Final Walk-Through and the Best House EVER (A New House Update)

We had our final walk-through yesterday we our PM.

OH MY GOODNESS the house is amazing! I cannot believe that we are going to get to live there and that it is actually going to be ours! God is GOOD!

And our PM is beyond amazing! Seriously, I thank God everyday that he is the one that built our home. I have a new nickname for him... I call him the Steely Eyed Missile Man (movie reference anyone)! He has done such a fantastic job on our home it is unbelievable.

There were a few tiny things that he saw on our walk-through that he is going to have addressed before our closing (ON THURSDAY!) and then he is going to have the house re-cleaned and the yard mowed for us on Thursday too. (What did I tell you - great guy)!

Family room and kitchen eat-in area

 It was raining when I took these pictures so please excuse how dark they are. I could have turned on the lights but well, I forgot! Sorry.

Here is our family room and the eat-in part of the kitchen. You can also see the breakfast bar on the right side.

Dining room and kitchen

 I was standing in the hallway that leads from the front door to the family room when I took this pictures. You can see the dining room on the right and the doorway that leads into the kitchen and the doorway on the left leads into the family room.

Dining room and kitchen

 Again, I was standing in the hallway that leads from the front door to the family room. I love this view because you can see all three pillars in the dining room and a sneak peek at my kitchen (which is still my favorite room in the house)!

Master bedroom

 I LOVE how big our master bedroom is. Without furniture and because of the angel of the room it is hard to get a good picture that shows just how big the room actually is. Hopefully I will be able to get a video of the house on Thursday or Friday and that will allow you to get a better idea.

I LOVE MY HOME!

 This is absolutely without a doubt 100% my most favorite view of our home! This is the view that makes me catch my breath, leaves me with a smile on my face, and makes my heart and mind repeat over and over again "Thank you Jesus!".

Dining room

The dining room (I think it's my second favorite room in the house)! I love my columns!

So that is it! Our final walk-through is complete and now the only thing left to do is close on the house! It has been a LONG, HARD road that we have traveled down to get to where we are but I am so thankful that we never ever walked it alone! And I will be forever grateful to our PM who took the burden and worry about the building of our home off our shoulders. I never once doubted that he would give us a good quality home!

THANK YOU STEELY EYED MISSILE MAN! You are amazing!

1 day 7 hours 7 minutes and 45 seconds till closing!

The End of Week 13 and the Beginning of Week 14 (A New House Update)

This is it the LAST week!

It has been 14 weeks since they dug up the first shovel full of dirt! Unbelievable!

The first shovel of dirt

As I have been looking back over my pictures from the last 14 weeks I realize just how truly blessed I was to be able to get some of these pictures. Living down the street from where you are building is amazing!

There have been highs and lows (just like everything in life) in this whole process. But Micah and I realize just how truly blessed we are to have this opportunity.

Blessed Beyond the Telling!

And here we are at the beginning of week 14 and the end of the build process! The painters are coming today to do some touch-ups, the landscapers are coming today to do a little bit, and I think the cleaners are coming today to do another cleaning!

Our pre-settlement walk-through is tomorrow morning (someone pinch me please) and we close on Thursday (PRAISE THE LORD)!

This week should fly by with all that I have to do. But I am afraid it is going to DDRRAAAAAGG ever so slowly. As of right now we are not sure when we will "officially" be moving in. We had to pay an entire months rent for the house we are currently in (so we don't have be moved out until October 31) but you know I'm not waiting that long to move into the new house! We called some movers yesterday and are waiting to hear back from them to see if they have any openings next week. And then we will make some definite plans on when we will move in and start living in the new house.

1 day 3 hours and 48 minutes until our final walk-through (but whose counting)
3 days until closing! And again I say THANK YOU JESUS!

An Unexpected Phone Call and Peace (A New House Update)

We've Come Along Way!

Micah and I received a very unexpected phone call yesterday from upper management at NVR (our mortgage company). We never expected to hear from anyone at NVR and to be quite honest simply wanted the financial side of the home building process to be done and over with ASAP!

And while this phone call was completely out of the blue it was exactly what we needed! Not because it came with an apology for all that we have been through (though that was very nice to hear). Not because it came with a promise that our situation would be used as a teaching tool to better improve their communication and company practices (though that was wonderful news too). No, this phone call brought something into my life that I have not had in a very long time.

It brought PEACE!

Micah and I were assured that our mortgage was approved! We were told that other than signing some papers (hopefully on Monday) that everything was ready and in order for closing on Thursday. We were also assured that while final numbers were not complete (almost but not quite) we would not be needing any money at closing! This gentleman also assured me that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure the next few days went as smoothly as possible for our family.

By the end of that phone call I was able to take a deep breath. I felt my shoulders relax (hadn't even realized how tense I actually was) and I realized that a HUGE burden had been lifted. I was motivated to keep (okay, restart) packing up the house. I had stopped simply because I was doubting that our closing was really going to happen.

And the most unbelievable part of this phone call was this gentleman gave me his personal cell phone number so that I would have it just encase I needed information or if there was a problem! To me this speaks volumes. It lets me know that this is a man of his word, it reassures me that he is going to be there with us till the end, and it gives me peace in knowing that someone at NVR has our back and is looking out for us.

There is a gentleman at Ryan Homes who has been a guardian angel to us from the very beginning and I know without a shadow of doubt that he is the reason that we will close on our house Thursday. He has stepped in a number of times and saved the day for us! And I know that it was this man who got NVR management involved in our loan and brought us to the attention of the gentleman who called us yesterday. 

Micah and I are just one family in a sea of Ryan Home Families and there is nothing special about us and so to have these men taking time out of their days to help us is humbling.

I know that there are men of integrity and character out in the world and I am so thankful that 3 of them have been placed into our lives for such a time as this!

3 days till walk-through
5 days till closing (and I believe it now)

P.S. The third man is our PM another guardian angel who has built us (in our opinion) the best home ever! 

Financial Goals Update from September and New Goals for October

It's all because of HIM!

Our September goals:

1. Pay all of our September bills  DONE!
2. Save as much money as we can to put toward our new home. Refrigerator, mini-blinds, ceiling fans, Tyler's bedroom furniture and movers. 

The goal is to have 4500 dollars in the bank at closing plus another 2500 dollars borrowed from Micah's TSP account. This will give us 7,000 dollars! We currently have a little over 3,000 saved and we will be applying for the TSP loan on Monday.

We fell a little short of our 7,000 dollar goal. Micah's car broke down (again) and cost us around 265 dollars to fix. We put a hundred dollars down on our refrigerator (to lock in the Labor Day sale price at H.H. Gregg) and Micah's TSP account took a hit when the stock market plummeted and so we were only able to borrow 2400 dollars (instead of the 2500 we had hoped). However despite all of these "little" hiccups we were able to save a little over 6,500 dollars toward the new house!

Our October goals:

1. Pay all of our October bills 
2. Rent U-Haul truck and hire movers
3. Buy ceiling fans, refrigerator, Tyler bedroom furniture, and mini-blinds for new house. Our goal is of course to pay CASH for as much of this as possible but since these are MUST HAVE items we may have to utilize some credit in order to purchase all of this in one month! 

If we do have to use credit for any of the above purchases we will be paying them off as quickly as possible! And I am going to do my VERY BEST to not buy anything (other than the HAVE TO) until these items are paid off and we have saved up the cash.

We will be going back to our debt snowball in January. I know we should get back to it now but with the new house and Christmas we have decided to give ourselves a break (I mean we have been living like no one else for quite awhile now) and jump back on the Dave Ramsey bandwagon again at the first of the year.

And We Are Cleared To Close! Thank You Jesus! (A New House Update)

6 Days To Go!

YES! WE ARE CLEARED TO CLOSE! THANK THE LORD!

The call came yesterday morning (after I stood in the sales office crying due to stress) that we are cleared to close! The final numbers should be in today and I have been promised that if we have to bring money to closing that we will hear by Monday!

Micah's long day of work is Wednesday. He leaves the house around 2:30 a.m. and does not get home until almost 7:00 p.m. so getting to the bank on Wednesday to wire money for closing on Thursday is just not going to happen. This has been a huge cause of stress for me. I was worried because one we had not been cleared to close and it had been over a week and two that we would not be able to get them the money for closing in time and would have to delay closing.

Our loan processor put those fears to rest yesterday with one phone call! So today I will be booking a U-Haul and hiring movers and continuing to pack up the house! And now that everything appears to be handled and in place I am much more motivated to pack!

Our quality inspection is today and then our PM will spend Monday fixing up anything that they find during the inspection (which I don't think will be much). And then TUESDAY IS OUR FINAL WALK-THROUGH! I cannot believe it!

In a week our dream home will be ours!

4 days till final walk-through!
6 days till closing! 

And We Have a Time (A New House Update)

Almost Ours!

I got the call yesterday afternoon that our loan has come out of underwriting (kind of - UGH) and that we have been cleared to close - pending a few things that I had to fax over (pay stubs and cancelled checks) and pending the final closing numbers.

Our loan processor is going to be working on getting our HUD numbers today so that hopefully she will have an idea for us on Friday of what we will need to bring to closing (the last calculations put us leaving closing with around 150 dollars but now it looks like we may have to pay - UGH AGAIN).

We do now have a closing time (progress right). But they were very careful to put in the letter that this date and time could change at anytime - UGH!

However the good news is the date has stayed the same October 1 (so far)! So for now it appears that in a week we will be home owners!

5 days till our final walk-through! (I can barely stand it!)
7 days till closing (PLEASE LORD!)

The Beginning of Week 13 (A New House Update)

My favorite picture of the inside of the house!

I just want to go on record as saying that NVR (our mortgage company) is going to be the death of me! Seriously, they are slowly killing me!

We are LESS THAN 2 weeks from closing and our loan is still in underwriting! And has been there (for the third time) since last Wednesday! I mean come on if they don't know by now if they are going to approve our loan I think there may be some bigger issues going on!

I am beyond frustrated and annoyed!

When my husband called yesterday, he was told that we were still in underwriting and that our loan should be approved by Friday. Monday at the latest! MONDAY of the week we are going to close! REALLY?

And that once it was approved they would send it over to the title company and they would get with us on the TIME AND WHAT TO BRING TO CLOSING! So we might not know the TIME or how much MONEY we are supposed to bring to closing until THREE days before closing! Or maybe EVEN LESS!

ARE THESE PEOPLE CRAZY!? I MEAN SERIOUSLY ARE THEY CRAZY?!

First of all have you ever, and I do mean ever, heard of having to be approved for the same mortgage from the same lender THREE times? THREE!

Second, have you ever heard, and again I do mean ever, being less than 10 days away from closing on a HOUSE and not having a time or knowing how much money or what you are supposed to bring to closing?

If I ran my life the way NVR runs their loans my children would have been taken away from me and my husband would have left me!

Okay rant over (for now). On the house front, the house looks amazing! Our PM has done a great job and we are so excited! They are finishing up the last minute touches and fixing a few things but other than that the house is done and ready for us!

We have our quality inspection on Friday and then we will have our final walk-through (pre-settlement meeting) on Tuesday! 1 WEEK FROM TODAY!

7 days till our pre-settlement meeting!
9 days until closing (or not) 

The End of Week 12 (A New House Update)

Hurry Up October!

We are at the end of week 12 and I never thought this week would end. Week 13 will probably prove to be even longer and I am doubting my ability to make it!

Now that the house is done (other than the quality inspection, which I think is scheduled for Monday) there is absolutely nothing going on (that I have been able to see) and so there are no new pictures, no access to the house, and nothing to look forward to seeing!

Our PM did text me and let me know that our Occupancy Permit is ready to be picked up from the city! So that is great news!

We also got an e-mail from Ryan Homes confirming our Pre-settlement walk-through on September 29 so I guess that is official now and the date won't change (at least that is what I am praying). The letter also stated that our closing was scheduled for October 1 and that we should be hearing from NVR to set up the time and tell us what we will need to bring to closing. I'm not entirely convinced yet that this is going to be the final date (I know I need to have more faith).

I had Micah bring in all the boxes we have been collecting and all the bubble wrap I have been hoarding for almost a year now so that I could start packing up the house. But I just could not get motivated to do it. I guess a part of me is still afraid that something is going to change at the last minute and that our closing will be delayed. I am hoping that once I hear from NVR and have a set time I will be able to overcome this and get busy!

Maybe I'll bore you all with my packing adventures (for motivation) and that will help me get it done!

10 days till final walk-through (pretty sure this is now a for sure date)
12 days till closing (still not convinced this is going to be the date) 

USDA Approval and Now We Wait Some More (A New House Update)

I see the light at the end!

THANK THE LORD!

I got the call yesterday afternoon that our loan received USDA approval! This is amazing news! And would not have been possible at all without God and some wonderful people at Ryan Homes who went above and beyond to make sure that our dream happened! Words will never be adequate enough to tell them how much they have blessed us and how eternally grateful we are to them! 

Now we go back to NVR (Ryan's Mortgage company) for final approval (again). I'm not sure how long this will take but I am hoping and praying that we might hear back by tomorrow or Monday (at the latest).

Ryan Homes did however go ahead and tentatively schedule our closing for OCTOBER 1! We are beyond thrilled with that date because it will give us the time that we need to get some things done at the house before moving in and also will give us plenty of time to move and clean the house we are currently living in!

PRAISE THE LORD!

And the other great news for the day was that the house passed all inspections and our PM is going down to the city to get our occupancy permit today!

 Pre-settlement meeting: 12 days! (I hope)
Closing: 14 days! (Praying)

New Dates and No News (A New House Update)

She loves her shower doors!

I know my blogging has been SSSLLLOOWWW! And I'm so very sorry about that (believe me this sitting and waiting and nothing happening is driving me insane)!

But I guess this is going to be one time that I would rather not have anything new to update. Our pre-settlement walk-through got moved. Our PM has training on Wednesday, September 23 (the original date of our walk-through) and so we have been moved to Tuesday, September 29.

On the mortgage front I have NO NEWS! I believe that our loan has made it to a USDA underwriter though because I had to fax more papers over to our loan processor yesterday. So that gave me hope that perhaps we really will have an answer by the end of the week! (PRAYING)

And we might be one step closer to having a final close date on the house. When the (very sweet) girl, Christy (I think), called me yesterday to change our pre-settlement date she asked me about a closing date. She does have to check on something for me (when our first house payment will be due) before we can make the date official. Well, tentatively official because you know we still need that pesky final approval from USDA! 

So here is our NEW countdown (subject to change minute by minute)
Pre-settlement walk-through: 13 days
Closing: 15 days 

The End of Week 11 and the Beginning of Week 12

Where we started!

Last week was one of the longest weeks ever! With no major changes being made to the house and with nothing new to see the week just dragged on and on and on! I didn't like it!

The plan for this week is BLUE TAPE! My PM is going to be going through the house and marking all of the things that need fixed.

Then next Monday is our quality inspection (from a third party - I believe) and they will mark everything they find with blue tape.

Our Pre-settlement walk-through is scheduled for Wednesday, September 23 at 9:30 a.m! I am so excited!

We are still holding out hope that we will get to close on the first of October and have been making plans using that date for closing. Of course, we have not planned anything that we cannot change!

I am packing up the house bit by bit and working on purging things. I am trying to clean out my frig, the freezer, and my pantry.

I have listed a ton of stuff on E-Bay (mostly homeschooling books). And now I'm trying to decide if I want to pack up the stuff I'm wanting to get rid of and move it to the new house in hopes of having a yard sale (in the near future) or if I just want to take it to the local thrift store and drop it off.

And I have faxed and re-faxed a ton of stuff over to the mortgage company not only for their records but also for USDA! And I am really hoping that since USDA is asking for stuff that means that someone is looking over our loan and maybe just maybe we will have an answer before Friday!

I have a feeling that this week may feel even longer than last week! And I also have a feeling that the next week will feel even longer than this week! I am hopeful thought that once we have our close date and are able to make some final plans and start an accurate countdown that things may appear to speed up! OH wouldn't that be nice!

I know this post was kind of all over the place but I'm going to go ahead and leave it because I feel like it pretty accurately reflects our lives right now! 

Where we are now!

9 days until our walk-through (that is a for sure date)!
17 days until we close (we hope)!

The House Was Unlocked (SSSHHH Don't Tell) A New House Update

You already know I pretty much stalk my house. I walk down multiple times a day to see what's going on and sometimes just to look at it and thank God for it.

And if you have been following along you know the house is pretty much done and on "Total Lock-Down" even from me. Well, I noticed yesterday that there was a crew there working and they were taking in carpet (I have no idea why but they replaced the carpet in the master bedroom closet) through the back sliding door.

And so last night I decided that I had better go down and check that slider and make sure that those carpet guys locked up the house. And well, they hadn't. And so I figured that I need to help my PM out and go in the house and just make sure that everything was okay. You know cause I'm nice like that and I want to be helpful. And I figured while I was in there it wouldn't hurt to take a few pictures cause you know I was already in there and being nice and stuff. (And just encase my PM is reading this - I took off my shoes!)

My nook

 This is right outside the master bedroom (down a small hallway). I know that I have posted pictures of it before but now it's done and you can see that it has a light in it. Not sure what I will do with it but I will figure it out! Pinterest is probably a good place to start!

Master bedroom

 I was standing in the back corner (next to the window) in the master bedroom facing the door into the room so that you could see the little hallway (where the nook is - Can you see it?) and the master bathroom.

Master bedroom

 I was standing in the master bathroom doorway for this picture. I LOVE my two windows in the bedroom!

Master bathroom

 Standing in the master bedroom looking into the master bathroom. The window is not in the shower! Thank God! Just some weird reflecting thing going on.

Master bathroom

 I love this picture because you can see pretty much the entire bathroom, except for the linen closet (which is beside the far sink) and the water closet (which is the door next to the shower).

Water closet

 Not sure how I feel about a window in here but I guess there will be light!

Master closet

 I am not sure if I have posted a picture of this before or not so I am posting another one. These are the shelves in the master bedroom closet. I LOVE THEM!

Master bathroom linen closet

 One of the many things that I LOVE about my home is all the storage! 3 linen closets (one of which is going to be my extra pantry)!

Sod finished

 The landscapers came the other day (Wednesday I think) and finished laying the sod in the front yard. So I'm pretty sure that other than inspections the outside of the house is DONE! And I checked yesterday and all the screens were installed!

Kitchen peninsula

 I realized the other day when one of my friends on Facebook asked to see more pictures of my kitchen that I didn't have any pictures of the peninsula! HOW COULD THAT BE?! I LOVE my peninsula! So last night, while I was so nicely locking up the house for my PM I just happened to have my camera and I just happened to snap a picture or two! BTW this was the first time I had been in the house at night! Wanna know something..... I LOVE IT!

Master bathroom

Here is a master bathroom picture without the weird window thing going on. So that you can clearly see that we did not put a window in the shower!

Beautiful!

 As I mentioned this was my first time being in the house at night and I was awed by how beautiful it actually was. The foyer light was on when I took this picture standing in the family room. Breathtaking!

21 days till closing (maybe)

Week 11 (A New House Update)

We are in week 11 and the house is almost DONE! I cannot believe it! And just encase you are wondering it looks beyond AMAZING and I LOVE IT!

The cleaners came on Tuesday (but they came very late) and cleaned the house and the garage. But because they came so late I was not able to get inside and get any pictures.

But my wonderful PM (HELLO PM) let me in yesterday to get some pictures. And now I'm pretty sure I'm locked out until our Pre-Settlement meeting in 2 weeks. 2 WEEKS WITHOUT GOING IN MY HOUSE! I might not make it!

I did not get anywhere near as many pictures as I wanted because my camera ran out of batteries! But here are the pictures I did manage to get.

Front Living Room

 This is the front (or formal) living room. We are going to be turning this into a home theater room. I think Tyler is more excited about this room than he is his own bedroom.

My Office

 Here are the French doors in my office. I LOVE THEM! This checks off more boxes on "My Dream Home" checklist. I have always wanted an office and I have always wanted French doors in my house! CHECK AND CHECK!

Dining room

The dining room checks off another item on my checklist. The columns! I LOVE THEM!

Dining room

Another view of the dining room and my columns.

Family room, kitchen, and dining room

I love this picture! It shows the dining room (with columns), the hallway into the master suite (with my nook), the family room (with the bar), the kitchen (with my double ovens), and the breakfast room. LOVE MY HOUSE!

Master bathtub

And the last picture I took before my camera ran out of batteries was the master tub. I just love the decorative tile that we picked.

So now that the house is cleaned and all the sod has been laid (I will get a picture of that today) our PM can start going through the house and finding the things that need fixed. I also noticed while I was at the house yesterday that our screens had been installed but I forgot to check every window. They also came yesterday and finished up the front porch (text and paint).

Our loan is officially over at USDA for approval (we are hoping to hear something back from USDA by next Friday the 18th). Tuesday was a horrible day on the financial end (but it did get worked out - thanks to some wonderful people at Ryan Homes who have integrity and good hearts).

22 days till closing (I may lose my mind before then)

The End of Week 10 (A New House Update)

Cannot believe that we are the end of week 10!

The house is about 99% complete. Really the only things left to do are cleaning and fixing! It appears that if NVR had been on the ball and gotten their part of this process completed on time that we would have had no problem closing in September. Maybe even as early as next week! Oh well, I am just going to trust God and know that His timing is perfect and He is in control.

Our PM left the outside lights on for us so that we could take some night pictures of the house. I think the pictures would have been better if there had been some inside lights left on too (so I will get some of those after we close). But the house looks amazing and I LOVE IT!

Street Light

 I guess because we have never been down to the house at night I never noticed that we have a street light in-between our house and our neighbor's house. I LOVE IT!

Night!

 Our PM left the garage lights and the front porch light on for us and I think the house looks beautiful!

Pretty

 I am simply in awe that this house is ours! God is so good! We are blessed far more than we deserve!

The back of the house

 The back porch light was left on for us too! BEST PM EVER!

Address!

 I did not even notice (until I downloaded this picture) that they had put our address above the garage! I love the little details that they put into our houses. Makes them more homey.

So beautiful

I pray that we never take this amazing blessing from God for granted. My prayer is that we will always remember the JOY, LOVE, and AMAZEMENT we feel today every single day that we wake up in our beautiful home. That the scriptures we wrote on the frames of our rooms are lived out in this home every single day and that God is not merely a word we say or a being we discuss but a LIVING, BREATHING, part of our lives.

Today they are supposed to come and clean the house (a good cleaning) and then I am supposed to be able to take pictures (will probably be the last time I can get into the house until our pre-settlement walk-through). Then our PM starts his job of finding and fixing all the things that are not right! I know he will do an amazing job and I have complete faith in him.

24 days till closing (if NVR comes through for us)

We Have a Mailbox! (A New House Update)

Since Micah is a letter carrier (AKA mailman) he was quite interested in when exactly our mailbox would be going in. So yesterday when I walked down to the house and it was there I immediately called him and let him know. And then I did what any good wife of a great postal employee would do ... I took pictures of our mailbox! At this point I do believe the people working on our house officially declared me "CRAZY"!

Our mailbox

Here is our mailbox! Everyone has the same mailbox (it's an HOA thing) but still it's a nice mailbox! And I LOVE IT!

Love it!

 We will eventually share this pole with the people who will live next door to us. The pole is at the end of our driveway (which means I get to decorate it right?) Can you see my house in the background? Which speaking of our someday neighbors, someone did buy the lot next door to us.

Technically the house is now COMPLETE! They are coming on Tuesday to clean (that will be my last day to get pictures) and then our PM will start going through the house and making sure everything is done and done right (he has been doing this all along but now is when he gets into the details).

26 days to close (Please Lord)

A Blue Door and Our First Purchase (A New House Update)

The house looks beyond amazing!

They laid more sod (they ran out before they could finish though) so the yard is really starting to look great!

The trim guys came and finished up the trim. They installed the trim in the last few rooms and then sanded and painted all the trim in the house.

We were so excited to see the finishing touches being done on the house and then last night we decided to walk down one last time and as we approached the front door (just to see if it might possibly be unlocked) I saw the door and screamed! Scared Micah! I screamed because this is what I saw ...

My Blue Door

I LOVE my blue door! Blue and pink are my favorite colors (and since Micah was never going to go for a pink door) when I saw the blue door I knew I had to have it! And now I love it even more than when I picked it.

Almost done!

LOVE IT! You can see the small area in the front by the sidewalk that did not get sod (it's where the black fencing has not been removed) but other than that I think the outside is done.

We also made our first purchase for the home (kind of). Our finances are on complete LOCK-DOWN due to our mortgage. We cannot open new credit, we cannot use the credit we have, and we certainly cannot spend any of the cash we have saved. But we knew that Labor Day was our best chance of getting a good (or even a great) deal on a refrigerator. And since we did not buy a refrigerator through Ryan Homes we also knew we had to buy one as soon as we closed. So we headed to HH Gregg to check out their refrigerators and see how they could help us. We found a refrigerator that we loved (we decided not to go with the GE that matched our other appliances) and the store manager told us that we could put a small deposit down (100 dollars) and that would lock in the Labor Day sale price for us. We scheduled delivery for October 2, though we can change that if we need to (Praying that we don't have to). I am so excited that we bought our first thing for the new house and I LOVE the refrigerator that we picked.

My refrigerator

This is the refrigerator we picked. It's a Samsung French door refrigerator. I knew that I wanted a french door refrigerator because of the room inside and the ability to put larger items in the refrigerator since both doors open. It also has the door-in-door technology that I really wanted. And it has a temperature controlled drawer that can be adjusted from chill to soft freeze! I am very excited to get and start using my new refrigerator.

The painters are supposed to be back today for a final coat of paint and touch-ups. Then a cleaning crew is schedule to clean the entire house Tuesday. After that our PM will start going through and fixing and finishing up things. Cannot believe it's almost done!


27 days till closing (praying)

APPLIANCES! I LOVE THEM! And Some Grass Too (A New House Update)

OH MY GOODNESS! My appliances came yesterday! I can hardly contain myself. They are beyond beautiful and I LOVE THEM!

The absolute worst part.... I cannot use them till next month! It is going to be a LOOONNNGGG month!

One of the main reasons we picked this house plan was the kitchen. As soon as I saw the huge island and the double ovens I knew that this kitchen was my dream kitchen. There was one other house plan that we were seriously considering but when we found out that the gourmet kitchen was not an option in that plan we quickly crossed it off the list and decided the Port Royal was the one for us.

Yesterday when I walked down to the house to get some pictures the house was completely locked up (not normal for the middle of the day)! And so I walked around back and peeked in the window and saw that not only had my appliances been delivered they had also been installed! I could not take it and went in search of the key so that I could get in and get some pictures! My PM of course (never one to disappoint) let me have the key and told me to enjoy!

My microwave

 This is the microwave. I cannot wait to get my hands on the instruction manual and find out all that it can do! It has a rack inside (just like in an oven) but I forgot to take a picture.

My cook-top

 Isn't it pretty! And shiny! And new! And MINE! I am so excited that it is a flat stove-top. Those are so much easier to keep clean (in my opinion) and they just look so much nicer.

My double ovens

 I LOVE THEM! You knew that was coming right? They are gorgeous! When I think of all the meals that I will cook in those ovens. Birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and just everyday food for my family I get teary-eyed.

Top Oven

3 racks! And it's a convection oven! It also has a feature where I set the oven for the time and temperature that it is supposed to cook and then when I hit the convection oven button it automatically adjusts the temperature and time to the convection setting! How awesome is that?!

Bottom Oven

One of the very best features of my double oven is that they are both FULL SIZE ovens. I have seen some where one is full size and one is about half the size of a regular oven. That would not work for me. I need both to be full size. And my ovens do not disappoint at all!

On a side note (I know my PM sometimes checks my blog), HEY PM CAN I HAVE THE INSTRUCTION MANUALS FOR MY NEW TOYS! It's going to take me a week to learn how to use them once we move in and my family will starve by then! (I'm shameless I know but it's worth a try!)

My gorgeous kitchen

I simply stood in awe yesterday that this amazing kitchen is mine! It is perfect in every way and I cannot wait to cook our favorite meals in my favorite room!

Another view

I am pretty sure the kitchen is complete now. Just needs a really good cleaning. We will be buying the refrigerator after closing. Which brings me to a question for all my readers....

Do you think your appliances all have to be the same brand? All the appliances in the kitchen (NOW) are GE but I really like a different brand refrigerator (can't remember now if it's LG or Whirlpool) but I don't know if it is okay to mix brands. What are your thoughts on that?

Sod delivered

 They also delivered our sod yesterday! We have been waiting on this for awhile now. The summer rain is killing our poor PM as it washes out quite a bit of dirt and sand on our slope. But it arrived yesterday and they began putting it down in the afternoon

Side yard

 One of the side yards was completely done.

Backyard

 The backyard was completed (at least from what I can tell) and looks amazing! I LOVE IT!

Another view of the backyard

Our backyard is HUGE! Well, I think it's huge and I think it looks even bigger now that there is grass.

I am pretty sure they will be back today to finish the sod. And then I think they may be done with the outside of the house (but I'm not sure). There is some trim that needs finished in the house and then I think they are supposed to come back and do some paint touch-ups and then they will do a detailed cleaning of the house (not sure if there is more that needs done or not). After everything is finished they will have a quality inspection and then fix all the issues that are found during that.

We are still scheduled for our pre-settlement walk-through on September 23 (not sure if that is going to change now that we have delayed closing).

28 days till closing (hopefully)!