What our dream looks like - at the moment

These photos might give you a little insight as to why we are so excited about being in Kentucky. THIS is what we found here! In these photos you’ll find two things: a lot of potential and a lot of work.

This is one of the first things we saw when we first looked at the property.  Our driveway now runs up the middle of this valley to the top of the hill.  When we first hiked up this holler (yeah, I can use the Kentucky lingo) this is what we found…

Mmmm-hmmm. That is the top of a telephone pole you see in the bottom right and my hubby and first born in the top left. That is a cliff, my friends, at least by my standards.

This is probably one of the major reasons the local ER will know us and our boys on a first name basis, but it sure is pretty, huh?  Our driveway turns when you reach the top of the hill coming out of the holler.  If you went straight instead this is what you would find… a sheer drop off.  Seriously, how are we going to keep our boys from playing on this?!  Jon says just to give in and invest in rock climbing equipment and lessons.  I say build a wall much like The Great Wall of China, but maybe we’ll find some middle ground.

This is the top of the hill where the house will be.  We will have this view…

I can’t wait to see it this fall!  As we build the house some of the trees will have to go to make room, and some to make our flooring, so the view will open up quite a bit.  Now the only reason Brown County will be worth the drive is to revisit where we were married.  <3  Sorry, Indiana.

When we first looked at this land we wanted to see as much of it as possible, but our treks out into the brush were mostly less than successful.  THIS is what we were contending with-- with two boys in tow.  What isn’t a pine tree in this photo is a thorn bush.  When we finished our hike we were covered in two things - scratches and ticks!  We actually started one particular hike with a plastic bag carrying a couple water bottles.  By the time we made it to a clearing, the bag was literally in shreds and we had the bottles in hand.  What we learned from this is that sometimes we jump into things before we think it through much.  Even so, we will probably jump into the next thing too hastily as well.  You’ll see plenty of evidence of this in the future.

This is the day we closed on the property!  Let me introduce the family.  Clockwise from left: Conor (1), Me, Jon, and Willie (4 this weekend!).  As you can see, Willie was eager to get to work.

Conor is quite a little nature lover.  If only he didn’t express his love by eating it.

This is Toro, one of our four legged family members, playing with Willie on what we are calling the West Hill.

…and another random photo of Toro, just because we love him so!

Here are Jon, Conor, and Toro hiking the East Hill.  This photo is taken from a deer stand left on the land in one of those “and that’s not all…” infomercial deals.  You buy land and they throw in a deer stand!  THAT’S how we do it in Kentucky!

This is a view of the House Hill in the background, as well as many of the dead trees and results of unfortunate logging from decades past.

Now that you’ve had a tour of the land, I’ll start sharing some of our adventures in preparing for construction including clearing trees, working with tractors, driving 4+ hours one way for our #1 investment otherwise known as a backhoe, close calls with the chainsaw (yeah, it happened, but the stitches are out and the wound is almost healed), and other excitement sure to be found on this Little Slice of Heaven.  Also, now that you’ve seen it, you may not see the “Heaven” in this land that we do, but just you wait.  It’s there.

Maybe by next time, I’ll dream up some kind of real name for “The Property”. Have any suggestions?