Grace Abundant

Today has been a crazy day! We had our walk through at 12pm. It went really well. We only have a few things for them to fix and it's nothing major. The cleaners were there for their last run through so my pics aren't that great. I am totally blown away by our beautiful home. 6 months ago this was all just a crazy idea and now God has brought it through. We got the truck and it's full and ready for us to take the first load over after we close at 10am. Clara will be with her Gammy and Papa for the night so we can just focus on the move. We are so blessed with a wonderful family. I was full  blown sick for the past three days and my Mom picked up the slack helping us clean so our first home will be ready for our good friends to move in. We are 100% ready and I am so excited. Hopefully I won't be MIA for long. We are hoping to have our house and three storage units empty by Thursday night. We shall see. So much to do, but I will be having random dance breaks while we do it! Major thanks to all our friends for taking time during the week to help. We are truly blessed!!

 Out backyard continues a ways into the woods.

Foyer from the front door. Hardwood. Dining Room.

Living Room taken from the dining room facing the front of the house.

Family room and kitchen from all angles.

Basement. Upstairs Guest Bath. Master Bedroom. Looking into loft from master bedroom. Stairwell.

One more sleep and then the craziness really begins.
Thank you Lord for Your abundant grace!

Informal Walk Through

We went through the house today to see if we could spot any concerns they hadn't already marked with blue tape. The cleaners were coming today and all the floors were uncovered. Tons of guys were running around fixing the seemingly endless blue tape spots. They said they were a bit behind finishing touches, but had a county inspection tomorrow so they were working hard to be100%. Thankfully it seems they are on top of everything. Our stove was in and the correct garage door windows were being installed while we were there. Really besides the dirt and dust I thought it looked amazing. Just 4 days till our final walk through when we will get to see it all spiffed up. We did discuss our only concern which is the wonky molding on the kitchen cabinets under the hvac. They couldn't do the major overhaul we wanted to make it look like the model since the actual way they install the hvac is different. Instead they are going to try to jimmy rig the molding by trimming it down to fit. Hopefully it works, but I am so very thankful this very small concern is all we've had along the way.
I'm on a packing rampage. My hubs isn't too happy that I'm almost done packing the kitchen. He keeps saying "we still live here," but we have paper goods that have piled up over the past 9yrs we can use up. We also still have to pack some in the garage, do yard clean up, some paint touchups, and major cleaning. I think being this on top of packing will make it so Tuesday we can just enjoy our final walk through and our last day in our first home.
 It's the final countdown!!!!
5 Measly Little Days!

Single Digits

We are in the final countdown stage!
Today the sod went down and the front door was painted. Our PM said they are a little behind on the finishing touches, but it's moving along. The only thing we are missing is a stove and my Moms bedroom carpet which is going in tomorrow. Our stairs off the deck are in and are just what we wanted. One of the last furniture pieces I wanted was a glider loveseat for the front porch. At the Luckett's Market this past weekend I found one and also got a matching rocking chair for a great deal. So after a bit more packing we are ready to do this thing! They moved our closing time up to 10am on Wednesday the 29th.
Soooooo. . . 8 short tiny little fly by Days!!!

Ants in my Pants

Today we are two weeks from the week we move. 16 days to be exact. We talked to our SR Saturday about our scheduled time to close. It is currently 3pm on Wednesday the 29th. Our slight problem is we really need to move out that same day since our lovely friends are moving into our old house the very next day. It's a great problem to have our renters ready to move in right away, but if we can close earlier Wednesday or even after our final walk through Tuesday it will be a much more smooth transition. He is going to get back to us today hopefully on what we can do.

We had the chance to wander the model a bit, and I am so glad we did. I noticed that in the kitchen the beautiful molding carries all the way across the top of the kitchen cabinets since the bump out for the hvac raises up just before the cabinets. Ours does not. They cut the main molding off at the bump out so the small trim piece goes across, but it is at a wonky angle. Also the recessed light over the sink was centered where as in our house it is almost a foot off center. My hubs is going to call our PM today to see what they can do about those two things since they really irk me more than any of the other nitpicky things I've noticed.

On the other hand we now have carpet and some appliances and all the lights/electrical work is done inside and out. I couldn't resist an evening drive by on Friday and it was so fun to turn the corner to our street and see our house glowing bright. The carpet upstairs is a bit darker than I remembered, but I don't hate it. I'm used to cream, but after having our first puppy and baby with cream carpet I knew that we needed to go darker. The upstairs carpet is level 1 with no stain protection either so better to be safe and get used to darker carpet than try to fend off future inevitable stains.

The packing continues. I am trying to fill our dining room up with boxes and move everything from lamps to bookcases to boxes down from upstairs so on moving day we just take things straight outside. I've been doing some thrifting and seem to be creating more boxes. I just love wandering an antique shop more than anything. Friday I am heading up to northern VA with some friends to attend the Luckett's Antique Market on Saturday. We are designating this weekend for fun since after that our weekends will be spent on final packing, moving, unpacking, unpacking, decorating, I could go on and on.

I probably will wait for pics now until our final walk through. Maybe not, but we shall see. Then the fun will begin! I thrive in busy, crazy, too much to do and not enough time environments. I've already apologized in advance to my husband for not ever sitting down, eating, taking a break and expecting him to do the same. I secretly think he appreciates it. ;)

16 Days!!

Busy Bees

There has been so much happening at our house in the past few days.
          Light fixtures
          Irrigation
          Plumbing fixtures
          Wood floors
          Mail box
Tomorrow we get outside light fixtures, microwave and dishwasher installed, and early next week is carpet. We still have quite a list of things to be done, but it seems like all the big stuff is really coming together.

Half Bath

Master Bath

Mom's Bedroom

We weren't expecting them to do a bump out in her room for the hvac, but it gave her so much more space to put the wardrobes she is getting from Ikea.

Two views of Mom's main living space. She is using the bump outs for dividers between the rooms.
This pic is from the back wall of the house. The stairs are on the left wall. Bathroom is first door on left on back wall. Second door on back wall is an unfinished room that we will have finished soon after we move in. The living room is the farthest space with the kitchen along the wall where all the wiring stuff is.

This next view is the opposite direction. So I am standing in the living room looking towards the kitchen and the last bump out separates the kitchen from the dining room. The door on the right is her bedroom and then the sliding glass doors. We will be installing two windows on the far wall for more light.

And lastly here is a pic of our deck and Mom's patio area from the side of the house.

20 Days to Go!!!

Meeting and Love

We met with our PM yesterday afternoon to discuss the placement of our deck stairs. Before he arrived we had a few minutes to talk with our new neighbor. Currently it seems our direct neighbors are mostly retirees which is fine with us since they will keep such a good eye out. smile

It was great to have the opportunity to choose where our stairs will go since we had my Mom's bedroom window, future morning room windows and patio to all consider. We also have a pup so we wanted to have them come down to a landing and then turn so if he takes a spill he won't have such a long way down. Rubber stair treads are definitely a future purchase to help with that too.

After we settled on the spot for the stairs our PM told us that they didn't line off the yard correctly on one side so we could take down a few more trees and get more sod, but it was up to us. My hubs spent quite a bit of time discussing pros and cons with him. I love that he was patient with letting us figure it out. In the end we decided to take them down since it could affect future grading and draining issues when they start on the lot next to us. I took my camera, but it was missing the memory card which is still in my laptop from the last post. Oops! I will make sure to post some this weekend.

We have been so happy with the work done on the house so far. We haven't been nitpicking since our PM says his team of guys will be coming in soon for detail work. He did tell us wood flooring will be going in Tuesday or Wednesday with carpet a few days behind that. We are right on schedule! I feel like I'm about to burst so I keep packing and refinishing the furniture I still have left to get ready. Knocking one day out at a time.

21 days!!

Picture Tour

Three posts in three days! What what! Okay, well on to the important stuff. I am no photographer and my camera is nothing fabulous, but here are some better pictures. I will explain each one for those friends/fam who haven't been in a Rome before.

We are still missing some trim/details, lights, sod and landscaping.

When you step inside you have the living room to the left and it is open to the dining room which my Mom is walking past. There are two hallways leading into the next section. The one hidden by the column is the pantry into the kitchen. The one my Mom is walking through passes the stairs and half bath. There is another hallway first thing on the right with the garage door entry and a coat closet.

Then you enter into the open kitchen/family room space. The morning room is right off the kitchen and the door at the end of the family room will be Clara's playroom.

I tried to get a close up of the venetian gold granite. Here is our huge back deck off the morning room! Monday Jason is talking to our PM about where the steps will go to avoid blocking as much light from getting into my Mom's space as possible.

Two views of our master bedroom from by the bathroom door looking towards the sitting room and closet and then from the sitting room. It is massive. Our queen bed is going to look tiny and we are so not used to having this much space.

Alright the top pic is standing at the top of the stairs and looking left into the loft. To the right is the master and straight ahead is the guest bathroom and nursery. You pass the linen closet walking into the loft and the last two bedrooms are right and left. The second pic is in the loft looking towards the stairs. The room to the right is Clara's big girl room and the other door is the laundry. Okay that was super confusing, but I tried.

This is Mom's territory. The top pic is the center of her downstairs wall. There are two bumpouts that kind of divide the space into three sections. In the center section she is doing an L shaped kitchen with an island. The second pic is the back wall. Our pm was awesome enough to frame out two windows so that we can put them in ourselves more easily to get her more light. She will have a patio under our deck right outside her sliding doors. I realized I didn't take a pic of her bedroom which is a room most people don't opt to finish so I will do that next time. I couldn't get into the bathrooms since we still don't have lights and the grout was all drying.
25 days to go!!!!!

In One Day

Today my Dad and I went by the house around 10amish. The structured cable guy was working in the coat closet where all our components will be going. Two guys were digging the footings for the deck. When my hubby and I went by at 6pm the driveway was poured, the surround sound speakers were in, the granite was in and the deck was finished! Holy Moley these guys work fast. I had changed my mind on our granite multiple times. We went from Venetian gold to tropical brown to ubatuba and back to venetian gold. I am so happy I stuck with my gut. It's so beautiful! The deck is way bigger than we remembered. No steps yet, but hopefully soon. Wow, we are really flying now!

27 Days and Pic Updates

We have 27 days till closing!!! Eek! The house is looking truly beautiful and excitment is rising. My Mom picked out her ikea kitchen for her lower level suite. I am jealous of how pretty it will be. I love white kitchens, but since its not an option for us we went dark. My brain is spinning with packing and moving plans. So much will need to happen in so little time, but it will be fun. I seem to thrive in craziness.

These were all taken with my phone so not fab quality, but I will post more from my camera in a bit. We do have our laminate in the guest bath/laundry room/lower level bath. Wood has been installed in the half bath and where all appliances will be in the kitchen. Door handles are on. Trim work is all finished. Walls are painted and railings are installed. The facade is still not complete with some trim work missing and the front door isn't painted red yet. Lot's done and lot's still to be done. I felt like so much was getting done so fast, but now there is still so much to do and it finally feels like it's close. Should be an exciting next few weeks!!