and to be honest, we couldn't afford this house if we were to buy or rent another, so would we then have to settle? So many questions.  Will this be our forever home? I don't know. Time will tell I suppose. I feel like it will be, but one never knows, right?

We got married in 1992. We lived in 2 apartments, a single wide trailer on our church property and then purchased our first home in 1997, a little over a year after our first daughter was born. We lived there until 2006. I had always wanted property, and a husband and wife we knew owned a home about 3 minutes drive from our home and we housesat for them on occasion. They had known my husband for years, I had him make special golf clubs for my hubby one year (and this man would later become one of daughters golf coaches). They had a few acres around the corner from their home that had Christmas trees on it. We told them if they ever considered selling, to let us know. Well they did and gave us an amazing price, and the journey began. 

Clearing property with a young adult from our church.

We actually let our girls choose their room colors and they painted themselves. After the walls were painted they traced circles on the walls and painted those. It was cool. They loved it.

They were always up for an adventure to the property. Our oldest was 11ish at the time and our youngest was 8ish.

It's been long, it's been slower than snot, but it's also been fun, It's been such a learning experiencing, for all of us. My hubby is so handy and has experience in building which made it possible to do this. Our girls homeschooled and often school days were spent on the property, doing actual school work, or helping with little projects that they could do. It got tricky when they started playing club soccer and then hubby's job changed, but I'm thankful for the process, for being able to do what we've done. We've learned a lot. Learned what we'd do the same and what we'd do different. 

This weekend we are heading to look at floor samples, and appliances for the second phase. Then countertops in a few weeks. So many choices, that it can be overwhelming. My hubby and I often have very different taste so it will be interesting. 

Our first Christmas in our house was magical. It snowed over two feet, and I loved being snowed in my own house. 

I won't bore you with much more. You are welcome to search "building" if you have time and want to see other posts about our journey. I think I'll make a tab for it on the blog landing page at some point. I actually started this blog while we were living with an older gal from our church while we built. We lived with her for 2 1/2 years. What a journey that was too. 

I had planned to share some photos but realized I had so many it was hard to choose. So you are welcome to head to my Facebook page, and check out "this album", and "this album". 

So maybe if we were having coffee, and we were at my house, I'd give you a better tour, though I feel like things are a bit disorganized right now. I need someone to come in and give my home a "decorating makeover"....ha! I always see ideas I love but never implement or have the funds to implement them. 

Check out all the other posts on Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. I'm off to go visit some now. #weekendcoffeeshare

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin