So, let me take you back a little bit further... When we got engaged the February before we got married, together we were $54,000 in debt! School loans, Two truck payments, credit card debt... The whole shebang! We had great plans to get an apartment in the city and have fun being newly married! One day I'm walking in the woods behind my parents house, asking the Lord "Lord where will we live?" All of a sudden I see this!
That's right... I see this! The little run-down camp my Father and mother lived in while they built there "Real life house" when they were our age! I'm thinking to myself "NO WAY!" Lord, this can't be you! Now I've known the Lord long enough to know He's alittle crazy sometimes, and most likely this is exactly what He is telling me! WHAT THE??? So here, in the woods, our building journey began...
Let me show you around the place the Lord was telling me was going to be our home...
The Kitchen...
Standing by the "back wall" looking at the entry-way...
Standing in "The Kitchen" looking at the entry way wall...
So there it is! All 300 square feet of it... My Father and Mother lived in this little camp 27 years ago, for 4 years, with two kids(my older sister and I) and a bunch of beagle puppies! Oh, and did I mention, they had no electricity, running water, or plumbing!
We had from March, 2010 - September 2010 to rebuild our new home! Yes, that is... 7 months! Scary, but when the Lord tells you to build something, you better pick up the hammer and built it!
Andrew working at the Coast Guard 2 days on 2 days off, 3 days on 3 days off, and me working 5 day a week from 4:30Am-1:00pm, we started building!
First we had to tare everything down to the original studs! The walls, the floors, the entire roof! Oh yea...Let me tell you about this! There were carpenter ants, and flying squirrels in all the walls, floors, ceiling, roof... EVERYWHERE! We would pull down a piece of urine filled sheet rock and thousands of ants would fall on our heads! We would pull down a urine fill wall, and flying squirrels would dart out at us... Two words... Beady eyes!
Everything torn down, we start to replace all the plywood, and rotted beams... Keep in mind we have no idea how to build a house, so we made ALOT of mistakes along the way...
We also decided that unlike my parents, we couldn't live without a second floor. We decided to add an extra 190 square feet to the camp by building up, and making a loft...
The beams for the second floor go up, and the nail gun becomes my new best friend!
New beams, starting the plywood... over 30 trips to Lowe's already made...
A couple trips to the ReStore in Portland, we found all our new windows for under $200! That's 6 almost brand new windows, and one that I refurbished! Sweet!
Second floor almost built... Roof here we come! DAD HELP!
Let me tell you... My dad, Andrew and I, put that roof up, and it had to be one of the freakiest things I've done... Next time we need some harnesses!
At this point we are making our way into August, which is knocking on the door of September 11th... Our wedding date! All hands on deck!
Thanks to my Dad, Uncles, and almost husband we get it all closed! Then the trench digging begins... Not that I'm a Deva or anything, but I'm going to have running water!
There it is... The 8 foot deep trench, with ALOT of BIG spiders, and little frogs, and roots all over the place, that the men decided would be a great place for me to hang out! "your the smallest one here Elizabeth" they said, as they sent me to, what felt to be, my grave... I had spiders in my hair, I stepped on and killed probably 30 little frogs, and got scratches all over my body from the freshly sharp roots! Although terrifying, I prevailed! I was determined to have running water!
Put the pipes in the ground, covered the ditch up, and there's my sexy man looking like he's the one that was in the ditch! whatever, "a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!"
The exterior almost finished, about 3 more weeks to go, and$ 7,000 into it(cash I'm proud to say), Now it's time for the interior! This is where I come in... Being creative with all the scrap wood, doors, windows, whatever I can get, I will make this little place our home!
My next blog will be on the interior of our home, with pictures and the finished product!
Have an amazing rain filled day!
Elizabeth Garcia
