Done. Finished. Fulfilled. Complete.

I've been waiting for this day for months and yet, I have no idea what it is I want to say.

My head is full, my heart even fuller.

Today after a very long summer, fall, winter and spring and an even longer two and a half weeks of stress, we are done with our project.

Meaning, the lender has certified that we have increased the value of the home. That we have done everything we set out to do with their funds and with that completion comes our final check. We can pay our sub-contractors and no longer be under the stress of another individual's timing.

These are not before and after photos by any means, more of a progress update. As we continue to knock off little things and start creating our space we'll continue to post photos and do a final before and after reveal when we feel we're complete.

We can do our projects on our own time. We can spend an entire evening watching TV and playing with our daughter and not feel guilty about it. We can volunteer for tornado clean up and take our daughter to the zoo without once feeling like we're getting behind on the house.

I'll say it time and time again, there is still a ton to do and it will be years and years and years before we consider our house a fully finished "home" but our first hurdle is over. This a relief I can't even begin to explain. While we didn't have necessarily a bad experience with this project, we are at a point of just being over it. With the one tiny phone call I just received from Paul, I'm excited again. I'm excited that I can now stop to think about bookcases and drapes, artwork and shelves and not worry about HVAC and painting trim, or asbestos removal and plumbing lines. I'm excited that I can now just stop if I want. We can do whatever we want.

We are done.



*Note: After publishing this post, I noticed it was our 100th post. I think that's kind of cool. 100 posts and a brand new house.