Erin’s point of view

I feel like it’s time for me to chime in with my thoughts on this whole project.

Bri does have the tendency to come up with some … mmm … interesting ideas sometimes. I’ve often said that I have the “three mention” rule with him: If Bri mentions an idea once, I can ignore it. Twice: I’d better pay attention and figure out my stance on said idea. Three times? I’d better be ready roll with it or shoot it down with some good, solid backing.

But this idea? It just felt right.

As Brian mentioned in his first blog post, we both grew up on hobby farms, and while I love the memories of that time, I was adamant in not wanting to raise our kids in the country. I remember how difficult it was to participate in activities and knew I didn’t want to spend every night and weekend running the kids in to town. But, we’re getting very close to the time when we won’t have the boys in the house much longer.  I’d never considered a farm in our retirement plans, but the thought of spending quiet evenings or weekends in the quiet of the country has recently been very appealing to me.

Family is important to both of us. We’re both the oldest children of our families, and enjoy surrounding ourselves with family and friends. And I think we both felt a sense of duty to get the house back in shape and keep it in the family to honor Bri’s grandparents, as well as his great-grandparents who built the house, and his mom who grew up there with her brothers.

We’re not going into this blindly. I grew up in a home around the same age as this house and watched my parents remodel every inch of it in the 35 years they had it. Brian’s and my first house was around the same era, too, and had been a rental for years before we acquired it. It took a lot of time, effort and money to bring back much of its beauty. When we sold that house, we decided we were tired of doing remodeling and bought a house as old as we are instead. We haven’t needed to do nearly as much in our current home. But here we are, about to jump into more projects at the farm!

And if I’m being honest, part of its appeal is a new project. I love the planning, the brainstorming, the list-making. And because this really wasn’t in our master plan, we’ll be trying to keep expenses low. And I love that, too. My mom is a rummage sale QUEEN and I love to hunt with her for a deal. My dad’s family are a pretty frugal bunch and besides being SUPER handy, my Dad is often my go-to for brainstorming cheaper solutions to household problems. Our family calls that “Schulzing it up.” You know… as in: “Dad patched that hole in the floor with the bottom of a metal coffee can. He Schulzed it up.” Sometimes a bit ghetto or redneck, but usually just a whole lot cheaper solution to the problem.

I’ve already been digging through the cabinets and closets of our current home, hitting the thrift stores and rummage sales and scanning the curbs for freebies. All of the things I’ve been stashing for (too many) years for the boys’ first apartments will probably now have an interim home at the farm. I’ve also been digging through my fabric stash and sewing up simple quilts for the beds (doesn’t a farmhouse seem to scream for quilts on the beds?). And did you know you can buy mistinted paint from the big-box stores for only $10 a gallon? Yup!

So, as we embark on this crazy, unexpected journey, I’ll be adding my thoughts to Brian’s posts, sharing deals I find for the house, and probably showing some of the projects we work on along the way!