For Diana & Jessi

My sisters have been pestering me about getting some house pictures posted. I have been dragging my feet, because there is still work to be done, furniture to arrive, pictures to be hung and there is always accessorizing to do! But, I realize that, that takes months and it's not going to be happening anytime soon....so here's a little peek. I must say though, it's better in person....so come visit!!!

Friday Framing

I got brave and have started hanging some pictures. My parents are coming for a visit next weekend and hopefully the house will be pretty much in order by then!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Getting Organzied

If I were like my friend, Kim who moved the exact same day as us my house would be put together beautifully with decor accents up and all. But, it is not. We moved in, unpacked what we could and left for Oregon for a week. We are now back and it's down to the nitty gritty. Most things are "unpacked" it's now the tedious (but somewhat fun) time to get things organized, decorated and put away. I have barely scratched the surface...but we are getting there. I think the only room that is completely done is the den (minus pictures on the walls).

Upon arriving home from Oregon late Saturday night we were pleased to find many things finished on our house that the builders needed to do, one of which was my GREEN paint! To my surprise the dining room looked a bit more....green and bright than I was expecting. It was very bright lime green! Mark asked if this was the color I had chosen (on those tiny little swatches)...it must have been. The kitchen is a bit more tame and I like it. The green dining room on the other hand I was about to repaint promptly the next day. Mark said to wait, my friend said to wait...and by Sunday afternoon it was growing on me. I set my large painting in the room, put my china in the hutch, found another print that will look lovely and some cool plates I had forgotten about (a b-day present from my sisters) that I want to hang on the wall. And to top it off I found some funky lime green fabric that matches perfectly to re-cover my dining room chairs! I think I can live with the lime. Green is a great color and Mark and I did eat Key Lime pie every day in Jamaica on our honeymoon....I think it will be just fine. I will post a picture when it's all put together, as with the rest of the house.

Now back to the organizing. I think trying to get things organized, I have felt like doing the same to my blog. If you notice, I have alphabetized my "connections" as for easier viewing pleasure. Please note, my friend, Cami has set up a blog.

Side note: For some reason after getting my computer all set up I can receive emails through Outlook, but not send. To send an email I have to login online and it's a bit tedious (plus it doesn't have all my email contact that way)...my point being I will be returning emails to many of you soon....I have a lot to send, reply, many people to thank and get in touch with.

Getting Settled

Are we getting settled? Sort of. Most boxes have been unpacked or at least have found refuge someplace until I can get to them. We got internet hooked up this morning, yay! Mark is back at work and Grant misses him badly, on his first day back this week he asked about every hour, "Is Daddy home yet?" There is still quite the punch list of things for the builder to finish on the house. hopefully my green will get painted while we're gone in Oregon. My feet and hands ache from unpacking and standing on the hardwood floor all day long....we have all been exhausted at the end of each day and have slept really well! After we get back from Oregon it will be nice to get all the details finished. Thanks for all of you who have kept checking in!

My Backyard

Here is my backyard in all it's glory. It is green. I love green, if you haven't already noticed (check out my Friday, November 17, 2006 post). Our yard is a little over 3/4 of an acre. Coming from Seattle, Washington area, it's a never ending oasis. Growing up on 10 acres in Oregon, it's a little slice of heaven. Either way we are thrilled to the max. This picture is of our woods directly behind the house, it's a playground waiting to be explored by Grant. Our side yards (which are Bermuda grass sod) are already a head ache to water, thus we are scrambling to find someone to put in a sprinkler system. I'm already drawing sketches inside my head of my garden and Grant is dreaming of a play set. More pictures to come....often.

Moving!

We closed on our house this afternoon! Here are finished pics of the house, before the moving truck comes tomorrow morning. They are still doing touch up work and a few walls will be painted green tomorrow morning as well! We are thrilled with the outcome and very excited to finally be in a house again! Please come visit!

Oh, To Be A Kid...

On Saturday our apartment complex was hosting a little party for kids. We went and look what Grant got! Wow, it's almost as big as he is. These were the type of baskets that I only dreamt of as a child....Grant was very pleased.

House update:
We have a date to walk through the house! The 23rd of this month and will close within that week!!! We can't tell you how excited we are about this. We went out to take a look at the house and the cabinets were up (pictures here)! I had chosen white cabinets and when we looked at what was installed they looked very off white or cream. I was a bit surprised and thought they had it wrong and had dreams all night about cream colored cabinets. The next day we went back to talk with the lady from our builder about it. They were the right color, but against the beige painted wall, they just were washed out. Apparently, they are not "stark white". She agreed with me, that this was not going to do and I was happy with the solution. The two walls that the cabinets are on will be painted (a green) color, to let the white cabinets sand out! I am excited, because originally we did not have the option to paint a different color and I wasn't about to tackle the 12 foot ceilings we have in the kitchen! They are also being lenient and we're getting the dining room painted and a wall in the great room (to tie in with the kitchen). So, I have been contemplating colors, using the rug we got for the great room as a gage:

House Update

It's April 1st!!! The first of the month in which we will be MOVING! We are so excited...we've put in our 30 days notice and are waiting to hear about a closing date, hopefully sooner in the month than later! They have painted/primed a bit in the house, the doors are hung, the oak treads were in. Hopefully things will continue to go smoothly and time will fly! Here are some pictures.

It's Getting There...

We had a meeting with the realtor representing our builder today and things are looking good. She said it should be smooth sailing from here on out, do we dare belive it? We're still crossing our fingers for around a mid April move in! The outside is done (minus gutters, garage doors, driveway and landscaping) and they were working on the inside molding today! Cabinets and countertops should be in by the end of the week. Here's the progress.

Surprises

The surprises never end, but this time it's good. They have been working on the brick of our house and when I drove by yesterday to my surprise the whole entire house was bricked! We were under the impression that it was going to be brick on the bottom and then stucco/wood trim tutor style on top. Then just last week when we met with the house rep. she said we were getting shakes....Either or all ways I was happy, but was very pleased when I saw this, I think it looks great! I think the pop-out window will be white shakes and the trim will be white with black shutters and a black front door. We'll see how it all comes together, I'm sure more surprises are in store!



The dry wall is up and you can see pictures here.

You'll have to bear with me, for the next few weeks or more until we get settled in the house I'm sure I'll be posting quite a bit about it. It's starting to consume me and I'm getting extremely excited that reality if almost here!

House Update

We met with the builder today and did a walk through to review the framing of the house, electrical and plumbing. The short story is they fired the young guy in charge since he wasn't getting the job done and have brought in an older more seasoned builder who is famed for completing a house in 22 days after sheet rock. Our sheet rock is supposed to go up within the next week or two. Thus, they are sticking with mid April to have it completed and us moved in! I REALLY HOPE that it's true and things go smoothly here on out.

Here are the bricks we chose for the exterior, they are on site waiting to be put up. The bottom drawing in a rendering of our house (ours is just a mirror image, so garage is on the other side, etc.) and am hoping that ours will mimic this; white trim, black door and shutters, etc...

Since my computer is STILL not back I haven't updated my house photos link, but will soon. They had the archways, tubs, etc... in the house. It's really starting to take shape!

Bored....

I am feeling pretty yucky today and have been lounging around with good intentions of trying to do or get something done. I mustered up all my strength and managed to go for our run, but had to tell Grant to stop talking to me, because I couldn't run and talk at the same time today. That wiped me out. I laid on the couch for a good majority of the day and Grant tended to my every need. He got his doctor kit out and made several concoctions of medicine for me, cuddled with me and played well on his own, so I could just sit there. I asked if he wanted to go furniture shopping and he said, no, that it was boring, so at least he had some fun today. Is it possible a four year old could be a best friend? I think so.

During my intermittent medical exams on the couch, I've been surfing the web for furniture and am trying to envision my new house and decor. Of course I've done this already, (the week we arrived in Alabama)-but the house has been delayed so much it seems like forever ago and I've forgotten items I had found. It's hard when all my stuff is in storage and am trying to remember what color green it was on the new upholstery fabric I bought to re-do the dining room chairs. And, how can I make my dining room look like this.

I really wanted to get out and look at an office furniture store in Huntsville, even printed off directions and everything....although I don't know if I'd find anything, I just keep coming back to this beautiful Pottery Barn piece I want for the den.


These chairs I think will go nicely with my kitchen table, but how do I know for sure, if I can only order them online and not see them in person?


Do I go with black, white or wood bar stool for the kitchen? There will be black granite with white cabinets/stainless appliances...Mark likes the swivel bar stools and I say yuck. I kind of like these:


And finally do I go with black accent pieces in the great room...I've never had black, but think it might tie in the kitchen (it's all open).

Well, this post just took up some time of boredom....Mark just called and said he'd be home within the hour...yeah!

We may be headed to Birmingham or Nashville tomorrow....that is our plan. Happy Friday, have a great weekend!

House Progress

We were happy to see some progress on our house! Click here to see (open the Jan. 27th folder), I have added captions as to tell which room is which, etc. Or click on the side bar "Our House" for updates. We are supposed to have our 'walk through' next Saturday and then the house is to completed within 75 days of that day!!!