It looks like a house

We didn't think they'd get much done with all the rain last week, but boy were we wrong.

Tuesday:






























Friday:

Saturday:


We have windows!

They decked the roof.

We have stairs.

This will be the living room and fireplace.

I can really picture what it is going to look like.

Now, if I can just sell the house I'm living in.... Otherwise, I may be building a beautiful house someone else is going to be living in!

Next Step

There is wood on my property for the frame of my house.

We now have a sidewalk...













and a driveway








Here I am standing in what will be our bedroom.

This is the sidewalk down the side of our house. They were supposed to start framing today, but it rained and is supposed to continue to rain most of the week.

Progress

It has been over five months since we first decided on a neighborhood, chose a builder, and picked a floor plan for our new house. We spent hours picking out our cabinets, countertops, flooring, paint colors, lights, brick and trim. After choosing our lot and signing contracts, David Weekley (our builder) decided to pull out of our neighborhood and refused to build our house. We had to start the entire process over with another builder. There have been many setbacks, but I'm pleased to report that...

We have a foundation!

Fun At The Waterpark

Ready to Pour

We went out to visit our lot today. The plumbing has been installed, some sort of black tarp has been put down, and I think they will pour the foundation on Monday.









Here you can see the plumbing sticking up. This picture is from the back of our house looking out toward the street.












Here is where my sidewalk and front door will be.






This will be my driveway. We already have neighbors to our left, and we live on the corner, so there won't be any construction to our right.








David is standing outside of what will be our bedroom showing his parents around.









Kennedy's favorite part was the sand.

Isn't She Beautiful?

Lisa sent me new pictures of Madison.

Stress

When I was taking a psychology class in college I remember seeing a list of events that cause the most stress in life. Some of the events that topped the list were having a baby, having surgery, starting a new job, and moving. It seems I've rather stupidly decided to tackle all of those this summer. I'm not sure I get to count having a baby, since I'm not taking care of said baby, but I did have major abdominal surgery as everyone likes to remind me when I lament the fact that I'm not recovering as quickly as I would like. Actually, this week I've started feeling back to normal and I found two pair of Capri pants that still fit and I can wear to work, so things are looking up.

Although I will be teaching at the same school I've worked at for the past ten years, I will be returning to work full time after teaching half-time for the past six years. In addition to the sophomore Pre-AP English class I've been teaching, I will also teach senior English and a remedial reading class.

And since there was nothing exciting happening in our lives and since it is such a great time to try to sell one's house, we decided to put our house on the market and build a new house. Since I don't have a pregnant belly to chronicle any more, I thought I'd chronicle the progress of our new home.

Here is our lot after they had grazed it.

Here is our lot after they put down the forms to pour the foundation.

David shows Grandma and Richard around the lot.

Here is our lot after they started digging trenches for the plumbing. Exciting stuff!

Madison's Visit

I know; I'm behind on my posts.

Two weeks ago, Lisa brought Madison to visit me. I thought it was so sweet of Lisa to travel three hours with a new baby just to come see me. It's just one more example of the many things that make me so grateful God brought us together. Before I ever began this journey, I felt like there was a couple out there who God had chosen for me to help bring a baby into their lives. I began praying for Paul and Lisa before I even met them. I never dreamed how blessed I would be and how dear of friends we would become.