Mostly lessons learned are "Gee, all the things I would have done differently."  But I like to focus on the positive, and I know for sure there were lots of positives here.  The things I learned the most:

	Absolutely go in with a plan, preferably a budget spreadsheet in which you've itemized things as much as possible.  This was the number one lifesaver when it came to making decisions, since we knew what we could trade off for other items as they came up.  I think it was why we made our budget so well.
	Get as much information about options as possible.  The one thing I felt was lacking was information about specific pricing options, and the only area in which I got blindsided was not having enough information about the pool birdcage options.  Had I had that information I'm confident I would have been within pennies of my final budget.
	Think about your color choices ahead of time.  This goes hand in hand with a budget plan -- make sure you have a design plan as well.  While we didn't know what specific colors we wanted, we had a good general idea of what we were looking for.  We had brought a wood sample chip from Lowes that we matched exactly, and this made choosing our tile color much easier.  We were told there were some folks who have made repeated trips to the Red Carpet center and still haven't chosen their house colors yet!
	Keep in mind the big picture.  You may get enamored of those shiny brass faucets, but those are things you can always buy later (and not be paying a 30 year loan for).  The things you want to concentrate on are those items that need to go into the house now (like insulation) that can't easily be changed down the road.
	Do your research on options.  We knew going in that the vapor barrier was not cost effective in Florida, but a lot of folks fell for the hype.  We saved ourselves $2,000 by doing the proper research beforehand.
	Enjoy the experience!  When all is said and done, life is too short to get hung up on the process (see Big Picture above).  While this may be the last home you'll ever own, it isn't the most important thing in your life, not by a long shot.  If you are lucky enough (as I am) to share this experience with a significant other, realize this whole endeavor should be fun.
	Budget time for yourselves.  This goes hand in hand with the above.  When we planned this trip we made sure we had a couple of days (and nights) in which to enjoy ourselves in between the scheduled appointments.  It meant that we could relax and unwind after spending the day making life altering decisions, and the entire procedure was much more enjoyable because of this.  Now, Disney is our thing and the perfect thing for us to get our minds off the decision making, but for some folks it might be as simple as going out to eat, see a movie, or take a swim at the hotel pool.  Just remember that all work and no play is not the way to live.