A lot happened, and because we're going about this a bit backwards it's very hard to think about events without a real pull to dipping into feelings of wondering why we didn't see the signs in front of us? How did we get so far into this venture without noticing the problems building?

What stopped us from seeing? I've said it before and I'll say it again. Hindsight is 20:20. You can see so clearly when you have the benefit of being able to look back on your decisions and the results.

We spent a year essentially going to reasonably regular meetings. A lot of waiting and stressing out was done as meeting after meeting happened and each time, there were things that needed to happen where we were given very little of a timeline and we were very reliant on other people doing their jobs correctly.

At this point however we had no idea of the magnanimity of what was coming.

There had been communication failures already and I was on edge.

Dwayne was talking me down regularly, telling me he thought I was wrong about certain things which I felt I wasn’t. He thought I was worrying too much, that because he felt that his relationship with BECA seemed so friendly, he absolutely trusted them. Far more than I did... I didn't trust them as far as I could throw them. However I wanted to. Very much. The more he placated me, the more inner turmoil I was feeling about my instincts and concerns.

We pushed on though.

We had some serious negotiations to contend with over the year, dealing with the Wellington City Council, where we found out that parts of our current building were not consented. So it ended up with us deciding those will need to be demolished as we decided that the cost to bring them up to code was not worth it for what they were. It makes no financial sense to pour money down the drain! That was a battle though as there was a lot of emotional attachment. We had done so much work there and much of the work had been done by Dwayne's late father. So tearing out his legacy will be devastating when it happens. But there was no real alternative. We also had to meet specific criteria for things like fire regulations and height regulations. As well as of course them approving that the works would being the building well up above current building code. Which was a necessary result, as we don't ever want to do this again.

There were stipulations about the firewall, changes made to the design to accommodate the roof height and more design changes to allow for opening windows/doors on the south side. Multiple issues to work out regarding the fire cells and getting them to work effectively and to Council requirements.

At the time, it seemed like a never ending roundabout where you just wanted it to stop so you could get off, but every time you thought it was slowing up a little, someone came along and gave it another boost. It was dizzying, nauseating, frustrating and exhausting.

We spent a lot of time talking at home, Dwayne and I. Talking through the issues we kept finding, wondering whether all this was worth it. And he consistently was all for it. He pushed and pushed me toward looking at the pluses. Always looking at the good that was ahead. The potential, the new space. He's such an optimist and I'm on the fence. Some days optimistic and some pessimistic. But I've always got his back no matter what.

We had logged hundreds of phone calls over the year. Council meetings, BECA meetings, and we also had begun the process of looking into finances once we had the first round of quotes.

That was a whole other journey though.... I'll get to that one next.

2016 was a year where nothing changed, but everything changed.

I was so glad to see the back of it if I'm perfectly honest.