Before and After: wrapping up our build

What an amazing year! I couldn't believe how quickly it all went. I'm enjoying taking the time to reflect and share my experience of building our first home! 

September 2013 we started with this:

December 2013 demolition: Happy New Year (House)!!!

Building began in January. Here are just a few fun snapshots of the progress! (For more on the design and building process read my previous posts!) 

Okay, ready for some "afters"?!?!?

Summer 2014 move in! We moved in June, so a 6 month process. We still had to finish the yard, which we were running out of time to do. Oh yeah, did I mention our neighbors were hosting their wedding in their backyard? We had a lot of work to get done as we had ran a bobcat through part of their yard all winter!

We got the yard done...how does the saying go? With a little help from my friends? Our Neighbors held a beautiful wedding. Here are some of our other neighbors all at the wedding. It was nice to relax and get to know everyone.

We hosted 4th of July on the lake, and I celebrated my birthday. It was a nice way to have friends over for a housewarming. We also went to another wedding up in Nisswa, and so the rest of the summer was spent with lots of friends and family! 

Having a few friends over, sharing our neighbors yard! Next summer we are building a deck. 

Taking a weekend off from the house. Grand View Lodge Summer 2014 for the Houser Wedding

Happy Birthday to me! Never too old for a mermaid birthday cake...

Here's just one picture of a Spa Day we had with my nieces! I spend a lot of time with the kids when they have summer vacation! They love Auntie's new house too. 

Another one of my Summer Projects! I spend a good portion of the summer planning a fundraiser for cancer research and patient support: Kel's Krew Annual Leukemia Society Benefit, in honor of one of my dearest friends. She lost her battle to cancer 3 years ago. Together with friends and family we host a party to raise money. We donate the money as a team at the Light the Night Walk held at Target Field. This year we donated over $5,000. Our team (and team Captian Angie) was also one of 3 finalist for the Life Blood Awards this year for our continued efforts to support the LLS mission. 

We end the summer by lighting the night at Target Field to support LLS (Leukemia Lymphoma Society)

You can HELP SUPPORT THE LLS MISSION:

I have the opportunity to network and work with many realtors being in the home industry. It is always inspiring to me when I meet people with the passion to start a business and who really take pride in building their own brand. The McPherson Sister's Real Estate Team has the unique mission to donate a portion of their commision to the Leukemia Society in honor of their sister. I want to share this mission that is also near and dear to my heart. If you'd like to meet regarding buying or selling a home contact:

Jen 763-202-6420 jmcpherson@exploretwincities.com

Meg 763-221-2221 mmcpherson@exploretwincities.com

Better Homes and Gardern Real Estate Area Leaders

If you have a real estate to do list for getting into our out of your home, please contact me for a free consultation on what services Frost Fine Finishing can offer. I can work directly with the McPherson sisters or any other realtor to get your home ready! 

Thanks again for taking the time to see my before and afters. It took a while to take you all through this journey with me, but my goal was to show you a time line of what I've been up to. This was the last of 3 'year in review" posts. I have a few other things I want to write about before the end of the year...if you follow me on Pintrest you've seen my sneak peek...

Hey! Look what I can do...

Hey look what I can do! Here's some stuff I've done. That's basically what this all is. Pics and posts about projects I do. In the last two years I've started a small business that does finishing and home design work, and I've been blessed with the opportunity to design and build our own home. A lot of you who follow me on Instagram (2_and_fro  #frostfinefinishing) and Facebook tell me all the time, "I love seeing pictures of your new home please post more!" I am so proud of all the beautiful work the talented people who have helped make our home happen have accomplished, so I love to share! I am also so humbled each time someone takes the time to let me know that they enjoy seeing my dreams, goals and progress. I have been working on this and now it's ready to share with all of you! 

Here it is! Look what I can do (a timeline of the past two years-part one):

My friend, a recent graduate of the Art Institute of Minnesota, helped me create my Frost Fine Finishing logo. Frost Fine Finishing 2013

I was working for a flooring sales and installation team when I was given the opportunity to start my own business. A major distributor offered me my own account. He knew that I was a hard worker looking for a way to increase my sales and customer satisfaction. I wanted to run my own jobs and I was ready! With many friends and family working in various trades I got the idea to start working on referrals for home owners. I hear, "You guys know someone who does everything!" You're right, we do!

This made looking for a home a different experience for us. Going into a property we had no concerns for flooring, painting, woodwork...we had the intention of replacing most of the finishings, so for us a small affordable home in a nice location was what we wanted. 

It took years of looking, but after looking and loving the Twin Lake area outside Minneapolis we found what we thought was what we were looking for. Our Realtor Margaret Swanson was able to help us through the HomePath process to purchase a foreclosed property right on the lake. We were looking forward to doing many renovations:

Margaret is a real estate agent in the area and specializes in helping sellers get their homes fixed up for sale. An expert at staging and preparing properties, she and her team are able to transform homes and get them ready for sale! I have had the chance to work with her team on other homes and am amazed at the beautiful furnishings they can bring in to transform a home into a showroom. No doubt the upscale attention to detail helps sellers get top dollar for their property. To contact Margaret email: margie.swanson@rmxhomemasters.com (let her know you were referred by Frost Fine Finishing)

Not many people have seen the original home. It's easy to see why we liked it. There was a lot of potential. Looking back I kind of miss it!

And then the plot thickens as they say...

During our renovation we found some structural damage that was hidden behind drywall. The home was close to 100 years old, and previously had work done that cut through the main support beam. Not to mention many things that popped up. There's a reason all those TV remodel shows always have a big plot twist when a problem is uncovered, because it really happens! Always prepare for something to not go according to plan is now my #1 rule for home projects. The house needed major repair to be structurally sound, and we had a big decision to make. Was it worth an investment into the property? We looked at the numbers, and it made sense to rebuild. In the end we would have a house that was new and that would hold the value of what we put into it. We still find ourselves calling this a miracle...we are not sure how or why this happened, but it did! I prayed a lot for God to bring us to the home he had intended. I saw this new opportunity as a sign that we were being brought to that place. 

To be continued...

Thanks for reading my first blog post! I have so much more I want to include, but perhaps I was a bit ambitious to think I could summarize an entire two years into one post. I am hoping to continue to share with you more about me and the journey I've been on that has brought me to this place of sharing my experience with you. I'll pick up where I left off, and my next post I will have a ton of our building photos so you can see the whole process. 

Thanks again for reading and for your support, 

Jaclyn