..unfinished-part one..

As I mentioned before, there are plenty of spaces in this home that remain unfinished. Building a home has been a huge undertaking, and we wanted to leave a part of it unfinished so that we could have time to figure out how to best put the space to use.

I have been very happy with our decision to have an unfinished basement, since it has been used more often than either of the previous basement spaces we have owned. Part of the reason for this, is that we opted to have in-floor heating.

When we were looking at potential existing homes, we toured a home that had, as my kids fondly referred to it, hot floors. As we went through the home, Isaac very inappropriately started rolling around on one such hot floor, as it was the neatest thing he had ever felt. We had never really considered having in-floor heating until that point, and when it came time to make decisions about our home building, it was at the top of our list.

It gets cold in Wisconsin. And this winter has been particularly brutal. But with these warmed floors, the basement temperature is similar to that of the rest of the house, and you don't have to wear 5 pairs of wool socks to insulate your feet from cold concrete. We have the added benefit of rising warm air, which, in turn, heats the house instead of, or in conjunction with, the furnace.

Now I cannot share with you the mechanisms, gauges, and who-dee-whats that make this system work. Trust me, Rich has given me numerous tutorials on how this works, but each time I feel like Charlie Brown listening to any adult in a Peanuts flick. After that admission, I see another in-floor heating tutorial in my near future....

There are definitive spaces in this unfinished basement of ours, at least a few.

There is my craft room. I love that there are three windows in this space, and that the light just floods in on sunny days because it is situated in the southeast corner of the house. Sunshine is very important to me. It is a nice, enclosed space, that contains all the lovely crafty things I have accumulated over the years. And just like the pantry, having everything in one space helps me to take stock of all that I have, so it is not forgotten.

I have also created a kid's crafting area, because my girls love to be in the room with me whenever I'm working in there.

There is our play area, that is tucked back in the northwest corner of the basement. Right now, these  boxes of toys, some unpacked, some half-unpacked, and some still packed, litter the entire area and then some. Certainly these toys get taken out of this space...I find play food and dishes all over this house. But for the most part, we try to keep the toys in this area. There are a few specific toys that we have in bedrooms, but, by and large, this is where most can be found.

There is our sports area, adjacent to the toy area. In this space, serious basketball games of horse are played. Rich works with the kids on tennis, as well. More recently, an interest in skateboarding has developed. It's a nice, wide open space that accommodates lots of movement. With the aforementioned brutal wintry conditions, this space has seen a ton of activity. I am forever grateful for that.

There is also an exercise/guest room. It houses some exercise equipment and a futon, just in case an extra bed is needed in a pinch.

Behind the exercise space are two more "rooms." One will most likely be a bathroom and the other a room-that-cannot-be-considered-a-bedroom-but-could-look-an-awful-lot-like-one. Rich also is piecing together an area for a small workshop outside these spaces.  Right now, they are filled with bikes, extra building supplies, empty boxes, and unpacked boxes.

All in all, our basement holds promise. We have time to play with the space, in the space, to see what works for us. A theatre? A bar area? A canning kitchen? Another dining space? We'll see what the future holds. For right now, we'll continue to enjoy the space just as it sits.

..hibernation..

I feel as though this blog has been in a deep sleep for the past few months. It makes sense, really, as there have been so many things going on in our lives since last August. I am just starting to feel a sense of rhythm that has been missing or fractured since our move to Wisconsin.

It's not a bad thing at all, I promise. Like my middle child, I do struggle with change. However, with this move, I have found that the good far outweighs the bad. As I look back on the last 5 months, there have been those moments of frustration, moments when I'm feeling so overwhelmed I'm not sure where to even begin. But more significantly, I have been allowing myself to just enjoy many of these changes. A new school. New friends. New routines. New interests. New schedules. New places.

I remember and sometimes long for, the old. But I truly am relishing the new. We are forging a new path, together as a family. It feels marvelous to have Daddy home every single night. We can attend school functions together, we can gather for dinner every evening, and there are no more tearful goodbyes on Monday mornings. Instead, they have been replaced with, "Daddy? Ok, you're going to school and we'll see you at dinnertime? You promise?" because sometimes it's hard to forget the old routines. 

So it's time to wake this space up again. Time to share some of the *new* with you.

 

..ch-ch-ch-ch-changes..

Oh hello.

What a year 2013 is shaping up to be. I think I have mentioned before that my dear, sweet hubby works quite a ways from where we live. We are on our 3rd year now of living separately during approximately half the week, and it's wearing on all of us.

There have been numerous discussions, countless hours looking for properties, and lists and lists of what is important to us as a family when it comes to homes and moving. Mind you, we have taken our own sweet time in deciding what to do about this job situation with the hubby. When he started this position, my mother was still living, and my responsibilities here weighed heavily on us. Now in year 3, we are anxiously awaiting a time when we can be together every night. How sweet that sounds.

We are moving to an area that consists of communities no larger than 5,000 people. There is that inner "farm gal" in me that is so excited about the possibilities of living in such a rural setting, but then the "city gal" in me gets nervous about the impending culture shock. I suppose all one can really do is dive head-first into the change, and embrace the loveliness of it instead of dwell on the frustration and pain of it.

With the decision to make the move, we have been searching for homes. Tirelessly searching. Asking all the questions...taking all the tours...trying to envision all the possibilities. In weighing all these options, we discovered that finding the "just right" home in such a small market was proving to be a sincere challenge.

Our solution to this predicament?

On Thursday, February 21st, we became the proud owners of 1 1/2 acres of land. We have finally taken the plunge, and we are currently deciding upon the layout of our new home. The nice thing about our land is that it is in a small neighborhood, and we have some dear friends living right across the way. That will certainly help to make our transition to the rural life go a little more smoothly.

I don't know about this whole "building" thing, however. Just thinking about the decision-making overwhelms me.

Right now we are still in the early planning stages, but with a "move-in" date that falls right about mid-summer, once these plans are finalized, these decisions will come at us non-stop. I tend to be a bit of a dreamer, and feel fortunate that my dear hubby gently (yet at times, sarcastically), brings me back to reality. This process should be an interesting one, and when appropriate, something to share with you, as well.

Wish us luck.