Luck has not been on our side. Just when all feels well and good, everything changes in the blink of an eye. Unexpected bills...a broken piece of glass in an antique clock...a mounting kit without all the pieces...a window with a rotted bottom that won't close...a piece of metal flattening the tire of the mower (that isn't yours)...

Lately, reaching a feeling of contentment has almost always resulted in something going wrong immediately following. When this happens time after time, it starts to mess with your head a bit. Feeling content used to be my goal. Now experiencing contentment is something I accept with slight skepticism. Why? Because contentment has become a sign of bad things to come. In the midst of contentment, a voice in the back of my head is saying, "Don't get too comfortable."

Last night, I pulled into our driveway feeling instantly at peace. Joel was almost done mowing (which is no small feat) and he greeted me with a wave. The sun was gently shining through the trees, bugs were buzzing, birds were chirping, the wind had finally died down, and I could smell our flowering trees. I started my tasks for the evening. Fixed the rotted wood on the window, started digging around our buildings for items I could repurpose. Our neighbors stopped by to welcome us with some wine.

Sounds quite lovely, doesn't it? I sure thought so. Until I watched Joel pull a thin piece of metal from the tire of the mower and listened to the air rush out faster than we could pump it in. I thought to myself, "There it is." Contentment bubble burst. 

But you know what? With as many bad things that have happened to us, we looked at each other with kindness. We found some type of calm contentment within those moments. We put on our grown up britches, got a jack so we could take the tire off, and our evening went on as planned. Instead of saying, "Why us?" we said, "Of course us!" and we figured it out.

Contentment is fleeting and, as I'm finding out, bears many faces. My idea of contentment is what I experienced when I got home. My reality of contentment is what happened in the moments after the tire went flat. Acceptance. Vulnerability. Surrender. Good rolled up in the bad. Because so much good still exists for us among all of the unfortunate experiences we've been having lately. A concept that certainly makes dealing with the hard stuff much easier to shoulder.

My challenge to you: Find the contentment that exists within tough times. The eye of the storm. The moments that make everything worth the trouble. Don't become a contentment skeptic like me - become a contentment seeker. It can be found...it may just present itself to you in a form that you didn't expect.

We're in, folks! The moving is done, the settling in is in progress, and the finishing touches are being completed detail by detail. Joel and I are still in disbelief that we survived a whirlwind renovation that wrapped up in around exactly six weeks!

One project always led to another. The number one lesson I learned is that if you want to do one home improvement project, plan on having to do two to ten other projects to get where you need to be. Or, at least plan on the project taking more than "one easy step" to do. If you want to do it right - you've gotta have patience - and execute each step in order until the job is done.

I could provide a yard long list of everything we did, but in summary, we ripped everything out to put everything back. I will be adding some DIY tutorials on how to do some of the projects we worked on that I'm really proud of. I just uploaded a tutorial on how to spray paint an oven if you're interested! I also plan to post some Before/After photos and tell you what we did to update our quaint 1920's farm house.

In the end, all I can really say is that I'm (even more) thankful for:

1. My Husband - For dealing with his perfectionist wife that was (and still is) all about sticking to the timeline, getting shit done, and tightening the budget. I've been SO amazed and proud of all the skills he's brought to the table and learned along the way!
2. My Dad - The other man in my life. This whole thing COULD NOT have been done without our pro bono contractor. That man is literally unstoppable and unbreakable. He is a living, breathing example of a good ol' fashioned hard working man who just figures shit out. No Google, no YouTube, just pure, golden analytical skills. It was a pleasure working alongside him.
3. Our Families and Friends - I'll bawl if I type out every person and every way we were helped by our families and friends. We are certainly not worthy of such boundless patience and love.
4. Menards and Home Depot - Although your customer service stunk sometimes and you sold us the wrong items (that you swore were right) - we still love you.

Stay tuned for more posts about our new life on "The Farm!" Outdoor projects are next with talk of chickens this summer!
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