Wow. Has It Only Been Six Months?

Today, March 21, 2011 marks six months from groundbreaking on our house.

The house that had been planned for years, literally drawn from scratch on graph paper and worked...and worked...and worked on till it was just right, just right for our favorite things and the space we all needed and dreamed of- not too big, in fact 1/3 smaller than our other house, but perfect for our uses, for our family. That house.

Considering how long we waited for it, the actual build went at lightening speed. Most "normal" houses take at least six months from start to moving in and we moved in on January 4th- just a tad over the three month mark.

And here we are.

The funny thing is I saw this place in my mind's eye for so long, and during such stressful times, that now when we're really here I have to pinch myself because I find myself thinking "Yes- this is just how the bathroom will look," and "Yes- this is the view I'll have out the window while I'm doing the dishes".

Because while I'm thinking those things I really AM in the bathroom and I really AM doing the dishes.

And as "at home" as we were in the old house- we loved the old house and had been there over 15 years- this house, this home, this place feels like we've always been here, our things have always been here in a fit that could only be possible by having been planned and built by us...for us.

Though we planned the house- didn't pick a plan, but specifically planned it just for us, we had it built. So all the hard stuff was done for us (with my supervision every. inch. of. the. way.) and we've been doing the finish work. All of the tile work, some of the staining and painting, sealing the floor, and the rock fireplace being the biggest of our projects...so far.

The tile was fun because it's all discontinued patterns and colors that have been collected over the course of about 3 years from the flooring place near where I work.


I'd never done rock work before, but I love rocks, and have a fair eye for balance and pattern. So I started with a big fireplace insert mounted on a platform and 4 yards of Oklahoma River Rock unceremoniously dumped outside the door.


Since I'm going for a free-form "Hey look- they they built the house around this rock pile ...no, wait- it's a fireplace" sorta effect I figured the more random and haphazard (read: Natural looking) the better.



It didn't take me too long to learn the Number One rule about this type of endeavor.

The rock must choose where it wants to sit.

*I* may think I have chosen the perfect rock for a spot, but if I place the rock and it tips off, no amount of mortar will hold it there, and even if I manage to perch it there against its will, it won't look right, and will actually weaken the integrity of all the rocks above and around it.

So I learned that I need to have on hand a variety of rocks- ones I'm pretty sure will work, and ones that look only slightly acceptable. More often than not, it's the latter rock that sets perfectly.

As I worked today, two things went through my head.

"Damn. Rocks are heavy."

and

"Setting rocks is akin to what we endured on our voyage Home".

Because it was difficult, sweat-inducing and sometimes dropped on our toes and turned the toenails purple?

Well ya. There is THAT.

But more than that,once we found this land, we wanted to build our house. NOW. Time after time we were delayed- finances, illness, fate, everything conspired time after time against us- even though we thought the time was right (mainly because we wanted it to be).

Here's what the delays allowed us- they allowed us to experience this place, this sliver of Earth and learn where and when the sun shines throughout the year, where and when the breeze blows, and exactly how to site the house to take advantage of those very important things.

They allowed us to re-think our original plan- a slightly modified stock plan that was bigger and more than one story- and make it...smaller and better and ours alone.

And once everything was in order- not just when WE wanted everything to be in order- the rocks set themselves quietly and firmly and almost without fanfare...

And here we are.