Thankful




A whole summer has gone by and I haven’t posted once. Let’s blame it on the fact that I was working on the house until 9pm most nights, shall we? Then dinner, then a shower, then sleep . . . then my day job, then more building, etc. You get the picture, right? We’ve been busy, which is a severe understatement.

So this is where we are. Obviously not as far along as we had hoped, but it is what it is. It’s not that we didn’t work hard (because we did), but there are only so many hours in a day and there’s only so much that a limited number of people can do. There were setbacks and we’re learning from our mistakes. We’ve done the best we could do in the time we had, so here we are. We’ll be getting the roof on in a few weeks and then we’ll wrap the whole thing up like a Hanukkah present (see what I did there) and work inside through the winter. We clearly didn’t beat the snow, but hopefully we’ll be ready to move in late spring or early summer. Despite everything, I am so proud of what we've accomplished. It's hard to believe that we actually did this. Sometimes we look around and think, really? How did this happen? How did we get here?

Since it’s Thanksgiving and I have a lot to be thankful for this year, I thought I might share a few things.
I’m thankful for my parents, who have supported us, helped us, advised us, fixed all the things, and taken us in. Without them, we’d be homeless, in more ways than one. 
I’m thankful for the support of our friends and family who have believed in us throughout this whole process. And I’m thankful that after a little bit of explaining, they don’t think our straw bale house is all that crazy (or maybe they do, they just don’t have the heart to tell us). 
I’m thankful for our friends near and far who have taken time out of their busy lives to help us in the sun, heat, rain, and snow.  They’ve helped us in so many ways that stretch far beyond physical labor. 
I’m thankful for our designer and our engineer who have both been so responsive when we ask easy (and sometimes difficult) questions. 
I’m thankful for my coworkers who have offered advice and guidance where I would have otherwise been completely lost. 
I’m thankful for my employer for being really understanding about taking time off. I’m thankful for simply having a job, without which we would not be able to finance this house. 
I’m thankful for YouTube and the internet and their endless wealth of information. 
I’m thankful for Mother Nature for being relatively kind to us this summer, given how the early part of the year was. 
I’m thankful for the strength of my body. Before we began, I wasn’t sure I could physically (or mentally) do this, but I have proven to myself time and time again that I strong and capable. That’s not to say I haven’t had my fair share of breakdowns or achy bones, but I’ve made it this far. I can make it the rest of the way. 
And I’m thankful, most importantly, for John. I'm thankful for everything he does, for being there through it all, for making me laugh and showing me that I am capable, for believing in me and believing in us, and most importantly, for working so hard to make our dream come true.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and find something, no matter how small, to be thankful for this year.

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