Romantic Cottage

 It wasn't long after my last blog post that we moved into the house. I was out of town for something one weekend and came home to a bed in our bedroom. Donnie had set it up and brought in some furniture. Our old chair and love seat are a bit too big for our new space. But we are making the pieces work for now. 

About a month ago we set up our kitchen. Donnie went to Lowe's and bought unfinished cabinets. I painted them Alpine Trail green. We got the single basin apron front farmhouse sink that I LOVE! It really does solidify the romantic cottage feel I was desiring. The butcher block counters are exactly what I wanted too. We sealed them with a food grade oil. I love the soft texture of them. When the warm sunlight filters through the kitchen windows on Saturday mornings I have sat there for hours reading recipe books or seed packets. Sometimes I'll bring my bar stool over to the kitchen counters and write in my journal there. It's a really lovely place to be on a weekend morning. (I leave the house during the week before the sun is up.)

Unfortunately I haven't been intentional about taking photos

One night last week we had some friends over for dinner and I spilled a little red wine on the butcher block counters. It left a purple stain. I didn't freak out. I didn't give it a second thought honestly. In a moment of realization I told my friend that "houses are meant for us, not us for our houses." The stain is endearing to me now and I'll probably leave it as a reminder of that truth.  

My prayer for this home is that all who enter feel comfortable and welcome immediately. I want it to be a place of rest and refuge. A place of joy and peace. A place where the presence of the Lord is tangible. I get super romantic about it. 

I've never been much of a decorator. In the past decorating felt more like a chore than a joy. But THIS house has inspired me. I'm filling it with functional and/or beautiful things. Like this oil painting I picked up from the Habitat Re-Store. 

I'm studying a lot these days about gardening. Recently I've become fascinated with the concept of Cottage Gardens. That term probably invokes some kind of image for you. I think of tall, wispy flowers on stalks. In doing some research on this the Cottage Garden is really a method of letting flowers grow and spread. It's the picture of a bountiful garden where the plants spill over the sides. It is where plants are given freedom to grow and not set up in small, individual spaces with predetermined sizes for them. And that is just what I want this space, our home, to be. A place where there is room for imagination and freedom. A place where people are more important than things. A place of love in all it's forms. 

Turn the Page

In the beginning things moved so slowly. It seemed like we would spend hours doing a task and see very little progress. The closer we get to finishing the house, the faster things are moving.

 The drywall took FOR-EV-ER. Donnie and I had originally planned to hire that out. He got a quote and didn't like it. He told me we would do it ourselves. Donnie hung all of the sheet rock and I helped here and there with the ceiling pieces. Seeing all of the work that lay before us, he said we would get another quote. It was higher than the first one. So.. I learned to tape and mud and sand. Dang...the sanding. I honestly don't know how those sheet rockers do it. It's a LOT of work!  

Pro Tip: sheet rock dust acts like dry shampoo. Just knock off the excess and rub in the rest. Voila!

Once the walls were all finished we painted the ceilings with Behr Polar Bear White and the walls Behr Simply White. There isn't another color on the walls at the moment. It's such a small space that I thought a darker color would make it feel smaller. 

After the ceiling and walls were all painted we started to get excited. It actually looks like a house now! We hung a couple of light fixtures in the dining and kitchen areas.

Last week Donnie put the backsplash around the fireplace and trimmed it out. We still need to finish the grout. 

Remember me telling you our house used to be a monkey kennel? Yeah, so the main part of the house had two drains in the concrete which required us to level it up before we could lay floor. We mixed concrete ourselves to fill in the majority of it then topped it off with self level. This ended up being quite the project and Donnie said if he had it to do over he would have someone pour concrete. 

We went to Lowe's and picked out our flooring. I really love the extra long and wide vinyl we chose. We went with the waterproof Smartcore Ultra XL in Sherwood Oak. We are 9 boxes away from finishing! 

This weekend we went to the storage building to bring home our kitchen table. It felt like a huge step. I hadn't seen our furniture in over a year! As I looked around I realized all of the pieces we have won't fit into our new home. But enough of that kind of thinking. We were just excited to have our kitchen table! It's big for the space. But we love it so much and can't imagine parting with it. 

(sorry I don't have a better picture)

Donnie and I have always enjoyed hosting friends and family. This was our only hang up with down sizing. We want people to feel welcome and comfortable in our home. We want to make room for guests. It may not seem like a big step to you, but bringing our kitchen table in meant the next chapter for us. 

We were able to invite some friends and family over to play cards. It was such a blessing! Doing life with others is a treasure. The season of Covid has created chasms in our relationships. If it isn't Covid it's politics and people's opinions/rights. I've seen more division in the last year than I can ever remember. I'm so thankful for the page to be turning for us as we begin to do life with others again. We need each other. 

And yes, the Yoga Trapeze is back too! It's that red and orange thing hanging from the ceiling. It's used for stretching and releasing the spine (inversion). There used to be a wooden beam standing in the middle of the living area. Donnie removed it and put up a steel beam for load bearing. Last week he and Luke painted it black and added some round hooks for me. :)

I've learned many lessons through the journey of building our home but I think the greatest one is probably coming to terms with things out of my control. Time tables that never go according to plan. I can't tell you how many times people ask us "so when are you moving in?" And the answer is always the same. I tell them what the next step is. There would be no point in setting an expected date of finish. I mean how do you even determine when it's finished? Seems like there will always be things to do. I look around and see the outside needing siding, the yard needs to be cleaned up, the trim put up, oh and not to mention we will need a kitchen! But I'm taking things one step at a time. Instead of getting overwhelmed and rushing ahead I've learned to enjoy the process as it comes. It wasn't an easy lesson. Flash back to all the nights of tears cried at our camper table feeling like we had bitten off more than we could chew. But in this season I can accept things as they come. And that has been a blessing. 

He’s my Best Friend

Today Donnie and I have been married for 16 years. That's also how many years difference there is between he and I. I am the same age now that Donnie was when we got married. My how time flies and at the same time it feels like a lifetime ago when we were raising our young boys together. 

There is so much I could say about all that we've been through but if feels cliché. No marriage is perfect. One thing that has changed over the years is our friendship. Donnie is my best friend. He knows me better than anyone else. And in this season of our lives we have settled into a rhythm of day to day life. 

I remember when the dream of building our home was only talk. I think we were bored. We used to say we needed a "project." We certainly reached that goal for ourselves. Last night I came home after work to Donnie sanding the sheet rock in the living room. I changed clothes and got to work painting the ceiling of our bedroom and laundry room. The walls in those rooms are officially finished now. Donnie even hung the TV in our room! The TVs seemed normal size in our previous house but now they look HUGE in our little space.

While I was finishing up the painting Donnie put on a pot of soup and made cornbread. We sat down and played a game of chess while eating dinner by the fireplace. This has become our new normal and I find it to be so very sweet. There's a blessing in the ability to enjoy the process of something. Finding contentment in the now. Seeing the beauty in the little things. Learning to appreciate every little accomplishment or even the rest days. 

You guys, I've never found walls to be more beautiful in my life. Everywhere I look I'm noticing sheet rock and wall paper. I've decided to bring some wall paper into our home! I can't wait to show you guys. It's going to be so cute.

I wanted to give a little update on the house but also take a moment to acknowledge how thankful I am to the Lord for bringing Donnie and I together. He was so gracious to us in that season of our lives. Our relationship has changed drastically over the years. It's morphed into something really beautiful. I respect and trust Donnie. We aren't perfect, obviously. But we enjoy each other's company and I think that is such a sweet gift. 

Happy Anniversary Babe. 

Chasing My Tail

When I started this blog I had every intention of sharing our journey with you. You being anyone interested in reading our story. So why has it been six months since my last post??

I have a tendency to care WAY too much about what people think. I let it control me sometimes and become super insecure. The idea of sharing our unconventional lifestyle with the public and opening myself up to everyone's opinions and ridicule would throw me into crippling anxiety. It got pretty bad for a minute. 

Then the Lord, in His kindness, sent someone to help me remember who I am in Jesus Christ. My friend pointed out the lies I've been believing. She reminded me of what is true. God totally used her to pick me up out of the muck I was so comfortable wallowing in. He set my feet on a firm foundation, wiped my eyes clear and knocked off the dirt. Just like us momma's do when our little ones fall down. My Father started to speak tenderly to me. He spoke things to my heart that were hard to hear but incredibly refreshing. The Lord is healing broken places in me and I'm regaining my desire to share with you again.

 

Donnie, Luke, and I have been on the Monkey Farm now for a year. One whole year that feels more like five. There have been moments when I was ready to sell the land and just buy a house. Especially around Christmas time. I love decorating for Christmas and some days I felt a bit trapped. But more days than not we have found joy in our cozy camper and home.

The house is coming along nicely now. Those early days were difficult to gain momentum. The task of building looming large before us. And honestly there were months when we didn't do one thing on the house. When the weather was nice Donnie went fishing, Luke went riding, and I went hiking. But now that winter is here we have been staying pretty steady. 

Here is a before and after of Donnie putting in our bedroom window. 

All of the sheetrock has been hung. 

(The dog in this photo does not belong to us.)

The tile to go around the fireplace is purchased. Donnie built us a really cool iron hearth to sit in front of the fireplace. We need all of the extra seating we can get. It is open underneath to stack wood in the winter. When you live small you look for ways to make things multifunctional.

Isn't my husband a great craftsman? He found a way to bring in some slate for me, lining the base of the hearth. I love slate! 

We spend our evenings and weekends mudding the drywall. I would like to think I've gotten pretty good at it. But honestly I think I've just improved from slinging mud all over the place. 

One of the hardest things for us through this whole process is not being able to invite friends over. We used to host game nights and dinners regularly. Now we rely on the hospitality of others. We are thankful for our friends! 

I'll take some more photos this weekend to share with you our progress. Thanks for reading! 

Blessings