Feb 13th

 Taylors lucky number. lol.. 

I was looking at house plans yesterday. At first I was just looking at simple plans and then Steve said the magic word. We can't build something simple in a neighborhood, only on lots of land around no one. I think having our neighbor over and also confirming that we could not rent out a house in the middle of no where, only in a neighborhood changed his mind about where we should build! Made me happy!!! Plus, we can build a larger house if the land is less expensive! Just need to check the property taxes in that area so they aren't higher then we already pay! 

Here are some house plans at last the look I like and a one story house with high inside ceilings

I was trying to keep it around 1800 to 2500 square feet. Not sure of the building cost, but Menards has some plans with costs already figured out, so I can base it off those houses with the sq ft. We would also have to add in some income to pay ourselves for the work. Just keeping that cost minimal to save money too. We want to use the remainder of the money to build our cabin too. So have to have left over money and can't put it all back into the build. 

We picked up two pieces of trim yesterday to finish off the upstairs linen closet. It already has primer, so  just need to enamel. Steve will cut it and then we will attach and be done! One more project checked off my todo list. 

The other item is installing the hall closet light. I'm hoping that's another project we can get done today too. 

I got rid of a bunch of stuff we no longer need at Goodwill yesterday. Now to make a new pile and keep the purging going. I have to ask myself, would I want to pack this up and move it to another house? If no, then it needs to go! I'm going to look through our laundry room today and start purging in there this afternoon. Before I do that, I have to give Zoey a bath. I groomed her yesterday. Used that new longer clipper and it looked good, just not short enough for her. So I switched back, which I should have done sooner, because it made tiny hairs that really were itchy on me. I still have a few touch ups to do on her belly and feet. She was getting antsy, needing a break. She does look 100% better all shaved down and cleaned up! She needs her nails clipped too. So that's also on the do list! 

Today is another 40 degree day. Yesterday felt so nice, I didn't even wear a jacket! Tomorrow it will be 42 and then Wed night we could get 1 or 2" of snow!! NOOOOOOO!!! I don't want to see that stuff stick around on the ground. It does go back up to the high 30's, but it does hover around freezing for a few days. Which means whatever snow we get is going to be on the ground. Maybe it will miss us, as there is a chance it could go further south! 

Dieting was going good till dinner. I think I got too hungry! 

Here's what I ate:

B-fast Coffee 50 cal

Bread thin wheat with PB 200

lunch- 6 cups popcorn 260

dinner- 2 sliders, some chicken firecrackers with salsa with a few tater tots- 700 ?

 After Dinner

PB cookie dough 200

Total 1400 - 1500 cal

Exercise:

Gym weights 100 cal burn

Groom Zoey 100 cal burn

Plank 1 min

Total burn 200

So not a great diet day, but is a slow start. I need to speed up the weight loss if I'm going to make my summer goal!! Yikes!! So here's to trying again today. 

I have a new client today, which is always fun to do. I like variety and of course earning more. Doing more advertising to pick up a few more new clients to fill up my schedule. My snow birds will be coming back in April too, so that will also fill up my schedule. We also need to book out Steve's work schedule a lot farther out. We usually don't have any issues as he gets booked up fast. It's still early as the spring rush usually happens around March. He has enough jobs till then but I like to have it full through summer and beyond. He's already picked up some new jobs and has a few booked out. Got to keep us both working!! Which is why I think we'd be better off if he just builds us a house. He would just be able to work for himself the next 2 years with the house/cabin build. He is turning 59 this May, so only 3 years till he is 62. Not that he plans to retire, but something to think about instead of waiting till our house is paid off in 2026! Seems more exciting to build, but that also comes with the where do we live in the mean time. We also want to wait to make sure Celina has a full time permeant  job. It would be easy for Steve and I to live anywhere while building, but that would disrupt Celina and we don't want to do that either. So a lot of things need to happen before we can really be serious about building/Moving. Plus, it's a big project to tackle. Steve would be doing 99% of it and is he ready to do that? It's soon or never! 

I think we are both ready for an adventure, but travel/camping is where we really want our adventure. A paid off house to allow us to do that would be great. Either way, stay in our house/pay it off 100% and then rent out to travel or build and have that adventure for the next 2 years. It's not like we need to make this decision today. I'm just prepping the house so we don't have as much to do which ever way life takes us. Right now we are staying put. We have house projects and purging to do. It just trades one stress for another with the home building process or finding jobs to keep us working. Either way, we will figure out what is best for us. We've been looking and talking about building for years but wanted the kids to stay in the neighborhood for the school, friends etc. Now that we are looking at being empty nesters in the next few years, possibilities open up. Just want to make the right choice for us. Steve only has around 10 years left where he will be physically able to do all this house/cabin build. So our time is limited, but yet we still have plenty of time to not rush into any decisions. There will always be land to build on. I think with some of the long time neighbors moving now that their kids are grown plus, some of my clients also down sizing and moving sparks us to want to do the same. We aren't exactly in that situation just yet, so we have time to think this through and start prepping. All those house projects need to be completed before we can even consider moving if we want top dollar for our house. We are seeing what the neighbor gets for house sell price too as we would need a certain amount to move and build both a house and cabin.