This month we have the pleasure of introducing the Houdeks. Ryan is originally from Chapman, NE, and Heidi was born and raised in Atascadero, CA. Ryan and Heidi had both moved to Las Vegas in their early twenties to be closer to family. They were each out with friends at a local bar/restaurant on a Friday night and ended up being partners during a game of pool, hitting it off right away, and the rest is history! At that point in their lives, Ryan was a single dad raising his son, Tyler, on his own, and Heidi was barely out of college and just starting out in her career. They quickly became a family and went on to have two children together, Drew (15) and Keira (12), a few years later. 

Prior to moving to Grand Mesa, the Houdeks had been living in Cedar Park for about nine years. Although they loved living in Cedar Park, they had outgrown their home and were looking for a place to live with a little more land. When they found this hidden gem of Grand Mesa, they fell in love with the area and the community right away. 

Heidi is the owner and lead designer at Modern Hippie Design Studio. The company is a boutique interior design firm in Austin specializing in remodels and room transformations. She’s proud to recognize that Modern Hippie Design Studio has been selected as a finalist for Austin Home Magazine's 2022 Home & Design Award. Ryan is a managing partner at Five Star Civil Construction. The company was founded by five successful partners in the Central Texas construction industry. Ryan has 20+ years of experience in the construction business and has built countless residential developments and commercial projects in the Austin area. 

In Heidi's free time, she enjoys yoga, running, and reading, with memoirs as her favorite, and she is very active in the recovery community. Ryan likes to exercise (weight lifting, specifically) and, most importantly, spending time with his family. Ryan and Heidi have both been baseball and softball coaches for many years. Drew loves the Houston Rockets and the Astros. 

Their oldest, Drew, is a freshman at Leander High School. He is a very active and social kid with an amazing sense of humor. He enjoys playing basketball for LHS and Centex Attack. In his free time, he is usually hanging out with friends or playing games at home. Daughter Keira is a 7th grader at Leander Middle School. She plays volleyball and basketball for LMS and plays softball for the Georgetown Firecrackers. Keira takes school and sports very seriously, but she also knows how to have fun with her friends. She is super funny, smart, and she can beat just about anyone at arm wrestling! Meanwhile, Drew and Keira's favorite shows are All American and Stranger Things, and they could binge those for hours if they would let them!

The Houdek family loves the beach and enjoys their week-long trips to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico every summer. They also love to spend summer weekends at a local resort with a lazy river – it does not get much better than that! They also love the freedom that summer brings to their super busy work, school, and sports schedules. It is a time for them all to take a breath and enjoy time together as a family. You can usually find them at home watching a movie or binging on a TV series. They also love to snuggle with their cats (they have three!).

Overall, Ryan and Heidi both worked very hard to get where they are now and have endured their fair amount of struggles. However, they believe there is something so beautiful about getting to a place of peace in their lives and being able to breathe a little bit easier. Their favorite part about Grand Mesa  is how peaceful it is. They both lived close to the city for many years and now feel amazing to be out in nature. They love to look at the stars from out here because the sky is so incredibly clear. It is a gorgeous place to live, and they could not be more grateful to call it their home.

They are super proud of the family they have built together and of the careers, they have established. Heidi feels as though they have chosen to live their lives out of the box a little bit. She feels it is very important to always stay true to oneself no matter what life brings and to always take life one day at a time, continuing to focus on the next right thing. Life will happen the way it is supposed to, no matter how hard you try to control the outcome, so you might as well just let go and enjoy the journey.