Week 10 is complete…and the house is nearly complete as well. I was flipping through previous weeks’ posts and it was fun to see the progress in pictures. It’s hard to believe we will take one more “finished” photo next weekend before we close! Here’s a peek back at the past nine weeks…

During this weeks’ progress, our pillar has been built on the front patio and the stone to be added to it and the front of the house is in that pile you see on the driveway. Most of the sod has been planted, and if you squint (ha!) you can see one of two tiny sticks (aka trees) in our front yard. Because so many contractors have to come and go, the front door paint is the very last thing they’ll do…can’t wait to see it finally turn green! 🙂

Inside the house, the carpet has gone in, tile has been finished up, appliances have been delivered and the lights work and the water runs. A cleaning crew has been through (thankfully!!), and we’ll do final walk-throughs with both an inspector and the builder to cite any touch-ups this coming week. Assuming all goes as scheduled (fingers crossed, saying prayers!) we’ll turn our very own key in the lock a week from Thursday.

Just like that. Surreal!

It has been quite a journey and while the last three months have flown by, it also seems we’ve been immersed in this project forever! It’s crazy to think that less than ninety days ago, we were standing on what would become our lot, feeling almost out-of-body as our realtor negotiated away on his cell phone as we tried to close the deal. We sat at our kitchen table into the early morning hours that night writing up our offer and purchase agreement and within 24 hours the experience had begun.

We’ve learned a lot, and there are a couple things we might approach differently, but overall we have no major regrets and would do this all over again without hesitation. I overuse the word experience lately when referring to this build, but that’s exactly what it has been. It was an endeavor neither of us had taken on before and we have been in a head-on crash course and loving ALMOST every minute of it. 🙂

I look forward to posting some pics of moving weekend, an excursion to Ikea for the long-and-still-growing list of needs, and eventually some “before” pics of each room (because you KNOW there are projects to come once we get our foot in the door…did someone say “built in bookcases”?) Thanks for all the facebook replies and comments – we’re awfully excited and can’t wait to share more as our life in this house unfolds.