It was only a matter of time, we all knew there was an end to living in the bunkhouse.  I honestly thought we would be in the house by October, but here it is January and we have finally moved in.  Last night was the first night in the new house, it was amazing.  As we moved in beds and dressers and the bare necessities, it dawned on me that nearly a year ago we lost everything but the things that matter most in life, our family.

Its really the small things that you begin to recognize after those type of situations and over the past 24 hours here are a few things that I have been thinking about.

• How amazing it is to walk around barefoot in your house (not something you do in a bunkhouse with carpet that is over 40 years old – yes a remodel is in order but we need a construction break!)
• Remembering to take a minute to run your bare feet through carpet.
• That our little girl is so thrilled to have her very own space.
• And our little boy is so unsure of the new space it makes me wary, after all for 1/2 of his life he has lived in the bunkhouse with us right there.
• How do we handle not seeing the kids every minute of the day in a one room home and allowing them the distance to grow and become individuals?!
• We have a lot of adjusting to do to living in space – that goes for us and the kids.
• What?!  More than 1 toilet?  I don’t have to send someone out to use nature if someone else is using the bathroom WHOO HOO!
• How long will it take us to get used to hearing a furnace?
• How long will it take before I use up all my cupboard space in the kitchen?!  6 cupboards to 20 (one is an entire pantry)???   CRAZY!
• I can’t believe how much I have missed having some hanging out time with The Rancher in the evenings – we watched a television show tonight!!  HOLY COW!
• This was the first night in 350+ days that the kids have slept in a separate area from both The Rancher and I,  It was pretty good really, only a few hiccups!

Despite the picture – they actually did sleep in their very own bedrooms!

There is so much more and I cannot even think about it all,  we have come so far in just a year, and the kids have grown up so much in that little time, we are so blessed.  It is truly still amazing to build a home by yourselves, on a super tight budget, and have it all come together just as you had imagined.  This home is everything we could have hoped for I will get a video tour together as soon as the kitchen countertops are in tomorrow!

Thank you to everyone for all of the support, prayers, and gifts, we surely couldn’t have made it through the last year without each of you.