Crystal Madrilejos

Design & Creative

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We’re still plugging away at Project Homestead. It’s hard to know where to start with an update due to the amount of time that has passed since my last post and so much has happened since then.

So first off, we were a bit ambitious thinking that we’d be ready to start construction in July. Andrew’s Mom was being nice and didn’t say anything at the time, though she was thinking – “uh, yeah right.” :) Andrew’s parents built their home years ago, so they know from experience what it’s like. (more…)

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Yesterday I posed a little sneak peek on Instagram and Facebook about our house plans. I’m super excited to share where we’ve finally landed with the homebuilding project. I didn’t want to say anything earlier because we still had some loose ends that needed tying up and even now there is one big blocker that we need to overcome, which I’ll talk about later. After much back and forth, we had to forgo the location we had originally settled on due to the fact that it just wasn’t going to work with our budget. We could have probably built in that spot if we waited another 20 years to save the additional money it would have cost, but it’s just not worth it to us. Opportunity costs, people! (more…)

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Okay, so this is sort of a bummer post. After much going around and around and talking with too many people to even recall, it’s looking like we may not be able to build our homestead in the spot we had planned. Super sad face, I know. Let me break it down for you. (more…)

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I don’t have any previous experience to compare this whole process to, but it seems like every step of the way we are encountering obstacles. Maybe that’s just par for the course, but it can be discouraging! More than once this week I’ve had to step back and take a breather because things were starting to feel heavy.

We have been going back and forth with the county building department and the local zoning board to find out about parceling the property and their requirements for a driveway. We always thought we would just share a driveway with Andrew’s parents since that seemed to make the most sense but there’s some confusion around whether this is actually allowed. Another super frustrating process. There seems to be no consensus on this and whenever Andrew talks to someone, they aren’t quite sure and have to “talk to someone else” to get any sort of answer. (more…)

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Just because you find the perfect spot to build, does not mean it’s going to be the easiest spot to build on. For a long time, Andrew and I had been envisioning the spot we would build and anticipated some issues but you just can’t anticipate everything – including the cost. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that building a home is not cheap. So this is where we currently find ourselves. (more…)

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It’s that time again. Recapping last year and prognosticating what’s in store for the New Year. I figured there’s no better time for a long overdue update. I have a number of posts in draft form, but haven’t had the chance to hit publish.

The ramp up to this New Year’s Eve was chaotic and so swift it knocked me off my feet, literally and figuratively. Though we usually don’t do anything to celebrate the turning of the calendar, this year was especially lackluster; spent in bed–all four of us–sick with whatever nasty bug is going around. Andrew was the first to be hit. Then both kids and I fell right in a row. Luckily, both kids escaped having to take any antibiotics but Andrew ended up with a sinus infection and myself with a killer sore throat. This is the first I’ve taken antibiotics in probably over 10 years (our kids have never had antibiotics in their short lives thus far and am hoping they don’t have to for a long time – knock on wood!)

As I was lying in bed, I would scroll through Facebook and see everyone reflecting on their year and setting intentions for 2015 with lots of motivation and high hopes. It seemed like most people had a feeling that 2015 was going to be their best year yet and that they could sense the areas of their life that were going to shine. And I wasn’t feeling it. I had no motivation, no sense of what 2015 had in store for me, and definitely did not have that feeling of a fresh start! Granted, my mind was clouded and I get super emotional when I’m sick, but I had this feeling like – Is this it? Is this lack of motivation and horrible state I’m in a foreshadowing of what this year has in store for me??

But as I’ve recovered from being sick, I’ve noticed my motivation coming back and I’m able to look back on 2014 and realize what a monumental year it was for us on many levels. I started Wild Daughters. I got an amazing new day job as Creative Director at an incredible technology company, as well as a game-changing side job, going back to my career roots, designing a magazine with a stellar team of individuals. Andrew and I are this close to being completely debt free. We hit our savings goal to finally build the house we’ve always wanted. Our little family is healthy and happy.

I’ve also been able to think more about what I want 2015 to be. The way I see it, 2014 was the year of positioning. A year of moving all the pieces in the right place to set us up for the big things we have planned for the next couple years. What can I say? We’re long-term goal type people. But what does that mean for THIS year? It means that we’re fine-tuning the mechanics of how all the pieces are working together and propelling things forward. It means making BIG moves on goals that we’ve only been inching towards for a long time, namely the house (!!!) and another project (that will remain unnamed for now) but has been 6+ years in the making. If 2014 was the year for career building, then 2015 is going to be year of The Homestead. Don’t get me wrong, both Andrew and I have big plans and ambitions, work-wise, for 2015 but I think the year is really going to shine on the home front.

I’m still feeling like I need a little bit of a kick in the pants to get this year started. I was hoping this little winter holiday break would have been the time for me to regroup and tie up loose ends, but alas, being sick derailed that plan and I have just as much stuff to do starting the New Year as I had coming out of the previous one.  So my only intention I’m making at the moment is getting through this current mile-long, to-do list and being super grateful for it all.

Happy New Year, guys.

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A little recap from week one of maple tapping season 2014! We started tapping our trees on March 9th and between then and the day we boiled (last Sunday, March 16th) we got about 20 gallons of sap. The weather hasn’t been ideal, with only a few days going above freezing, but it was enough for us to get a decent batch. Since we knew we were only going to be able to boil on the weekends, we had to store the sap in the meantime and were a bit thankful for the cold weather. (more…)

It’s hard to believe that it’s that time of year again. Not only does it seem like we were just planning the garden not so long ago, but with this crazy winter weather, it’s hard to believe that spring is even around the corner. Instead of doing one massive garden planning post this year, I’ve decided to spread things out a bit to get us all ramped up for the planting season. So with that said, onto the garden planning!  (more…)