Our own fixer upper...

Our story begins years ago when I moved from Utah to Minnesota to attend college and quickly fell in love with my sweetheart CJ. With a lack of funds and a desire to see the world, we made the decision that CJ would join the Air Force to attend medical school. Our family grew, and for the next 14 years we had the opportunity to live and travel the world with our four children.

Ten houses later and diapers a distant memory, CJ’s time in the Air Force was ending. We looked forward to planting our roots back home in Minnesota. We built a home and settled into life as civilians with no plans of ever moving again. 

As luck would have it, my husband’s “forever job” ended up being a bit of a disappointment, and suddenly our newly built “forever home” didn’t seem so permanent any more. 

One afternoon, CJ and I went out to lunch to talk about what our future held. We asked ourselves a single question, “If we could design our lives and do anything we wanted, what would it look like?”

That day over Thai food CJ and I mapped out our ideal life. We talked about living on a lake and having a place for the future grandkids to come and visit. I dreamed about a creative space just for me. A place where I could create to my heart’s content and build a business to help people create more joyful homes. We talked about buying a house that would be a fixer-upper. I longed for a unique and quirky space that I could transform into something new. I wanted this house to be my canvas, showcase my artwork, and be a joyful gathering place.

As months rolled on, this idea of a new house tugged on my heart in a way that I had never felt before. I became obsessed with finding this lake house, this fixer-upper with space to fulfill my creative dream. One morning I spent several hours in deep meditation and prayer. I pictured this house. I prayed about this house. I wrote down what I was hoping to find. Then I painted a picture. I sat at my art table and began to paint a house that had been hanging on my mood board for months. It was a little pink house perfectly situated on the edge of a lake. I painted and prayed and hoped and yearned for this house to find its way to us. 

That very night, as I was scouring the internet, a listing popped up that I’d never seen before. It was an incredibly charming 100 year old home, situated on a hilltop, overlooking a gorgeous lake. It was 2 hours away in a tiny, central Minnesota town. The main house was full of character and quirky charm. There was a garage next to the main house with a separate apartment, perfect for visitors and future grandkids. Most importantly, there was a little green cottage on the property that would make the perfect studio space. I sat and stared at the screen, feeling both gratitude and amazement as I was looking at the very thing we had dreamed about months before.

We moved into our “new” 100 year old home a few months later and priority number one was getting my studio space up and running. 

at a glance:

1 Main House Built in 1923
1 Studio Apartment over the Garage (we love visitors)!
1 Acre Lot with Giant Trees
Original Stained Glass Window
Plenty of Quirky Charm
2 Little Green “Cottages” on the Property (1 is my renovated studio and the other is yet to be decided)

completed so far:

My Creative Studio
Stair Makeover and Piano Room  
Painted Kitchen Countertops
Nail Painting Station
Dining Room
Overflow Guest Room
Bedroom Nook
Hot Pink Chair
Family Room