We have had the craziest string of events over the last few weeks that have forced us out of our home.

What started as a project to add a bathroom and flip our kitchen to put our house on the market turned into all bathrooms being completely taken apart, plumbing busted, uncovering electrical mishaps and fire hazards, and a whole slew of other things.

Let’s start at the beginning.

In 2017, I went through the worst post partum experience I’ve ever had. Which led to nightly panic attacks because of the dangerous street we lived on, and my fear that my then 18 month old would be run over while friends were running back and forth between houses and I had an incredibly needy newborn.

So, naturally, in true 2017 fashion, we thought we would adventure in an RV, and find a plot of land and build a house…. Everyone was doing it.

Well that landed us in my parents backyard while we searched (to no avail), and as weird as it is to live in an RV, being in my parents backyard probably saved my life…. That’s another blog post.

After four months of RV mishaps, and not finding the land that would both allow us to park our RV AND be our own GC as we built our house, we decided to look at houses on small acreage …

This was at the beginning of 2018…

We settled on the very first house we saw (after seeing several others), but the inspector told us to flat out walk away.

… I wish we listened…

But we were young and thought we could surely tackle the “list” of safety hazards on the inspection report and settle quite nicely.

Over the next year or so we did.

Then Covid hit, plus another baby. And another.

What turned into a some DIY “add an office” quickly escalated to tiling floors after a flood… 8 months pregnant… and before that was done, we started the journey of trying to add this bathroom.

And flip the kitchen.

And while we are at it, maybe restructure a wall or two.

And update the master bathroom

And before you know it…

The plumbing is busted.

And then in trying to fix the plumbing you discover a leak behind the master shower.

And a weird double wall.

And then mold.

And then shotty electrical work that is a safety hazard, and has you question every single electrical wire in the whole house.

So, naturally, we leave.

And while we’re gone we find more problems.

Missing flashing.

Missing framing.

It’s just the house that keeps on giving.

And then the HOA president takes it upon her sweet self to inform us that a “neighbor” is complaining about our property’s “steady state of decline.”

Which taught my son to pray for “the Karen’s to stop Karening.” 🤣

And it taught me to stop caring.

It’s amazing how your perspective shifts when you can’t even be safe in your own home.

Through all of these seemingly endless mishaps, it is glaringly obvious that God is in the details.

Like finding a HOUSE cheaper than a hotel close enough to run home and grab what we need and take care of our animals.

Having an extra car when our GC’s wife’s car broke down as she was coming to help her husband.

A friend bringing dinner.

Having my oldest girls old enough to take care of their siblings so we could go pick out tile.

Being close enough to make changes as the projects are going, or to quickly run over to see when new problems arose.

To be able to take my kids to pick toys to bring over to our air bnb to help them feel less displaced.

Having beautiful weather days to brighten our spirits.

Being able to sit in a stress free space at the end of the day.

Having a hammer and a wall that needed demoing when things came crashing down and I needed to let out steam.

Having the skills and knowledge necessary to keep my business running.

My husband having unlimited PTO to be able to take a couple days off to help us settle in and help make progress.

My oldest girls having a church “glamp out” to give them a much needed break.

In the outpouring of prayers, love and support.

And the list goes on and on.

This could have broken my husband and I, and for a while there the weight did feel too heavy to lift, but it’s building us stronger than anything else has.

We are so grateful that it took five years before we started finding all of the “big” things wrong.

And even more grateful we found a GC that has been able to stick with us every step of the way. And hasn’t left the project once.

Last Sunday I found myself in absolute tears because of how events led us to him, and how all of those doors closed last year because we needed THIS GC on this project.

I can’t wait until this project is DONE. We may not even leave it after all.

I would like to say that the worst is behind us, but maybe I’ll just say, “whatever comes, we will be ok.”

If you’ve read to this point, stay tuned, I have a feeling this lesson isn’t over yet 😉