Hey everyone!! I know I've been MIA for a while, but for good reason, promise. My DH & I have just decided to take the plunge & start building our house!!! I am psyched beyond belief!!! Soooo....for the past 3 weeks all I've been doing is deciding on a house plan - which undoubtedly seems to be the hardest part...there's so many out there that you can just get confused (even though we've been looking for almost 3 yrs!). We found a plan that we liked almost completely & my FIL has been helping us draft the changes we want - such as: a kitchen bigger than 12x8! We've expanded it to almost twice the size but in an L-shape....This will allow me to have a BAKING CENTER at one end of it...I'm working out how I want my drawers/cabinets so that I have my cake pans/supplies right where I need them & not in a utility room or something. ANY SUGGESTIONS YOU GUYS MIGHT HAVE ARE MORE THAN WELCOME!!

I'll stop now, cause I could just go on & on forever ... just about the KITCHEN!!! hehehe Anyway - that & planning a trip to Disney World at the end of October & kids school/activities have just taken all of my time lately. Also - we've been having to go to county commission meetings (along with our neighbors) and protest a neighborhood going up behind our property but it was put through anyway...it will border our property line...27 acres to be developed. Albeit, it's said to be an "upscale" development (whatever that's supposed to mean) it still means no more deer popping out from the woods onto my property on early winter mornings, no more complete quiet out here, and no more brilliant starry skies to look at at night either thanks to the street lights they'll be putting up. We wanted to buy it before it got developed, my FIL even spoke with the realtor & his broker to see if he could make it work & just buy it himself....but since hurricane Ivan last year, property in our county has skyrocketed....they were asking something like $59,000 per acre! They'll be selling the lots for over $100,000...how is that not highway robbery?? The only good thing that's come of it is that this "upscale" development has just boosted our little 9 acres in value by about $39,000 according to a realtor friend of ours, and it'll go up more when the neighborhood's completely finished. We're looking at $70,000 boost at the least, but it's not like we ever plan on selling it or anything. And I have to keep reminding myself that maybe now the kids will have some neighbor friends, 'cause right now no one around here has kids & it's a country road, which means the houses are really far apart. In the future, hopefully we can have a little trail from our house to the neighborhood (which will be maybe 50 yards away) and if my kids make friends it'll be a nice little adventure for them to go back & forth.

Sorry for rambling...I'm just so excited about having a house & have really missed talking to my CC family/friends!! I have lurked here & there just to keep up with the new pics and a few of the topics, but haven't really had time to post. Lots of great stuff has been going on, I see!! My last cake was for my DD's 1st on Sept. 19th, and I don't have another until the end of this month. I need to practice so I don't get rusty!!

Jenn

Good to have you back, Jenn & congrats on the house. Sounds like all is going well for you in the wake of Katrina, hope to hear from you more.

Hi Jenn!

I'm just getting back on the board myself, so I didn't realize you had been MIA, but I'm glad you're back!

Congratulations on building your house! You must be so excited.

Melissa

Congratulations on your new house.. That is so exciting , I can just imagine how much fun you will have planning your dream kitchen .
Liz

Congratulations on your new home.

Glad to have you back.

Welcome home Jenn!!!! MIssed seeing you around. cant wait to see pics of your kitchen when its finished.

Welcome back Jenn,
We've missed you but we're glad you're back. Congratulations on your new home!!

WOW you have been a busy body... Well good luck on the house and congrats too!!!! My thought on your kitchen:
A walk in butlers pantry.. I would love that.. So that I can stock up for along time. Right now the most I can stock is maybe 20 boxes of cake mixes LOL that is scattered through out each cabinet! (and that does not include the sugar, vanilla, all my cake supplies and my BIG CONTAINER of Criso)
There is my idea of a perfect kitchen LOTS of stock space. I hate going to the grocery store every week...

Thanks so much everyone! It's great to see what's been going on with everyone & all the cakes that've been posted.

briansbaker - with ya there on the butler's pantry thingy! I've already got one planned between the dining room & kitchen! As well as a small pantry in my utility room! I'm gonna have storage space out my ears!!

Jenn