Dreams change - Castle to Homestead

Less than one year ago, this was my dream house. I wanted nothing more than this house.

At 10,000 sq ft, the floor plan was a dream. 8 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms. My parents could spend the summer in the downstairs 'master'. GG could be in the apt above the garage.

The kids could have their own rooms and their own bathrooms.

I wanted this house more than anything. I have an entire binder full of pictures of what each room will look like, the site plan, where the pool would go, etc.

TIMES CHANGE - DREAMS CHANGE

A year ago, we hit a rough spot and had to move our family of 4.5 into the in  laws upstairs master suite.  Bless their hearts, it was such a blessing.  It was hard, don't get me wrong, but living in 400 sq ft with 5 people, you either learn to really love each other or well... divorce.  Stephen and I grew so much closer, such a great thing for our marriage. Now, we own our own home, all 920 sq ft of it and LOVE IT!  Well, the whole house is 1340 but I don't count the attic bedrooms because it's storage and Stephen's office.

ENTER NEW DREAM - (in 5 years)

2600 sq ft. Farmhouse 3 bedrooms, 1 office for redneck to continue to program from home.  I would love to fit in 1500 sq ft but then we couldn't host holiday parties.

I still want it sitting on 40 acres but now instead of perfectly manicured lawns, I want 4 angus cows, 1-2 dairy cows, 12 laying hens, 12 chickens, 2-4 pigs, 1 full acre devoted to my veggies.

Bottom line, we love living small, keeps us close.  And it's only going to get harder as the children get older to keep 'cool'  with them. I don't want them to be able to just hide in their room, texting, vegging on the tv, so they will have to share rooms.  I want a small house with a tiny mortgage (if any), so we can spend our time with our family, not at work trying to pay for a huge house. We can go on vacations, wherever we want, whenever we want. The beauty of the Redneck owning his own business and the children homeschooling. We see a lot of Hawaiian surfing, Costa Rican zip lining, African safaris, Australian rock climbing, Mt, Whistler snow boarding, Grand Canyon donkey rides, etc.

I can just see my kids at the kitchen table, doing their schooling, helping each other, getting ready for a couple weeks of vacation. I want them to be best friends. I do not want a big house. I want to start a legacy.