In May of 2006, we started the ultimate DIY project and broke ground for our home.  We did 99.9% of the work ourselves without acquiring a load of debt.  We have taken tons of pictures throughout the past 9 years…yes, you read that right, 9 years and over the next few months I plan to share our home building story, every juicy detail, the good and the bad and the ugly.

In the Beginning….We cleared the land….

This is my father-in-law, my husband, and my oldest son, who is now almost 10 years old.  This is when they started cutting the trees down to make space for our house.

Trees, trees everywhere!!

This is me driving the bulldozer!! I am actually pregnant with my second child in this picture.  How cool am I?!!??

We milled the lumber from the tress on the property in addition to trees my hubby had hauled in from tree jobs he had done over the year.  In case you didn’t know, my husband is a is a professional arborist (tree removal guy.)  We hired Mr. Jim Johnson to come in and mill them to size.

The lumber was stacked to dry.  We didn’t have to purchase any wood to build the exterior walls to our home, it was all right here.  We also milled our own flooring, ceiling, and beams.

This is where we cut in our driveway, neither one of us wanted our garage to be seen from the front, so you actually drive by the house before you get to the driveway.

Here is after the concrete pad has been poured and you can see the roof to our master bedroom and the beginning of the first floor.

This is one of my favorite shots of the trusses in the great room.  That was one of the few things we had someone else manufacture for us.

Flash forward a while and this is the inside of the great room which will hold our kitchen, living room and dining room. Wait until you hear the story of this beam!!  It is 36 feet long.

This crew here is responsible for helping my husband install the huge beam you see in the above pic.  My dad, brother, and my husband’s dad and step-dad.  Thanks Guys!

Here is a more recent shot of the inside of the great room.

Like I said before, this has been a long process, a total of 9 years.  We have had 4 children, been married going on 11 years, and we are just about done, with the house that is, our marriage is better than ever!!  We have done the majority of the work ourselves, trying only to spend when necessary.  Please follow along as I tell the story of how we built our dream home one year at a time!