The builder certainly was not playing while we were away. Upon our arrival back home from Kristy’s graduation we stopped by our home to get a gander at what was going on.

It certainly took on quite a bit more shape from a week ago.

Tomorrow is the big meeting with the electrician as we need to know all the extra stuff we want. One of my babies is putting electrical over my kitchen cabinets with a switch below. I also want lighting under the cabinets. And hubby has a list of stuff he wants too. It should be fun!

I’m starting to really hone in on the exact paint color I want the interior walls to be. I’m a big fan of my Sherwin Williams color chart.

I’m getting so nit picky that I just placed an order from South Korea for some pottery (2 pieces) that match my pottery from there.

The excitement builds as I try to get the right color as I only have one shot at this.

If it’s not right I’ll be painting myself, not what I have in mind.

We’re still having fun, no snags yet (knock on wood).

Hubby and I had a little meeting with the builder this morning and I’ll have to say things are going quite well considering all the rain we had this week.

Here is a recap of where the house was last week

And here we have the same view and where we stand as of today.

The area to the left is hubby’s garage – it’s filled in with dirt, gravel and who knows what and the builder is waiting for things to settle before she pours the foundation.

Things are taking shape and we have hopes to have the frames for the exterior of the home up next week.

Hubby standing in what will eventually be his garage.

Our builder working her magic

Hubby in the basement for the very first time

And this is me in the basement standing in what will be my pottery studio.

We’re thrilled to have a full walk out basement, much less a basement as we’ve never had one.

As the house goes up it is truly starting to sink in, in a surreal sort of way.

I took a little drive out to the lot to observe/get my nose into what all the fuss is about.

And I like what I saw very much

The walkout basement as she stands

After I arrived the builder informed me that the concrete truck was due to arrive any min. Sure enough, I spied it rounding the bend.

Pouring the footer for the garage – A nifty little sleeve for the concrete

Meanwhile the crew finished work on the last frame for the basement

Up goes the frame

I’m watching you guys

Very Close

It was hard to pull myself away but I left with dreams of home.

One day…one day, we will be Home Sweet Home

It’s Hooked On Friday’s. So do check out Julia’s Hooked On Friday’s party this week! There’s lots of fun stuff going on over there as always!

Choices, oh the choices we have. The next choice up for our home is the exterior paint color. Luckily the website has this little design studio where you can pick a home similar to what you have and then choose the colors for the roof, trim, front door and home.

Hubby wanted me to pick my top three colors and mull over them a few days so this is what I came up with. I picked my top three but I also picked two more just in case he didn’t like what I had in mind.

The company does not offer the candle light yellow that I was aiming for, so the next best thing is this Adobe Cream. It’s as close to yellow as I’m going to get with the colors they offer.

I truly want a red front door and this cranberry color is as close as I could get to red in this program.

The next choice is this Colonial Ivory. Not as creamy and bright as the one above so I make this choice #2 I would keep the red front door with the Colonial Ivory as well.

Next up is Monterey Sand. This is way off from my yellow preference but a nice light sand color. So this color comes in as Choice #3. And my red front door will still apply with this color.

To switch things up a bit, just in case hubby didn’t like any of my choices above, I took it a step further picking out my next two favorite colors. Next up is this interesting Coastal Sage. I really believe this color could grow on me. With the Coastal Sage, you will notice I changed the front door to match the white trim.

And last I picked Mystic Blue. This is another color I’m quite fond of as I have big plans of painting hubby’s office in this color. The front door would also go with the white here as well.

Hubby is giving me the liberty of picking out the color of the home but I definitely want him to like it too. And he contends that if I’m happy with it then he’s happy. He’s likes both the Adobe Cream and the Mystic Blue but I think he would go with any of these. Do you have a favorite?

The next step is to look at all the samples and make a decision. The builder is dropping all of these samples in the mail today and we should have the decision made by sometime next week.

Hope you’re enjoying your Friday and don’t forget to check out Hooked On Friday’s!

Good day and welcome to Hooked On Houses “Hooked On Friday’s” Party! Today’s party is all about something home related that we’re hooked on.

I’m so “hooked on color” these days that I can hardly think straight!  We’re building a home as many of you already know and hubby has completely given me the rains and turned me loose on color!  With that, I’ve thrown caution to the wind and could care less about the 2009 color trends.

So here you can find me in our master bathroom.Although the pictures are in 3d, they give an idea of the color scheme.

Here is the floor plan of the bathroom to get you oriented with what is what.The closet is immediately to the right as you walk into the bathroom, the linen closet is on the left side of the room next to the vanity.The green wall/line represents an outside wall and the yellow wall/line represents an interior wall.And I think the rest pretty much explains itself.

The floor plan as you enter from the bedroom

A look into the bathroom from the entrance of the bedroom

I’m leaning towards a nice Chocolate color on the walls with dark cabinets and light counters with light flooring.I like the way the lighter counters with some deep chocolate lines compliment the walls and the lighter tile on the floor offers a nice pedestal.But I think the crowning stroke will be the white trim work with crisp white towels.

A view looking to the right with our closet on the far right

To the left side of the room

And then into the back of the water closet

Don’t forget to go visit Julia over at Hooked On Houses, you won’t want to miss the party or perhaps you too would like to join in!  And do check back with her throughout the day for more entries!

Hubby and I had another meeting with our builder yesterday afternoon.We had a few minor things to take care of and we wanted to see the progress.The crew finally broke ground yesterday and they’re doing a marvelous job!

They dug out the basement and will pour the footers today – if all goes well!We did get about 4” of snow overnight so we’ll see what happens.

A busy backhoe

Bird’s eye view from the road

Our builder (the woman) checking in with the mason

Walkout basement

After we finished our business at the lot, we met back at one of the builders new homes to get in out of the “cooler” elements to finish up our business with her.Have I mentioned how much we love her – Just can’t help saying it again, she’s the best!

After our meeting we drove back out to the lot to see the progress they made while we were gone. Wow he was moving fast in the seat of that backhoe as he had the footer nearly dug!

We’re hoping they can pour the footer today.The mason mentioned that he could use some sort of “heater” to melt the snow from last night so we’ll see how it goes…I doubt we make a trip up there today.

Hubby was all about going back to that restaurant we found the last time we were up there.It didn’t disappoint.

I caught hubby mid chew.

I can’t get enough sunsets even if all I get is a reflection. I was surprised that I was part of the reflection too.

Our afternoon started with our real-estate attorney. The meeting went well and we are beginning to see things take shape. We had an hour and a half window between our meeting with the attorney and the builder so we planned a little lunch date. While Hubby searched for restaurants in the area on the GPS, I spied a cool looking Italian eatery and Hubby agreed that we should give it a try.

My Date

It was an old train station turned into a restaurant. We both enjoyed the unique ambiance and the food. We definitely plan to return.

One of the many train pictures that lined the walls

After lunch, we made our way to the lot and this is how we found it

We were so pleased with the progress!

The mason and builder arrived shortly after we got there and we immediately got down to business. The A Team – Mason, Our Sweet Builder and My Dearest

Hubby went to great lengths to position the house on the lot. He shared his plan with the exact feet of where he wanted it and they got down to business.

I adore her (our builder) and I wish this shot wasn’t so blurry but I like it anyway.

The crew headed out and I was following behind with the builder. Hubby turned around to see if we needed a hand getting down there.

I haven’t played in mud like this in a very long time. I plodded along holding up my britches and I must have looked funny because I was getting laughed at.

I don’t remember the last time my feet had this much fun playing in the mud. The lower portion of my boot is practically covered in mud. And the guys told me that I needed to invest in some (I won’t use their term)-(so my term) “poop” kickers.

The builder brought a shovel for us so that we could really break ground. This is our first experience to break ground and we can hardly wait for the next step.

Hubby making it official!

I’m beyond excited!

And the crew busy pounding stakes for the footprint of the home!

The mason is hoping to have the basement dug before Christmas… Fingers crossed!

The weekend proved to be gorgeous with pretty white stuff as far as the eye could see. We drove out to meet the builder to present to her our last set of changes. We moved windows, added a couple doors in the basement and there were about 20 minor changes in all. We’re finally ready to sign off on the floor plan as soon as the changes are made. As a matter of fact, tomorrow is the day we do just that!

Our builder plowing through the snow (up the driveway) in her 4 wheel drive!

We have truly fallen in love with her. She’s a wonderful woman and we like to think of her as our Angel up here. Having gone through so many realtors and finally finding her has been a joy that we can’t even begin to describe.

This is one of the homes she just finished building and this is the house that we came so close to buying. There were things we wanted that this house didn’t have and then is when we learned she had many other pieces of land available in this development.

This home up on a hill is where we’ve been conducting our meetings when it’s cold. Picture taken out the dining room window.

One of our neighbors homes – she has built all the homes in this development as she purchased all the property to develop many years ago.

The spot where we meet when it’s “not so cold”. We’ve conducted a lot of business there.

They’re making a lot of headway clearing the lot. The snow is gone by now and they resumed clearing yesterday and will hopefully have it finished by tomorrow afternoon.

Pieces of equipment on the other end of our lot – They still have some work cut out for them. Hopefully they’re gettin’ ‘er done!

Pines in our neighbors front yard.

We headed back home late in the afternoon/early evening – A picture out my window/mirror.

And this shot wraps up our evening.

We have been spending countless hours in the design stages of our new home. I’ve been working very hard in the master bathroom and this is the layout I’ve come up with. As you walk into the bathroom the closet is immediately on the right. Then the Mr’s “high” sink is on the right and the Mrs. lower Vanity and counter area is on the left. The linen closet is next to the Mrs. Vanity. Walking through the arch the shower is on the right, (hubby’s giving us a large shower with duel shower heads), tub in the center and the toilet on the left.

These are the colors I’m really leaning towards in the bathroom. I’m trying to allow myself to go with the flow and just haul off and PAINT THESE WALLS, for Peat’s Sake! This will be a first for me and I’m really looking forward to coloring the walls in our home other than the builder’s grade basic off white color. I’m so ready for change! We’re hoping to break ground this week!

We’re in the stages of plotting our home and figuring out just how we want it to sit on the lot. It all feels like such a slow process but it should start moving along in the days to come. Can’t wait!

I met up with my dearest for lunch yesterday and we drove out to the lot. The survey was complete and we’re doing our homework.

The view of our lot from the road

My Dearest – at the back 40 ~ He’s plotting all the property points on his GPS then he plans to plug all the points into the lot online so that he can then decide exactly where he wants the house to sit on the lot. It’s nice being married to an engineer, he is so detailed and I love that about him.

My man in the jungle – Oh right, our back yard… He found another stake!

In Other News

We’re having another gorgeous autumn day, the snow is falling and all is right in the world. It has warmed up to the point that it’s comfortable (no longer in the teens – that’s bone freezing weather for me) and I’m enjoying the beautiful day with balmy temps in the low 30’s.

Pretty plump flakes creating a beautiful snow globe

By 9:00am each branch was coated

Wishing you a joyous day!

Having lived in 7 states and outside the country for 2 ½ years, the north was never on our radar. There were too many other places we wanted to live and living overseas again was one of the things we wanted to do.

So, here we are and I wouldn’t take it back, not for a second. I was tagged by Linda from Florida last week (while I was out of town) asking me to post 5 things I love about my state.

5 Things I Love About Where I Live

1. Number 1 has to be Home – “It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home.” – Author Unknown

2. The country – I love the country side – It’s a place where things move at a slower pace – I find tranquility no matter where we go and I love living where there is virtually no traffic to speak of.

Photo taken last Autumn

3. Autumn – Autumn is my favorite season! I love the cooler months leading into winter – The changing of the leaves has me mesmerized to this day. The photos below were taken last year and my readers who have been with me for a while have already seen these.

4. Winter – I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for snow. As a matter of fact it was in the forecast last week while I was out of town but no such luck. I was rather delighted as I didn’t want to miss our first snow of the year. We have a mixture of rain/snow/wind in the forecast today and I keep looking out in hopes to see the white stuff.

This was how I spent last Valentines Day!

5. Animals – Oh how I love the animals that I’m not used to seeing IRL. I still do a double take daily as I see the deer stroll through the backyard. And I stop what I’m doing and watch them ‘til they’re out of site.

Beauty in the front yard this past summer

Hope you enjoyed!

It was a crisp fogy morning as I drove up to meet the builder for an early morning appointment.

The dense fog as I headed out

The sun burning off the fog

On up the road a ways

This will be the little street we live on one of these days

Turkey’s in our (soon to be) neighbors yard

Another neighbor’s birdhouse tucked away in the trees

Meet our neighbor

And another neighbor

And here’s another neighbor on down the road

Fall foliage up close

Looking up through the leaves

And this is part of our backyard view – There’s a 9 ½ acre lake (that’s what the builder calls it) but I call it a nice big pond out back.

And this wraps up the visit of our soon to be neighborhood.