New (HUGE) Project

So, for those who don't know (which I'm guessing most of you do...), Austin and I are building a house! Yay! & when I say "building," I mean... With our own hands.

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I'll pause for a moment, giving you a chance to lift your jaw from the floor... or wipe away tears of laughter. You may find yourself asking the question, "Is Molly really cut out for this?" The answer is "No."

Austin heard about this program, called Self-Help Homes (which Paige endearingly tells me sounds like an addiction recovery group). Dallas, who he worked with back at Summit, said he & his wife were looking into it. When Austin brought it up with me, I humored him for a few days... then conveniently stopped bringing it up. It wasn't until we got back from our San Diego trip in March that I actually started considering it.

We got approved in May, met with the coordinator in Provo, and started filling out applications... slow signing our life away.

They way it all works... well, let me explain. Self-Help Homes is run through the Rural Housing Development Corporation & funded by the USDA. It's all income-based, which is why you have to "qualify" & be "approved." Each group includes at least 4 or 5 houses... Ours includes 10. The homeowners (meaning us) work together to build the homes. Obviously, it would be unwise for inexperienced people to have TOO much control... so, concrete, plumbing, electrical, etc will all be done by licensed pros. (Phew!)

So, we met with our loan people, title people, & all the "people" we needed to meet with to get this process started. We picked a floor plan on a lot we liked, had a design meeting where we picked everything from hardware & paint colors to the cabinets & flooring. Then, we waited...

We drove by our lots ALL the time (seriously. ALL. The. Time.) to check for any changes. After weeks of waiting, we finally started seeing machinery & workers... & before we knew it, we were meeting as a group (all the homeowners for all 10 lots/houses), learning how to build our own houses.

So, each household is required to work 35 hours each week. The hours can be put in by husbands, wives, or any volunteers over the age of 16. We can have as many volunteers as we want (but only 2 volunteers can log hours at a time).

So far, we've all been trained to work on separate tasks. Are you ready for me to start using fancy words? Austin and I are working on rim joists. Ok. That's really all I know... oh! One more. Green plate is basically treated 2x4's that lay directing on the concrete - in the basement... Under the walls that are framed. BAM! Impressed? I thought so.

So, that's about where we are now. We're getting the first 3 houses up through the framing stage before more wood comes for the next houses. Apparently you don't want your wood sitting out for too long in the rain/snow before you get it all up & roofed. Duh. I mean, makes sense... I just wouldn't think of that.

It's exciting right now because our house is the third in this first group. It's fun to see walls going up & progress being made.

I'm loving this whole thing so far. We have an incredible group of people who we're so blessed to have as neighbors. Our family has been incredibly helpful in so many ways! Moral support (which goes a LONG way), volunteering with us, making meals for our late nights, & even want hung Doug while we work!

We're so excited to be in this program! As far as a finish date... We're hoping for late spring/early summer. It'll be crazy to work through the winter, but we're getting geared up for bad weather & hopefully we can push through it!

So, if you're looking for a reason to hammer some nails or operate some power tools, call us up!