Under Construction

In my second year of marriage my husband and I, along with our one year old, embarked on a new journey together. We began building a house. There have been lots of trying and hard times through this process. 

When we first got married, my father-in-law began to subdivide a small piece of his quarter section. Around the Peace, that's a difficult feat, and it was hard for us to overcome. It took well over a year and many people to take their little chunk of money out of us. We did eventually come out on top though, of course with a lot of prayer. 

This is our family photo of us when we were processing paperwork to get the property in our name. Lily was about 6 months old.

This is our dream. Our vision. Everything we are striving for in building this house.

My husband is a carpenter so he is the one building it, and because he is building it, he took a year off to complete it. When he started his time off, we were still in the process of receiving our builders mortgage. Oh, how naive we were in thinking that it wouldn't be long before we got our money. We waited for nearly SIX months before we received our first draw of money. Did I mention that we moved in with my in-laws the Spring of 2012 and we weren't able to start until the Spring of 2013 because of how long it took to get our mortgage? And I was pregnant with our second. Yeah... Fun.

But at last! In June 2013 we finally started our dream house for real! Lily was 2 and Ella was only a small four months old. :)

Footing are curing!

Now, if you're wondering what those funny looking white block are, let me tell you! They are called ARXX Blocks. They are awesome! They're Styrofoam blocks that get stacked together just like Lego, and once they are all tied and strapped together, you pour concrete in them! You don't buy lumber, or insulation, or vapor barrier with this stuff.

They are pretty pricey, but you save so much in the long run. They are very efficient. I mean, how much heat are you going to lose through six inches of concrete wrapped in three inches of Styrofoam?! 

We went up to the first floor with them. That's our front door!

Then for our top floor, we had to switch to lumber! I am in love with those triangle windows in the great room.

The front gable end to our bedroom going up!

We'll skip ahead a little bit. The picture above was taken about June/July and the one below is September! We have come so very far in our journey! 

Siding is Hardie Board in Evening Blue. We love it!

Here is my kitchen layout and the drywall going up!! I can hardly believe it!

And of course I need to take pictures of my cute little helper! 

Can you believe the difference in her today as opposed to the first photo at the top of the page?!

As our journey continues, I am constantly seeking the peace of God. I seriously don't know how people can go through life with all of its ups and downs, without the comfort or peace that the Lord provides. I'd be a mess right now if not for His love and comfort. Building this house has tested my faith in so many new ways! I've had to trust in Him to provide good weather, with help, and finances. I've learned to just give all my cares and concerns to Him, and I never knew how hard that was until this year. When it comes to big projects like this, you always think that YOU need to be in control and that YOU have to worry about the goings on and all the other stuff that comes with it. However, that is NOT true. Yes, we did build this house, but it was only God who made that possible. 

There have been a few times that the work that needed to be done be a certain deadline was not humanly possible. So Mike and I would pray, and pray, and we would ask his parents for prayer, we would ask church members for prayer. And it has ALWAYS been done. 

Mike and I are learning everyday that when you are faithful, God will always come through. And even when we think He didn't answer us, we are so at peace with the fact that He has something even better in store for us. We are proof of that!!