.:THE BEFORE PICS:.

 welcome to our new old house

 double yikes. scary.

 old radiator holes

 nicely preserved build ins, just all mismatched stains

 yikes.

 this is where barney watched the Charlotte Hornets

 can any one smell the cat pee?

 is that astro turf?

 the world is my canvas???

 can you see where they hung pictures?

this is her day of possession, Jan 12 2011

.:WHY RENOVATE :: THE BACK STORY:.

Its easy, fast and super cheap are probably not the correct answers.  Anyone who has ever renovated knows it takes twice as long, costs three times as much and is 10 times harder than imagined.  But… we are loving it.  A year and a half ago we were living in a new house in a cozy little subdivision.  We were quite happy with our cookie-cutter-mass-produced housing development. But every month that was about all we could do...live there.  Gas had gone up, food had gone up, medical expenses were and are our constant companions.   But there is so much more to this life than simply existing.  So much in our hearts to do.  


We were just struck by how fast life is passing us by and we want to make it count. We watched as fantastic opportunities presented themselves to us, and it was as if we were strapped down and watching them walk by.  It was one of those simple choices with long-term effects.  Either income had to go up, or expenses had to scale down.  But since I love my job, and we would do anything to afford Sara the opportunity to be home molding and shaping our 3 boys, out came the for sale by owner sign.  First round was January to June.  20-some showings.  No bites.  We took June off for family vacation and for Sara to have thyroid surgery.  Put back up the sign and sold in 2 weeks.

The next few months were a blur.  Turns out the aforementioned surgery revealed cancer, and I had an emergency hernia blow out… without going into personal details, lets just say it was of the worst sort. So we moved with a 5 pound lifting restriction and both of us with freshly-healing scars.  Huge thanks to the Grace College soccer team!  They moved our whole house in under 2 hours down the road to a rented farm house.


And the journey continues...