When we decided to move from Calgary back to Medicine Hat, we knew we were unsure of what exactly we wanted at that time,that is why we rented. But, like anyone else, we knew that was a waste of money. So we decided to build. Why? Well, I am picky and we were thinking it was going to be a forever home.

So we met with a few builders in Medicine Hat and many just did not get what we wanted at all. Just not our style or didn’t see our vision.

Then we met with a great builder, who also happens to be the brother of a friend of mine. He was perfect for us. His style was clean and classic. He saw the light like I did and he completely got the direction we wanted to go with our home. He took us to many houses he had built and explained why things were the way they were. How ideas came about and how we could change it to make it ours. He was absolutely fabulous to work with and we couldn’t wait to get started. Donald with Solid Rock Homes is who I am talking about.

So we got started and we told him the list of our must haves.

A walk out basement

3 or 4 bedrooms

A bonus room

A mudroom

An open concept but with character

Open to below floor plan

Office at the front door

Clean, crisp and bright

Lots of windows, pretty much the entire house

Those were our must haves. We got to making a floor plan and had built this beautiful home.

That’s when we realised we got way ahead of ourselves. We got caught up in building our dream home, and it really truly was our dream home, and forgot about our lives and our jobs which unfortunately are not in Medicine Hat. As much as we wanted and hoped it would be, our work is in Edmonton and well, we all need money to live…again, unfortunately.

So, we called it off. We walked away from our dream home after spending months putting it all together and falling in love.

The reason we still had to build in Edmonton, and yes I said HAD to, is because of financial reasons and timing. We weren’t ready to leave Medicine Hat on the drop of a dime. We wanted to enjoy the summer there with our family. So we did that and we planned to build in Edmonton within the year.

So we made a couple trips up to Edmonton to look at show homes and find a builder. DO NOT just use the photos on line and pick a company. We were certain of who we wanted to build with and once we saw the show homes, we were not impressed at all. So thankful we looked at more and did not settle.

We quickly realised that we were not going to get our dream home, very far from it. But with that being said, we are grateful. We will have a beautiful home that our hearts put together. It was just hard walking away from our dream home, to “settle” on some aspects. We were spending the same amount of money in Edmonton for half the home as we had built in Medicine Hat, so it was a hard pill to swallow.

So no, this is not our dream home and probably is not our forever home. But it is our right now and most importantly, it is OURS! We spent a ton, way over budget, and we put our whole hearts into it. Yes, there is so much more you can do or ever want in a house. Your friend will have a bigger bedroom, or more windows. A nicer counter or floors. There will always be bigger and better but I truly believe that is because of the world we live in today. Nothing is ever good enough and hey there is always Pinterest showing you all of the things you “should” have.

So when we hear things like this…

Make sure you get this…

Make sure you do this

Oh…you don’t have this…

We just look at each other and shake our heads. We had a budget and we went way over that, and still there is more.

We are so proud of what we have accomplished together and we cannot wait to walk in that house, look around and just BE.

Just be HOME!

Here is an update of our house right now, well a couple weeks ago.

We are close and finally have a possession date…February 27^th!

Stay Tuned!

Our master bath. They installed the wrong cabinets throughout our whole house, so those are being changed right now. Many bubble baths will be had in this tub!
Now this, this I am excited about. This is our bonus room which is my office and brand new client meeting area. I cannot wait to brand this and call it home!I love our open concept on the main floor
Again…wrong cabinets…Cannot wait to see the right ones