Hi friends! It’s been awhile since I last posted. Lots has been going on around the Mountain house! About two months ago we said goodbye to our 1,400 square-foot ranch house and moved into a home that will actually fit our growing family.
Although I was actively involved in the whole process, I still scratch my head and wonder how we ended up in a house that almost doubled our square footage. It seems completely surreal. Like I’m living someone else’s life. There’s a bit of a back story to explain…
November 2008: We have our much-anticipated, first-born daughter. She completely turns our life upside-down.
February 2009: I cry every minute of my commute downtown when I go back to work. But it has to be. We need my income to afford the life we’re living. The show must go on. I must schlep downtown with my laptop, my lunch, my pump, and my heart in pieces.
April 2009: I’m in bed at 11 pm crying (Sense a theme here? I cry a lot) because I’ve already exhausted my back-up supply of breastmilk and need to pump one more time before calling it a day in order for Eva to have enough to eat tomorrow. My husband Dan looks at me and says, “That’s it. We’re selling the house and you’re quitting.” Guess it’s time to downsize and make some major changes.
September 2009: I’ve quit my job and started an at-home childcare.
October 2009: Our house sells and we move in with my in-laws until we can find a house to fit our meager budget.
May 2010: We find it! A two bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1,400 square foot ranch with a yard to die for. Sure it’s tiny but it’s got lots of potential and room to build an addition. It’s close to family and church and even closer to Dan’s job. But man do we have to fight hard for it. There are other offers, it’s got dual zoning (residential and commercial), it’s on a private road – all of these things make financing a real issue. We pray hard and hear very strongly from God that we are meant to be here, in this house, at this time. So we fight for it. And after lots of ups and downs and phone calls and hurried appointments and begging neighbors to sign road agreements, we get it!
July 2010: We spend a month in Butere, Kenya serving the men, women, and children in an incredibly impoverished area. The schools literally have holes in the walls. Women and children walk for miles to get water that may only make their families sick but it’s their only option. There are people lined up for days during our medical mission. We count so many pills and treat so much malaria that my brain hurts. We return home with a mix of emotions. Such heavy hearts for those we just left; questioning why we were born into a country that provides opportunities of which we take advantage and yet the people we just left were born into hopeless poverty.
August 2010: We move into our little house and it feels like a MANSION. Compared to the mud huts and dirt floors that we just visited in Africa, I feel completely spoiled and unworthy of such a gem. I think of Irene, an orphan with HIV that we spent a lot of time with in Butere. I think about what she would see if she walked into this house. Her jaw would drop. She would see a faucet out of which clean water comes and probably cry. She would see a toilet and wonder what it was. She would see a stove and wonder why anyone would cook inside instead of outside over an open fire. Meanwhile, compared to American standards is this house amazing? No. Is it even on par with the surrounding homes in our area? HECK no! But it’s ours. And it’s perfect especially in light of what we have just experienced. Downsizing to this house means we can live within our means. We can raise a family and make wonderful memories within its walls. I find this pillow on Pinterest from Not Just a Housewife and vow to make it:
September 2011: Well, it turns out our house isn’t a mansion really. Our basement is flooding. We’re on a well that keeps running out of water. There are lots of upgrades needed. But we remember Irene again. And we realize how blessed we are.
December 2011: We add another much-anticipated baby girl to the mix! She completes our family. We love that Eva has a sister and that they can share a room for the foreseeable future (read: the addition we want to build on the house can wait a little longer). After all, we’ve been busy finishing a big play room in the basement and adding a bathroom down there.
August 2012: HOLY CRAP WE’RE PREGNANT AGAIN! Read that story here.
October 2012: We get busy finishing some more space in the basement to add a 3rd bedroom. The house has a goofy layout though so we decide to convert the first floor living area to our master bedroom. This means that the girls’ room is right off the kitchen, the nursery is next to it and that we’re sleeping in the living room. But at least we can all sleep on the same level and use the finished basement as living space.
March 2013: Our baby boy arrives. We’re in love with all 7 lbs, 2 oz of him and can’t imagine life without him. Yes, the house is tight. Yes, we’ve had to get creative about how we use our space. Yes, we’re anxiously awaiting the time when we can build that addition. But for now, we carry on. I try hard to remember Irene from Butere, Kenya. This noisy, messy life in a tiny, messy house is a huge blessing. And we love it.
October 2013: Ok, so we don’t exactly love it anymore. It’s gotten harder to function as a family of 5, then add in my childcare kiddos. Dan is ready to make a move. Literally. He’s over the idea of living through building an addition. After finishing the entire basement and doing lots of other improvements throughout the house we know all too well how much havoc a big construction project like that can wreak. He starts looking at real estate websites. I think he’s crazy.
January 2014: I learn that a local business bought the house directly behind ours. Maybe Dan’s not crazy and we should see if they want ours, too. I give them a call.
March 2014: Turns out they do! Over the past few months we’ve been going back-and-forth with the business and just learned that they want our house! Good news because HOLY CRAP WE’RE PREGNANT AGAIN. No, that’s not a typo. Read that story here.
May 2014: We officially have an offer in writing! And it’s far beyond what our house is actually worth. At the same time, friends of my parents-in-law have decided to move. They hear we are looking and open their home to us before listing it with an agent. We love it. We make an offer.
July 2014: We sell our tiny house (that we fought really hard to get) which makes it possible for us to purchase an amazing 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, move-in-ready, lovingly maintained home from a wonderful family.
September 2014: I’m still wondering how it all happened. Whose life am I living? Somehow, long before our fourth child was ever conceived (or even our 2nd and 3rd), many plans were put into motion. I think back to 2010 – Would it have been easier to walk away from our tiny house before we ever bought it? Yes. The hassle of fighting other offers, begging for road agreements, just to turn around and invest thousands of dollars into home improvement projects was a pain in the rear. On the bad days I wondered why we ever fought so hard for something that had given us such grief. And then it all made sense. In one crazy, amazing turn of events I saw God’s plan unfold. That through all of it – crying on my commute, living with our parents, downsizing to a tiny house with many issues, and eventually sleeping in the living room – throughout all of that God was at work. He was making changes in our hearts, gently leading us to think about life differently. And he was making a way for a plan beyond our wildest dreams. A plan that included WAY more kids and WAY more house than we ever thought possible. He made a way. Because He’s just that good.
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT) says, “But forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I am about to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway in the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
He definitely made something new (2 somethings)! He definitely made a path for us. And we are blown away.
Wonderful, as always. Love the pic of the kids!