Still Waiting

Two weeks ago I posted that we were having our pre-construction meeting moved up and they were planning to break ground that week (the week of May 22).  Alas, we're still waiting for them to do so.

I am trying to be patient with the process, especially since rushing through building a house is NEVER a good thing, but it's not cheap to live in temporary housing when there are 6 people (like, it's more than our current mortgage!).

In the meantime, we've been packing like crazy...and yet it looks like we've still got SO MUCH LEFT to do!  Summer vacation is always a challenge in keeping up with cleaning and such so adding that into the mix isn't helping.  However, adding 2 hours to my day (that I don't have to spend driving back and forth to school) makes me feel like it's possible.  It's not going to be pretty, but it will get done.

The hardest part is making a decision about every ever-loving thing!  Everything has to go through the test - will I use it in the next 6 months?  If yes, it goes into the apartment.  If no, it goes into storage.  There's not a lot of room for storage in a 3-bedroom apartment (although this one does have a garage, which is SWEET!).  Unfortunately, we have too much CRAP. 

Add into the mix the emotions that are running super high for all of us and it's a recipe for disaster.  I am trying to tread lightly, with my own emotions and especially the kids.  This is the only home they've ever known so it's hard for them.  This is the house we built expecting to live here forever so it's hard for Greg and I, too.

However.

It's just a house.  A building.  It doesn't really hold the memories - those are inside of us.  At this point, it doesn't even look like our home anymore as there are boxes and bins everywhere.  I even had our realtor send me the photos he took because I wanted to be able to remember each room as it was (and then I cried when I opened them!).

I cried the day our kitchen cabinets were installed (remember, I was pregnant with Nick at the time - crying was pretty much a daily occurrence).   This is the photo that had me bawling like a baby today, though:

My kitchen.  Sigh.  I'm having a hard time picturing what my new kitchen will look like, but I can remember that this one was exactly the way I had pictured it in my mind.  Best.day.EVER.

Now, on to a (slightly) bigger kitchen in a (slightly) bigger house. 

Building with Dan Ryan Builders

Since we sold our house accidentally, we knew we were going to have to make some serious decisions very quickly.  We had been in talks with Dan Ryan Builders for awhile but we hadn't committed because we just didn't think we would need to rush into anything (HA!)(HAHAHAHA!!).  We had to decided:

Which plan of homes we preferred (one with bigger lots but further away from civilization or one with teeny lots but VERY convenient location)
Which LOT in each of those plans
Which house/floor plan
How much we were willing to spend

The lot we decided on is great - over half an acre and relatively flat with NO trees (our current lot is 1.25 acres but we probably have only half of that which we actually use) BUT it also had a few drawbacks (not on a cul-de-sac; at the bottom of a small hill; next to a small pump house)(These were all negatives in Greg's mind - my mind said...???)

The process of building with a track builder is different than what we did in the past.  When we built our home, we utilized a "Build to Own" concept which meant that WE (meaning Greg) were the General Contractors - we took care of all of the scheduling and so that we could afford the house of our dreams, we did a lot of the finish work (with A LOT of help from family and friends) - flooring, painting, trim work.  This doesn't sound like much but HOOBOY, is it EVER!  We (meaning Greg) wanted wood trim so we had to stain and finish every.single.piece.of.wood.  Every door.  Every window.  Every piece of window trim.  Every piece of door trim.  Every piece of baseboard.  All of the quarter round (I didn't even know what that WAS back then).  SO.MUCH.STAINING! 

But it looked beautiful.

This time, we are going with a turn-key approach.  We want to do as little work ourselves as possible.  Because we BOTH remember what it was like.  However, we have never done it this way before and I feel the need to document it, both for us and for whoever else might be considering this process.

Step 1:  We signed the papers designating which lot and floor plan we wanted.  This was a "good faith estimate" based on very limited choices (Did we want Elevation 1 or 5? Did we want to add any upgrades?)(Here's a hint: Almost everything is an "upgrade").

Step 2:  We picked out everything else (this happens on a separate day).  This is - LITERALLY - everything else:  Cabinets, flooring, exterior colors and trim, etc.  And it took HOURS!  We had mostly decided what we wanted beforehand but then we had to put it all together using "samples" and decide if it was going to look right.  We had my SIL and her husband come and referee help. (Funny story:  The rep for DRB had been a sales rep at THEIR housing plan when they built THEIR house 12 years ago!)  Luckily, Greg and I have been doing this marriage thing for awhile now and we each had the areas that were important to us (Me: the kitchen; Greg: Everything else).

So far, things are going well.  Our Pre-Construction meeting was scheduled and has since been moved UP because they plan to break ground this week.  I will continue to update and probably reminisce about the only home our little family has ever known together.