Welcome

HELLOW!!!!!

Are you as excited as I am for this great adventure we are starting together?  I have been thinking and planning for this for months and now it's finally here!  We are going to have so much fun - along with some tears, frustrations, and maybe a bad word or two.  But that's life right?  The good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly.  But we don't need to focus on that now.  Let's get started!!

I thought I'd start off by giving you a brief tour of the website.  I think it's pretty straight forward.  To the left you will see one of the best pictures EVER taken of me, so when you see another please don't laugh.  The darling kidlet wrapped around my neck is my second child and first son, Jack.  And if you're asking, yes, the red hair fits his personality perfectly.

Below the picture are page links to places you can go to get to know me, the house, and other subjects I plan on including here on the blog.  Below that, are icons for "The 8 Cow House" Facebook page, Twitter account, Pinterest page, and Instagram.

Further down, you will see a spot where you will be able to search past posts for things you are looking for.

Finally, there is an icon showing my latest pins.  

Can I just say a-d-d-i-c-t-e-d.

NOW!!!!  Are you just dying to see the house?!?!?  (I know your've already scrolled down to the pictures, but I'll forgive you ;)

Before I dive right in with tons of pictures, I thought I'd give you a little bit of a background to how we got here.  It's a great story and I will be telling you more about it as we progress on this journey, but here's a snippet of it:

For along time I felt trapped.  Not really with one thing in particular but just with life as a whole.  To date, I’ve been a stay-at-home mom now for almost 10 years and the transition from the work force to staying home all day was rough.  While it has gotten a lot better and there is no way I would change it, I still have a struggle many SHMs have in balancing the needs of your family with your own individual needs.  There were times in the past where my husband and I thought it might be a good idea for me to go back to work, but nothing ever felt right.  In addition, the transition here to Missouri from Michigan was hard and we have wondered if this was a long-term place for us.  We’d love to head back out west, but it just never seems like the right thing for our family.  You never know what the future will hold, but for now we are staking our place right here in the center of the US of A.

We currently live in a great house, in a great neighborhood, and have great neighbors.  I will definitely shed a tear when we transition to the new house.  But for a few years now I've known there was a different house for our family.  A new adventure.  It just wasn't exactly what I had thought it would be and it required a bit of convincing on my part from Heavenly Father and then for me to finally convince my husband.  

Over the years of living here I have often escaped for a run or an afternoon walk with the kids and dog, to the neighborhood just behind ours.  The homes are older, but sit generously spaced on one to two acres.  Tall mature trees and ponds lace the yards.  I've always felt a pull to live in this neighborhood, but houses rarely come on the market and when they do they often need a lot of work.  

Over the course of my many runs and walks, I came to determine the houses I would buy and the ones I wouldn't. 

The a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e house at the end of a cul-de-sac with tall trees, a cute front porch, and carriage house was a definite. But then it was right next to a pond and I knew I'd be on my guard 24/7 in fear of one of my children falling in when I wasn't looking. The ranch on a corner lot, with a semicircle drive had great potential but it looked small and also had a pond in it's back yard.  The white house with great curb appeal? Nope, it was right in the path of a lot of neighborhood traffic.  I could go on and on.  There were many potentials in there but with the positives there were also negatives.  

And then there was THAT house.  I told myself, I could buy almost any house in there, but I would NEVER buy that one.  In my superstitious loving ways, I should have known I had plotted my course at that very moment to be the future owner of that very home.  Because as my mother always told me, "Never say never!"  

If I had know then the plan God would eventually reveal and the path we would need to take to get there, I would have laughed and said it was a crazy dream.  But God's funny that way, because that's exactly what happened.  And here we are, beginning to take our very first steps on that path. 

The path of a dream come true.  

And I no longer feel trapped.

So here we go!!

Drum rollll....

Front Exterior:

This is the front of the house as of today,

 January 19th, 2015.

The is the front of the house last summer with everything green.

It really does make a difference to add a little color!

The house is all cedar siding.  To be truthful I'm a bit intimidated by that, but I know it's going to look awesome once it's power washed and restained.  Spring can't come fast enough.

It's very brown and very roofy.  The front porch is actually really a great size, but is hidden by the biggest Japanese Maple you've ever seen.  It's a shame, because its gonna have to go.

See what I mean?!?  That things ready to eat someone!

That is, if this guy doesn't gettcha first.  We obviously need to address this soon or no one's going to come visit us.

Here is the front door with original lighting.  I plan on taking the storm door off and redoing the front door. Look at the fun detail!  My handyman says I should stain it, but I'm going to paint it.  There's enough brown going on already.  And yes, the light is going.

Here's the back.  The deck is awesome.  Huge and such a great useable space.

 This patio off the back french door will have to be replaced.  But just a little clean up will do it wonders.

Unfortunately these stairs are going to have to go.  They just weren't done right and since my kidlets will be using them a lot, they need to be safe.  It's a shame since the seller just put them in.

With every house there is always something I like to call "Bonus Material".  This house doesn't disappoint.

A 30 year old A/C unit.  There's a furnace and hot water heater in the basement to match.

 Safety first - not!!  We will be addressing this for sure.

A BeeBee gun hole.  Nice!

 Garbage from the seller.

And last, but not least, a huge burn pile of furniture and other miscellaneous items.  The thing I'm most excited about is the big grassless area that will be there once we clean in up.  I know you like weeds as much as I do.

And then there's REAL bonus material.  

I love this tree.  L.o.v.e it.

The yard!!  This picture doesn't do it justice.   A flat acre lot?  Yes please!  My kids are going to love it.

Well there is a quick run down of the outside of "The 8 Cow House".  I can't wait to bring out it's hidden beauty and see it blossom and bloom.  

Tomorrow we will move onto the real fun.  I will be posting the full inside tour.  I can't wait to show you.

Thanks for taking the time to check it out.

Have a great day!

Hugs!