The Beginning

Last Wednesday, May 16th, we finally went forward with something we had been thinking and talking about since the summer of 2005: we started the home-building process with Ryan Homes.  It's a monumental experience, and the best way to document it, or so we thought, was to start a building blog.

We have been looking at the Ryan Homes model The Jefferson since right after we bought our current house.  That was around May 2005.  At that time, there were several communities in our area (Northeast Ohio) that used the Jefferson as their model home.  We went through every one of them, repeatedly.  We fell in love with the morning room and gourmet kitchen island, the large master suite and sitting room, and, of course, the media room.  I had always wanted a formal dining room off the kitchen, with an adjacent formal living room -- just like my parents' house had.  Yes, the Jefferson ticked off all our boxes and more.  We just didn't know it would be seven years before we would be able to build it.

Finally, in May of this year, everything fell into place.  We found a development that was in a good location for both our jobs and was close to highways, shopping, and entertainment.  A new phase was opening, and we were able to sneak in at the very beginning.  On top of all that, there were a few walk-out homesites to choose from.  We picked one we thought would be good, and signed the next week.

This blog will hopefully be a pleasant memoir, written by both myself and my husband, of our journey through this building process -- from dirt lot to framework to finished (and perfect?) product.  I only hope our new house can live up to our already high expectations. 

Oh, and I'm quite sure this will be far from pleasant.



Our lot, SOLD sign coming soon.