Get to Know the Kelly's

By now you know how and why Gary and I started this business, but I thought it would be nice for you all to get to know us just a little bit more, including our ups and downs.  If you have been following along on our Insta (@airbnbhomesteads) then you saw a post about each team member, including the pups!

Gary was born in Hawaii and moved here to Bend/Sunriver when he was 3. Almost 30 years ago, he turns 33 in September. He has 2 younger siblings, who we both love to pieces. Erin his sister, and Ryan his brother.   He played Baseball in High School and enjoys brewing beer when/if he ever has any down time.  Gary is the hardest working person that I have ever known personally, and I am not being biased here. He is incredibly talented in so many ways. When he graduated H.S. he wanted to maybe be firefighter or engineer, and he would’ve been amazing at either of those. From the moment that I met him though he has been talking about working for himself, it’s been a long 12 years but we made.

I was born and raised here in Central Oregon, living the best life. I was a 3-sport athlete in H.S. and graduated from University of Oregon in 2005. I just had my 20-year H.S. reunion last week, wow how time flies!! Young buck is 5 years younger than I am, I knew exactly what I was doing when I married him!😍😉 I have 1 older brother, and 2 younger brothers. Travis, Troy and Trenton. I would’ve given anything when I was a young girl to have a sister, but as I got older I was so glad that I had brothers because girls are so dramatic. Today, as adult I have 4 sisters thanks to all the marriages in our two families. 💕

Gary and I met while working at the Trout House Restaurant in Sunriver the summer of 2007, as it goes, we soon fell in love and were in engaged in January. We had our Engagement Party on Superbowl Sunday, because well we are big football fans! The Giants and Patriots were playing that year, I am sure many of you remember the game and “the helmet catch”!! What a night and what a way to start our story.

We bought our first home and got married all within 6 months, I am thankful that the market had dropped as we wouldn’t have been able to afford a home if it hadn’t. Although I also realize that many people lost their homes or lost a lot of money, 2010-2013 was a rough time. Many of the homes on our street were sold and bought for just over 100k, now they are selling again for 350k-400k. The first home that we purchased was on the same street that I grew up on as a child, so I have been pretty keen to holding on to it. That street holds a lot of childhood memories for me, there was a time when there were only 3 homes on the entire street. Now, almost every lot is full. ☹ We lived in this home for seven years, during this time Gary drove to Nosler from Sunriver every morning at 5:15am for his 6am shift. I was lucky and was working at Sunriver Resort, until the 6^th year. In 2013 I took a job at Brasada Ranch in Powell Butte, Oregon and then I was the one doing the long hall everyday- no joke- everyday.  So, we decided that it was time to find a house in Bend.

The market was tough in Bend, but we were able to get in. With an on the spot offer at asking price, on day one we got in!! June 2014.  This wasn’t our forever house though; it was in a tight neighborhood with a lot of little kids running around. Very family friendly, right on the canal too! We continued our search until we found the spot, we wanted to call home and in Feb 2016 we moved into Wildflower Homestead. Phew, weird how time flies when you are having fun right? 2016 had its highs and lows for us, we were thrilled to finally find a home and move in, as we had almost a 90 day closing. I took a big promotion at work in March of 2016 and was super excited to begin this new path. Gary was climbing the ladder- which is not easy to do at his place of work if you are not in the family and prospering.

Softball season started in mid May and I hurt my hip pretty badly a couple games in so I wasn’t able to do much, I finally went to the doctor in late July as my hip was still really bothering me. I had an MRI on my left hip, looking for a labrum tear. That shit is serious, I figured out later. A labrum tear? No Bueno! My labrum was not torn but it was severely inflamed, that was the good news. You know when the doctor comes in and asks, do you want the good news or the bad first? What do you say? I always say the bad. Oddly, I feel like I always get bad new when I go to the doctor. I can’t just have a frickin cold. It has to be walking pneumonia. Well no wonder I felt like death.  😊 Of course, I asked for the bad. My hip/knee doctor was telling me that I had a large tumor on my right ovary. That was not what I was expecting!!! I was alone, Gary wasn’t with me. He was at work and I couldn’t even call him, it was a crap day altogether. I had to wait over a week to see an OBGYN, then I had to have test upon test upon test. They couldn’t tell for sure if the tumor was attached to my left ovary as well, there were a lot of ifs and so many decisions.

Gary and I have not always not wanted kids, but we decided long ago that we would leave it up to God. If we were supposed to have children then we would, we tried we never got pregnant, for obvious reasons and then we made a decision that we really didn’t want kids. We wanted to be selfish and spend all of our time together with our hairy butt dogs.  I will tell you though and I know that there are so many women and couples that have been through the same thing that we have been through. When you have the option taken from you, it’s hard. August 29^th 2016 I had a hysterectomy, due to a very rare ovarian cancer. We hardly told anyone the first year, I’m unsure if it was because I didn’t want to be seen as weak or because I didn’t want to see the pity in their eyes.  I just told a dear friend of mine the other days and literally broke down crying, I’m not sure why, I’m not sad anymore. It’s still just hard. I recovered well and went back to work quickly; my team knew that I had a surgery but not what kind.

Fast forward a couple years and here we are. Gary literally just left his job in March as taking on a promotion just a year earlier. Sometimes the stress of these promotions helps you start to see clearer what you really want in life and this really helped Gary and get the business going. Gary learned much of what he knows from working along side his Dad on the jobsite of homes that his was building when Gary was a teenager. One of the things that I love about Gary is when he dreams, he dreams out loud and often he is on a job site with his dad. It’s a memory I wish would be able to come to life. I can see Gary Sr. and my own father working on sites together as they were both carpenters. My father built both of the homes that I lived in while at home, and I have many memories of helping with the second home. Picking out the tile for my bathroom, hammering in subfloor, painting, the easy stuff a 12 year girl could do. My Dad passed 2.5 years ago from an un-none cause, it’s hard not knowing, probably one of the things that I hate the most is not knowing how or why. My dad and I had patched our relationship over the years but it wasn’t anything to write home about, still it’s hard to lose a parent.

Gary and I are both lucky to have the most supportive family, helping us build this business from ground up. Both my youngest brother Trenton as well as his wife Kendal, and Gary’s brother Ryan have helped us in times of need along the way. Everyone has always said “let us know if you need help”, which is why we feel so confident in building our business.   

A blog post to get to know us wouldn’t be complete without a section about our pups, now would it? I’m pretty sure that I could talk all day about my sweet boys, but I mean this blog is already pretty long. I was lucky enough to bring Jacobe into my life 13 years ago, before Gary and I began dating. For those of you wondering, the boys are definitely “momma’s boys”! Jacobe came to me at 5 weeks due to his mom struggling to feed, the breeder gave me the option and I chose to take him early. He has been attached to my hip ever since, I had some series health struggles his first year of life and so did he so we formed a very strong bond.❤ Jacobe has always been a large pawed, fluffy teddy bear, easy going Labrador. If you have followed along in my stories you know that this last year has been tough on him with a stroke, seizures and Vesitbular Disease, but he is such a champ and just absolutely loves life.

Our sweet Kiko pup, oh my, I adore this dog so much. I have a bond with Kiko that is different than Jacobe, he so playful always and happy to see you no matter the time of day. He is incredibly protective of all of us and his surroundings, which for a Labrador is kind of funny. He is such a horse, but thinks he is a mouse. His birthday is in a week, he will turn 10, I can’t believe it either because he still acts like he is 5. All the energy in the world this boy. When Jacobe turned 10 I started letting him get away with things that I never did before, like laying on the couch, getting way more treats, being stubborn. I think we will have to wait a couple more years for Kiko pup.

I hope this blog post gave you just a little more insight into who The Kelly's are, follow along on our RVLife Series this summer and you will see a bit how we live during the summer months!!

I'm not sure if I'm going to be blogging every week throughout the summer with how busy we are, but I am certainly going to try my best. It's hard to get ahead on blogs I've figured out. 

Hope y'all have a fantastic 4th of July Weekend!