Looking at the yard from the main gravel drive. This was taken prior to cleaning up the property.

Prior to being married in 2016 we began to look for a place where we could live and call our home. We contacted several people that we knew and asked them about purchasing some land or a home. Unfortunately, we were met with several obstacles and could not find a place to begin our lives together. It was out of no-where that a family member suggested we talk to a family friend about a particular property. The strange thing was that this property was in between my great uncle's farm and where my fiancé had grown up. I drove past the yard multiple times but had never once considered it as a potential place to live. I decided to call and ask about the particular property, and the meeting was very favorable. The property had not been occupied since 1987, therefore the house was in disarray. We inspected the house to see if it would potentially be salvageable, but we decided that it would not be. However, we instantly fell in love with the rest of the property despite the major cleanup that needed to happen. The landowners allowed us to begin cleaning the property. We tore down old buildings that would not be useable as well as made sure that the well worked.

We began the process of purchasing the farmyard in January of 2016, but we soon discovered that there were many legal hoops to jump through. As a result of all the proper procedures, we were not fully able to purchase the farm until August. On top of that, we had to wait until November before we could move a house on to the property. We found a mobile home that we felt would be perfect for our little property, so we began the process of purchasing that in September. At the end of October, we began to prepare the property for the mobile home. We did the majority of the work ourselves with the help of several family members and friends. We dug in our own sewer system, water line, and electrical. We moved the home onto the property on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We were able to move into our house shortly after.

While this was a very long and stressful process, it showed us what it would take to make our dream work. Each year we make more progress and that is what makes this adventure fun. We have been very blessed by family and friends who have sacrificed a lot in order to help us with several projects. We now have the opportunity to raise our children on this property and we are enjoying watching them grow with every moment and year.

My dad came out for a week and helped us with some of the cleanup.

My Father-In-Law graciously did the electrical work in order to make sure that the existing well still worked.