There are a lot answers to that question, but I am referring to that ever-shifting day that I mention each year as one of my favorites. Yep. You’ve guess it! It is the day that green stuff could be seen growing outside once again. Hooray!

Oh my gosh. So much going on. We have big news, but let me take a step back. S & I were out walking around the neighborhood a few weeks ago. The community is in it’s final phase of building, and because we find it very interesting, we often walk back in that area to watch the changes as they happen. It caught our attention that they had just put of the “Available” signs indicating the lots were ready for sale. One lot caught our eye because it very unique. It was so intriguing that we actually started thinking about the pros and cons of moving and went so far as to schedule an appointment with the salesperson. Long story short, we are building a new house.

What’s special about this lot? There are a few things that really stood out to us. 1. There is no neighbor on one side, only green space. 2. The lot is such that it offers a walk-out lower level. 3. It backs up to woods with a creek.

While we love our house and this community, we had to make our moving decisions very quickly when the old office closed. There are things we look back on now that we wish we’d have done differently. Some of those things are small, some are costly and some are impossible to change. After listing all the things we’d like to change, we decided that starting over, a few blocks away was going to give us a great opportunity.

What are we excited about with the new house? First of all, it’s important to know that the new house is very similarly sized. It’s maybe 100 sq ft larger. This wasn’t about square footage.

• Full front porch! Yes. We have wanted a full front porch for two decades. Very excited.
• New interior paint color. We don’t like the wall color in the current house. You’re probably thinking – It’s paint. That’s easy. This is true, but we are terrible painters and it would be something we’d have to pay someone else to do when it came to stairwell’s, bathrooms etc.
• Quartz countertops. These were not an option the first time around. At the time quartz was not as widely used.
• Wood on the stairs. This is a big one. You know we hate carpet.
• The aforementioned walk-out lower level. Something else we’ve always wanted.
• Basement bedroom. We regretted not doing this last time. Do we need a basement bedroom? Of course not. This is actually a very cheap option with the builder and we regretted not doing it last time for resale value. That said, because of walk-out and the full bath, having a bedroom downstairs could offer a great guest space for a mom or the Dubs.
• New stove. Our current stove looks abused, because it is. Excited to a get a new one as it’s something I would probably would have done this year anyway.
• A little more land and one fewer neighbor. Self-explanatory.
• Composite deck. We had already planned to do this at some point on the current house. Now we can do it at the new house.
• Metal stair rail. Scott wanted this when we built this home. I shot him down. I was wrong. Now we get to fix that.
• Bigger bathrooms. This wasn’t something that we were actively thinking about, but the builder apparently got smarter in the past seven years. With the exception of the powder room, which is identical, all the bathrooms are larger than in this house.
• Larger pantry. Again, the builder got smarter. The first floor plan is slightly different which allows for a pantry that is twice the size of the current one.

Anyway, more to come on this. We are so looking forward to actually being here while it’s happening rather than 90 minutes away. Hoping to get a ton of pictures as work progresses.

XOXO