Where it all began

What a whirlwind these last four months have been. I guess it all started this past Spring when we happened upon this old farmhouse. It was clearly unoccupied and appeared that it had been vacant for some time. We couldn't get it out of our heads. We started dreaming about what it could look like if it was fixed up. On top of that, the house was in an agreed upon, maybe-some-day location. A little bit country but still close to civilization. And so the wheels began to turn.

We started to put some feelers out there...asking neighbors we knew, emailing the mom of a classmate of a nephew...you know, the normal stalker activities one might perform to make a dream happen. What we found out was that the house WAS empty but not really for sale. Okay, that's fine...probably for the best. Right?

Wrong. Thursday, July 2, 2015, Ben's mom texted us a picture of a "For Sale by Owner" sign with two phone numbers. Ben called immediately and set up a showing for the next morning. At this point we started seeing God's hand orchestrating ridiculous "yes" moments and coincidences that we just couldn't deny. Both Ben and I had that Friday off but hadn't cancelled our Friday morning daycare plans for the boys. We had felt a little guilty originally about that, but then immediately decided it was for the best to not have them with us as we really explored the house for the first time.

Needless to say...we fell in love the next day. I honestly think I knew from that moment on that life as we knew it would not be the same again. We found out a lot of information about the house but quickly realized how much work it really did need. We knew we had some homework to do if we were going to pursue this.

We thought and prayed about it the rest of that day. We knew there would be a lot of interest in the house, based on location and price-point. The next morning we called again to set up another showing, and this time took our parents along. Both Ben's parents and my parents had bought old fixer upper houses back in the day, so we come by it honestly. With such a big life decision, and knowing we would need a lot of help from our families to pull it off, we wanted their support. So the six of us, two toddler boys, and the selling family met at the farmhouse on July 4, 2015. God bless America.

Long story short, all of our parents were on board but cautiously so...we received some words of warning and advice based on their own past experiences. The best part of that day was all of the Dutch Bingo that ensued...so many connections. My dad knew the owner's grandson (and our new neighbor) from work. One of the owner's daughter's is Ben's old boss' sister-in-law. We'll call him Chief. The same daughter is the mother of one of Ben's sister's best friends. I could go on and on...but the point is we couldn't ignore the ways everything seemed to be coming together.

We kept doing our research. Ben's uncle (builder) came to look at it and give an honest opinion. Since he was closing in on retirement, he wasn't looking to take on the job but he was more than willing to make sure we weren't biting off more than we could chew. Ben talked with several other contractors to start getting an idea of what it would really cost to fix this place. I started looking into financing options to take on such a big project. Chief, who is now a realtor in his "retirement", did a walk through of our house in Zeeland to see what we could sell it for.

In the ends, we decided to take a leap of faith and throw out an offer. We felt like it was the max we were willing to risk on this project, but also thought it might be a little lower than what the family wanted. Well...they accepted. That was the first "oh crap" moment. Kidding. But not kidding. We found out they accepted on July 16, 2015. We left for vacation for a week on July 18. So we made a huge life decision and then checked out. Typical...

Vacation was great. But we came back with a sense of dread, knowing there was a LOT to do. We decided on a Renovation Loan from Wells Fargo, which required us to have a general contractor. At first we were bummed about that, since we pride ourselves in our DIY skills. Now, we send up a "hallelujah" every time we talk to our contractor and feel such a sense of relief that he's on top of everything. We are still doing a chunk of the work ourselves, but he is managing and coordinating. Another coincidence...our contractor's dad helped my parents renovate their old house 25 years ago. They took the roof off and added a garage/master suite, similar to what we are doing now. Second generation of crazy.

I digress. We got a loan that rolls the purchase price of the home plus all of the renovations we wanted/needed to do into one mortgage. Slick. Our loan officer was awesome. And my big brother Doug was in the loop to make sure we were taken care of.

In the meantime, we listed our house in Zeeland with Chief on August 6 and had three full-asking-price offers by August 8. So that was awesome. Best part was we only had to get two kids, two cats and one dog out of the house two times to make that happen.

At this point our plan was to get enough work done on the house early enough so that we could move right from one house to the next. Then the insurance guys stepped in and said we couldn't. Apparently nobody in their right mind would insure a house needing that much work while people were living in it, and could only insure it as a vacant dwelling. Understandable...I guess. As Ben would say, "too much government." So another God moment...we are renting the house RIGHT NEXT DOOR to the farmhouse. The couple we bought the farmhouse from also owns this house, so it all worked out very well. Not only do we have a comfortable space to be that is not imposing on our parents, but we can watch everything happen. And we can walk over whenever we want. And we can keep the cats there. They are loving it, actually.

So we packed up and moved out of Zeeland on October 17. We have some stuff in a PODS unit, some stuff at the rental, and some stuff at the farmhouse. Oh and some in Ben's dad's barn. We're settling into life out here in the country. It was a struggle to find internet. And well water tastes funny. Ben is rolling his eyes. He would drink mud if it meant he could live in the country.

That brings us to today. A lot of stuff is happening at the farmhouse. We have completely gutted one bathroom, and it is now re-plumbed, has new floor joists and has fresh drywall. We have a brand new septic tank and a mighty tall drain field (by the way, I didn't know what a "drain field" was 4 months ago. And now I know a lot). The footings and walls are poured for the new garage addition. The foundation has been sealed and graded so the Michigan basement stays dry. The electrical has all been updated. The roof has been replaced. We have a long ways to go, but we will get there. So far there have been no major fights. I think we each know what we're willing to cave on and save our brass knuckles for the parts we each really want. That, or we just have the same taste. Which is not true. I have had to demote Ben to "Design Associate" already (that's something I stole from the show "Fixer-Upper", which we can't watch anymore because we don't have cable). He needs to redeem himself if he's going to get back up to equal status in decor decisions. Wink.

I feel like I have already forgotten a lot about the last four months. As I said before, it's been a whirlwind. And it's not really going to get better for a while...but we are trying to enjoy the process! The first time we saw the house, one of the owner's daughter's said "It's a great house...it just needs a woman's touch and a little bit of love." I know it's only a house, but we do feel like God called us to give it another chance. Several, several people said it would be better to tear it down and start over. We're so thankful for everyone we have on board now to make sure that doesn't have to happen.

Farmhouse as it stood in July

Who doesn't see the potential?? Honestly. What a gem.

Taking some trees down

This guy. In his glory on his dad's old Ford.

He's two and excited to move south (5 miles)

It's ours! September 30, 2015

Digging around the foundation

so.much.dirt. and laundry.

this happened...

view of the farmhouse from the rental. I woke up that morning thinking, wow, not in Kansas anymore!

Highest maintenance house this side of Ottogan Ave

pouring the walls for the garage

Brother/Sister demo duo. Thanks Tim!

Got myself with a Stanley Wonderbar.