Its been almost a year!!

I'm new to the whole blog thing. After I looked at the calendar and realized that the last 12 months have been some of the craziest of my life, I realized I needed to take a few minutes to keep track of some of the smaller things that happen in my life. As a little background, I am a wife to a wonderful husband, mom to 2 beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed, (not as Irish as their names may sound) little boys. I am building my Mary Kay business in whatever spare time I can muster up, and loving every minute of girl time I can get.

Just under a year ago my husband and I sold our 4 bedroom house in Mason City and moved to Nashua, where my husband grew up. We moved back because my husband had been laid off from his job the November before and he had been helping his parents out in his free time. We moved out of a 4 bedroom house into a small, no tiny, 2 bedroom rental house in town. Crazy, I know. The only upside..the backyard was HUGE and literally steps from the elementary school playground.

Our oldest son was still attending 3-yr old preschool in Mason City 2 days a week, so twice a week we would drive 45 minutes to preschool, I would run errands, have prenatal appointments, or visit friends, and 2 hours later we would drive 45 minutes home. Crazy, I know. The end of May was a little bittersweet, no more spending half a day on the road twice a week, but no longer did I have my 3 year old occupied for 2 full mornings a week.

As the snow began to melt, my husband and I became more and more sure that this was where we were going to stay put and raise our kids, and that a 2 bedroom house with 4 people, one of them being an infant, was going to be unbearable, so we started looking for a more permanent housing solution. And what did we discover...we're picky!! We wanted 4 bedrooms, a big kitchen, attached garage, a great view, a few acres for the kids to play, and of course we wanted all of that on a paved road, and in our price range. Well that house didn't exist, yet. So instead of house hunt, we began land hunting. Lots of great building sites, but no one was willing to sell. So the in-laws say "What about Camp Swampy?" We laughed. Then thought about about it, and decided to go ahead and build a house on land that is called 'Camp Swampy' for a reason. Crazy, I know. It was April, we figured we could move in by the end of October, Thanksgiving at the VERY latest.

It is the wettest land I have ever seen, mostly because there is a natural spring bubbling up through the ground at the low end. The solution...dig a pond, and not a basement. No basement? in Iowa? during tornado season? Crazy, I know. But once we designed a concrete block bomb, I mean tornado, shelter into the house plans, we were ready to build. Well, we were ready to start applying for permits so we could start building. We started the process in April, it took a while because we wanted to put a driveway on a state highway. By the end of May the paperwork was in order and we were ready to start moving dirt. Then it rained, for 2 months straight. On a normal site, some earthwork could have gotten done, but not in Camp Swampy where it takes a week to dry out from a 1/2 inch rain.

I don't think I have ever had to have as much patience as I did during May, June, and July of last year. The rental house was getting smaller and smaller as we prepared for another baby boy. Progress on the new house was...non-existent at best for most of 3 months. It was getting hot, the A/C didn't work most of the summer, and being due the beginning of July, I was 8 months pregnant and very uncomfortable. I took my almost 4 year old on lots of walks, and did everything in my power to help that baby decide to grace us with his presence just a little early. After a false alarm in early June, we decided not to go to a much anticipated wedding in Chicago. I also wanted that baby to hurry up and arrive because his great-grandma in Texas was diagnosed with cancer, and didn't have much time left to meet her great-grandson. Unfortunately, she passed away 5 days before the baby was born. It took a couple weeks to make arrangements for her service, so we were home from the hospital by the time my husband's family was home. I know his great-grandma would have loved to get to see pictures of another great-grand baby, but at least he was able to meet lots of family that hadn't been all together since our wedding. 

So now its July, we have a newborn to take care of, a totally new schedule to adapt to, and the house is a good three months behind schedule. Well, if the earthwork crew gets the foundation done first, and we work really hard, and are OK with only having most of the work done, we can still move in by Thanksgiving, 4 1/2 months. Crazy, I know. The rest of July flew boy. Our oldest turned 4, the little one grew and changed everyday, and we waited some more.

August came and went. I kept my tradition of going to the State Fair every year, this time with a 4 week old. Crazy, I know. Our 4 year old started Pre-K, and loved it, and the baby continued to change and grow. And FINALLY... the last week of August the earthwork crew was ready for us to start building a house. Thanksgiving was now 3 months away, yes THREE. But we could still be moved in by Thanksgiving, if we worked REALLY hard.

Labor Day weekend consisted of laying block, more block, and more block. I didn't even have to do the hard part, but 36 hours of work in one long weekend made me thankful that there were no more long weekends before Thanksgiving. In fact, I don't think there were any weekends between then and Thanksgiving. We took off one Sunday for our son's baptism, a Saturday to tailgate with the family for my grandma's 80th birthday, and a weekend because my husband was in a friend's wedding. 3 months, 4 days off. Crazy, I know. But we REALLY wanted to move in to that house.

On November 21st, the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving, we moved out of the rental house and into the new house. I had no kitchen counter tops (or sink), the master bedroom and bathroom were completely unfinished, but we had 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, and most of a kitchen. We were totally and utterly exhausted. My in-laws were too, as the boys had spent almost every evening at their house while we worked on the house. There was still plenty to be done on the house, but we needed a vacation. So a vacation we took. A whirlwind trip for an amazing Thanksgiving Day game in a suite with amazing food, all the beverages we cared to drink, and back to my hometown to celebrate my parents' 30th wedding anniversary with a family photo session and a family brunch.

December was much less rushed and chaotic than the previous 3 months. I unpacked and organized as much as I could. Christmas shopping got done, some decorations got put up (a village without lights and a beautifully decorated tree). The finishing touches got put on the concrete floors, and the concrete counter tops in the kitchen finally became a reality. After the crazy schedule we had been working, things seemed to be coming to a crawl. Christmas was spent with our families making memories, and yet another year came to an end.

The next month and a half was spent finishing up the kitchen, and turning the master bath and bedroom from a work zone to a place I can actually enjoy and relax in. The to-do list is getting shorter, and the final completion date has been set for an Open House in March, 6 1/2 months after we poured the footings. Crazy, I know.

And here we are, a year later. We have another child, who is crawling, eating finger foods, and has his own distinct personality. Our 4 year old has changed schools, made new friends, and has learned about every step of house building (and if you ask he would love to tell you about it) We have moved twice, and hopefully will never have to do it again. Our marriage survived building a house, and so did my sanity. And much to my surprise, I found time to work my business in all this craziness, and I'm so glad that I did.

And after all that craziness, I feel the need to pay more attention to the little things in life. So that's what this blog is going to be about. Focusing on the little things in this crazy thing we call life.