Plans?

So the deployment has really changed things. I feel like I had a plan for the future before, now I've got to regroup and form a new one. Sadly, one that will probably put us in debt. Though, if one must have debt, it might better be a mortgage. Yup, that's the thought. If I DO go overseas in 2013, I want Sarah to have a place to stay where I won't worry about things breaking down on her. If I don't go overseas, well, then I want to live in a place where I won't worry about things breaking down. So we're looking at building within the next two years, getting a VA guaranteed loan possibly. Anyhow, we're looking at building a panelized home to save money and maximize quality, and this is the one we're most attracted to at the moment:
home link We would get rid of the gable over the front door, add a back door, make a bunch of changes to the floor plan, and get rid of the bump out thingy around the front door, and put in a front porch with a roof. So...any comments, suggestions? We haven't a clue what we're doing, so any and all input is appreciated.

But first, a smaller project, we want to buy a shed kit and put that together. This is the one we're looking at: shed link. Cedar, nice and big, and the hope is that someday I can transform it into a sugar shack, way down the road once the house and barn are built.

We made our first batch of dandelion wine the other day, the sticky sap and the yellow pollen gets all over your hands when you pick 'em



Boy does it look funny when you boil the flowers




We'll let you know how it turns out! We also started a tea wine experiment and a ginger wine. The tea sounded interesting and the ginger wine sounded very refreshing, and heavens it smelled good whilst it boiled. Sarah's mom visited yesterday and today, which was fun, and we slept in the living room. (Hooray for slumber parties in the sleeping bag!) Thursday evening there was a mother daughter dinner at church, so they took a picnic basket to bring their table settings and their dish to pass. When Sarah and I were getting ready for bed that night, we found that Gerard had found his own use for the basket.




He's desperately cute.