About

My husband, Jonathan, and I were married in 2010 after a whirlwind romance and engagement (we hadn't known each other for more than a year before we were married).  We happily reached two years this August.

We live in Norman, Oklahoma with our two Golden Retrievers, Newton and Molly, and our 15-lb. fluff-ball of a cat, AC.  Our hobbies include travelling, good wine and better food, spending time with friends and family, our pets, photography, and anything to do with computers.  I mean, anything, from building them to writing software to designing interfaces.

Because of my job, we decided to move closer to Oklahoma City, without leaving Norman, and its college atmosphere, hip restaurants and stylish stores.

As I began to peruse the MLS listings, I felt an overwhelming sense of blah.  Blah kitchens with mediocre appliances, oil-rubbed bronze fixtures, busy granites, and wildly ornate cabinets, with things like grapes and cherubs carved into their faces.  So. Much. Wrought.  Iron.

Blah yards and landscaping.  I couldn't find a house built after 2006 that had trees!  Small backyards and uninspiring front landscapes.    And every one of them the same choice of plants: Crepe Myrtle and Box Shrub.

Blah bathrooms with unimpressive, inefficient layouts and (an odd Southern phenomenon) toilet rooms.  Little tiny rooms with a toilet and some storage in the bathroom.  A room in a room - what a waste of space.  I don't need stalls.

Blah bedrooms on the small side, with narrow doorways (my husband is 6'4" with shoulders like an NFL linebacker - needless to say, he runs into things like narrow doorframes), dark baseboards and crown-molding.  Rooms were so dark.  As if light shouldn't be allowed in.

Another strange decor choice I have noticed is the fru-fru wall decals.  Script word decals plastered to the walls that say things like, "The best things in life aren't things" or "Believe in the Lord, for He is cometh" or some other fortune cookie quote.  I know I can take that crap down, but really?  Windows are small, few and far between - I guess people want more wall space to write stupid sayings on.

So we decided to build. Something contemporary.  Something ours. Something with lots of light, something clean, with big areas and room to entertain; with an efficient layout and open spaces.  Every space in our house will have a purpose.  Clean, even, modern lines and no fru-fru.

Building a home is no easy task.  More than one person has told me (or Jonathan) that building will truly test a marriage. This blog will illuminate our challenges, successes, worries, progress, and excitement.  I hope you enjoy the process as an outsider, because even I wouldn't want to be in these trenches.

Cheers -
Caroline