The house plan we picked is an open concept rambler. I want to achieve a modern farmhouse look and feel in the house. Here are some of my favorite kitchens. There is a trend with all of them... white shaker cabinets, Carrara marble counter tops, nice big farm sink, white subway tile backsplash, and wood flooring.  

I love HGTV's Dream House 2015. I like the butcher block in the island. It breaks up all of the white. And I like the color of this flooring. It's not all one color and not too light or dark. 

I am absolutely in love with Joanna Gaines's style on Fixer Upper. I want to be her best friend. Aren't those pendant lights stunning? 

Here's another of Joanna's kitchens. And look at these pendants! With the airing of the show, BAM! they sold out within minutes. (I really don't know that, but I saw that they are sold out of them at Joanna's store.)

Here's another with the same look I'm going for.

I believe Chef Jag that shaker kitchens provide "comfort and calmness".

We are building a house. By "we" I mean my husband and I are going to be the owner/builder of our next (and hopefully last) home. It's family land and really a remarkable property so we plan to stay here forever. We haven't even submitted our paperwork for the building permit yet, but we have learned SO much thus far, that I thought this might be something worth journaling about. Let me start at the beginning...

Once upon a time, a little boy and a little girl lived in the same small town for 10 years. Right down the road from each other. But they didn't know it until 6 months before they were to be married. That boy always dreamed of going back to that small town and raising a family. The girl had to be persuaded. Now we are back in this beautiful small town, dreaming of our beautiful new house we will build together. 

Usually when one wants to build a house, they seek out a general contractor. For many reasons it is very beneficial to hire a general contractor: peace of mind that he has done this a few times before; he usually has a band of subcontractors lined up and ready to go; it's easier to get a loan; he gets to deal with any problems that arise; etc. 

BUT, when we wanted to build a house, we thought, "hey, maybe we could do this." Here are our reasons: We have my father-in-law who is basically a machine. He can fix anything and knows just about everything. The guy never stops. He is the maintenance guy at the little high school here and I swear if he ever retires the school will not be able to function. Then we have my dad who built his house, and his dad who built his house, and his dad who build his house, and as we speak I'm living in that very house that my great-grandfather built. So, as my dad would say, it's in my blood. I'd say there is a lot of responsibility weighing on my shoulders to build my own house! Phew. So here we go! 

We have never built anything. Well, we did build some floating shelves once, but even that was with the help of my father-in-law. So this whole thing is a bit daunting. Right now we are trying to get utilities worked out and calling subcontractor after subcontractor for bids. Many of our Saturdays are spent going to the city to look at showrooms and trying to decide what we want in/on our house. We spend hours surfing the internet looking at homes trying to decide on materials. Our thoughts are consumed with this house. But it has become our hobby. That we do together. My husband likes tv and sports. I like crafty things, baking, going for walks and hikes, and so we haven't really had a hobby together. I feel like this is it. And it's fun! We hear so many times about marriages being strained while building a house, but we are enjoying dreaming and planning together. 

We are enjoying our journey to 3905 - the address of our new home.