Its About Time

June 16, 2015

      I'm in the middle with my arm across my little brother, surrounded by my siblings, mother,  aunt, uncle and grandparents, in front of their house.
                          







 John is with his younger and older sisters, outside the old farm house.

      John and I met the summer of 1981.  After a two year courtship we married in the summer of 1983.  Being the children of Dutch, Christian Reformed, immigrants we grew up learning about faith in and obedience to God which included several things; three of them were hard work, frugality and do-it-yourself. John's summer jobs throughout high school and university were all construction related.  My mother had taught me how to find quality things at second hand stores and re-use them.  

     When it came time to buy our first home, John was adamant that he would not live in an old house.  His experience with old houses was a pieced together, leaning, uninsulated farm house while my experience had been in the beautiful Victorian house where my grandparents had lived in Hamilton.  The house was solid, square, brick with gorgeous, wide oak trim and newel post. That was the kind of home I was thinking about.  I was fine with John's wish in this area but I kept that dream in the back of my mind.

     For the first 18 years we were busy working and raising our four children.   As our children became more independent, some of John's spare time was spent on purchasing old, somewhat run down houses and renovating them to become rentals.  My hobby was anything creative - sewing, cross-stitch, quilting, painting, wallpapering and refinishing furniture.  This last skill came in pretty handy with home renovations. At three of our projects, along with painting, I refinished the wood trim, sliding pocket doors, newel post and banister and french doors.  During one of these renos we looked at each other and both said we would like to do this on a house in which we would live! 

     During the summer of 2013, the house of my dreams was on the market. After  much thinking, talking and praying, we put in an offer and it was accepted! We took the first step.