Let the FUN BEGIN!

Hello All, I am back!
As you can tell, I have updated the blog. The background is our original picture of the lot for our new home, and the insert is an image of Falls Lake, which will be just down the street from our new home! In the past few weeks the weather has gotten colder, as expected. This weekend is our first COLD weekend...today's high was ~ 55 and the low is supposed to be 36! There was a light rain most of the day as well...Hopefully next week is dry and they can continue moving forward on the house.

Below is the background pic of of our wooded lot, from 9/30/2014...before the leaves started turning.

We have been eagerly awaiting our next step in the process..clearing the land. And this week was the week...our land is cleared. See the photos below!

For some reason I could not get the two pictures to post side-by-side, so this is as close as it is going to get. You can't tell from the pics, but the land does slope back a decent amount. There is about 50ft of trees remaining in the back of the lot, and they cleared the area for the future pool as well (back right of the lot). As you can see, the trees are turning...it is Fall. The driveway will be pretty much in the middle of the lot, and the house will be on the right part of the lot.




We walked around the lot w/ our boots on, and got pretty muddy since it had been raining most of the morning.

The house should be ~ 25ft off the property line, and the house next door is about the same...hard to tell in the pic.

It was very exciting to see some progress on our new home. Hopefully in the next week or two (if it dries out) they can start the foundation, and we can see some vertical progression!


Aside from the house, I have been trying to get back in shape. Last week, I started working out before work. Yes, I get up 30 minutes earlier than I need to (5am) to work out. It's the only time that I can consistently fit working out in my day. After work, Juliet demands my time, and after she goes to bed, I am generally not in the mood to work out anymore. I have been doing the Focus T25 videos for two weeks now, and so far so good.  Will keep you posted.

Later All!

Wow, knock the dust off this blog... I have been inspired to start back up with the blog as a way to record the transformation of wooded lot to new home! Yes, there are many things going on in the Pepin world since last post, especially since the last post was 2011!!!!

Ok, so let's try to catch up quickly. Since Halloween of 2011 (yes it has been almost 3 years) Juliet has turned 2 and 3...she is huge now, about 42 in tall and 34 pounds! Here she is eating some pizza, and she has been known to eat 2 or even 3 pieces! Next...

Most of you probably know that we picked up and moved to North Carolina! Yes, we are no longer Floridians. While visiting NC for Aimee and Brian's wedding In 2013, in met up with Bill (friend from residency who works at the Durham VA for those who don't know) and caught up. I told him that sometime in the next 10 years we could see ourselves moving to NC. Little did I know that in August of 2013 he would forward me a posting for a position at the Durham VA! It was a job I knew I would enjoy, and in a place Jenny and I could see ourselves in the future (much sooner than expected). So, I put in for the job, figuring if it was meant to be it would work out and if not we would continue our happy lives in Florida. Turns out, a new adventure was I our future. I was selected for the job, we sold our house in just over a few months (from putting on the market to closing, thanks Lana). January 2014, with an army (thank you Mike, Ben, and Nick) we loaded up two 26ft uhaul trucks (yes, 2!) and headed north. Upon arrival, another army (thank you Mike, Dan, and Bill) unloaded into our 1900 sqft town home (rental). On January 27th, I started at the Durham VA.

Ok, pretty caught up (yes there is a lot more that has happened, but don't have the time/energy to cover everything) so let's move to the present.

Jenny, Juliet, and I are happily living in NC, I the triangle. For those not familiar with "the triangle", it is the geographical region surrounding Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Yes, this is where Duke and UNC (and yes NC state and ECU) are located. NC is the land of college basketball, and not so much college football...so that was a little change (GO GATORS!!!)

Back to the inspiration for this rekindling of the blog, our new house. We are about to begin the process of building a new house in a town called Franklinton, NC (just north of Wake Forest). We just signed our contract, and are hopeful that the lot (just over an acre) will be cleared in the coming week! I plan to post pictures as we embark upon this new journey, updating our progress to our dream home! Hopefully, we will be in our new house by April/May of 2015.



So, here is our heavily wooded lot. The plan is to clear for the house, 25 ft around the house, and for the septic. Some of the mature trees will be kept...will have to wait and see!

Comment with any questions, comments, or concerns and I will attempt to address in future posts. I will also be updating the look of the blog, as well as adding more pics of the family.