Yesterday was a long day!We arrived at the woods at 8:30 a.m. to meet with Kasey our field manager to go over everything and finalize the plans of the home. He staked out the house so we now have a better idea of where it will sit. He also put a Wayne Homes sign by the road.The septic guy also met us there to make sure everything would lay out with the septic. We ended up changing some things which added more money but  I think we will be happy. The garage is now on the left side and we now have two garage doors. We also had to add more lighting to the home because we were unaware that the bedrooms and sun room did not come with lighting fixtures. We still have a lot of trees to take down so we will be there till dig date (which is scheduled sometime between July 24-27th). We also met with the bank and she gave us some options as well as ordered the appraisal of the land and then we can close. As soon as we close the loan our first step is getting the driveway put in and then electric installed. This week I need to get builder's insurance quotes and go to the health department and get permits. Oh what fun!

 The past couple of days Andy has been clearing the logs that are laying down so we will have room to cut down the rest of the trees. Thank goodness the tractor is running and I hope we have no other problems with that. Andy and I are also battling poison ivy. I have it really bad it is all over my arms and legs! I am afraid that I may have to go get a shot since i have been dealing with it for 2 weeks now.  I took some pictures of what will be in the home at the meeting yesterday.

Flooring for both bathrooms

Siding and Shingles

Cabinets that will be location in kitchen and bathroom

Cabinets showed next to the flooring that will be in kitchen, dining room and living room. They will be painting the home inside a grayish white color and then we can come in and paint what we want.

Thank goodness for family and friends!!

Over the past several weeks we have had many people come out and help us including friends and family. Andy's father , Uncle Danny, and his cousin Josh have been out there almost every night. We have been so thankful for all their help. My father and Jay have also been out there with their chainsaws. We have even had help from his nephews. I brought Hayden with me tonight but Austin and Logan have been such great little helpers they never stop working and Austin loves it out there. Brandi and Brandon even stayed and helped us one night. Tonight we worked on the lane. We cut several trees to make it wider so we can drive down the center. They actually started it last night and we are mostly done with clearing the trees down the side of the lane. The septic guy also came back out to get a better look since most of it is now clear. He thinks it will be cheaper than what we thought to install. That is always a plus!  He will be back on Friday for the lot inspection and draw up the design so I can get it to the health department for review.

Danny trimming trees down the lane.

Danny, Josh, and Hayden taking a break

A look from the road down the lane

Another look

All finished for the night

More picture I wanted to share from the past

picture from May 31st

Picture from May 30th

Picture from May 31st

Looking forward in our dream

Well if you have not already heard we are building a new home! I have decided to make a blog so I could document all the changes and see the progress of our house. Our old house sold back in February and we were in a frantic on what to do. After looking at several homes and not finding what we wanted we decided that building was the way to go . After speaking with Kristy Gottfried about different land she talked us into building on the land we already had and has been there to help us along the way. My parents have also been gracious in taking us in for the mean time.

We decided that we would start with Wayne Homes and check out the houses there so I made an appointment. We sat down with Heather and looked at some of the homes and pricing along with different upgrades. We left that day and knew we had to make up our mind soon because there would be a pricing increase in a week.

The following week we worked on getting quotes to really see the price of everything since we would be building on 10 acres of woods and the lane is really long! Andy and I decided that this would be it and entered into a contract 4-29-2012. One of the show homes was The Princeton home which Andy and I really liked. We decided that this was what we wanted and make some changes to fit our liking . We added a sun room to the back which  will be perfect to watch the deer outback in the woods.

During the past month the loggers arrived and paid us to take some of the wood ! It was a win win deal they paid us and we got some of the trees taken down. Since then we have been out there every night taking down trees and burning the tops of the trees. What a process but thankfully family and friends have been there to help us! ( Also thanks to my mother for keeping the children so I can go work !) We have also been working on getting more quotes for the septic, well, drive way, wood burner etc.

Loggers have arrived!!




Check out the car that was left in the woods!

On 5-24-2012 I met with Kim for our colors meeting. Andy was working so I went by myself. The home is a tri-level with a basement. Lets start with the outside of the home. The color of the home is a darker tan. There will be no shutters on the home and instead all the windows and the door will have 3 1/2 Aluminum white trim around.  The front windows will also look different and there will no longer be a window by the door. We will also be extending our garage to make more room for the cars.The kitchen, living room and dining room will all have dark hard wood floor. The sun room and family room along with bedrooms will have carpet. We have also chosen the Spring Valley Square Maple Cabinet which will look awesome with the floors. We have upgraded the lighting in the home and have chosen to purchase the faucets and install them ourselves. We made some other changes also but nothing real exciting. Our lot inspection and pre construction meeting is this Friday and will also be meeting with the bank the same day! In the mean time if you need to find us we will be out clearing the woods.


- This is the house but and I believe the garage will be on the other side of the home and several other changes that I listed above to the outside of the home.




Hard at work! These pictures were taken on 5-30-2012. I will post some more pictures this week on the progress!