Our New Home Construction Update
We have window trim, and it feels so good!
But before I continue with all of the latest details, I feel like I should rewind and recap for those of you who may be new here and not know the whole story…
My family and I have been living in Belmont County, Ohio, since 2008. My husband and I were married in 2009 and had our daughter, Elena, in 2010. We struggled to conceive her due to infertility issues, and we didn’t think we’d ever be blessed with anymore children.
Fast forward to 2015, and we built a brand new home in Barnesville, Ohio. It was perfect for our family of three. It sat on just a little over an acre of land and was everything we ever wanted. We were beyond happy there … but deep in my heart I always felt like God had someone waiting for us.
In November of 2019, we found out that He did. We were pregnant and couldn’t believe it. And the joy was truly overwhelming.
At that time, our home did have four bedrooms, but it wasn’t built for siblings with a nearly 10 year age gap. We knew this was going to be a challenge, but we went at it head-on, because life threw us a lot of curve balls in a very short period of time after getting the great news.
I was placed on bedrest due to cervical issues in April of 2020. My high-risk pregnancy had me in and out of the hospital several times, and when I was home, I was couch or bed bound and on a strict regimen of hormones and other medications.
Simultaneously, the world collapsed as Covid-19 ravaged what we all knew as normal. My photography business was put on hold due to restrictions, both from the pandemic and my own health situation. And while we continued planning for our son’s nursery and our new life as a family of four, the feeling of living within the walls of that home began to shift irreversibly away from positive vibes and memories.
But it was all worth it when our baby boy was born in July of 2020. It was one of the best moments of our lives!
We quickly realized, however, that his bedroom sharing a wall with his sister’s was going to be less than ideal. Our children have a 9.5 year age gap, and while one is needing naps, the other wants to play music and create art. And the shared bathroom was also more than interesting, with one approaching puberty and the other enjoying bath toys and bubbles.
We knew pretty much immediately after bringing our son home from the hospital that among all of the aforementioned issues and the bad memories of bedrest during the pandemic…we wanted to move. My mother lived less than a mile away from us, and our initial plan was to live with her temporarily, find more land nearby, and build a home better suited for our family of four.
We sold our home in October of 2020, and purchased just over 5 acres of land less than a mile away from that home in January of 2021.
Us at our acreage! 
Then, God laughed at all of our planning. Or so we like to think…
My husband was promoted to a position that required a move to Columbus, Ohio in July of 2021.
So, just one month later, we sold the acreage we had barely owned, and put down a deposit on a brand new build near Dublin, Ohio!
We are building with M/I Homes, and they began digging our basement in January of this year – 2022. We are hopeful to be in our home before October!
Front view of our new home. 
Back yard view. 
Back view of our new home.
Which catches us back up to the window trim! I was so excited to see it, as it makes the framed and wrapped house look more…finished. I am so excited to watch all of the details come together.
As of last check, the crew has started installing the duct work, and our heating and cooling system has arrived.
You can likely tell, but the home is colonial inspired in structure, and we plan to continue that theme on the inside as well with a modern-homey flair.
I’m currently in the process of beginning to think about furniture in the living room, kitchen island area, morning room, and dining room. I feel like those areas will be the first spaces I tackle, as we will be needing almost all new furniture. We sold most of what we had in our last home at a yard sale, since much of it was more than 10+ years old. Plus, it just felt like the right time for a fresh start.
If you have a sofa or sectional that you absolutely love, or your go-to island stools, please drop suggestions in the comments! And if you have any recommendations on favorite places to shop for colonial/modern inspired pieces, or anything at all, throw it my way.
Hopefully I’ll have more progress to share soon, and if you have any new build related questions I’d be happy to answer, but for now …
Hugs,
Ashley
