Out of town and out of the loop!

So, I am in Vancouver, Washington with my niece and nephews while my sister and her husband go to Cancun. I brought Tyler along so it'll be a fun week. I will, however, be unable to update the progress of the remodel. I've asked Pete, my husband, to take pictures each morning and night, so I should have pictures to show next week when I get home. We are anticipating that the permit will have come through on Monday so that the basement excavation can begin. Despite the mess, this part of the plan is really not so bad, since our living has not been inhibited in any way. I think when the headaches will begin is when they tear through the living room wall to connect the office space with the existing house and the cement cutting in the basement. Our kids have been troupers though. They just shrug and go on with life. My oldest son asked if he could invite some friends over on Thursday, and I said, do you think our house is the best house to play at right now? He looked around and said, "Yeah, I'll see if I can play at someone else's house."

The issue that I still question is the finish on the house. Do I incorporate shake shingle or stick with a more European/French style with stone, stucco and brick? I don't want the house to be too busy, but I don't want it to be boring either. I know, I know . . . I have plenty of time to make those kinds of decisions. My dad asked me what brought about all of these changes and I said, "I guess just because I wanted to." Yes we gain storage space and a main floor office, but the truth is, none of it is necessary . . . just nice and satisfies my need to design and change things up. The one necessity is that our porch was a previously a slab that had sunken with time, causing the roof of the porch to swagger a big. This addition will give us a nice porch with cold storage beneath--something that needed to be replaced eventually. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel lucky, in a time of a hard economy, to have the opportunity to do this remodel. I put a lot of time and effort into deciding whether to buy an already existing home, or stay where we are and take advantage of our great lot. I feel like we made the best decision for us, so I hope all goes well! I will update the blog on Thursday or Friday when I get home.