Coming early 2016...

I can't believe that almost two months ago we started the process to sign our lives away... at least the next 30ish years of it.
We are building a home in Heber with Oakwood Homes and are super excited about it!
At first I was in denial.  Lots and lots of denial.  We had been looking at builders and existing homes for months.  We really liked Edge Homes but the floorplan we wanted seemed out of budget.  We discovered Oakwood Homes in June and I fell in love.  Their floorplans are perfect for our starter home and in a price range we were happy with.  Homes in Heber are PRICEY, and these new construction homes were the best price we've found plus they are NEW and will be finished however we want!
I feel like Oakwood Homes gives you more bang for your buck.  They seemed to have more included items in the base price of the home (like granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, LARGE kitchen islands) that would all be upgrades for Edge.  I notice as I type this that those are all kitchen upgrades haha.  It's true, Oakwood Homes have nice kitchens and that was a super important condition for me.  Even little things that you wouldn't think as much about like including elongated toilets (instead of circle), large walk in showers in the master bath, etc. are included in the base price.  So I feel like we're getting a great deal!
The biggest downside to Oakwood Homes in Heber is that their lot sizes are teeny tiny.  Like .11 acres- you can reach out and touch your neighbors house- teeny tiny.  They had a few bigger lot sizes available but they were on a road that required you to do a 3 car garage to match the curb appeal of the Ivory Homes subdivision across the street.  And for us, a 3rd car garage wasn't exactly what we want, need, or have the money to pay for in a first time home purchase.  The floorplan we also were most interested in doesn't have a model home in Heber and I wanted to be able to walk through it before deciding to buy it.
We were in contact with our sales agent and let her know that we were interested in a particular lot that was one of the biggest lots (.19 acres), on a corner, and didn't require a 3rd car garage.  That was on a Wednesday.  She wrote back to us that the lot wasn't available yet and that many people had interest in that lot so it might come down to a lottery.  That Friday night we got another email back saying that the lot was available! Saturday we drove to Centerville to walk through our floorplan model and then met with her that afternoon to sign a contract.  We put our earnest money down and got the lot we wanted!

Our corner lot

It was super nerve wracking to sign the contract and it took us a good while to do it.  I felt like we were crazy but at the same time felt really good about building this home.  We said a prayer before we went in to our meeting and by the time it was signing time, we still felt like it was the right thing to do.  Even though we were unsure about Dustin's job or what the heck we're doing in life, we felt like this is where we are supposed to be. Side bar- Dustin's job has all worked out, he's now at a different clinic in Park City working for Dr. EJ Raven and we are so happy for this change!  It was such a blessing to us and amazing to me how it all worked out in the timing that it did.  We love the Ravens are are very happy to be a part of Freedom Chiropractic!
The next day (Sunday), I was super anxious and afraid that we had made a terrible mistake.  At church we sang Hymn No. 34 and when we came to this verse I felt like it was a confirmation that we had made the right choice.  But when we drove home from church, we both said that we were really sad to be leaving our ward.  We love the Heber 1st ward!

PS don't mind the typo on the last line.  Auto correct was out to get me.  It should just be "All my hopes are centered in thee."

This picture is the  view from the backyard of our new house looking at Mt Timp.  I'm so excited to make Heber our mountain home!  I've been scouring Pinterest and Houzz for ideas, and crowd sourcing ideas on Facebook.  I love all the ideas and have to keep telling myself "this is our FIRST home, it's a STARTER home, we don't need ALL THE THINGS!" But I think it will still be a really nice house.
If you'd like to take a virtual tour of the model home, you can check it out here.  And if you want to see the floorplan, you can find it here and then click on "Search for homes in Cottages" and we are the Granby floorplan.
Our design center appointment is in 2 weeks and I can't wait! We've already been to the design center a few times to scope things out and get a feel for where we want to put our money and the different finishes for everything. It's so much to decide!
They told us it should be done in February, but we are thinking it will probably be March.  Our plans are in to architecture to get permits so hopefully once we're done with all the design center appointments in a month, they can get things started soon after!
I apologize in advance for all the house pictures/posts to come in the next few months.  I'm a little bit obsessed and excited.