1. It ain't easy. 2. Having a greenhouse doesn't necessarily mean you've recreated the rainforest. 3. When you think things are going well...take a closer look. Mr. Murphy is always watching...and waiting. 4. Dem bees and other insects sure know what they are doing. 5. No matter how much you plead and beg, dance and scream...that seedling is still far from producing any fruit. 6. Aphids and mites are smarter and tougher than I am. 7. Clay is heavy. 8. PH is NOT constant. 9. There are reasons for failures as well as successes. The trick is figuring out which was which. Your friends and family just don't have the same excitement for your hobby as you do. Still trying to figure this one out. A 30 gallon trash can will generally only hold, you guessed it, 30 gallons of water. The rest will find the next lowest point...which turns out to be the hole you that took you two days to dig out. A single, small triumph can usually overshadow several small failures. Don't oversize your containers. Pruning citrus grown from seed is a no-no. I suck at grafting. Trying to grow a Mangosteen will be the death of me. Don't keep making the same mistake again and again and again. The phrase "learning curve" was coined for a reason. Sneaking a plant purchase is impossible when your wife keeps a daily tab on the online statements for fear of identity theft, credit card theft, and other...and the fear of her husband buying more plants. She's taken the "sneak" right out of sneaky. The greenhouse is NOT infinity enclosed in glass. And just learned....talking to your wife about a possible Hawaiian vacation and saying the following is NOT a smart idea..."Yeah...there's lots of fruit places and nurseries to visit over there!".

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's so great to hear from others who have gone through the process. We are building a house out in the country, as well. We are planning on doing the back up generator (we are in wyoming) so it's nice to hear that it is worth the extra cost. We are not putting in a basement (the water table is too high on our property) but I do have some concerns about my laundry/mudroom. I don't know the dimensions but we ended up stealing space from that area to make our master bath even larger. In the end we are doing a stackable washer and dryer but that will leave me room for a big closet for coats, as well as, a smaller closet with a doggie door for the cat boxes. We will also have room for a bench/cubbie unit. I've worried that I will hate the stackable washer and dryer (I'm short and with 3 small kids they will be used alot) but I thought I'd appreciate the extra storage. The mud is ridiculous here but we've been living in a mobile home on our property for a year while we built so I'm hoping that just the extra space (3 kids, 3 cats, 3 dogs in less than 1100 square feet now) will help me look past the mud that will be inevitable for a long time. We are afraid to pave our road because my hubby worries he will just tear it up snowplowing with his tractor in the winter. And it's true that gravel is cheap (relatively) and can make a big difference. We are doing a playroom in the bonus space above the garage but otherwise our house is just one level - thank you so much for sharing.

I have had my BS 36" RNB with grill installed for about two months. So far I love it. It is not perfect but I would buy it again in a heartbeat. The burners are awesome and gorgeous. The oven is huge and accurate. My baking has never been so good. The broiler is terrific. I made some beautiful ribeyes under it yesterday as a change of pace from the grill. The door does not get hot but the kick plate does and so do the knobs. The grill is good but not great. The back runs hotter than the front part so I have to move the food around a bit. I really wanted a grill because we don't have the ability to grill outdoors.

My biggest mistake in the beginning was to decorate solely on looks and style instead of comfort and our lifestyle. Silk drapes? - not so great with 3 little boys (ditto to about 1,000 other things when it comes to kids - certain upholstery fabrics, light colored carpets, area rugs under the dining table, etc.). Intricate moldings on furniture or cabinets? Too much dust and grime to keep up with when you live in a windy desert. I *still* make the mistake of Pre Buying - I don't know if there'll ever be hope for me in that area. But at least now I know to get rid of it when it doesn't meet our needs and is instead a major pain in the patootie. Two years ago we wanted to buy a leather sofa and love seat but could only afford one. Instead of saving and waiting , we decided to buy a microfiber set ---ugh, uckk, ick. It was uncomfortable and became stained in a very short time (my kids are well-mannered and well-behaved, but there's not much you can do when they barf on the furniture). Last month I finally got fed up and sold the set and now we have NO sofa or love seat at all.