Welcome to Girls Camp

Raising three young girls is the best, there’s really no other way to describe it. Actually, if I had to describe it another way I guess I would say it’s really, really loud. Every decision we make goes through the “kid” test, and simply put the test is how will this impact them, both good and bad, near term and long term. It can seem daunting at times to make decisions based on these parameters, but a few years into the parenting thing and we’re starting to find our groove.

Like most working parents Jen and I worker bees and busy people. Jen is a sports and entertainment executive and myself a professor. We balance our full-time careers with raising our young family which is both amazing and exhausting (often simultaneously). Through it all though we have managed to find hope and beauty in the many facets of life.

Our lives ultimately revolve around our family, so finding a way to maximize our time together and enjoy each other’s company is paramount. Easier said than done on most occasions. I’m a man of the woods as the “other” Justin would say. Our family loves being outside, whether it’s chalking up the driveway, riding bikes, or just going for a walk in the woods. So, when the opportunity to combine our favorite pastimes of family time and outside adventure came up in the form of a lake cabin, we ran the ol’ “kid test” and we went for it.

There are a couple of details I need to throw in here at this point. Family is really important to us and we are lucky to have our parents and siblings and our girls are lucky to have each other and their cousins. Jen’s sister has four boys the same age as girls, who our girls adore. The cousins are their best friends, which I think is really cool. The cousins bought a lake house a few years back and we went down there from time to time. The more we went down there the more we realized what a special place it was. Jen and I wondered if we could ever swing a little cabin along with everything else we have going on and kind of left the question open ended. As we continued to ponder this question, a cabin, directly across the lake from the cousins (751 feet to be exact) came on the market and we made a family decision and threw both feet in (along with scrapping together every penny we had).

We affectionally call our cabin “Girls Camp” and of course we refer to the cousins place as “Boys Camp”.

Jen is the design and creative force of the family so she has big plans to do a full-home reno and completely furnish this place (941 sq. ft) on a small budget. Looking forward to sharing the project and budget details as we progress. I am the chief facilitator (i.e., I’m where the rubber meets the road) so my job is to keep the projects flowing and budget in check.

Like a lot of home owners or renovators, we find ourselves in the “big plans, tiny budget” paradox. Let’s see where this goes!

This way to the cousins house...and many adventures to come!

A bit of joy and celebration (and nervousness in that smile). No looking back now!