So many of you have been so supportive during our journey of building our *hopefully* forever home! It was so bittersweet leaving behind the home we built in 2007. It was the home we brought 2 babies home to, the home where I had my first studio, the home we hosted so many birthday parties and Christmas mornings and Thanksgiving dinners... But it had served its purpose and we knew it was time to move on.
We sold our home on Brooklyn last April and by mid-May we were in what we've lovingly named "The Little House". Isla would get so confused when we talked about what house we were going to in the transition last year, that we had to name our rental for her to understand! While not ideal, The Little House has been good to us! It was brand new when we moved in and is on a super quiet cul-de-sac. Shortly after we moved in a new pool and new fitness center opened up literally in our backyard which has been a God-send for my goals of getting in better shape! Looking around The Little House, it looks very similar to our Brooklyn house; same color scheme and very similar layout. It's just smaller! I think it's been a good transition out of our previous tastes in decorating into the newness that will be our "Farmhouse".
The journey to building our new house hasn't been an easy one!! It seems every exciting moment is followed by a disappointment or set-back. Even from before we chose our builder, it's been a road of ups and downs! The lot we chose ended up being one that a lot of houses wouldn't even fit on, even though by looking at it, it looks like you could build 2 houses on it! I don't understand it all but there are things underground on part of the lot that can't be built on. We chose the lot because it was so big and because looking out across the street is wide open land that won't ever be built on. [Sidebar here... If it were up to me, we'd live on a couple acres outside of KC, but with Jeremy working for KCPD, we have to live in city limits. AND... we really wanted to keep Ryan and eventually, Isla, going to Bell Prairie. After the redrawing of the elementary boundaries last year, the BP options were quite limited!] So, we settled for a larger lot and a sliver of open land across the street! After meeting with several builders, we saw that it wasn't going to be an easy road and at one point we even considered giving up the lot.
Jeremy was out one night with my old boss and in the process of telling our woes, he recommended McFarland Custom Homes (because he is a contractor for them!) We set up a meeting, found a floorplan we kind-of liked and after some tweaks, found out it fit on the lot, but BARELY! We had to forego a roofed patio in the back, but IT FIT!
So fast forward to this week. It had been 2 weeks since anyone had worked on our house. We found out last week that our closing date was moved to April 15th. Originally it was February 28th. And yesterday I just felt defeated. I told Ryan that it didn't even feel like it was our house anymore; it was such a distant dream.
Today we drove by and the last windows had been put in. We then walked through the house again and all of the visions that I've worked so hard to get out of my head and accomplished, came flooding back and warmed me to the core. I'm still not happy about the delay, but it'll be worth it!
I honestly will miss The Little House... but the possibilities waiting for us in our Farmhouse will be amazing!
If you'd like to follow the rest of our journey, you can follow us on Instagram!
So, thank you for your continued support! I can't wait to get into the new studio and get those visions out of my head too. Make sure you're following the only.young.once Instagram account as well as my Facebook page for updates as the date gets closer! I'm brainstorming on a give-away for the first client to schedule in the studio as well as an open-house! You won't want to miss those announcements!
Until the next update...
