End of September-October- Moving on up........

For those of you how might have missed it, Dan and I are building a barn style home. We looked at many companies that produce barn homes, and most of them have only a cedar option. The cedar barn home's are gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but they are a substantial amount of work, and expensive to maintain. So we decided to go local, design our own plan, and do metal siding. Years ago, Dan had drawn out a home plan that we wanted to build into a log home. The plan incorporated my input, wants and needs, and his. When we started to plan this home, we pulled those plans out and decided that was still really our dream plan, and that it could be easily changed to a barn home. And so this plan, is ours. 

In my last post I ended with the materials for our home being dropped. The next day our Amish framers began. Within the first couple of days they had the outside of our home framed and we could start seeing it take shape, walking into the rooms that we would soon dwell in.  

Jake walking towards the home for a first look. 

Back of the home looking at the walk out basement

Front of the home, Main level master on left, and laundry room on right

We decided to move the 5th wheel down to our place, so that we could be onsite to do what needed to be done, and watch over what was taking place.

Each day was kind of like Christmas to come home and see what they had done. 

Dan's garage/shop

The side our front door will be on. 

In the garage, looking into the house framing

Picture taken from where the kitchen will be looking into Great room and french door 

View out our french door

Picture taken from dining room looking into living room space 

Stairs to the basement

Basement walkout

Basement

View out walkout

View of back

Garage tresses

Daylight view out walkout

Framing in basement

Upper level trusses going in 

View out my french door

View out my front door

Finally starting to look like a barn

Great room fireplace

Loft bedroom

View out our loft bedroom window

Taken from the small windows in our loft bedroom at the front of home

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Loft stairs 

Preparing to put the tar paper, wire mesh and scratch coat on the chimney

Duane worked up a sweat that day. Busy day supervising, coffee cup in hand.  

Grant and Dan

Harnessed in

Did someone say food? 

Next day was scratch coat

Jake and Grant (Will work to hunt) 

Dan loves playing with big machines

These were taken Halloween night. I came home to find the Amish back and they were building our deck and porch. As you can see, October was a busy, busy month. But as busy as October was, November has been busier. Those pictures soon to come. 

I was in love with my house before, but now that I look at it with its finished covered porch, it makes the home. So glad we went with this.

September Ups and downs

After the walls were poured we had to wait for the plumber to come in and set some things that would need to be set into the concrete. Bathroom plumbing, and sump pump and floor drain in both the mechanical room and in the garage. Again, contingent on something happening. So a couple weeks into September and we were told that we were told that they would be pouring our floors. There were also predicting rain, and a lot of it. The day they poured Dan and I took off as soon as I got home from work. The clouds were moving in, and I watched storms forming on the radar on my phone nervously. As we got closer to Pleasantville the radar indicated that the storms were surrounding about every direction but right over Pleasanville and my home site. When we pulled into our place, our basement had been poured and was finished, and they had poured the garage and were running their finishing tools on it. We started to feel an occasionally sprinkle, which picked up to a very light rain. I snapped a few quick pictures, and the owner of the concrete business pulled in with tarps. Dan helped them tarp the garage floor till it stopped raining. But our floor was in, and the building could begin.......... 

Basement floor poured

Garage/Shop

Our builder had asked us to bring a load of rock in so that contractors would not be walking thorugh mud and into the house, so we made arrangements the next day to have a load delivered. That night and into tomorrow, we got 7 inches of rain down our way. So much so that when Dan went to check on things the creek that runs to the south of our house had flooded the road completely and Dan could not get through directly, but had to come in from the south. If we had waited one more day on this, we would have been delayed for a couple/few weeks. 

One of my many landscaping projects and helper

Occasionally we got our for some fun! But we were really shopping for landscaping items at Lowes next door. 

So we thought we were a go to start building. Much to our surprise and Dan's patience building, nope. Our framers had been sent on to another project, and we were again waiting. Dan's patience were growing very thin, and actually mine were starting to wear down as well. At this point we had been in a 5th wheel camper over 3 months, a nice camper, but tight space, and our life had been on hold for months. Nearly every decision we had made for the prior 18 months had included this. Cold weather would be setting in, and Dan was starting to feel the deer pulling him into his tree stand. Dan had dreamed all of his life about being able to walk out his back door and into his own woods. And it was starting to look disappointing that it would happen this year as well. Mine you, all this time our 5th week camper had been located in the yard of my gracious mother and father in law. 

One night Dan and I had a very serious talk. We had been told our building materials would be coming in on a Wednesday, but we were a bit hesitant to get our hopes up. So, we made a decision to leave this to the Lord. We had both prayed much over this, so with peace I said to Dan. " How about this. if we are to build this winter, than our building materials will come this week. If  they do not come in this week, we will accept that God wants us to give up on this for the year, and allow our focus onto other places for the rest of the year, and we will look for a short term place to rent. It was a long couple of days. 

Our builder sent Dan a text telling him that our delivery had just left the warehouse and was on it's way to us. My in-laws were coming home from their place in MO and stopped by just in time to see the delivery guy drop our load of building materials. 

And so, it was said.....Build

When you work for a school district August is always a little predictably unpredictable. As I enter my 9th year here, I just know to prepare for craziness, and this year was nothing less. In July we had been told by our builder that we might be able to start pouring our concrete the first week of August. If you have ever tackled a building project, you know that each phase is contingent on another part of the project. On August 1st, I went to our county building permit office to submit our application, and we hit a bit of a road block. Before we could be given our permit, we needed to speak to the sanitation department about our septic. We then discovered we should have talked to this department months earlier when we started our earth moving. After a week or so, we came to a consensuses, and we were given our building permit. But, by now, all of our contractors had moved on to other jobs, and we still had an issue of to much rain. So again, we waited, and worked on what we could.

Near the end of August, we started getting a glimpse of our home. Our final hole for our basement was dug, and we felt like we were finally getting somewhere. 

                            One day Dan called with excitement. "Our basement walls are in!!"

Front of house. Garage to the right. 

Dan's dream garage, measures just 3 to 4 feet smaller than the house footprint. 

 

                              Walk out basement                              taking shape

Back yard

At the end of August, we signed a contract with the builder that gave us a Dec. 1 date of completion. 

Be anxious for nothing

Philippians 4:6-7New King James Version (NKJV)6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

I might have mentioned this before, but for those of you who know Dan know he is not a very patient person. God knows that too, and I think along the way God might have thought this might be a good way to challenge Dan on this. 

July was LONG and wet. Each time it rained, Dan would pray for it to stop, and it would just rain more, which would just make him more anxious and frustrated, and would leave me just a little weary. I would try to remind him that God had a plan, but well, then there was that patience thing. 

A few years ago I did a bible study on patience. This was around the time I was changing to my current job. The district was hiring for the position I now hold, but they weren't sure exactly how and when they wanted to go about it. I applied at the end of May. I don't think there was even interviews until July, even though they had stated in the advertisement of the job, it would start July 1. Then they did not call me until late August, and I was already starting back to my job with Drake Headstart. All along I was doing this Bible study, and the passage that kept coming back to me was Mark 1:3-4

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

During this summer of waiting for me 9 years ago, each time I tried to push what I wanted, God made me wait. God taught me a very valuable lesson that summer that He is in control of things, and he knows the best timing, and it was. I was having a hard time dealing with leaving the classroom, and leaving my little ones, but one week of Headstart and I knew I had made the right decision. God also grew me in many ways in my current position, and I dealt with some very challenging situations, and people and if it were not for the time and trials of God growing me in patience before I took the job, I probably would not have been ready, and would have definitely thought I make a mistake in taking the position. I did not.

Getting back to this summer, I would try to remind Dan, which would frustrate him further. I had started to take notice of something along this journey we were on, something that I mentioned to him one night. I told him, " Dan it seems along the way, the more you try to grab hold and control when things are going to happen on our place, the more God shuts you down. But the moment you let go, things happen. He looked at me like I was a moron, probably said as much as well, but then it happened again and again. Usually his "letting go" came after he would sit through one of Pastor Phil's or someone's sermon at church, and he would be convicted. Then, he would relax a little, have some faith, and God would act. He get's a little angry at me when I mention this even now, but I feel this "impatience or anxiety" is just part of Dan's journey.

Jake climbing a tree on the 4th of July

One of my landscaping projects

More landscaping projects

Start of our circle drive by the house

July at work means billing, and this tape was just from the afternoon. Yuck! 

Do I look happy in this picture? No- that might be because Dan kept saying "It's going to rain, I need to put the tractor away, but then kept on "playing" on the tractor for the next 20 min. By the time we got to putting the tractor way it was POURING, and I looked like this. 

Lots and lots of dirt work and landscaping

Dan standing by the home site

Thanks to our former neighbor Jeff, and our good friend Duanne, and Jen and Grant, we were able to get our water line trenched in one evening, and the water line put together and buried. 

For I know the plans I have for you

Jeremiah 29:11-13 New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

This passage of verses has found it's way to my mind many times on this journey called life. 
In late June we finalized plans with our builder. Since they were custom plans they had taken a bit longer.

 

Many of you have also asked about Jake. Jake finished school in May. He completed the diesel tech program at DMACC and earned his associates degree. Hi program was much more than just mechanical, which is why he continued in it. He took advanced welding, wiring and hydraulics classes as well, which fit in what he really wanted to do, because he had nothing to do with being  diesel tech, but rather to operate heavy equipment. In May a buddy of his told him about a company in Pleasant Hill, who was hiring. Miller the Driller had been bought out by Horizontal Boring Company, and they were now going by The Driller. So Jake started with them in May. He send us pictures like this occasionally. 

He spent most of the summer working out of state or far enough away in Iowa that he got used to Hotel life working 12+ hours a day, but it keeps him out of trouble and it has enabled him to get much more independent. He once told a college recruiter at our home that he wasn't sure about going away for college as he was not very good at "domestics" but now he does his own laundry, his own cooking, and dishes. He is totally domesticated..... 

Jake is college loan free. That is something big in this day and age. He has saved enough money to purchase a couple of toys. His company has a couple of projects they are working on closer to home for the winter, so he is enjoying an occasional hunt in Dad's new timber.