In The Beginning...

 This crazy idea to build our own home started on the beaches of Destin Florida in June 2013.  Andy and I had spent 6 months looking for the perfect home to buy in Pennsylvania after selling the house we loved and fixed up ourselves in Louisiana.  I am extremely picky in every aspect of my life, which is a severe understatement for anyone who truly knows me.  This translated over to our home search since everything in Pennsylvania is twice as old, and twice as expensive as what we were used to in Louisiana.   I have a beloved Christmas tree that is 10 feet tall.  I refused to buy a house that would not fit my tree!  After looking for what seemed like forever (all while living with my parents!) I realized in order to get what we wanted, we needed to build it ourselves.  Yes this is an absurd and crazy idea,  especially considering all of the stress we were already under (moving across the country, starting new jobs) but when I get fixated on something there is no going back.   Given that Andy's education and background is in construction it is not completely insane, just slightly.     Now back to Destin, we were on the Tate Family Vacation which meant we had lots of time together.  Lots of time for me to harass Andy about building our own house.  He tried to explain to me that since he had a full time job, didn't know any of the local subcontractors and didn't know how to build up North (what is a basement?!?!) that it would be impossible to do.  In an effort to get me to give it up he said he would call a local Philadelphia builder to get some more information about the process up North.  Corbett Hall of CD Hall Builders and Andy hit it off instantly.  Without this relationship there is no way we would be able to build our own home.  It just goes to show how God brings people into your life at a specific time for a specific reason.   We could have called many other builders and I know for a fact none of them would have been as helpful or responsive as Corbett has been.  We are extremely blessed and grateful.  This is going to be an interesting ride, one filled with lots of bumps, lots of tears (been there done that), and as always lots of laughs.  Crazy is our new normal, and I have learned that it is so much easier just to embrace the crazy.