It has begun....

Just wanted to offer you a little peak at our soon-to-be homestead.  We are so excited to FINALLY be getting started.  It feels like it has been an eternal process, but when I finally had the blueprints in hand yesterday, I jumped for joy!  It has been SO SO neat and fun to work with a precious friend (who was also a K-Life kid when we were on staff) who is now an architect and drew all our plans from scratch.  To see our dreams on paper yesterday was truly such a special experience!  We are hoping to close on the land this week (there have been SO many crazy roadblocks through this experience I cannot even tell you!) and we are meeting to get bids tomorrow.  So this may be starting super soon!  We did find out Bobby has to start CLEET training MONDAY rather than March as we had planned so that is throwing a few kinks in everything.  He will be gone 16 weeks and home on the weekends so it is going to make the start of the building process a bit tricky with our contractor 2.5 hours away!!!  But he has a few ideas up his sleeve so I know he will take care of it!  

Now for a few pictures...

The tree tunnel right before turning into our drive...

Our gate...

Pulling into the land...(do you see the trees in the back?  Our house will go right in front of those)

Abby Kate wanted to show you the trees up close, with her too of course!

Where our house will sit.

Daddy "trying" to drive.  The kids LOVE being out on the land because it is the only time they get to ride in the car without car seats. 

Behind our home, and road leading to back pasture.

Our backyard...the pond is HUGE.  It wraps around the trees on the left.

One of our inspiration exteriors.

Using these materials.  White siding, black wood shutters and exterior lanterns

LOVE the idea of galvanized buckets for kids bath sinks

Another desire.  LOVE the industrial sink for kids bath!

THE inspiration.  We will do this roof and ours has a deep porch, 4 dormers, ceiling fans on the porch and the white and black color scheme.

So that is a little bit of the inspiration.  Hope to have a very farmhouse, cottage feel.  My favorite features include a huge kitchen with a keeping room off the kitchen that will serve as both the nook and formal dining.  We hope to find a great, long farm table with reclaimed barwood and there is also a fireplace in that area.  I SO hope that is a feature that doesn't get cut when we get our bids back!  I have ALWAYS wanted a fireplace roaring next to the dinner table.  And there is a screened porch off our master bedroom, another feature I LOVE!  Liz, our architect, had to work super hard to get this to work, flipping the master bed and bath and restructuring the roof line so that we would have it directly off the master bedroom.  We went to Branson a few weekends ago and the condo we stayed in had a screened in porch and literally, my kiddos spent every second out there!  Bo would be outside every minute if I would let him so it will be SO SO nice once he drops his morning nap to trap him in our bedroom and let him play outside to his hearts content without any danger while I grab a quick shower.  Isn't that the beauty of a home?  Making it a place of safety, comfort, joy and fun?  A place God can use for HIS glory and to build character in His children?  I just cannot wait to use this house, not only for our family but open it for others.  I think we takes our homes for granted so often.  I have LOVED being with my parents in their home.  It has been comfortable, fun, easy and relaxing.  My Mom is very gifted at making everyone feel waited on in her home.  But I so miss having my own nest.  I had said in a previous post that it would be hard for me and it has.  But that said, I am SO SO thankful we have had this season.  So thankful God slowed down the building process, knowing my sweet husband was going to be away for 4 months and that I would have been in the middle of the country with 2 kiddos alone.  And a cops wife.  So now we get to be here with Mom and Dad to love on us and help ease the load while Bobby is gone.  And prayerfully, this house will be finished soon after Bobby finishes CLEET.  Just a GREAT reminder of God's faithfulness and that His timing is ALWAYS perfect!