Behind the Scenes: Rediscovering Purpose and Home

Hey friends, it’s been a whirlwind of change lately, and I wanted to catch you up on what’s been happening in my world.

Back in late May, I started working full-time with Jim as his business is exploding. As you know, I’ve been working part time with him for the last couple of years while still maintaining this little o’l blog that has been with me through thick and thin!

Jim is moving away from remodeling (although I don’t think he will ever give up basement remodels and additions as he loves those projects 😉) and focusing on custom home builds using insulated concrete forms (ICF). You can see the new website, ICF New England, that explains what ICF construction is and why it’s the most efficient and durable way to build a home.

Growth and Pivoting

With Jim (aka Jimbo 😉) managing everything onsite, building houses and coordinating subcontractors, I’ve taken on a lot of the behind-the-scenes client responsibilities like coordinating vendor visits, build selections and finishes and really, the fun part of building a house. I call it the “pretty stuff!” 😉

Building a house from the ground up has so many moving parts, both onsite and off. It’s a lot to juggle, but with growth comes the need to pivot, and stepping into this role made sense.

This is a picture of the house we call the “Kenwood” with the the ICF block technology. The exterior block walls are filled with concrete vs. wood.

One of my newer tasks is launching Jim’s ICF New England website and social media channels to showcase the custom home projects. Thankfully, marketing and social media are in my wheelhouse, so that part feels natural.

With Jim handling the on-site work and me juggling client coordination and marketing, we are finding a rhythm.

But let me tell you, it hasn’t been without its fair share of tears, frustration, and a whole lot of overwhelm on my end 🤪 (I’m laughing out loud, but seriously….it’s been a lot). I am a perfectionist by nature and taking a step back from my blog temporarily to get organized in this new role has been a “process!”

Thankfully, we also brought on some help—my cousin’s wife, who’s been a total game-changer.

Meet Leah.

She’s working part-time, managing all the office and bookkeeping duties.

Here’s the crazy part: she was a full-time teacher for over 20 years!

When we posted a Facebook ad back in March announcing we were hiring, she reached out and said, “Umm, how about me!?”

I was like, “Wait, you’re a full-time teacher with more degrees than a thermometer, and you want to jump into our chaotic life part-time?” 👀

And she said, “I think so!”

After a couple of weeks talking, plotting, and coordinating, she made the bold move to leave her teaching career and join us. (Her words, not mine, but she calls it career suicide!)

Honestly, that’s an entire blog post in itself—if you’re stuck in a career slump or going through your own identity crisis and journey, you’ll definitely want to tune in for that one.

One thing I’ve learned about all this change is that growth can be painful. But here’s the thing—you’ve got to stick with it, even when it feels like you’re walking through fire. Because that’s when real success happens. You may not always understand why something is happening for you in the moment, but later, the lesson becomes crystal clear.

Full Circle Moment

It’s kind of ironic how some things have come full circle for me.

Over the past year, we have remodeled a good portion of our own home.

With the buy in from my mom (my dad is along for the ride as he puts it!) and Jimbo shaking his head just rolling with it, we remodeled the kitchen by painting the cabinets gray, installed new quartz countertops and full height quartz backsplash, refinished our red oak floors to look like white oak, and painted all of the dark trim and doors white.

Side note: here is the “soup to nuts guide” that I’ve been sharing on social media about every single detail on how we turned our red oak floors into white oak looking floors! If you despise your dated orangey toned hardwoods, then this guide is for you.

Ok back to real talk ….

It’s funny, I’ve lived here for six years, but it wasn’t until recently that I truly started to feel at home.

I bought our current house with my parents and (now ex) husband back in 2018, after my parents sold the home I grew up in, where four generations lived under one roof. It was a huge transition!

Getting divorced within a year of buying this house was definitely not part of the plan. Not only that but the passing of both of my grandparents, was just a lot.

The amount of loss and change that took place in a short period of time was beyond overwhelming and forced me into survival mode. Looking back on it all now, it caused a major identity crisis that lasted for years!

If I’m being fully honest, I resented this house for almost three years after we moved in.

Divorce will do that to you. For the first 2 years, I avoided the house as much as I could and didn’t even want to come home most days.

I can vividly remember driving into the driveway so many times thinking, WTF happened? and Ugh, I don’t want to be here.

It felt like a place I was stuck in it, not just emotionally, but financially, too.

One day I’ll share my reasoning behind keeping this house (because my parents were fully on board with selling it if that’s what I wanted) with all of you. It’s been a crazy 6 years here but growth has a funny way of coming full circle.

It may sound dramatic to some, but if you’ve gone through a divorce and struggled, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Finding My Groove

It wasn’t until I heard a podcast that talked about pivoting and life changes that the words “identity crisis” hit me like a ton of bricks.

I had never thought of it that way before, but it was so true. For months, maybe even years, I felt lost. Like my purpose had slipped through my fingers, and I didn’t know how to get it back.

And then you add menopause into the mix, which, by the way, is no joke! If you’re just entering that phase, buckle up, because it will mess with your mind in ways you won’t see coming.

Between the hormonal chaos, the grief of losing loved ones, COVID wreaking havoc, and pivoting my business, it was a lot.

I wish I had known back then what I know now, but, hey, live and learn, right?

I’m thinking about sharing my “identity crisis and journey with menopause” but haven’t quite figured out how to integrate that here on the blog.

What I do know now is that putting myself first, setting boundaries, and getting really clear on what I want has been a game-changer.

It took a lot of digging, a lot of hard conversations with myself (and others), but I finally feel like I have a handle on things.

Looking back, I’m honestly kind of amazed at how far I’ve come.

Oddly enough, refinishing the floors in this house and remodeling kitchen brought me a sense of peace I didn’t expect. It was a full-circle moment for me.

Phew, that was a long update!

If you are curious about the house builds that are currently going on, check out this post, land for sale.

I also have a full tour of our Rhode Island house coming soon, do be on the look out for that. Here is a look at the kitchen after the counters were installed.