2013 and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

January- Last January we listed our home for sale on a whim... After our first showing we had a contract and a month later we were gone. It is crazy to think back to how fast it all happened. It also reminds me that we have been somewhat "homeless for nearly a year now"

 I miss things about our old house, but cant wait to put life into our new house.

We especially miss taking our afternoon walks to "the field" where Brad's aunt and uncle live. The boys have grown so much in the last year in the photo below.

 February- In February we moved in to my parents basement and celebrated Keating's 3rd birthday there.

My commute also changed drastically and I found a new love for google maps that show current traffic and back roads.

March- We spent much of March house hunting. With not a lot of luck, we decided to pursue building a home.

 April- We found a beautiful 2 acre piece of land and started planning our home. We went round and round with banks and everything finally worked out!

May- We closed our loan on our land and started the process to build a house. We also had a little bubbly to celebrate on the afternoon of our closing. Photo credit by Keating.

 We also took a quick trip to the beach and tried to keep Archer from eating massive amounts of sand. 

June - We enjoyed a week at the beach with my family and celebrated my 29th birthday.

Brad also threw me a surprise party for my birthday which was a few weeks before. I was SO SHOCKED. I had no idea he had been planning it for months. This guy is a total party planner and even had live music. The party was a blast! And yes, I wore that blue dress A LOT this past summer!

 July - We officially finished with all of the permitting and started building our house. It was the soggiest month in the history of Georgia and it took all of July for us to even get the basement completed. We were having to time our cement pours in between rain storms.

Daily visits to our construction site became routine. The boys ruined countless clothing items playing in the dirt, but had a great time in the process.

August - I decided that I wanted an old claw foot tub for our house and began researching what it would take to restore one. I found one on craigslist and sealed the deal for $300. The next month I spent my free time stripping and sanding paint off of it. It was super fun to sand and scrape paint in 95 degree heat. Cant wait to show the final reveal!

September- Keating had his first day of preschool. He really enjoyed himself but constantly reminded us that he wished there was more play time.

We also took the boys for their first UGA tailgate.

October- I started the 31 days series on building a home. I didn't do a great job staying on schedule, but I think I did crank out 12 posts about home building in case you are interested. I have a few posts in mind to add to the series.

 November - We took our first trip to Children's Healthcare for stitches after Keating fell down the stairs.

and enjoyed Thanksgiving with our family and friends.

 December- We did a lot of festive activities such as seeing the Rockettes and A Christmas Carol

and I managed to get a decent photo of my kids. 

All in all, 2013 has been a fantastic year for us, and we have been so blessed. Shortly after the New Year, we will be in our NEW HOME and I can't wait to share more about it! Thanks for those that read and comment and for listening to my endless talk about building a house. Hopefully the next year will be filled with projects and lots of decorating! Happy New Year!!!