Since I announced the purchase of our property and our intention to create our home and my retreat ranch there- life has been full of so much joy + a lil frustration. Isn’t that how it goes sometimes?
Each time I go to the property I am filled completely with peace, well-being and a sense of being HOME. It has created this weird ‘in between’ for me. I love where I live currently and want to be present and enjoy the time left here. But I yearn to be at the ranch… so… it is quite the conundrum.
I wanted to update you on my feelings and what is going on, k?
What have we done so far?
- we have cleared out new roads
- we have cleared out the spot for our mechanical barn and finished building that
- we have cleared out the spots for our house, our father in laws house, the event barn and my candle/workshop barn
- we have burned or mulched most of what we have cleared
What is left and on the horizon?
Left to do-
- finish burning/mulching piles
- gravel the roads
- water + electricity
- front entrance gate
- repair fence lines (working on that now)
On the horizon-
- build my father in laws house (might have that started 1st qtr 2020)
- build our house (wanting to have that started NOW)
When we originally sat down and mapped out the property and timelines- we were going to build the event barn first (the event barn will be used for day events and workshops and gatherings, etc), then our house, then cabins for overnight events/retreats, all taking about 2-3 years.
The thing is, that wasn’t aligning with me. Like, just recently it wasn’t.
Here is the truth of it- I love Texas. But I love California too. I have family in in both locations, but moving back to Texas (I spent almost 10 years in Dallas, 5 years ago) wasn’t my plan. My plan, and ONE of the reasons we moved to California from Texas was to open a retreat center here, in Cali. We just found that wasn’t in the cards after multiple road blocks.
And listen, I am just too old and work too hard (in all the good ways) to do the ‘in between’ and not be excited about where I live. AKA I don’t wanna live with someone else or an RV for an extended period of time while our house is built so that we could build out the event barn first. No, I just do not. Not with 3 kids, a dog and a traveling hubby (lucky him). So I started praying about this. Fervently. I was getting worried that no matter how much the land was calling me, that I was going to be miserable for the first year or so while we got acclimated/built. And that wasn’t the vibe I wanted to start on.
So, we changed things.
Now our intention is to build our house first. Then build the business part of it. And it feels right. Will the launch of the biz be delayed now? Yes. But does it feel good to do it this way? Yes.
We are excited regardless. And truly, I am excited about all of it. If we could, we would build it all at once (you know, if we had lotto style money). But there is kinda this amazing delayed reward system going on that creates more appreciation than if we did it all at once. We are enjoying the actual work. I AM ENJOYING SAWING, DIGGING, HAULING- what the what?! I am loving it all.
And I am so appreciative of all of you. Today I got the most precious gift from my amazing friend Angel. A beautiful branding iron. And the other day I got a special ornament from my amazing friend and partner, Nicole. These beautiful expressions as well as the love and good wishes I have received have been exactly what we needed. Especially when we get less than ideal news (delays, higher costs, etc). Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am so grateful for this process. I am so grateful for this land. I am so grateful for you.
PS- we got our first bid from builders for our house. Maybe we will be living in an RV after all. You would think we are building a taj mahal in Beverly Hills. Good Grief. I am gonna need a lot of prayer, meditation and tequila to get through building.
