I overheard Jordan asking Owen, “do you remember how small the kitchen was? And when you sat here [at the counter stools], and held under the counter, you could feel the nails. And we had a bedroom next to mom and dad.”

“And we didn’t even have our own rooms,”chimed in Owen.

We spent most of 2019 renovating our home. So now, this is the third year of living in the ‘new’ home. The boys, now 11 and 15 are at the point that the memories of the original home feel like a long time ago. And actually, it does feel like that for me too, now.

We added a walk-out basement as we are on a slope. We were able to dig down below the house, no need to lift it. We had the ladder to our door for almost 3 months. Carried groceries and hockey bags up that ladder. Even trekked with my high heels up that ladder the day that Jay borrowed the car from me at work and drove off with my flat shoes. Our one bathroom, one floor home expanded to 3 bathrooms and two floors.

Our room is where 2 bedrooms used to be, and the third bedroom was split into a pantry and the stairs to go down. The boys have rooms downstairs, as well as a Rec room, bathroom and tv room, which, let’s face it, is the ‘game room.’

I drafted the plans ~ since I used to do that work ~ and Jay did the reno. I love what we created from a small 1970s home. There were lots of things that were not ideal or even good about how the home was built, but with new foundation, pretty much all new electrical and plumbing and flooring to roof (and siding!), it feels new to us. And I love the layout and how it turned out. We spent quite a lot on it 😵‍💫 but with home prices going crazy here, we have gained much more equity. Which is great for the home we own, but of course the flip side is, since we want a home on flat land with a shop for Jay’s work, those properties feel more out of reach.

Until the day comes that we can upgrade to something with more suitable workspace for construction storage of tools as well as a workshop, we will be here in the home we made. And feeling grateful we had the opportunity to make it work for our family while we are here.

We put a lot into it, and I do love it. The boys have grown up here, so there is a lot of love inside this building. It’s fun to listen to their memories of how the house was and what they like now. I am thankful we no longer have a baby blue bathtub, baby blue sink and baby blue toilet.

Sending Love,

Devon