After a whirlwind of heartbreaking and traumatic events last November the cherry on top was our eviction notice. We were living in migrant housing provided to my Husband through his work at the farm. He and his family had lived there over twenty years and because the manager was able to provide year round work there was no reason for them to continue migrating. So when we got engaged July of 2013 (shortly after my high school graduation) we moved into our own unit. After 3 1/2 years of living there the eviction came as quite the surprise.
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?
We asked ourselves. We dropped what we were doing (black Friday shopping) and headed home when we got the call from Noe's mom. We started looking into mortgage loans online even though we weren't really ready income wise. We had just bought a truck and i was still only working half the year plus going to school. After checking with the bank it was pretty clear our income was not high enough for a loan that would allow us to buy even a small house. We looked through many apartments that were advertised online left many messages. A few said we couldn't live with three people in a one bedroom (even though my daughter was co-sleeping and it was just going to be temporary). A lot of the messages i left we never got a call back on, i never did find out why. We ended up temporarily moving in with my Husbands sister and her family while we looked. Noe had one last idea, but i wasn't on bored, buying a mobile home. I had nothing against buying one, i just didn't think we was worth it in the long run and i would've rather rented an apartment than bought something that wasn't clean and needed lots of fixing. But Noe was determined to get us in our own place and after a lot of convincing on his part and lots of saving and borrow some from family/friends we found one we liked ok...and we bought it!
THE RENOVATION
Then came the hard work. I am luckily blessed with many people in my life that were able to help with EVERYTHING that needed to be done. Running the show was my brother and my Dad who, between the two of them, had the many years of construction experience,patients and energy to get the job done! Of course helping them was my husband and his brother along with a couple other family members that pitched in when we needed the extra hands. I'm still mad at myself for buying this thing because when we went to see it we didn't really know what to look and check for. We really should of taken my Dad or Dan, but thats how you learn right? As the renovation began my dad, brother and Noe were uncovering more and more water damage, mold, and WORK to be done!
From January to the end of May they were working on this place basically everyday! I still don't know HOW they did it but they transformed this mobile home into basically a regular house on wheels! Replacing almost everything that was "mobile home" and in place using what would be used on a regular house! Down to the 2X4's in the walls, it is now a sturdy home that we LOVE for our first home.
I've delayed the before and after pictures because i wanted everything to look perfect, haha. There are still small things that need to be finished, but some people needed to get back to work ;). Whats important is that its perfectly livable and its HOME! The rest will come in time. Here are some imperfect pictures of our home before and after <3 and the process getting there..
Im still working on the other half of our home, but i didn't want to post this any later :). So for the first time welcome, we love our home. Its so perfect for our little family, and we are beyond grateful for all the blessings we've had in this process from the ones doing all the work to the friends and family helping us, and to the random things we came across on the side of the road that were JUST what we needed. There is so much love here <3 and we are so happy here!