You Bought A What?! With A What? Welcome to The Country Life

So, we bought a farmhouse! After two months of living here, I still have to pinch myself that this is my life because I've been dreaming of it for years. But let me rewind a bit.

My name is Sam, and with my husband, Josh, we bought this house in the summer of 2015. We both grew up in Upstate New York (me in suburbia and him a little more country), and for the better part of our lives together, we lived in Chicago. For years growing up, I was convinced I was destined for city life. I wanted to go to college in Manhattan and pictured myself a stubborn old lady who refused to leave her brownstone walk-up building, juggling a power-filled career in journalism or publishing or something else fancy. About a year into our relationship, Josh and I wanted a city adventure, and without jobs or much else lined up, we packed our apartment in the Hudson Valley of New York, and we moved to Chicago. City living was wonderful, and I'm always so grateful we took that risk and shared it together. But, after about two years in Chicago, I felt like a part of me was missing, and thankfully, Josh felt the same way (though, probably not as much because I tend to be a bit more dramatic). I missed nature, trees, birds chirping, fresh air, yards and green things in general. I was surrounded by gray and concrete, and while we had beautiful Lake Michigan right next to us, it just wasn't enough. We had to drive for hours outside the city to do things I never realized I loved so much like nature walks and hiking. And being around so many people all the time - oh, the crowds and lines everywhere! It just wasn't for me, and this surprised me. I had changed a lot since my disgruntled teenage days and I had finally realized the kind of person I was meant to be. I wanted to feel connected to nature and have a more slower-paced life enriched with the wonderful things Mother Earth gives us every day. I was, in fact, a country girl. 

Don't get me wrong, if you saw my nail polish and make-up collection, you'd also know that I loves me some good shopping, city-life excursions and frivolous indulgences. But I like to enjoy those things out in the country, while listening to the birds chirping and the bull frogs croaking.

Not only that, I always felt like I was visiting the mid-West, but it wasn't where I supposed to end up. I felt like a vacationer that worked every day. I spent so much time daydreaming about home in New York, and being near Vermont (where we honeymooned!) and New England and having land and apple trees, seclusion and maybe a goat or a chicken - whatever, no big deal. That daydream always brought me peace and a smile on my face.

After five really great years in Chicago (gosh, I do love that city), we knew it was time to end that chapter of our lives and move on to another one. We landed in the Albany area of Upstate New York and haven't looked back since. Finding a house to call a home has been a three-year journey of really figuring out what we wanted, saving up the finances and then, finding the right house.

Finding the house was a nightmare. I really hated about every minute of it. We were searching for our forever home because we were tired of moving and were ready to move into the house we would grow old in. We also knew, though, that the house we wanted, we couldn't afford unless we bought one that needed a lot of work. We didn't want to spend years making it ours, only to grow out of it, and sell it to start the whole process all over again. When we began house hunting, I had a clear vision of what I would ideally want, but I also knew to keep a very open mind. We saw house after house, the next one even more awful than the last. Seeing about 50 houses that were so far off from what we wanted was so terrifying and frustrating, and it slowly started to kill the dreamer in me each time. It's always a little soul-crushing when you realize that your dreams are just not meant to be your reality, especially for something as important as a home. I had actually come to terms with not ever finding the right home for us. I have an amazing husband and the cutest little doggie, I thought. That is enough. I'm lucky I have that. After five months of searching, we found this house online. When we pulled up to its driveway, it was the house I had built in my head already with the same front porch, weathervane on the roof, privacy for acres and the perfect floor plan. It was, literally, my dream come true. And it just so happens that it comes with a Christmas Tree Farm. AND, when I saw Josh running around the property with a huge smile on his face saying, "Is this it?! Is this it?" it was almost scary to admit this crazy dream I had was becoming real. And six weeks later, we got the keys, and this adventure began. 

This house is far from perfect. Oy! It has so many things that need to be renovated, tweaked, fixed, gutted, updated, painted, spackled - you name it, something in this house needs it. But, it has great bones and we love it for everything is currently has, and everything it will be once we're done with renovations (in about twenty five years). 

I wanted to start a blog for my own personal gratification - to chronicle the progress we make, celebrate even the smallest successes we have along the way and laugh at the epic fails that will eventually happen (We're, quite literally, just two people who bought a farmhouse with no renovation experience. I barely knew what caulk was when we moved in). I also wanted a place to share my inspiration boards, my current lifestyle loves, great house finds and everything else that may fell in between. I will likely branch out and share other aspects of my life, including beauty and skincare (to correspond with my YouTube channel), recipes and other tidbits because it all happens in this happy home of ours. 

And, if it just so happens that anyone else would like to join our journey, well, I would like that very much.