When we found out our San Jose landlord was selling, we decided it was time to find our own place. Prices in Silicon Valley were insane, so we started looking outside the immediate Bay Area, and eventually stumbled on a lovely 10 acre lot on a hill, with a view of Monterey Bay. It was zoned for a house per 5 acres, so I called Dad and asked how serious he was when he joked about building a summer house out here. He came out, loved it, and we split the cost. We moved down to an apartment in Salinas, and started trying to get a permit to build.
When we finally got a permit, Dad moved out from Arizona for a year and played General Contractor. Sam worked on it before work, after work and on weekends. I helped out with what I could. Even Meg, age 5, was recruited to go around with the magnet and pick up all the dropped nails. However, we were building two houses at once, and as the money got tighter and tighter, we doing more things ourselves than we had originally planned on. Which, of course, took even more time. We got closer and closer to our deadline, and we were going to have pay a hefty fee if we didn't get our occupancy permit on time.
We were pretty stressed, and VERY tired, but friends from church found out our situation and for a couple of weeks, we had all kinds of volunteer help. It was amazing and humbling and I'll never forget it. A couple of retired guys came every day and helped Dad and Sam (who'd taken a week off of work) drywall both houses. My good friends came over one night to help me finish staining all the pine paneling, and after I went home to put Meg to bed, stayed until well past midnight helping Sam put in bathroom cabinets. Our Bishop came with his wife and tiled a couple of the bathroom floors. Another friend, a contractor, brought some workers and helped finish putting up all that pine paneling. Someone else put up most of the lighting fixtures. And all this time, people were bringing dinner for EVERYONE nearly every day. It was amazing and I'll always be grateful to all of those people. We got our occupancy in the nick of time.
So, how to pay it forward? I was the Relief Society (women's auxiliary) President at church and one Sunday in Bishops Council, the Bishop told us about a call he'd gotten from a family in Mississippi. They were moving to the area, but his job was starting two weeks before his housing was to be available. He wanted to know if someone could rent them a place to stay for a couple of weeks; he had six kids, ranging from 18 down to 3. I told him that the upstairs was empty, REALLY empty, and if they didn't mind all sharing that room and sleeping on the floor, they were welcome to stay with us. I was a little worried, as I didn't know them at all, but after talking to the mom on the phone, I was sure it'd be fine.
And it was, and they are some of our favorite people. Since then, we've hosted lots of people, including our Bishop when he retired from the military. His wife and kids went three months before he did to get settled, he stayed upstairs. Boy, was that an eye-opener. I hope Sam is never the Bishop. Some of the people that have stayed with us have been friends transitioning either between military posts or jobs. And, we've had some complete strangers, usually friends of friends, stay with us while they look for housing here. By the time they leave us, we consider them family. Sometimes, they pay us a bit if they can, enough to cover groceries and the increase in utilities.
I love that we're in a position to help out in these circumstances. Our friends jokingly call it The Bailey Halfway House, or the Bailey B&B. None of our huge extended family lives close, so it's also nice to have the space to have family come visit. Ryan and Susan can come spend the summers when they can. We can have meteor shower parties and have everyone just sleep over. It's always a little crazy when the house is full, but it's a good crazy, we love it, and are grateful.
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