This is our second winter in Maine. Not quite two years ago, my husband and I were desperate for a new adventure, so we sold our house on Vashon Island, packed up our belongings – at least those we didn't sell or give away – and embarked on a coast to coast road trip across the northern part of the US to find our new home in New England. We had some idea where we would end up – Vermont or Maine – but we had nothing lined up except an AirBnb landing pad in each state. I'll write more about that journey because it was quite something, but today I'm revealing this year's resolution: Documenting this chapter through blogging and photography.
During our trip across the country, I took tons of photos, but once we closed on a house in central Maine, moved in and started to renovate, I fell out of the daily habit. I was taking photos of our renovation projects with my phone but rarely grabbed the Nikon, and I realized that I wasn’t developing my practice as I had for the last ten years prior. My life in the greater Seattle area was so saturated with photography – both professionally and personally – that losing the regularity of that habit felt foreign, but I couldn’t seem to restart it. I never thought that would happen – I used to reach for my camera daily. But then I also never saw myself making such a big life change all at once, so I guess it is to be expected.
As of January 2025, I am happy to report that I'm ready to dive back in. We are much more settled in than we were even last winter. Many of the initial renovations we did the first year have created a more comfortable living space, and I’m able to unpack (nearly) everything, and I'm finally feeling like it’s our house. Of course there is more work to be done, but we can now live in it, not just remodel it. I call this thing we do "slow flipping." Our first house in Mill Creek, Washington, took twelve years; the Vashon Island house was done in nine. We never planned to sell either of them when we bought them, we just remodeled each to suit our lifestyle and taste. But somewhere toward the end of the punch list, I get the wandering eye. This time around I wanted land.
The housing climate in Maine is quite a bit different than Washington State, and we definitely got a lot more for our money than we would have on the west coast. Our 1900 farmhouse is bigger than any of our previous houses, and with the twelve acre property our imaginations are running wild. In addition to renovating the house, maybe we can insulate the barn to make it a workshop? Or how about a platform down by the river’s edge to set up our glamping tent? And a fire pit area by the pond with a pergola for shade during the hot summers... Or even (fingers crossed) a greenhouse for extending the growing season so I can dip my toe into the flower farming arena. There’s a lot of things on the wish list, but we are just two people so we’re taking it one day at a time.
After a quiet snowy holiday season, I'm ready to turn this renewed blogging habit into something fun and informative that I can share with family, friends, others, to offer a glimpse into our world as we slow the pace of living, become more self reliant, and create the life we want. Stay tuned.
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