The New House...

After renting for five years we have finally begun construction on our new home!!!

 Mom and Dad wanted to pay cash for everything so construction is going more slowly than we would prefer, but at least we're moving in the right direction...and we're doing it all debt-free!  We hired an Amish crew to do most of the framing (they did a marvelous job...and at lighting speed I might add!) and then Dad and the boys took over.  After finishing the framing upstairs, they undertook to shingle the roof, and would have finished it by now if they hadn't run out of shingles.

During the deluge we've been under for the past few days Dad would go check to see how well the roof was blocking the rain out, and it seems to hold up just fine!  We hope to have it weathered in enough for us to move in in the Spring and finish the rest while we live there.  My "House Ideas" folder on Pinterest is overflowing with ideas for utilizing space, decorating rooms, and just making everything look cozy and homey.  Personally, I love the "shabby chic cottage" look, my parents like the "old rustic farmhouse" look, the older of my brothers wants everything to be operated from our phones, and I think my youngest brother would be happy if we could just leave all the rafters exposed for him to climb around in :).  Hopefully we'll be able to combine all our ideas and make everybody happy...The one thing we all absolutely agreed on was that the kitchen was going to be BIG.  For the past five years we have had to make do with four cooks in a tiny "camper-sized" kitchen, and we were all willing to make our bedrooms smaller if it meant we could add even more space to our new "area of culinary preparation".



Of course we'll be sad to be moving a whole two miles further away from the Abbey (no more meeting friends at the gate for short walks...) but we can still hear the bells loud and clear.

Yes sirree, we are excited! I'll post more pictures as we make more progress...