In It For The "Long Haul"

I mentioned in a previous entry that I had some big personal news coming. For many of my friends and neighbors it's no secret, but my wife and I have decided to renovate our house. We've lived in the 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house since we got married ten years ago and we bought it with every intention of eventually renovating it. We had hoped to do it after five years, but we got pregnant in the first year, much sooner than predicted and our plans changed. A couple of job changes for Kristin and then one for me last year put the brakes on our plan, but we've finally decided to bite the bullet. We considered moving out of the neighborhood to buy a home that fit our needs, but ten years ago we "bought the neighborhood," meaning that the whole reason we purchased our cute little house as soon as we got married was because this was the place we wanted to raise our family and spend the rest of our lives.
So, we're putting on a second floor with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a laundry. That includes a master suite and bathroom which will be nice since our current master is actually part of a "Jack-and-Jill" with our study/spare room and the bathroom is the size of a phone booth. We'll only be keeping one bedroom and a hall bathroom downstairs, because we're knocking down several walls to create an open concept kitchen, casual dining and living area which is much more conducive to entertaining family and friends. Now, if we have more than a couple people over the house can get pretty crowded. Another really cool feature that we're eagerly anticipating is a front porch that will span the entire front of the house, so it will be perfect for hanging out and watching the neighbors stroll by or just sitting their enjoying a cold beverage.
As anyone who's ever gone through a renovation knows, the process of just GETTING to the construction is a bear, with architectural drawings, blue prints, engineering and structural reviews, and of course variances and permits. If all goes well, we should begin construction by late October and possibly move back in around Memorial Day of 2015.  We're renting a small house a couple blocks away in our neighborhood, so we'll be able to keep an eye on progress. I'll enjoy walking our dogs by each night to make sure the Bogeyman isn't visiting in the evenings and of course we'll take plenty of pictures to document the journey. I'll put a nice 'before' picture on here prior to getting started and I'll put a picture of what it's going to look like from our plans up as well to help track the progress.
Cheers.

BEFORE

AFTER