Welcome to Lynch Homestead

In the excitement of planning our coop and garden this winter I decided our home needed a name. Although my dad was partial to 'Green Acres' and others to 'Lynch Farm' we thought 'Lynch Homestead' suited it better, as it was not an overstatement of what it really is. Of course the only real reason to settle on a name was so I could make a sign to display proudly on the outbuildings we are turning into the coop.

After browsing pictures of farm logos online I knew what I wanted to make and I got started. A few pieces of wood salvaged from a make shift work bench the previous owners left at the home, a wood burning kit from a craft store, and three days (and countless hours) crawling around on my kitchen floor and I had a sign to proudly display. 

Welcome to Lynch Homestead!

I had wanted to play with a wood burner for some time and a sign seemed the perfect opportunity. I liked the results but I must say, it was an ambitious project for my first! I don't know what was more nerve-wracking; free handing a design on uneven boards, or the tediousness of slowly moving the burner along to outline and shade the 2'x 3' sign. I will say that the finished product made it worth the time I spent on it!

Home Sweet Home

When we started the house hunt a little over a year ago I had grand ideas of what our first house would look like and all the memories we would make. I swoon over grand old farm houses and other classic house styles. I love little details that show how much love was poured into making a house. I had pintrest boards filled with all the ways I would decorate these homes.

And then we bought an 80's split level. 

It may not be the dream home I had envisioned as the process began, but our house truly feels like a home. I can see our kids growing and making memories here and it really suits the lifestyle we want. We have started the process of renovating and decorating to make the space feel more like our own and it has been fun to see the transformation. 

That being said, I'm glad I can look past appearance and see potential in things. Here are the pictures of our house at the walk through:

"Try it" They Said. "You'll Like it" They Said

In the midst of all the home improvement projects we were told by multiple people, "You should get some caulk, you will like it."

So we bought some...and I can't quit caulking. Can't. Quit.

All the little gaps between the door frames and the doors: caulked.

Space between the tile and the door: caulked.

Gaps in all the  ill-fitted trim: caulked.

Any little spaces that I can get to with my caulk will be filled! I'm a little obsessed. It just looks so clean when there aren't any gaps for dust to settle in.

So to all those who told us to try it that we would like it, you were right. So. Right.

Best friends for life!

Bulbs!

As if the interior renovations weren't enough work, we decided to tackle a couple projects needing done in the yard.

As soon as we received the results from the home inspection we knew that we would be removing the many, many landscape timbers that framed e-v-e-r-y side of our house. It wasn't until we were plagued by ants that we realized it would be a priority. We spent too much money on this house to feed it to the bugs.

Before we could go to work on those pesky timbers I had to remove the bulbs from in front of some of them. If we didn't they would be buried under all the dirt being held back by the wall and probably never seen again.

I must say, it was a little more of a chore than I anticipated. Who knew that many bulbs could be buried under there?! I can't wait to get all these little bulbs into the ground for easy care around the fence line and some pretty blooms in the spring next year!

 

In addition to the bulbs we found an obscene amount of worms to toss in the compost bin. Marinn and Amelia helped in the worm hunt.

 

 

We also found this little guy who ended up being terrorized by our girls and the neighbors girls before Andy released him.

 

 

And now the real work begins.

Light Plate Memories

As our move date gets closer and our house grows emptier I'm starting to feel a little sad to leave this place that has been our home for the past few years. We are ecstatic to move on to our dream of owning our own home and having property, but there are so many memories we have made here that I want to hold on to.

As a way of holding on to those memories and leaving a little history with the house, I decided to write a few of these memories on the back of the light switch covers. Who knows if anyone will come across these memories or feel the importance of them that I do, but perhaps they will. Perhaps they too will make memories in this home worth sharing.


In the entry:

This is the place where we became a family:
April 2009-July 2013

In the living room:

This is the place our children took their first steps,

 many Christmas presents were opened, and where

 we enjoyed the company of our friends and family.

In the kitchen:

This is the place we unpacked our wedding gifts,
enjoyed many meals together,
and celebrated many birthdays.

In the laundry room:

This is the place where our children had their play house,

 many books were read, pretend meals were made

 on tiny stoves, and many of their memories will be.

The bathroom:

This is the place many boo-boos were kissed
and bubble-covered babies splashed in the tub.

 The children's room:

This is the place where babies were rocked

 to sleep to the tune 'You Are My Sunshine,'

 tiny dreams were dreamed,

 and many castles were built.

Master bedroom:

This is the place where I spent much time
during the early days of my pregnancies,
where little ones found refuge after bad dreams,
and where many pillow fights occurred.




Disclaimer: My husband had no part in this. He would feel it was defacing property and over sharing :) Good thing he doesn't read my blog!

House Hunting: Not for the Faint of Heart

Who would have known how emotionally exhausting house hunting would be? Surely not this girl. I thought to myself; you have no time restraints to work within, no limitations on the place in which you live (so long as it is no more than 40 miles in any direction from Kansas City), and a good sense of what you want in a home. This is going to be so fun and exciting!

Oh was I wrong.

Turns out the husband did not share in my enthusiasm of starting our lives in a new home anywhere our hearts desire, so long as it meant getting exactly what we want.
Turns out we would get a lot less for our money than I thought we would.
Turns out we did not have a good fit with our realtor.
Turns out the house we fell in love with has structural issues and we cannot purchase it.
Turns out breaking up with our realtor was a good choice, as our new realtor is patient in answering our questions and assuring us she understands our wants/needs and and will do everything she can to find us the perfect home.
Turns out I would eat my words on NEVER living in a split level home.

I had no idea how emotionally draining it would be looking at the same small handful of houses day after day as no new listings came up. I made matters worse for myself when I decided to look at a house out of our price range out of frustration.

Burnt out and ready to give up on the whole thing, there were couple things that happened to turn it around. We used a program through USAA that; 1)set us up with a realtor who better suited our needs, and 2) gives us cash back at closing. (Seriously, who doesn't love cash back??) We also learned about a Kansas first time buyer down payment assistance program that would make financing a home as a single income family much more manageable. After discussing with the husband our priorities in our first home we determined that property trumped aesthetics of the home and we found a house that suits our needs with a substantial amount of our wish list fulfilled as well.

We have made it through the agonizing wait after submitting our offer and were very lucky to have a great counter so we didn't have to do much haggling to get our needs met. We still have  to go through the inspection process and the loan closing where there may be more unexpected obstacles, but for now I'm feeling relieved to have made it this far in the process.

Looking back to February when we started this process, I would never have thought it would have taken this long or been so difficult. I should have listened to the warning,
"House hunting isn't for the faint of heart."

Finding Home Sweet Home

We have officially begun house hunting!

The husband and I are soooo excited about purchasing our first home.
We started by browsing real estate websites then thought, "Oh no, what if we get all excited about these houses and then find out we can't get one?!" 
The horror!!

So we got smart and got pre aprroved (no thanks to USAA, I'll save that rant for another day.) and really started stalking houses on the internet. So many things to take into consideration. There are lots of houses out there and each has something you could like about it. (Except split levels. I cannot find anything to like about them . It may be because I refuse to give them my time due to the fact they all look alike and the garage is all you see!)

Where did we want to live?
Where would our kids be going to school?
What would we be doing with our time there?

Of course living close to the husbands work would be convenient, but do we want to live in the burbs? The thought of a quaint house on some acreage to create our own little farm makes my heart beat a little faster, but is the husband up for joining me on this ambitious endeavor?

After driving through neighborhoods and seeing the homes for sale, the shopping areas, the schools and discussing our dreams rather than our expectations we think we are leaning towards our own little homestead. My hopes are high we will find the perfect place to move our family and I hope the process is painless!

Meanwhile my pintrest board is filling up with daydreams...