we have plans

It's been exactly a year since we "bought a little piece of paradise."

So I figured it was time for an update.

At the beginning of this year, Kenny decided to buy an addtional half acre of land.  We just closed on the new section and are ready to build!!!

Kenny has been working on these plans since we bought the lot. I remember wondering why on earth he started working on them so early... now I know. There have been hundreds of revisions, going back and forth about what to keep and what to delete, the layout, the square footage, the roof line, the elevation, etc.  I never knew how much was involved in making a set of plans.

We are SO grateful to Terry Holmes for spending countless hours (in his spare time) working with us, listening to us, and drawing up the most beautiful house I've ever seen... our dream home!

I told Kenny as he showed me plans, they didn't look right but I didn't know what was wrong/missing. To me, it was just a house.  Kenny was frustrated with how heavy it seemed on one side, or how the flow wasn't just right.  But no matter what issue we had, Terry patiently and brilliantly worked until he found a solution. Once Kenny showed me the *final* set of plans, my jaw dropped and I knew this was our home!

front

back

side

We'll have 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, a large kitchen/den area for entertaining, a school room, an office, and maybe one day a media room.

first floor 

second floor

Our prayers are that this home would be a place where God is glorified, people are always welcome, and family is protected and strengthened. We have had dreams of hosting youth group events since we dated. I have many other ideas of what we could do, but we'll see where the Lord takes us.

I'm looking forward to claiming this land and stepping into what the Lord has for us in Hickory Creek.

If I haven't said it before, this is truly a dream come true!  We are beyond grateful for how He has blessed us, and pray that this would all be used for His glory and His alone.

I plan to have a dedication day and invite family/friends to write scriptures on the walls.  Stay tuned!

we bought paradise

In August of 2014 we moved into our home in Highland Village.  Kenny remodeled it, and it's wonderful!! However, it's not our forever home.  The kitchen is small and we enjoy entertaining, and have large families.  We don't have a playroom/schoolroom so when friends come over, the kids are in the same den as the adults and it's difficult to have conversations or play games.  There's no guest room.  The boys' rooms are across from the master bedroom.  The bathrooms are tiny.  And I have no bathtub in the master bathroom.  But, we had plans to build a house on our lot in Forest Hills so these were all things I could live with temporarily.

Since then, I have absolutely fallen in love with this area!  I love how close I am to multiple grocery stores, shopping, parks, trails, the gym, etc.  It's great to be right off the highway so we can get to church/Dallas easily.  We've become really good friends with the Merrimans and the thought of moving away from them is heartbreaking.

So we put building a new home on hold and began praying about where the Lord wanted us.  Kenny is always looking at lots, either with clients or for possible business plans.  We talked about buying land across the bridge, up off 380, or in the Argyle area.  Kenny's thoughts were that there are already so many established builders in this area that he would need to move further north to have a chance to make a name for himself.  I'm not going to stand in the way of that!

Thanks to my emotions, I've been all over the place.  One day, I want to move back up to 380... mainly because I wanted land and that seemed to be the only place we could find an acre or more for a decent price.  The next day, I'd be willing to take a smaller lot so we could stay close to our friends. Then we'd walk through a house Kenny built, and I'd tell him I don't care how far it is, we just need land!  A few days later, I'd see Melissa and decide we can stay in our current home forever... I'd make it work even though we've clearly outgrown it.

Several days ago, Kenny had mentioned finding a two acre lot in Eagles Landing and I asked him to pray about it.  But I just kept getting the feeling that if we bought that lot, I'd basically be cutting the time I see my family in half.  It's just too far off the highway, which makes trips to/from Dallas a beating.  As much as I want land, I'm not ready to sacrifice the location to get it.  So I had resolved to just wait.

On Wednesday, we were out running errands when Kenny called and said "I might have just done something."  I had been tracking him and knew he had spent several hours in an area that looked like a park, so I figured he probably bought some land.  He continued, "I just bought us a little piece of paradise."

My heart skipped a beat and I wanted to pull over and hyperventilate.  "You couldn't talk about this with me first?!?"

"Oh, I won't need to ask you about this.  It's two acres, tons of trees, a small hill, place for a pond, backs up to the Corps of Engineers, and is surrounded by several other five acre tracks, and has a creek running through it."  I couldn't believe what I was hearing! "At the front of the subdivision, the developer is making several smaller lots that I could buy and build houses on as well.  There is a private drive that leads back to our lot, so we are completely isolated in the middle of the city. It's not even on the market yet, but I talked him into letting me buy it!"

Because I had been tracking Kenny, I knew where it was located.  Right off the highway, about two exits north of where we currently live, in Hickory Creek.  He was working on getting a contract and said we could see it after the boys napped.  It seemed like an eternity, but we finally loaded up and went to see it.

Kenny was right, it was our own paradise!

private road that leads back to our lot

I'm just completely in awe of the Lord's faithfulness and provision!  Kenny has shown me time and time again how important it is to be patient, and if we don't get what we want, it only means God has something better in mind.  I'm thankful for his patience and wisdom in leading our family.  This truly is the perfect location... we get our land, right in the middle of the city!  And we can have chickens, goats, and a donkey!

Kenny has been drawing plans for the house and this is one we both love!

I can't wait to post updates and walk through this process with Kenny.  I've seen so many houses that he's built for other people knowing someday I would get my chance.  And it's finally here!!!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, LORD.  You are too good to us!