It's All About Compromise

I'm finding, with each decision we make, that the art of compromise plays a BIG role. Mr. Contractor is now asking for siding, window, fascia and soffet and roofing colors. Samples were brought home and many hours spent (mostly by me as Mr. Amazing says this is not his area of expertise) trying to visualize just what color this cottage should be. You see, my first choice was cedar shingles. I LOVE THEM! Mr. Amazing does NOT love them. Can I live with a green cottage, a brown cottage? If not cedar siding, what should we use? In the end $ reared its ugly head and I SETTLED. You'll be hearing that word quite a lot as we move along with this project. Since my goal is to stick to our budget, I eliminated the Smart Siding. It's a fairly new product, very nice looking and three times as expensive as vinyl. Vinyl won. It was my third choice....and it fits into the budget. I'll just have to cover it with trellis and grow lovely flowering vines! Not telling the color so stay tuned!

No Turning Back Now!

Here it is....what you've all been waiting for.....the first pictures of our cottage in the woods! Footings were poured last week so we drove out to the site on Sunday to check the progress. Though it was a very hot day, there was a beautiful breeze to cool us down. I know it doesn't look like much now...so please, stay tuned!

Phase II Completed

Phase II completed. Check. We're officially condo dwellers. During this "in between" time we're renting a condo in a lovely old complex on the Lake. It's a small two bedroom unit, newly renovated and...the best part.....it's three doors down from good friends from college! How fun is that! Barbara and John have lived in their home for well over 20 years...it's historic and sits on a quaint dead end street, a towering four story home with lots of windows overlooking one of the two lakes here on the Isthmus. They've added this incredible deck across the back which overlooks not only beautifully landscaped yards but the lake which, on any given day, is filled with canoes, sailboats and other water sport activities. I'm feeling quite spoiled and I plan on enjoying every minute of this as I know soon we will begin Phases III and IV of the Great Move of 2010. So, please stay tuned!

Harvest Moon

I could get used to this!

Refrigerator Envy

The only thing Mr. Amazing misses is his GE Profile side by side refrigerator. He LOVED that refrigerator. I've assured him GE still makes the Profile series and we would get a new one.....but you have to wonder....will it really be the same!

One Last Look

One Last Look out our kitchen window before we closed the door to our home and began the next part of The Great Move of 2010. Phase II turned out to be harder than I'd expected. First, there was the moving of furniture and boxes filled with things we will need for the next few months. A big Thank you to Mikey, Andy and Darren for working all day to help us get everything moved out of the old and into the new! Because the condo was not quite finished we stayed at a local hotel for two nights which was a lovely diversion from all this craziness.

Then, there was the closing of the house that now belongs to someone else. I held up rather well....only a few sniffles.

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful weekend with friends and family!