Breaking News: Brace Yourself for Our Big Exciting Announcement!

If you’ve been around awhile, you know that we never planned on moving out of the ranch house so quickly; we’ve only lived here for 9 months. When we first made the decision to move into the ranch house, we knew it was temporary, and we figured we would probably be here for a couple of years. We weren’t sure what our next step was going to be; we’ve kind of just been taking it day by day. But we fully intended to be in this house until at least next summer, if not longer. Ultimately, we thought we were going to buy a lot with some acreage in the same town and school district as the ranch house, build a home, and live in the ranch house while the home was being completed.

We Bought A House

Chad just never really felt settled here at the ranch house, and I never really loved the idea of building a home on a dirt lot. I wanted a property that was move-in ready with grass and mature trees, and a yard for the kids. Our oldest is already fourteen, and putting in a yard and doing any sort of landscaping to a new lot would likely take us a few years. I wanted to be able to enjoy our property right away. Plus, the hardest thing for me about living on the ranch has been the fact that we’re completely surrounded by dirt. There’s no grass. The porch and everything on it is always a dirt-covered mess. Dirt is constantly being tracked inside the house, no matter how often we clean the porch or whether we take our shoes off or not. I didn’t realize how hard that would be for me. 

Finding The Right Home To Renovate

So, a few months ago, we started looking at homes. I told Chad I didn’t care too much about the home itself because I would renovate it to my liking, no matter how old or new. I just wanted to find something with good bones and a nice property. We looked at lots of homes online and some in person. We weren’t seeing anything we loved in our price range right in our area, so we started looking a little broader. Then, one day, our realtor told us she wanted to take us to a property that hadn’t really been on our radar. As soon as we pulled onto the property, we knew we liked it. And as we walked around the property and inside the home, we liked it more and more. We were ready to put an offer on it right away!

Full disclosure: the home itself is older. It’s outdated. It has some quirks. (There’s a LIVE tree inside the house planted IN the floor!) It needs a lot of work. But it does have good bones and there are some things we love about it as well (partial daylight basement for Chad and a sunroom for me!).

And the property is AMAZING! There are plenty of trees and grass where the kids can play. A LOT of beautiful landscaping, like we’re probably in over our heads a bit. There’s a peach tree!!, blackberry bushes, grape vines, a garden area, lots of space, incredible views. It even has a workshop for me! We’ll be further out in the country in a smaller town and school, and we couldn’t be more excited!

Am I Done Working on the Ranch House

I’ve done a lot of projects at the ranch house, and I had plans for many more. It’s been so fun to transform it over time! From the beginning the ranch owners had plans to eventually turn it into an Airbnb, and I had a vision of what it would look like when I was completely done with it. I really never thought we’d leave until I was done; but I do feel like we’re making the best decision for our family. And I think plans have changed and it won’t be an Airbnb anyway. So I am done with projects at the ranch house, with the exception of a few spaces I’ll be wrapping up.

Moving On

While I’ve genuinely enjoyed and appreciated the size and coziness of the ranch house, it has been an adjustment living in a smaller home with very little living space for the six of us. It feels like we’re constantly stepping on each other’s toes. The new house isn’t large by any means, but it does give us more space and storage. I’ve already started planning projects, and I can’t wait to show you EVERYTHING! Be sure to follow along on the blog (sign up for my newsletter for the latest updates!) as well as Instagram…I’ll be giving a tour soon!