[Friday Favorites] The next chapter

Ok. I am now literally the worst blogger, ever. I have been out of the game for two weeks here. I am hanging my head in shame, a bit. But hey, I can promise you this, I have also never been busier, in my entire life. No. Not being dramatic. I thought for a second yesterday and realized I haven't actually had a regular work week or afternoon at home after the work day in weeks. Weeks. Full time work. Full time grad school (t-minus 7 days until I go down to part time for my final 8 weeks, can I get a hallelujah?). Adorable and demanding one year old baby boy. And probably the biggest news that I haven't shared yet..

We sold this...

And bought this...

Yes. We traded in our cute little starter home for a big, beautiful chunk of land. You guys, we are officially building a house! I have kept quiet over the past month or so, because I have a pretty strong mentality that a deal isn't closed until it's closed. So, until all of the t's were crossed and i's were dotted, I didn't truly consider our house 'sold'. But as of last week, we traded in the ownership of one for the ownership of the other. We will be back in Sartell, and are so excited about everything. The location, the size of the lot, the school district, everything. I now drive by my old high school football field and get all of the warm fuzzies dreaming of the day that my children will be enjoying their own football games there.

Of course, our beautiful plot of land has one defining characteristic right now..no house. And as I said before, our old house is now very, very sold and no longer ours. So, until we are able to build exactly what we want on our new yard, we are living with the in-laws. Needless to say, there have been adjustments. They are wonderful and gracious, but of course there is just something to be said in going from having your own home to living in someone else's. We have the entire downstairs, two bedrooms, and a bathroom to ourselves, and we really couldn't be more blessed to have them open their doors to us so that we can take the time to do this right and not rush the building process. While we had hoped to possibly build this fall, work, school, and my first mini-vacation since Jackson being born have just made that unrealistic. So, we will spend our winter deciding on floor plans, selecting our builder, and lining everything up as much as possible so when the ground decides to thaw (so as an aside, prayers for a mild winter are welcome!), we are able to get going on the foundation and hit the ground running.

These are some huge changes for our little family, but we are beyond thrilled and I often wake up and have to pinch myself when I realize we get to build a house that we hand pick, on a piece of land that we also hand picked. We are blessed, and so very, very excited! I cannot wait to share bits and pieces of our process, as we embark upon operation dream house!

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