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The Journey So Far

May 13, 2025 | The Journey

Woodworking wasn’t always my passion—it started as a way to build things my wife and I needed, nothing more. But as I look back, I can see that every step, every project, and every challenge have led me to where I am today.

How It Started

I grew up helping my dad build porches, sheds—things for other people. But I never had the tools or the space to do it on my own.

That changed when I built my first real project—a wooden dog crate/end table for my dog, Gabe. At the time, I had almost nothing—just a cheap Black & Decker drill, some basic bits, a level, and a pencil. I borrowed a circular saw and sander from my dad to get it done.

Seeing how much I loved that build, my dad gave me those tools, and that was the turning point. Without them, I wouldn’t be here today. That moment—getting those first real tools—was when woodworking stopped being just an occasional thing and started becoming something more.

Where It Became More Than Just Projects

For years, I only built what we needed—small shelves, a garden fence, simple projects. But when I started working at the jail, stress was high, and woodworking became a way to escape and reset.

Then came the headboard build. It was around 2017 and my wife and I needed a new bed. We were sleeping in a full size bed and I am not a small person at all. Space was tight. I bought us a new king mattress and frame but Jess hated every store-bought headboard we found. She loves things to be unique, so I built my own. Recessed lights, built-in dimmer switches, floating shelves—it was my most complicated build yet, and I loved every second of it.

That project changed everything—woodworking wasn’t just about making things we needed anymore. It was something I wanted to do, something that made me feel alive.

Breaking Free and Starting Over

wall of my first shop!
wall from my first shop!

For years, I didn’t have a real shop. At first I just stored them in a extra rooms or in a corner or upper balcony at the various places we lived. At one place I didn’t even have those options. My tools were in a rented storage unit ten minutes from my house, and every time I wanted to build, I had to haul them out, drive them home, work outside in the yard or on the deck, then pack everything up again and drive it all back and then load it all back into the storage building. It slowed me down and made it all feel like a chore sometimes, but I kept going.

Eventually my wife, being the amazing lady she is, helped me get a shed, and for the first time, I had a space of my own. But the reality of the area we lived in started sinking in—it was a dead-end for success, a place where growth just wasn’t possible. We had hit a wall and it was impacting us mentally and physically. Add that to the stress of my law enforcement job and things started spiraling for us. We needed to make a change.

Leaving my family behind was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I knew it was the only way for us to move forward. My sister in law and brother in law had invited us to live with them until we could get on our feet and we decided to take them up on the invitation. So, we moved to Culpeper, Virginia—to start fresh, build something real, and push toward a future that actually had potential. It was the reset that we needed.

Early Struggles

My in-laws were amazing! They knew how important wood working was to me and allowed me to use their back yard to set up a shop and to store my tools. I can never repay them for the kindness and support that they showed us. For a while, I simply kept my tools in a 10×10 Harbor Freight Pop Up Shed and got them out and used them as needed. But I was in the same boat as I was before i got my my building back home. I could only work in good weather. If it was raining or snowing or whatever, I was not able to build anything. So i talked to my in-laws and they were once again gracious enough to allow me to add to my set up. Eventually I added a 10×10 pop up canopy and draped a massive tarp over it all so there would be no gaps for the weather to get in. It was quite the eyesore but it did allow me to build. I actually tried to run a business out of it (NOVA Custom Woodworx), but running everything off extension cords and fighting constant power issues made it nearly impossible. Plus, I knew that the set up was temporary so I never really found a place for everything and to say it was a mess would be a massive understatement.

The Beginnings of Willow Lawn Woodcrafts

Finally, we moved into our own place, and now Willow Lawn Woodcrafts is being built right here, in my basement shop. It’s messy. It’s in progress. But it’s mine, and this is where everything is going to come together. I went from a crowded and narrow space to a place that is 20×27 with more than enough room for me. For someone who has, other than the 12×16 shed i had before moving up here, never had a dedicated space this is AWESOME!

While in my harbor freight shop I was using the bora centipede. Its great if space and portability are a concern. If you want a stationary bench with dust collection and power outlets, it doesn’t really cut it. So i plan to build me a full size work bench with enough bells and whistles to do about anything I need it to do. Its going to have dog holes, a vice, outlets, dust collection, and storage. A miter saw station will soon follow that. Organization is also a must. These pictures are from right as we were moving in. It does not look remotely that clean anymore lol. Not even close. But that will be fixed. This will be the shop of my dreams and the shop of my dreams deserves better than to be a cluttered mess!

Where This Road Leads

Everything I do—every build, every step forward—it’s all for my wife. She’s my muse, my drive, my reason for pushing forward. She has been amazing and stuck with me through everything. Whether it be my cancer scare, kidney failure scare, loss of jobs, all the ups and downs of my life, even when I was the downright cold person i became working at the jail, she has been right by my side supporting me through it all. I want to build something real that could one day give us the life we dream of and allow me to begin to pay back to her at least a little bit of what she deserves.

The plan?

  • ✅ Keep writing, sharing, and growing this journey—documenting every step as Willow Lawn Woodcrafts takes shape.
  • ✅ Open my shop—connect with people, take suggestions, and build pieces that matter.
  • ✅ Expand the site—social media, a YouTube channel, and maybe even a woodworking forum someday.
  • ✅ Upgrade the shop—as I mentioned above, a real workbench, a miter saw station, plus a table saw cabinet with an infeed and built-in router table, full tool organization—the works.

So that’s the journey so far. But the journey is just beginning, and every step forward will be shared right here—so join me as, together, we bring Willow Lawn Woodcrafts to life.

Thanks for reading. I appreciate you taking the time to check out my work. I would love to hear from you. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas—whether it’s about builds, future posts, ways to improve the page, or even products you think I should check out or build—I’d love to hear them. Let’s keep growing together. Thank you for being part of this journey!

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Hello! I’m Gary

Welcome to Willow Lawn Woodcrafts. Thank you so much for joining me! You can find out a bit more about us HERE

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