Hi everyone! Sorry for the confusion. The first picture at the top of the thread is take from the corner of the lot. The main street (Foreside Road) is South, parallel to the garage and the face of the house with the front door. Since we're on the corner, there's also a side street (Hallmark Road) exactly perpendicular to Foreside Rd, and parallel to the part of the house with the patio doors. Right now, our mailbox is at the foot of the driveway on Hallmark Road, as you can see in the photo looking up the line of fir trees towards the corner of Hallmark and Foreside. Our GOAL is to create a front path and move the mailbox up to the main street, Foreside Road, where it belongs. Sorry about that confusion! laag, I get what you're saying about designing from the outside in. Just not sure it's easy for me to do that! I am feeling really rather overwhelmed by all this. Now even lacking a starting point, which is discouraging. laag, your last post resonated with me a lot. My dad and brothers are architects and I'm sure they would enjoy this discussion, even it's somewhat over my more pragmatic head! But I do see those conflicts you've identified as needing resolution before any more plant choices or bed shapes are decided on. I welcome any ideas you guys have, becuause it feels a little beyond me right now! isabella, the family is always going to use the side door (on the south side next to the garage) and from the side street -Hallmarks Rd- it's the only door you see and quite obviously a main entrance. We have a nice new fir door for it, and are rebuilding a more substantial porch there, for utilitarian reasons and because we don't like that teeny third gable currently over the door. I am OK with the fact that this door will feel prominent from the sought elevation, but what I really want to do is to also emphasize the actual Front Door (in the middle of the west elevation)!!! woodyoak, thanks for your comments. As mentioned in the first post, the main goal here is to emphasize the actual Front Door (that is lost now). I've planned to add steps and a path up to the main road, and relocate the mailbox up there where it belongs. That white door on the side of the garage is simply a garage door (doesn't go inside) and will be painted a similar color to the new painted brick, so that it stands out as little as possible. To the right of that garage door is the main family-use door (under the weird little gable overhand which will go away and a proper small porch added there.) Yesterday some nice people from Craigslist came and took away the old porch and metal railing outside the bedroom patio doors. I am hoping that will help me visualize better! Also: the awning is NOT going to stay. So the deck is gone, and that looks good... but it does look weird to have the patio doors just there with nothing in the landscape to give them a reason. I understand the visual and phychological reasons for having a small railing-ed deck there, but I hesitate because #1- I doubt we'd use it for sitting on very much so dont' want to spend a bunch of cash on it that could go into the deck we WILL use out back, #2- If it were railinged, I'd want to make sure there was a gate, because this door has been invaluable for moving large furniture into the house, and at other times its been nice to have it as a means of ingress. What about just a rough granite step and nothing else? Would that just be too weird, patio doors opening into a bed of shrubs? Argh.

Sadly I saw the tanned woman getting into her car after some sort of processing for whatever she was charged with. She was screaming into the mic of the reporter trying to get her to talk. Walking right into into the you know what. She said people are just jealous that she's so pretty and that they are so fat and ugly. My God, has she lost her mind? Her face is actually scary. When I saw her mug shot, I thought she had no teeth, I think what I was seeing were her lips? That said, my motto in my own life is that most things are okay in moderation. Yes, the tan mom of the moment has taken tanning to an entirely ridiculous level. However, there is something to be said about the current status of the cable news cycles. Really, this is what the news is covering when there are so many other real pressing matters? Makes me shake my head. And yes, I did my share of tanning that most my age did when we were teens - outside on the beach, not in a tanning bed. Fast forward, while I use the appropriate sunscreen per the derm, I enjoy a bit of time in the sun and being in the sun is good for you up to a point. I believe it is 10 minutes a day outside is the recommendation for those low on vitamin D. I don't enjoy laying in the sun for hours like I did as a teen in an effort to achieve a tan. Fast forward to the present day, when working in the garden or out by the pool, I usually do get a bit of color. Laying on a raft with w book in the pool is one of my favorite stress releasors during the summer. While the tan mom has a real problem with the amount of tanning she is doing, I don't know if I like how much attention any of the news outlets are giving it.

These were taking right when you start going into Crystal Beach....we were there last yr right after Ike and I as so shocked. You are sooo right about N.O no money that I can see is helping this area at all...... They are getting galveston up and running pretty good but still along way to go.... Crystl, Gilchrist etc.....still have a ways to go but they are rebuilding. These pics were taken just yesterday....I will try and take more when we go again so I can show you some of the rebuilding that is getting done....Stacy

I have no doubt that you'll love your RR and the cooled seats are a must in your area. I used to think they were over-kill but they're in the new F-Pace S that DH just bought and I will definitely get them in my next car. His seats are black and I swear that they get hotter than my beige ones so the cooled vents help. While DH loves his Jaguar I think it's just a tad too small for my purposes and probably for yours too. He traded in his MB sedan because he wanted something that was sporty and more fun to drive. He opted for the gasoline engine because I have a diesel MB SUV and that's the one we take on trips - better mileage and much larger than his car. His car also has the gas saving feature where the engine shuts off when the car is stopped - but you can also turn that off which is what we did. I wonder if you will have that choice with your RR? My car only has 30,000 miles on it and my DDIL needs a vehicle now that they moved out of the city to the suburbs. DS offered to buy mine since it's big enough for his 2 dogs and future children. I just have to find a replacement vehicle and I'm looking at RR. We want another diesel and MB, Porsche and Audi stopped making diesels in the US. I also detest run-flats and I think I can still get real tires at LR/RR. You'll have to report back and let us know what you finally picked - and photos too. Maire