Minding The Pod: Before and After

We have been trying to figure out what we want to do now that Andy is enjoying his job and we feel confident about things in Winston-Salem. We have a nice house and I had hoped to stay in it longer, but it is squeezing us. We only have 1.5 baths in a ranch and it is getting tight. I am a little crazy with sleeping, but I feel like we are always whispering. The bedrooms are all on top of the kitchen and living room. We have no place for guests. The other night Andy was coughing all night. Gigi was sleeping in the basement. He literally had no where to go to avoid waking anyone. If he went in the living room, Bennett would be woken up. The poor guy had to stay in our room. We also love to entertain, and there isn't any room for us to do so. (I realized after reading this that it sounds ungrateful for a nice, safe home for our family. I am grateful for this house and I appreciate that we have a house of any kind!)

With all our wants in mind, we began looking at houses a few months ago, getting an idea about areas, and price ranges. We went into the search looking for an older home in the Buena Vista area. However, we were quickly, and with our jaws on the floor, priced out. So, we looked a little further from that part of town into Old Sherwood. We founds lots of ideas there, but they were all on the small, tight side, as older homes tend to be, and needing a lot of renovation. We found a house that we thought had everything we wanted with some concession to size. It needed a big reno with walls taken down, total kitchen remodel, bathrooms, and a new porch. We were ready, though. So we went looking for builders to come and give us ideas and estimates so we could figure out if it made sense financially. We went to the Fall Parade of Homes to see new homes, ideas, and to meet the builders. The first house we went to was our favorite and we loved the builder. He was so nice and easy to talk to. We came home and told our Realtor that we wanted him to come give us an estimate. She had worked with him before and thought he was a great choice. He came to the house and had amazing ideas. As we added up all our "must-haves" we realized that this may not make sense. We came home and ran the comps and the unknowns, and we had to pass on the reno. Our nice builder, though, had a great property in the heart of town that he wanted us to look at. We had not really considered building, but we went. It was a nice culd-a-sac that they have had for years and have tried to wait out the bad economy. The lot he showed us was totally up our alley: wooded, big, and private. This began 2.5 months of talking, shopping, planning, worrying, etc. before we even signed the contract! So, now we are under contract to build a house! I still don't know how we will do it. I am not a patient, wait for things to happen person. I need a job and I need things to move! So, I am learning to be patient as I try to pick out all the things that need to make this house happen. We hope to be in the house by the end of July, early August.

The builder listened to all our thoughts and created a wonderful plan. It will be a cozy Craftsman style house with an open floor plan.

Here is our lot before the big trucks came. The slope will be graded to make a more level backyard. We will actually have grass instead of asphalt!