First Year Update
The year has not quite gone as planned. Who am I kidding? Nothing has gone even remotely close to our general plan. I could go on and on – I’ll spare yall the details and just give highlights.

By September, we had managed to get the house “live-ably dry”. Is that even a word? Eh, it works. And mostly around budget. And all without contracting anything out. Which technically was our original goal. Not bad for some folks with no building experience! Thank you Google and YouTube!

No, we are not including siding in the “dry” stage. Mostly because it has been a year, and we know we will add on, just haven’t figured out timing. We figured we would be at that stage by now. It would totally be a waste to do all the rock and siding just to add on a few months later.

Mr. has been out of work for most of the year. When he did have work it was of the “just barely enough” variety. Not very conducive to building a house with cash.

Needless to say, the house has taken much much much longer than anticipated.

We stayed with my parents for 6 weeks during the dog days of summer.

Officially, unofficially, moved into the framed out, insulation and stair-less house. Even brought the mattresses. Oh was that *heaven* for an 8 month pregnant mama!

Had Baby Girl in October. Too cute if I do say so myself.

Had Postpartum Preeclampsia and water around my heart. Thankfully it resolved within a couple of months. Strangely, my blood pressure is much more temperamental than it was before.

Stayed with Mr.’s parents during the coldest couple of months of winter.

Bless all of our families’ hearts for dealing with our large, often chaotic, bunch.
Besides those 4ish months we have been living at the house. Slowly doing whatever projects we can as time and cash allow.
In January, Mr. tweaked a muscle in his back pretty bad, severely limiting his ability to build.
In March, Mr. started a “typical” job – our first in over 13 years. A huge change from the self-employed life we are used to. So far it has been such a huge blessing! The Lord has truly “made all things work together for our good”!
The plan for the next year – FINISH THE HOUSE! Since we did accomplish our plan last year, for this next year I will be much more specific.

* Finish inside – all the way to paint and molding! Electrical wires need to be ran, plumbing to be completed, insulation, drywall, cabinets – thankfully most of the big stuff is done.