Our house is finally starting to come together, guys.

Now that Randy has finished the fall semester for school and has a good 6-week break from driving down to Palm Desert 3 times a week for class … his “Honey-Do” list just exploded.

And at the top of the list: work on the house!!

When we moved here from Colorado, we downsized. Big time. We had to, with the cost-of-living in Colorado being a fraction of what it is in California. We traded in our beautiful 3 story, 5 bedroom, 3000 square foot home in a fantastic neighborhood in the most gorgeous state in the country … for a house half that size, with half the bedrooms, and in a rural area. Friends, we don’t even have a Target here.

And we’ve never known such joy.

Sure, I might grumble about the lack of space sometimes (and get a little embarrassed when people still see our 1970s what-were-they-thinking-green-and-purple carpeting) and all the hard work we’ve got to do, but … by living within our means, creating (and sticking to) a budget, and not over-extending ourselves to have it all and have it all right now … we’ve created our own joy.

The prospect of having zero debt by the time we’re 40, including owning house and the land, is awesome.

The idea of knowing every inch of this house has had Randy’s hard work and humble hands all over it, is awesome.

The happiness of knowing it was 85% Ashley’s ideas, coming to life, is awesome.

This is how to make your own joy.

You have to get your priorities in order. It’s as simple as that. And for us, having the opportunity the last year to be with our family (which is why we moved to California) has brought us joy. Having the opportunity to create our dream home has brought us joy. Having the flexibility to have Randy quit his day job and have us chase our dream has brought us joy.

Joy doesn’t come without hard work and sacrifice, but let me tell you: it is worth it.

There’s a lot of pride that goes into doing things yourself, of making mistakes and learning from them, of recognizing that change has to happen – and we can oftentimes find joy from the process.

This time of year, it’s really easy to forget about taking a step back and letting joy, laughter and the possibilities into your day. The hustle and bustle of the holidays can wear anyone down … and we’re here to tell you: you can find joy in anything, with the right mindset.

So there you have it. We’re really excited to share all the progress we’ve made on the house with you, and yes – of course we’ll be blogging about it! (Coming soon: our new fireplace and bookshelves!)

Graphic/Lettering from The Inspired Room