Memorial Day weekend, 2001, we moved into our house...well, what we were calling a house. We had a roof, running water and electricity, but the kitchen was makeshift, we still had mostly sub flooring, only a couple of windows and the drywall was not done...glorified camping is how we came to describe it. Over the course of the summer, more and more pieces were completed and by the time baby was born, 10 days early, in October, we considered the house to be "livable" by most peoples standards. Four weeks later, we served our first Thanksgiving dinner in our own home...very precious memories!
Above: The bathroom with one outlet still to be finished. Below: The view out the living room windows. Notice we still didn't have all the drywall and trim done.
The kitchen had become fully functioning by this time and with my Mom and Mother-in-law's help, we had quite a feast!
The 13 months we spent, from signing the contract on the land to serving a holiday meal in our home were some of the hardest on our marriage. I learned a lot about myself, my husband and how we work together. I also learned how to share my thoughts and how to really listen, to make sure we were both heard. I also learned a lot about compromise. A 50 year-old corn crib is not flexible or easily manipulated. My plans had to fit the building, not the other way around. I learned to work within the parameters, but also how to think outside of what was normal to find another way of looking at something.
In the end, I found the character of the building had built a lot of character in me...and that was worth more than we could have ever afforded!
The story really doesn't end here, but I'll pause here...
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