Day 2: The Main Floor
Day 2: The Main Floor (and the beginning of bringing her back to life)
Today was all about the main floor.
Athena, our family friend Dylan, and I spent another five hours doing what has quickly become our full-time job: sweep, mop, sweep again... then mop again.
We cleaned bathrooms, scrubbed countertops, wiped down windows, cleaned out the refrigerator (which desperately needed it), and laughed because the oven looks like it has literally never been used. I'll take that win.
Then came our first contractor visit.
Our first unexpected bill? The garage doors.
Looks like we'll need 2 new garage door motors, and an electrician has to come out because none of the electrical outlets above the garage doors work. Not exactly how we wanted to start, but considering the list of projects we already knew about, this one could have been much worse.
Then we discovered surprise number two...
The washer and dryer don't work.
We hooked everything up, turned on the washer, and within minutes it flooded the laundry room.
Well... I guess I had to buy brand-new washer and dryers. What a tragedy. If you know me at all, you know I can somehow convince myself that new appliances are a hardship while simultaneously being ridiculously excited about getting new appliances.
As we continue cleaning, I'm falling in love with this house more every hour.
The entry chandelier is absolutely breathtaking. Honestly, if the foyer were just a little bigger, I'd probably put sixteen scrapbook tables under it and call it good. It feels like something out of a movie.
Then there are the fans.
Instead of normal wall switches, each one has its own remote mounted to the wall. They're incredibly cool... but my first thought was, "How long before one of these remotes disappears?"
We're also slowly figuring out all of this house's quirks.
The doors aren't broken, we just didn't know how they worked. Instead of turning the handle down to lock them, you actually lift the handle up to engage the deadbolt before locking it. Once someone showed us, it all made perfect sense.
Sort of.
Then there are the random little wires coming out of walls... mysterious pipes... and a tiny door in the fireplace mantle that I'm convinced leads directly to Harry Potter's closet because there is absolutely nothing else back there.
Every hour this house gives us another mystery to solve.
Thankfully, Dylan figured out something huge today.
We've been working in what felt like a greenhouse because none of the upstairs mini-split systems were running. Turns out... they just needed batteries in the remote. We finally had air conditioning upstairs! The main level unit still isn't cooperating, but thankfully the HVAC company is coming Friday.
Athena has been absolutely incredible through all of this.
Not only has she spent two straight days cleaning with me, she's filming videos, taking photos, running social media, and somehow making an empty house look absolutely magical. Watching her work has been one of my favorite parts of this entire process. She's spent the last two years creating sports media for her school, and it shows. I couldn't be more proud of her.
One thing has become crystal clear after walking this house over and over...
This place was built for retreats.
The event center downstairs is over 1,600 square feet, and the more measurements we take, the more excited I get. We can create crafting pods with huge walkways, oversized quilting design walls, ironing stations, vendor areas, group project tables, cozy gathering spaces... and somehow still have room left over.
It's enormous.
Now comes the fun part...
Designing it.
Where should the make-and-take table go?
Do we build beautiful grid walls for vendors?
How much lounge space do we really need?
Should the pantry be stocked with the things we all forget to pack: flour, sugar, spices, crockpots, mixers, aprons, Instant Pots?
This isn't just my retreat house.
I'm building it for all of us.
So tell me...
What have you seen at other retreat houses that made you think, "I wish every retreat had this"?
I want your ideas.
Finally, I want to say thank you.
The response has honestly blown me away. We're already receiving so many booking inquiries, and it's exciting, and a little surreal, to see this dream becoming real.
If you're one of the people waiting to see the house before booking, come by Saturday! Just remember... you're going to see an empty house. No furniture. No decorations. Just lots of imagination, a little dust, and a whole lot of vision.
One last thing.
Many of you know this has been my dream for years. What fewer people know is why I've worked so hard to make it happen.
With Chris's cancer journey, I know life can change in an instant.
Every decision we're making here is about building something sustainable, something that can continue serving women year after year while also giving me the flexibility to be wherever my husband needs me.
That's why you'll hear me talk so much about annual retreats. My hope is that groups find "their weekend," return every year, and make Outcrop part of their traditions.
We're building more than a retreat house.
We're building a place where friendships grow, businesses flourish, memories are made, and people come back year after year.
Day two is finished.
The house is still dirty.
The project list somehow got longer.
But somehow... I'm even more convinced we found exactly the right place.
