Garage Door ON my ceiling…….

 

I thought before I gave you a tour of the new homestead and while you were all thinking up creative new blog titles for me----I would actually let you see the old homestead----so you could truly appreciate the new one.

Let me deep breathe a little……

You probably don’t even want to go here with me.

You probably should just click away.

Coming to my home is a little like going over and helping them build wells in Africa. Everyone goes home being so grateful for what they have…

I think Mom’s and wives and girlfriends all over the valley have been heard to say, “Oh yeah, well at least you don’t have to live in a garage like the B’s do!”

 

Yeah…….we’re THOSE people……..

You’re still here?

Alright then---but you’ve been warned--------

Once upon a time, over the river and through the woods and up a hill on a scary little bumpy road, in the middle of nowhere Montana—we found 10 acres of beautiful land with a partially finished garage on it.

[If you follow that little road on the left that goes up the hill at a diagonal to where it would end up at the the top---that is where we live]

It looked like this….oh yes it did!

And this…….

Wait just a minute…..I’m having mom-heart pangs, that little poppet there in front is 21 now……….pang,pang,pang………okay, moving on---

Well, we convinced ourselves that we could fix up the garage enough to live in it for a summer while we built our house up on the hill, I mean how bad could it be? A few months max? We only had 3 little girls—we could DO this pioneer thing.

We were absolutely, completely, citified fools. The end.

 

 

 

Okay, okay, not the end of the story.

But I’m pretty sure you should just leave now while you have a chance.

Pioneers everywhere have and will continue to mock me/us for even thinking we knew what it meant to be a pioneer.

 

I look back on the innocent that was me with fondness.

I said things like,

“ Let’s just roll up the garage door, not take it down. We are only going to be in here for a few months till our house is built.”

“ By all means put a wood burning stove in, it will make it so cozy and we won’t have such a high electric bill.”

“That twisty turny road is no big deal.”

“Girls won’t it be fun to sleep up in that 4 foot high loft? Just like ‘Little House on the Prairie’. Bedrooms are overrated.”

“Honey, I think I’m pregnant and by the way, it’s been 3 years and we are still living in a garage AND if you want wood chopped for the lousy wood stove you will have to do it all yourself now because I refuse to go into premature labor like some pioneer woman in the middle of nowhere Montana!!!!”

And so it went. We added a room onto one side.

We added 2 rooms onto the other side.

 

I can’t actually find a picture of that addition, you will just have to take my word for it.

That pic above is from one of our “famous” Easter Egg Hunts. When all 5 of our kids (yes we kept accumulating them) were young we would literally fill and hide over 1,000 eggs each Easter. The plastic egg company wrote me thank you notes every year.

Here are some other random Easter photos

I love how I look like I am about 9 feet tall here because for once my height actually matches my weight. I am explaining the 2 rules of the hunt to everyone. Don’t get lost and don’t get hurt. (I think that's why so many parents stayed every year.) Yes, I clung to the mullet hairstyle FOREVER. AND………

Why yes, those ARE Christmas lights hanging above my head. I keep telling you…white trash baby----white trash……….I would now be posting a pic of me demonstrating the egg roll but I think have humiliated myself enough for one post.

Now I think I am ready to give you the tour…

This is what you see when you come in the front door. This is it people. The extent of my kitchen. To the left is my washer and dryer. In the right corner, my oven. The only counter I have is my dishwasher.

Here is the INFAMOUS GARAGE DOOR on my ceiling.  I would say ignore the mess but its just the way it is with 7 people in a garage. Yes, those are open garage shelves on the left that go the length of the room. This next pic was taken about 11 years ago, when the tv was at the other end of the room.

 

On the plus side—one year we had an 11 foot tree!

Here is the most important door—the bathroom door. Yep—we have just one.

Can I just say right here and now that my new house has 3 full baths and 2 half baths indoors and 1 in the attached garage and a full bath out in the shop/man cave???!!!!!!!!!

And the final pic of the day—the doorway to the 2 other bedrooms and little computer area.

 

So, what did you think? It’s okay to need some time. I’ve needed 15 years. Just say you still love me.

Stay tuned—next up—the new homestead!!!!

Don’t forget to go HERE to help me find a new title for my blog and a chance to win a couple of great prizes!!