The Cozy Little Cabin!

There’s been so much going on the last month with soccer season and just all the things, and I’ve just decided if I don’t have time to share frequently in this space, I will not sweat it. Because it was actually that very reason why I ultimately had to say good-bye the last time here. I felt terrible for being an inconsistent writer, however, I am learning my most consistent priorities have to be limited in order to pour my best self into the right things. 

Those consistent priorities are time spent with Jesus, my family, and my ministry —leading worship/women. Everything else fits between those priorities..... and that’s why I’m not a pro blogger!! Ha. ;)

However ... I’m excited today, because I have so much to talk about with you!!! Where do I begin??

I would love to start with the fact we went camping last weekend but back that up a bit. 

Let’s start off with...

We bought a tiny cabin by the lake!!!!

Yep.  After passively looking for almost 2 years now, the right little fixer-upper popped up in real estate. I don’t know if it’s like this where you live, but the real estate market here in my neck of the woods of KY is HOT. Houses are literally flying off the market and selling above their value right and left. We almost didn’t get this house but thankfully we snagged it after it hardly being on the market a week! 

It’s a tiny cutie-patootie of a place. It is 51 years old and just under 800 square feet + a full length screened-in front porch— which is so useful in our humid-mosquito summer season. The cabin is a 2 bedroom, one bath with a tiny kitchen open to the living room. It has a great brick fireplace which will be even better by the time we are done with it, but I like even the brick of the chimney outside against the wood! Something about the setting of that under the pine trees feels nostalgic to me.The cabin sits on 1/3 of an acre on the end of a small street with backs up to over 100 acres of TVA woods. That means, no one will ever build around it and the woods will be undisturbed so lots of wildlife and quiet views. One of the best parts.... just through a thin patch of woods is the lake! We have a lake view that’s much better in the winter than summer, however, once we clear some of the grown-up side yard on the property we will have an even better view! 

We have so much vision for this little place! It needs a bunch of TLC—more like a gut— because it’s been a seasonal fishing cabin for a long time now, but the potential is great! It’s full of classic, rustic cabin charm of being by the lake on a quiet street with woods. We can envision our family going out there on weekends to stay so we can be out on the lake to fish or kayak or one day boat around and just play on the beautiful Kentucky Lake. The kids are already exploring the woods and are building a “fort”, so they get the woods they have been wanting since we moved away from woods a few years ago. We can see bonfires outside on some Adirondack chairs under the stars as we eat messy s’mores in the  crisp fall. Morning coffee sitting on the porch under the fans and cozy nights by the fireplace in a cozy living room reminding my husband and I of the first 10 years of our life in tiny homes. Hopefully there will be family gatherings, friends celebrations, and grill-outs when the weather is just right! I can see flower gardens and an herb garden around the property. Possibly a flower box spilling over with geranium on the side. I want this place to bless missionaries passing through our church or whomever the Lord lays on our heart. I want this cabin to be an extension of our home—with all the hospitality and Holy Spirit peace to rest and welcome all who enter!

But FIRST. It needs lots of work!

I’ve begun to clean the inside at baseline (I’d rather have my germs than anyone else’s in the house, even if will are ripping almost everything out eventually.) Heath has already began with Jayden’s help to clean up the outside. He’s mowed and weed-eated, blown the drive and the roof and gutters and trimmed some bushes. We will be hauling some trash away that was left and start to clear some side woods. We need to pressure wash the paved area and the outside and I want to paint the doors. We will absolutely be hiring out professionals for most of the work inside the house, because it will be extensive and we want it all done right! It will need new of almost everything!! The fireplace will just be spruced and I’m hoping to keep the outside doors and the neat washboard double sink in the kitchen—I think it can be refinished!

SO... we absolutely believe the Lord has given us this place. 

If you know us, you know we love a project and putting on the vision goggles to see potential. An old, dirty place doesn’t scare us like it does some people. We see beauty and that can come from ordinary, roughed up places. Anybody else out there like the story that comes from older homes more than starting from scratch? It’s never as straight forward, but it’s a redemption project every time. 

I am thrilled for this journey in our lives, and so glad you can join us in this space to see bits and pieces along the way.

This will be The Cozy Little Cabin!!! 

P.S. I can reply to your comments now—yay!!!! So be sure and leave one, if you want! I would love to know if you are like us and love seeing old or abandoned things get a new life more than starting with a clean slate. Both are probably fun, but I’m a bit like Erin and Ben Napier — I like preserving some of the history and story in a place!