Getting back into journaling....

It has been a long time since I last journaled.  We bought our home on 3408 Loreto Drive in August 2009.  We immediately had to fix up our home before we could move in because of multiple issues.  #1 the home had been vacant for 2 years so it had major cosmetic repairs that needed to be made.  The beams in the front facade of the house were rotting and had to be removed, overgrowth had to be ripped out and removed, ceilings needed to be scraped, every wall needed to be painted, electrical outlets and lighting needed to be added and replaced, retexturing needed to be reapplied and recarpeting needed to happen.  Our home has been a work in progress for the past 7 years and we are still pursuing upgrades and improvements.  When we first moved in on October 31, 2009 our 3 children were very nervous and scared due to holes in the walls, removing rat droppings prior to moving in and more than twice the space than we enjoyed in our apartment for the previous 4 years.  Our home has been constant work and Troy and I have enjoyed working together, brainstorming how we would make our visions a reality, budgeting, employing our kids and finding the joy in the experience.  It was definitely sweetened by our experience living in our humble Section 8 apartment housing without laundry in our apartment the 4 years before purchasing our home.  Every year we feel blessed and grateful for the opportunity to work together and see the fruits and sometimes mistakes of our labors.  It is a humbling and gratifying experience on many levels.