Making It Ours

Friday, we closed on our new house.

After all the planning and anticipation, we finally had the keys to the place that would bring us closer to the GAP, Dead Man’s Hollow, and the life we’ve been working toward together.

But the first few days haven’t gone quite as expected.

Before we could really begin settling in, the house needed a deep cleaning. And as we started preparing the walls for paint, we discovered that every picture had been hung with screws. Taking them down left holes that needed repairing before we could move forward.

We knew there would be work involved in making a house our own. Still, there’s a difference between knowing that and standing in a room realizing how much needs to happen before the first coat of paint.

Our beginning here has involved more cleaning and patching than we anticipated. The move is happening, but so is the work of getting the house ready for us.

We decided to start with the office.

There were other rooms we could have tackled first, but getting Between the Miles Studio up and running mattered to us. We wanted a place where we could get back to creating—a space for writing our stories, working on videos, and continuing to build what we’ve started.

Choosing the office first gave us a clear place to begin when the whole house was asking for attention.

For the walls, we chose a warm, neutral, light gray. Something simple and welcoming that we could carry through the house. With the size of the home, we decided to paint all the rooms the same color to give the spaces a better sense of flow.

It also meant one fewer decision to make while we worked our way from room to room.

After the office, we moved into the living room. More repairs, more preparation, and then paint. Each room has required time before we can begin arranging it the way we want.

That’s been the reality of these first days: doing the work underneath the things we were excited to do.

We were ready to move in and start living here. Instead, we’ve had to slow down and give the house the attention it needs. It’s disappointing when a beginning doesn’t look the way you pictured it, even when you’re grateful to have reached it.

Both things can be true. We’re happy this house is ours, and there’s more work ahead than we expected.

For Better Together Adventures, this is part of the story, too. Moving closer to the trail means making a home here, with all the ordinary work that comes with it. Some days, our progress will be measured in miles. Right now, it’s measured in repaired walls, painted rooms, and spaces getting ready for the next part of our lives.

We still have plenty to do. But the office came first for a reason: we want to keep making room for the stories and adventures that brought us here.

And now we have a new chapter to tell—one that begins with keys, cleaning supplies, and a warm gray coat of paint.