The Dream....

[VannL]

First, my thanks again to the folks who so willingly jumped right in and helped me with my deck preserving question.  I knew this was the right place to ask the question.

Now, on to the topic at hand.  I have poked my head in and out from this site a few hundred times it seems.  I even have the Little House Plans Kit and have read through it lots of times.  The idea of owning a piece of land and building a house on it is more than desirable, its starting to build a fire deep with me.

Our children are grown and now out of the house.  We have a modern house on an acre in Buffalo, Ky, which is fairly rural but we have dream.  We want to find a piece of land, build our own home which will be completely off grid, barn, animals, large garden and so on.  We want to homestead.

It is an odd thing to think about in today's modern age.  You can have anything you want at the flick of a switch or a quick trip to the store.  Even more odd is that my career field is in Information Technology.  We have decided that we just want to get all the 'stuff' out of our lives and go back to a simple day.

Anyway, I have a thousand questions which I will not post all at once, but just as a way of introduction, howdy!

I guess my first big question is, for those of you who had to wait to start building on your dream, for various reasons, how did you keep the dream alive while waiting?   (Our reasons is getting some bills out of the way  )

[MushCreek]

We bought our property almost 5 years ago, and are just now getting started. I've kept my focus by constantly researching and learning about not only building, but all of the other things involved in homesteading. As the years have gone by, we have become more and more focused, gradually letting go of ideas, things, and activities not related to the Goal. We have banked enough money to build a modest house on our land. The land itself is already paid for. One of my favorite sites for homestead info is homesteadingtoday.com. And of course, THIS is the best site for small building info!

[rwanders]

I spent hours and hours researching building topics, drawing framing details, spent lots of time at lumber yards and other supply outlets examining new products, checking prices, etc. I drew my own plans so used heaps of graph paper drawing plans, changing them over and over. Went to land and staked out different locations. Spent hours at this site and others soaking up the collective wisdom of so many great folks.

Essentially, I immersed myself in all the processes of building long before I actually started. By the time I did it was all like a familiar task---I had lived most of it over and over while planning and researching.

[ScottA]

Howdy and  it can be done. I've done it. Well most of it.

[Dave Sparks]

Anything that is important to you is best enabled by providence!
You make it happen. One of the easy ways is to write it on a piece of paper and place it on your mirror in the bathroom! Good Luck!

[Erin]

If it's truly a dream, there will be no worries about keeping it alive. 
DH is a cowboy by trade.  Company housing is a fairly typical job benefit.  He grew up in company housing because his dad was also a cowboy.  Consequently, like a military kid, he can't really point to a specific place and say, "That was home." 
He didn't want that for his kids. 
And frankly, after following him from the job to job for over a decade, I was tired of company housing, too.  lol
Free is great.  But it's not MINE.

It took a few years to find land that we could afford.  And it took a few more, to be able to be in a position to start building.
And even now, after we've started, it's still slow going. 

But nothing has dampened the dream.