Progress… The day we have been waiting months for has finally arrived!!!! We officially have a foundation. There is concrete on the ground. Our hopes and dreams are finally materializing. And because anyone who knows me knows there a black cloud is always looming behind me. I was not present to witness the event firsthand but had tears of joy from afar seeing all the picture updates of the progress throughout the day.
This foundation is just the first step to our bigger dream of our forever home. This will be a long-term temporary living quarters in Jeff’s shop. I refuse to call it a Barndo because it makes it sound so much fancier than what it actually is. But it is the first step to having a real home on our farm.
RV living
When we made the decision to “camp” in an RV while the house was being built we had no idea that more than 9 months later the foundation would just be poured. We anticipated a 6 months, maybe 9 months max until we were moving in. But here we are 9+ months in and just starting.
These past 9 months have been a work in progress. First, came placing a water meter. Next, we cut a hole in the fence and it became our drive way. Then, we sold our house, packed up our RV and moved down the road to our friends house while made the property “livable”. Our 2-3 week stay with friends turned into 3 months while we [im]patiently waited for electric and septic installation. One fun [enter sarcasm] summer weekend in 100+ degree weather, we laid almost 700 feet of pipe so we could have water. And then our property became “livable”.
Our journey
During the last 9 months of waiting we had the excitement of our first calf. A little bull calf named Duramax. Sadness at the loss of Duramax 1 week later. Excitement of another surprise calf. Who was named Dave prior to finding Dave is a girl but the name stuck. And I am happy to report she did survive. Sadness at the loss of #5’s cat, Billie Jean, only to find her a week and a half later. (She became an inside RV cat after her 1.5 weeks in the wild. Not sure what happened but she was traumatized by country living). Watching our kids form deeper relationships with cousins that live adjacent to us now. And many tractor and gator rides along the way.
It’s a boy! 
Our first calf. 
A trip to the vet. 
Duramax 7/18/22-7/25/22 
Our surprise heifer calf, Dave. 
Let there be light…. We have electric 
Miles and miles (not really but it felt like miles) of water line 
And it was only 101*F 
And then there was septic… 
Our neighbor knocking on our door. 
Billie Jean holding on for dear life after her rescue from the wild. 
Billie Jean was so happy to be home (And we were too) 
The neighbors liked Twizzlers and ran to the car 
Looking for candy 
Gator ride time! 
checking cows 
Finally living on the farm.
So much more
And here we are today. A concrete slab. Tears running down my face. Happiness. Anticipation. Joy. Gratitude. All the emotions flowing. So many have been apart of this journey. Allowing us to stay in the cow pasture with water and electric hook up until our property was livable. Words of encouragement when Jeff and I didn’t think we could make it another day. The home cooked meals. Allowing me to clean their kitchen because its been so long since I’ve have that normalcy in my life. It’s the little things. Thank you.
