Building a Deck - Day 0

So I've decided to build a deck. You might assume, therefore, that I have some kind of experience or expertise in the area. But you would be wrong. Which is why I consider the deck-building experience to be a bit of an adventure. It's something I'll learn as I go, and we'll see what happens. 

Here are a few pictures of the backyard before work begins. The deck will be a 20' x 14' single-level deck that extends out over the existing concrete slab from the sliding glass door. 

Picture of the back of the house where the deck will go:

The deck will extend from 1' in from the edge of the house on the right (so the gutter can still go down to the ground) to 6" short of the window on the left. 

Here is a picture of the hill in the back of the yard. A future wall of some sort will keep the hill from eroding into my yard and act as a rear fence. 

And the side of the house where I'll need to do something to keep everything from washing away:

So its Day 0, and work has yet to begin. I'll try to keep this updated as much as possible as the work progresses. In a perfect world, I'm finished with the deck by the time my mom and brother come to visit around the 3rd weekend in July. Here's hoping...