Building A Life Together

When Justin and I realized we were going to be building a life together, we committed to that with every fiber of our souls.  We've done well so far, I think - as nearly every memory we've got for the last 10 years is shared between the two of us.  For the last four years, we've been building a family, and it is about to grow again to include our fourth baby.  And now, in what seems like it is, for us, the next logical step, we are building a house for our family.

So we can build our roots. 

So we can build our future.

And we are so, SO grateful that we've built a foundation that is enabling us to do this at all.

It has been a long, arduous process of searching for land, searching for a floor plan, examining options, weighing outcomes, budgeting, discussing, laughing, crying, getting lost in strange places with no street signs and no GPS signal, and many, many, many hours on the phone.  We're not done with the hard work and hours of clipping coupons to save as much as we can, and making decision and devoting time to meeting with the team we've chosen.

But the experience?  It has been, ultimately, an enormous reward.  And now that we've broken ground, the children are reaping the benefits of our choice as well in the form of getting to play in the half acre of dirt we've got all dug up for the foundation and yard, in getting to watch the excavators at work, in spending time in a serene setting outdoors knowing we're safe and that it is ours.  They'll watch their home grow from nothing and it will mean so much more to them years from now to know that this has, from the very beginning, been for them - for us - and that we all made it happen... we made it happen for ourselves.  And hopefully, this littlest Gallagher will come home to us and this will be the only home he knows.  I can't imagine much that feels better than seeing a physical manifestation of years of sacrifice and hard work take shape before our eyes.

And you know what? I'm super excited to share the journey!