The Nomadic Life, Part 2 - Mixed Feelings, Key Milestones, Discomfort, and Growth

Here’s the truth: since moving back to California, I have had a lot of mixed feelings related to the completion of our house - frustration with setbacks, anxiety because I can’t plan things out, excitement with progress made, and anticipation of the day we finally get to move in.

Casey encouraged me to write down my thoughts and emotions, especially after every site visit, because while you might think I would leave them feeling happy, more often than not, I would feel sad and unsettled inside.

I recall my voice recording after our frame walk on April, 30th. It was cool to see the interior details before they put the sheet rock up and make changes to the placement of the electrical outlets in our bedroom (reference image below).

The original plan didn’t work because one of the outlets wouldn’t be accessible if you were to place a Queen or King size bed against the wall (like we were planning to do). In my opinion, the most practical solution would be to have each outlet positioned under the window on either side of the wall, where nightstands would most likely go. This way, you’d be able to plug in a table lamp or cell phone charger. I was pleasantly surprised by their willingness to change this.

[Frame Walk: Primary Bedroom wall where we plan to place our bed and nightstands.]

During this visit, they also confirmed the timeline along with key milestones;

• After the frame walk is completed they start putting up sheet rock.

• Once the sheet rock is installed, there is a period of 20 business days until the texture date.

• When they’ve finished texturing the walls, it takes approximately 55 days to finish up the other interior details, and complete the house.

• Note: nothing is set in stone until they provide you with a 30-day notice of closing.

On May 10th, two weeks after our frame walk, we received news that the insulation for our house had just arrived and would need to go up before the sheet rock. This was disappointing because it meant the entire timeline had been pushed out by another couple of weeks. At this rate, I thought, we probably won’t be in until mid to end of August.

There have been many moments like this along the way (I’ll share more in upcoming posts), and while I try to remain positive, it has felt like at every step of the way there has been some sort of setback to deal with.

Don’t get me wrong, there have been some definite silver linings; spending time with our families, saving money, being a part of the construction process, and knowing we’re moving into a brand new house. But it hasn’t been easy to live in a “temporary living situation” for 8 months, and I’m finding, there are many things I took for granted when we lived in our own place.

Overall, this chapter has been challenging, but it has also given me an opportunity to learn how to sit with my emotions, no matter how uncomfortable, and to work through them in order to grow as a person. And for this, I am grateful.