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The Library Pt. 4
Guess where I am right now? Yes, it’s true. The library is officially complete and I’m curled up on the day bed with a mug of hot tea. Dreams do come true. But not without having worked for them. I can take a sigh of relief now that it’s over, but it’s been a journey to get here and it started all the way back in June of last year. If you’d like to rewind where it all began nearly 8 months ago, please refer to The Library Pt. 1-3. Working on this room has taught me a lot, both in renovating old walls and cultivating a renewed sense of…
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Hello, again.
You know when there’s something you should do but you keep putting it off? Other things come up and whatever ‘it’ is just gets pushed further down the line. That’s what writing has felt like to me the past couple months. When I begin to fall silent with recording my words, that’s usually when our day jobs and the work of this house collide into many long nights. But I’m happy to announce as of yesterday, a very big project is now nearly complete (more on that coming soon). But for now, Gavin’s been called in to plow and salt the roads the last two nights. I don’t know how…
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The Library: Pt. 3
Spent Friday night working on the walls in this room. I should say wall (singular) because that was my goal. One wall scraped clean and spackled. It’s ironic how something as simple as smooth walls can take so much effort to get there. I carried the little TV from our bedroom, made some tea, got some snacks and resolved to devote my evening to this task. Being without a cellphone currently left me unencumbered by the added heaviness that it possesses. I felt free to a certain extent and lost myself somewhere in the middle of balancing on a ladder and chipping away at the years that came before me.…
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Thanksgiving 2019
Gavin and I drove to my parent’s house for Thanksgiving lunch yesterday. I’m becoming increasingly grateful for times like these. My work at The Salvation Army has opened my eyes to see first-hand that many aren’t as fortunate to have a good meal with loved ones. After we were done eating, Gavin & I were able to pick out a Christmas tree in my parent’s lot. Our second annual tree from there. My parents have been growing them for about a decade. It’s exciting that they’re tall enough to cut and enjoy for Christmas. When I got back inside my parent’s house, my mom said that Luke was getting ready…
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The Pavilion
I think God has a sense of humor. As I begin to describe yet another component of this property, I think back to how I used to be before this endeavor. I was watching Tiny House Nation and contemplating if life could best be lived between the walls of 600 square feet. My grandparents were the opposite. So, the pavilion, as it’s known as, sits up to the pond. If you open up one of the back sliding doors, you could step out & fall right in. The intention being to build a deck off of it in the future. The vaulted ceiling is beautiful with cedar boards running length…
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10 Lessons I’m Learning from this House
I thought about titling this post “10 Lessons I’ve Learned” but that wouldn’t be accurate. That’d imply that I’ve checked them off like a to-do list but the truth is, these are things I continually remind myself of every day. So without further ado, here’s what I’ve been learning: #1 Good things take (a lot) of time. I used to jump into projects with all the novelty and excitement needed to propel me forward. Well, that eventually wears off and pure, hard work takes its place followed by a healthy dose of patience. And from experience now, I realize each project we’ve worked on has taken about 4x the amount…
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Childlike Wonder
My mom picked up my sister’s twins, Hannah and Alissa, from school & brought them out to the house today for a visit. They’ve grown since the last time I’ve seen them almost half a year ago it seems like. Their faces have lost the subtle baby-like features. They’re growing into beautiful young ladies, approaching eight years old by the end of the month. I think back just a few summers ago, putting their hair in lopsided pigtail poofies on top of their heads, dressing them in my old tie die shirts they wore like dresses down to their chubby little toes. My hippie babies. They bounded through the front…
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Grey House Pt. 2
Four Saturdays, two Sundays and countless hours after work filling the days in-between to complete cleaning out underneath the grey house. I’d like to give a special thank-you to Gavin’s friends: Lenny, Tyler & Ryan for their help in moving many of the big, clunky objects and heavy furniture pieces. The following photos are a synopsis of what we found and how we started to organize everything . . .
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Journal Entry
Went to my brother & sister-in-laws house today with Gavin. They had a large oak tree that came down awhile ago in their yard. We could use the firewood and they wanted it gone so it worked out well for both of us. It was a blessing spending time with them and seeing my little nephew grow up before my eyes never fails to astonish me. It’s a wonder how much change can happen within a month or two. We saw him on his 1st birthday in late July and since then, he’s running and has learned baby sign language. We were asked when we’d like to have a child…
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Grey House Pt. 1
Settling in to write this morning at 5:53 am feels like returning to an old friend. The quiet darkness before the dawn is a salve to my busy mind. I can take a deep breath and reunite with putting written words to this season of life. Gavin and I took a vacation to Florida earlier this month. Every day was a new adventure, just me and him: a long awaited honeymoon or a one year anniversary trip, I can’t decide what name to give it, but I’d like to capture each moment of sand and sun and carefree smiles and hold them close to my heart forever. We returned on…
