Two weeks and counting

Well, I think the countdown has begun. Two short weeks from tomorrow we become proud owners of this gorgeous house. It's so exciting to see all the last touches go into making this our house. Just think--four months ago, there was nothing here but a bunch of trees and rocks...and maybe some deer. In that short time we've seen our dream come alive from the ground up. I feel so blessed to have been able to experience this process. Thanks David!!! This week we've seen carpet go into all the bedrooms/study, a dishwasher installed, the railing on our beautiful patio go up, the sprinkler system installed, most of the sod and landscaping put down, stain go onto the front door and stair railing, baseboards painted, and the last of the brick around the front door finished. We've also realized just how expensive all this moving into a new house really is. Now that it's so close, we've hired a painter to do custom painting in the entire house and bought all the paint needed (Home Depot was having a great deal), we've gotten quotes on all the window blinds, we've arranged all the appliance and furniture deliveries for after the painting is done, we've bought area rugs (now that we've got tile, and all), and we're still looking at all the little things to help make this house our home. I just can't wait now to see it all come together.

Most of the sod and landscaping are in. It will look quite nice once it's all filled out.

Here's a look of the almost completed kitchen from the utility room. We're just missing the microwave and oven/range.

This is a great shot of the gorgeous cherry cabinets and corian counters with the ceramic backsplash.

They've painted the mantle. I still love this stone fireplace, and once the house is painted, it will really pop out.

We're going to paint these two walls a deep red (called spicy cayenne). This will look so sharp and delineate the dining room from the rest of the living areas.

The back corner is the breakfast knook. It's just a great open floorplan.

This is from the back corner of the Master Bedroom. David is walking into the bathroom...

...where he looks like he's enjoying a hot bath and a good view (while there are no neighbors).

Speaking of great views, this is what we'll see everyday from our back patio. Since we're on a greenbelt, we know that we'll always have these trees to look at instead of someone else's backyard.

It's a very large backyard, especially comparing it to other houses in the neighborhood. Someday it will be nice to have a pool and maybe a swingset out back???

David's revelling in the view of his backyard. It's a lot to mow, but it will be nice to have BBQs out here for all of our friends and family. I plan to do some landscaping back here come next spring time to cover up the foundation.

Little things coming together

Ok...so it's been a little while since I posted an update on the house. Really, there are just a bunch of little things that have been going on, and nothing that would be too impressive to any of y'all. Basically, last week, the only thing that happened was the fence was put up. This week, David and I have been noticing little things like the quarter round on the baseboard are up, but still need to be painted. Also, the last of the brick on the front of the house was finally finished. This evening we went by and saw the guy cutting the carpeting for the bedrooms and upstairs. We also have a dishwasher, but still no microwave or oven/range. We've gotten a lot of money stuff done, however. We locked in our interest rate and the house got appraised (contingent on completion, of course). Our closing date is set for July 14th, so there's only a 18 days left until we're proud home owners. The house will be painted that first week, and we'll start moving in all our stuff and have our other appliances and new furniture delivered on the 22nd. FUN!!!! In the mean time, Bert is growing uncontrolably. I weighed him a couple of days ago, and he was a hefty 25lbs. That's just about double his weight from the day we got him. This boy is gonna be a beast!

Here's a picture taken from our back porch looking into the back yard.

Bert really loves posing for the camera.

What a talented boy!!!

Bert is showing off his new moves...

Getting down to the wire...

Wow...so much is going on at the house, it's crazy! The counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms went in early this week, and then the light fixtures, switch plates, outlets and fireplace hearth. Then there was plumbing fixtures like toilets, disposal, faucets and knobs. Now we see they've finally put in doorknobs and pulls, and two very large A/C compressors. They tile man was busy laying the backsplash in the kitchen while we were there this afternoon.

It's official...We have an address plate!

These will come in handy during this brutal summer.

Here's the dining room light fixture.

The kitchen is looking really sharp! The dark cherry cabinets look so good against the tile and countertops. They'll look even better when the appliances are in.

Here's the best picture I could get of the counter tops. That's a poored corian sink, so it's completely seamless with the counters.

They've also installed the water heater.

Although the tub is disgustingly filthy, we're happy to see the plumbing fixures and toilet.

I absolutely love the stone fireplace. The mantle will do for now, but eventually it will be replaced to look more fitting with the rest of the hearth.

I know that Bert will truly enjoy the large back yard and we're both hoping that Erni will forgive us for getting him a brother.

So it's basically down to the last weeks. The builder wants to close the middle of July, and we're waiting to see how badly they want that (are they going to give us an incentive to move in early?) David and I are busy trying to get everything in for the mortgage and finalizing all of that. In the mean time we're also finishing up buying the furniture to make this house our home.

Tile Flooring

The only thing going on at the house this week was tile flooring downstairs. It looks pretty good, and now all they need to do is put the quarter round along the baseboards to make it look sharp. They also tiled around the master shower/bath tub area.







































And here's a better picture of the cabinets now that the plastic is gone.

My Husband in Drag

As you may or may not know, David was involved in a clever and unique fund raiser this spring. He was competing against a fellow coach to see who could lose more weight percentage in an eight week period. The pledges and donation rolled in, and I've been told that the P.E. and athletics programs at his school have raised $3500. There were consequences, however, for losing (or not losing enough as the case may be). Those who pledged overwhelmingly voted to see the losing coach in a dress. We're all very proud of both men for losing a combined 70lbs and getting healthy. Hope you enjoy these.

Cabinets, Doors, and Paint

This week they've put up the texture on all the walls, installed the cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms, the interior doors are all up as well as the baseboards, stair railing and window trim. When we went today to take our weekly photos, we met the guys who were painting the interior. That's why all the cabinets, etc were all covered in plastic. Maybe we'll start seeing tile work next week.