Land

So I'm not really sure how much of this you all know, but Brian and I bought 3 acres of land in Duluth which we plan to build on in the spring of next year. This basically came about because I am a country/woods girl at heart and as much as I love our neighbors, I would rather look out my windows and not see or hear anyone. It also came about because I may or may not say things that embarrass Brian and I might say them loudly to which I am loudly and violently "SSSHHHH-ed" because the neighbors will hear me.  Slightly dramatic, don't you think?

Anyway, we found a great piece of land at a great price and it is still in the city limits and is one block from a huge nature center/trail system. Pretty lucky. That said, I am very skeptical about building a house for several reasons. The main reason is that I have no clue what I'm doing or where to begin, but thanks to calming words from Brian, a handy dad, and good friends who have gone through this already, I guess we will make it.

We've had some trials and tribulations already (and we haven't even really got started!) including an elderly man who said he would not give us an easement but he would sell us his unusable 1/2 acre for $25,000 in order to have a driveway with easier access to our land. Ummm, thanks but no thanks. The latest update is that this past weekend Brian, Foxy, and I went out to the land and staked off our driveway and the house dimensions. That was super cool to actually have a visual of where things will be. Our plans are about drawn up too. We are buying a kit from First Day Cottage (www.firstdaycottage.com) and building the house ourselves, with a little help from friends and family. The goal is to put our house on the market in February and hopefully get it to sell by April or May. Then we will stay at our friends place while we build. I think we are going to get a cheap trailer (too bad the tree fell on the one Trudi and Paul left in Hayward!) to leave on the land while we are building too.

I'm sure there will be much ranting and raving to come on this subject.....I will be "cultivating" patience for that project. But for now, I am just hopeful and optimistic of a new house surrounded by beautiful trees.