The House

We are building a house. A house! How adult of us! 

Here is how we got to the point of building a house.

Dan and I had a five year plan in this house and we just hit four years this past May. So we knew that it was time to start discussing what we wanted to do. I mean with everything in life. Career, where we live, and what our next step is. 

It's funny how things just work out. Actually it's not funny, we know that we are extremely blessed and that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and that he is putting everything into place for us. That is exactly what happened here. Dan and I have talked about whether we are wanting to stay in Texas or maybe take a step closer to home. 

We never really could make up our mind and not really sure where and what we should do, so we just sort of pushed it back. It wasn't until some decisions were made with Dan's work that we knew instantly, Texas is where we are supposed to stay. 

Once this all went down it was time to start discussing housing options. Our house is my little ideal home. I love it but it's simply too small for us. We have out grown it and everyone is feeling how on top of each other we are. It was then time to start looking at where and what we want to do. We never thought of building because we wanted a pool. But after doing some searching and looking to stay in the area we realized that it just wasn't an option. Either the houses were too run down (and we have already done the older house thing, and it is so much maintenance and work!!!) or the houses that were nice and new had literally no back yard! Like at all.  That's pretty important to us. And the ones that had at least some backyard and were nicer homes and nice school districts, were just out of our price range. 

Then random one day we talked about what if we lived a few summers without a pool and we build? Instantly it was all we could talk about. Building could give us the majority of things that we wanted and a backyard plus something we could comfortably pay for! Dan went into mad research mode and we spent the next few months researching areas, schools, and house options.  

It finally came time to pull the trigger. We met with our relator and it was on. It happened all pretty fast but we were ready and wanted to get the whole process going. We knew it would take a while and our goal is to be in our new house before June starts Kindergarten. We wanted to feel settled and June to feel comfortable. 

After much much much much much much much much and many more much's discussion, we decided on a small town called Roanoke. 

We knew we for sure wanted to be in a cul de sec. We didn't want to be on a main street or a street with lots of cars driving by.  

Our lot. We back up to a running trail so no one can ever build behind us. It's so fantastic! 

A great part of our lot is that we have little ponds right behind our house. Well not right behind. Our house is not in view of the lake but super close. We will walk right out our back gate and the lake and walking trails are right there.  

Then came signing the papers. The kids did pretty good through the whole process. A lot of suckers. Haha Owen at one point was just rolling around on the floor. Whatever kid. 

We then learned that right up the walking trail from us, just across the ponds is a community pool. It will be done before our house is next summer! It's right in walking distance and there is a park being built too! One of our biggest things we were sad about moving was the fact we were losing our close park and trails! WELL HELLO!! We are soooo much closer now! It's so awesome!! 

This is the view from the community pool being built. If you look in between the trees our lot will be right around there. That's our cul de sac across the way. 

We drive out to the lot all the time. We also have met our neighbors already. Their house is being built and they will be moving in super soon. They have children June and Owen's age!!! We've chatted with them a few times, June has played with their little girl and we are so excited to have that right in our cul de sac. 

June staking our land. Haha 

At first we did a lot of stepping and counting to get a feel with how big our backyard and lot was. We panicked a few times in thinking our backyard was going to be smaller than what it is now and thats one of the main reasons we choose this place so we could have a large backyard! It was pretty scary, but then we learned that our backyard is double in size. Haha we aren't too worried now. 

It was then time to design the house. Dan and I, once again did a bunch of research. We even had a date night where we went and broke into some homes being built out in our neighborhood. It was actually pretty fun. We had a binder full of design ideas and we spent evenings at Lowe's looking at different back splashes, carpets, tiles, cupboards and so on and so forth. 

We had two day, three hour sessions to get our house designed. It was fun and scary and full of anxiety. Dan was cool as a cucumber. He's so awesome. 

You guys have no idea how crazy it is to build a house. I mean the things you have to think about, the design of everything, where all the outlets need to go, where you want light switches, how far do you want your fence, how many sinks in the bathrooms, and the details! Oh my gosh, all the details!  Now when I go into any house I look at things so differently. It's completely changed my perspective. I can't even explain all that went into designing and planning a home, but just know that it's super intense! 

Along with the stress it also was a lot of fun. It's also so much money! Holy crap! 

When we walked out after the last appointment we felt really good about our choices and excited to see it all come together. It could turn out horrible. Hahaha Let's hope not. 

Now we wait. We are waiting for permits and then the building begins. Our hope and goal is to be in by next June. Finish out the school year here in Carrollton and then move out next summer. So far things are falling into place and we hope they continue to run smoothly!

Be ready for a lot of house updates on the blog!