Birthday wishes

It was a great birthday, cleaning up the land and moving a few things. With the help of my parents, and my brother in law and sister in law, things got done quick. Even managed to take a few selfies with the backhoe.

As a ditch digging, farmers daughter, I basically grew up in the drivers seat of heavy machinery.

However, it seems, by the look on her face, my sister in law might have been a bit nervous. And no, I was not on the phone while driving, mom.

You're never too old to take a ride in the bucket. It was safe with dad at the wheel.  (We really were working hard).

Now we are almost ready to start the dirt work. Going to need to build a pen out there for the horses and dogs soon, because it's not just us humans that will be moving!

So thankful the weather was nice. We plan on taking things that can go outside each time we make a trip to the farm. Here are the first items to make it to the new home place. A touch of home on the undeveloped land.

The wagon wheel swing was a welcome addition for the busy weekend, and looks great out there!

My mom, I'm so blessed to have two wonderful parents.  

This is the view of where the house is going to sit.  You can't see it from the picture, but there is a pond back there.  I can't wait.

So it was a happy birthday for me. My wish is for many more blessings ahead with our new home.

Ashes to ashes, and lots of dust!

Gift It, Thrift It, Trash It!  Don’t pack junk!   One of my favorite pins from Pinterest.

Since the beginning of the idea to sell our old place and rebuild, we began getting organized and throwing a lot of stuff away.  A year ago we started to do some decluttering, even if we decided not to sell.  I highly recommend it for everyone, not just those who plan on moving.  Twenty years of stuff.  I’m embarrassed to say that I finally got rid of the dress that I wore under my high school graduation gown.  The old rodeo queen shirts with sequins and fringe….I have plans to take one or two of my favorites and make some pillows out of them.  This has been a lot like therapy in a way.  I feel so much better with stuff gone that I no longer need.  Almost as good as losing weight. Almost.  Our little house feels lighter.  When we put the house up for sale the first of February, we started collecting boxes and tubs, and have begun packing up things such as keepsakes that can be stored away.  Less is more, which also helped in showing the house.  Just don’t forget to label the boxes!  Since our stuff will be in storage while we rebuild, I labeled the top, sides, and listed almost everything inside where possible.  My advice; Think to yourself, when I’m gone, is this something I need to leave behind for my kids or grandkids?  If not but it’s something meaningful you want to remember, take a picture of it then let someone else enjoy it.   Or, put a price tag on it and start a garage sale box.  If it’s clothes or something useful but not worth the effort to garage sale, just donate it.  Otherwise, throw it away!

The house that built us

So since one reason for this blog is to document and journal this for ourselves, I feel I should start with sharing our first home.  The place where our family started.  One thing is for certain, all three of us have grown up here in many ways.  This is the place where we brought our baby boy home after a month in a half in the NICU.  This is where he took his first steps, celebrated 17 birthdays.  (Are you doing the math yet on this old country boy and girl...? lol).  Hey, we are still young and in love.  Yes many fond memories, from the happiest of times to the saddest.  Which reminds me, one of the greatest dogs ever is laid to rest in the backyard.  I won't go on with more sappy stuff, mainly because I don't want to cry.  So I will move on and share pictures of this old house. 

Special thanks to our niece, www.capturedbykarly.com, for the photos she took to help us advertise it for sale online. Too bad its still winter, its a pretty place when the grass is green.  One of our favorite places is that back porch.  We bought the place in 1996, repainted it shortly after.  Re-roofed it in 2002. 

 The original barn that came with the place, and the horse barn we built in 2005.  Another favorite place to be.

I have to brag on my country boy.  He did all the remodeling to the place, the biggest remodel was inside the house done in 2007.  Where there used to be wood paneling, now the walls have his texturing skills.  (Along with the help from some family).  The French doors are in place of where a big window used to be.  It's safe to say, my country boy will be able to do a lot when it comes to the building of our new home. 

Our little water garden.

Thank you God for all we've been blessed with.  Here's to the next 20 years.

 

All because two people fell in love....

I'm a small town girl who was lucky enough to fall in love and marry my high school sweetheart.  We have one son, a true blessing to us.  Living our little cowboy/cowgirl dream, we are a horse loving family.  We were lucky to find a wonderful home on ten acres, perfect for a young couple, just starting out.  A home that we will always cherish and be thankful for.  It holds many fond memories that will be hard to leave behind.  However, twenty years later, we find ourselves ready to start over again, (Heaven help us), as we've been fortunate enough to build on our families land.  The same 80 acres where my beloved country boy proposed to me as we rode horses, down by the pond. 
So here we are!  Looking ahead to start anew.  Leaving the old, forever thankful for all our small home of twenty years has given our little family.  Heading off into the sunset.  Ready, but a little nervous for our new adventure to begin.  The offer has been made on our little homestead, established by us in 1996, but built by a wonderful family in 1971.  Now we have slowly begun packing and getting rid of the many years worth of things we've accumulated.  Wish us luck!