Almost Anniversary

I will never not be in awe of this amazing home. So honored to be spending her 115th Christmas together.

In just two weeks we will celebrate one full year of owning this beauty. What a remarkable year this has been. Possibly one of the most transformative years of my life… and if you know me, you know I’ve had a LOT of changes over the years. But this one… this one takes the cake.

Pauline Manor has gotten a crazy number of upgrades – from a brand new roof, a beautiful fence to keep our babies safe plus another around the back for privacy, all new sheetrock, paint, crown molding, trim, one (of four) bathroom remodel complete with adding a whole new wall, turning a shed into a workshop, a pig pen into a paved parking garage, a fishery into a greenhouse, board and batten around the second story, a 750 square foot vegetable garden, and about a million other little things. We still have a LONG way to go but I am so so so proud of how far we’ve come.

But the biggest changes have been in Mike and I. We’ve always been a great partnership, but this project has given us the opportunity to work together on something completely out of our league and I am so proud of how we have handled everything – from the things we’ve completed ourselves to agreeing on what to hire help for and even figuring out how to pay for it all. (That’s been the least fun part lol) We are celebrating our 15th Christmas together… closer and happier than we’ve ever been, and I credit this house for that.

I, personally, have embraced a much slower lifestyle than I ever thought I would and I have discovered a profound happiness in things like successfully growing my own food and making sourdough almost every day. I go days without even getting in my car because everything I could possibly want is right here at home.

It has been far from perfect… things have broken, most everything has cost more than we expected, and we’ve said “why on earth would they DO THAT?!” more times than I can count… but as I sit here snuggled in with our three fur babies (#4 was born 11/22!) I wouldn’t want my life to be any other way.