STARTS WITH GREAT BEGINNINGS

In 2013, we decided to build the house of our dreams in St. Petersburg, Florida. This was our first time building a house, and we were only involved in the design process. After that, the builder took over. There were some ups and downs, but eventually we moved in to this beautiful home. We could not have felt more fortunate.

We were excited to start life with our newborn daughter. We settled into routine, met our neighbors, and comfortably felt that we would live in this house for at least 10 years. The house design has held up well too. We love, love, love the kitchen layout and generally feel pride towards the build. Also, our place was recently featured in Home & Design magazine. The past 3 years have been great for our family.

THEN PRESENTS A CHALLENGE

Update It turns out that we were able to have another child. Still, read on below to see what originally prompted our life changes.

In late 2018, we had to face the reality that it is not likely for us to have more children. That one event served as a catalyst to rethink everything in our lives. Yes, we have other family planning options, but that alone couldn’t stop the ball that started rolling. We just instantly understood that nothing in life is guaranteed. Once you start thinking along those lines, you begin to question everything. Where do you truly want to raise your child? What do you want your day to day interactions to be like? What career do you want? Are your finances in order? A sort of soul searching / mid life crisis / bold new adventure mentality spiraled off.

It became clear that we were both ready to move.

FOLLOWED BY AN OPPORTUNITY

Doubt and uncertainty quickly turned into dreams. And once you start dreaming, nothing can stop it. For us, the dream is a simpler life. A smaller town. Land and space that give us the opportunity to try new things. Of course, we can always sit at a computer and work, but it is nice to have more options. So, we’ve decided to move back to a childhood town in Kansas. We hope to buy 20 to 40 acres of land that has been in the family for over 100 years.

Throughout this thought process, we’ve also realized how incredibly fortunate we are to be in this position. That has made us approach this new house build with more love and dedication than our first. We don’t want to take it for granted. We want to obsess and appreciate every detail. Understand every system. Measure things. And most importantly, we want to be the general contractor so that the quality and troubleshooting is on our shoulders.

Tiny note – we know nothing about building. Hence this website. Writing down thoughts always helps with learning. We have a year or so to write, learn and plan. Let’s get started.