I Like To Move It

Tomorrow is MOVING DAY! Finally.

It's been 207 days since we broke ground on our house and tomorrow, my friends, is the day we start to live in it.

It's been 207 days since the dream started to become a reality. Since we started pouring our blood, sweat and more than a few tears into this project.

We did as much of it ourselves as we could but we didn't do it by ourselves, by any means. My dad and Josh's dad spent HOURS out there with us, swinging hammers, pulling wire, laying tile, sharing our excitement and calming our fears. Josh's mom made numerous trips up to help watch the kids while we toiled at the house. Friends and other family have helped entertain the kids and have offered their support and encouragement throughout the whole process. Words alone will never be enough to show my gratitude for the helping hands that have brought us to this point.

Over the past months when I've told people that my husband and I were building a house, I got much the same response: "Wow, and you're still married?!" It seems building a house is stressful. I suppose it can be, and I can certainly see areas and moments that could have been very stressful, but I gotta be honest and say that it's been a great experience.

We acted as our own general contractor so were in control of everything ourselves instead of leaving it up to someone else. We didn't really have any expensive, unbudgeted surprises and there weren't any major delays or screw-ups. We had a fantastic framer/contractor who essentially built our entire house and did it with as much pride as if he were building his own house (Hi Framer Josh!). We were on the jobsite nearly every day, monitoring the progress, giving our input, helping where we could. Maybe our constant involvement kept things going smoothly. Or maybe we are just incredibly blessed.

I did alot of praying throughout this whole process. I prayed for good weather, I prayed for our safety while working, I prayed for prices to drop, I prayed for strength, both physical and mental, I prayed for comfort and calming of my fears, I prayed we were making good decisions. But tonight, on the way home from delivering a load of boxes to my new home, I prayed with a grateful heart, a prayer of thanks.

Aside from the wonderful blessing of my new home, I am so thankful for my husband. He has worked himself silly building this house for us. He has reassured and comforted me when I threatened to spin out of control with fear, promising it would all work out. He has made wise financial decisions for years that have enabled us to build this home. He has thought of all the little things that I didn't know to think of. I am so proud of all he has done, and all we have done together.

And tomorrow's just the beginning...