We have moved in!

Yeah! We are finally here! That's the reason for the lack of postings lately. We've been so busy trying to get things finished up here and out of the apartment that I haven't had time. I also spent much of the week with no internet access at home.

Things are not totally finished here. The painters were still working through this whole week, so we moved most of our belongings into the garage for now. We moved the rest of our clothes and bed on Wednesday and spent our first night here then. But we still don't have much inside the house. The kids are bunking together in Braxton's bed because we don't have Anna's bed together yet. That's the plan for this weekend. But to be honest, I'm so tired that I just don't want to move. I also have some papers that I must get graded this weekend. So wish me luck.

I'll be posting some new pictures soon. I want to get things cleaned up a little more and take some then.

Final Inspection...

Well, we are calling for final inspection tomorrow, not one minute too soon of course. The major systems are all in. The trim painting and touch ups have not begun, and there are so many things still left to do, but we have plans to move in this weekend anyway.

I'm fine with roughing it for a week or so. As long as we get our stuff out of this apartment, I can handle taking several weeks to get things straightened out. I guess Thanksgiving is my real deadline. I'd like to have some semblance of order by the holidays.

There has been so much activity at the house in the last week that I really haven't had a chance to get many good pics without being in someone's way. I have also been out of town, so while I would normally have time to wander around and take pics on Sunday, I wasn't able to this week. I'm taking the day off tomorrow to work on getting some packing done and to wander around the house without the kids bugging and getting into things. So perhaps I'll be able to get some good pics then and get them posted soon!

Done in a Week?

Will we really be ready to move in next weekend? It's a little hard to believe when you consider these pics. The inside is coming along a little better than the outside, primarily because of rain today. The outside pic here was taken this morning (those are the septic drain lines). Supposedly those were all covered today before the rain set in, but I didn't go out there again because I figured it was a mud pit.

The kitchen and tile pics are from earlier in the week. The tile has been grouted, and the granite countertops were installed today! It killed me not to rush out there to see them.

There still seems to be too much to do for the time we have. Outside, the water lines have to be run from the road to the house. The footers have to be poured for the retaining wall and front porch. Then those have to be built. Then there is some final grading, and the concrete poured for driveway, sidewalk, and porch.

Inside, the electricians were out there today, so that may be nearing completion. They had a few more fixtures to install and lots of finishing up to do. The plumbing fixtures still have to be installed and the water lines run. The trim still wasn't finished by this morning, and a couple of the interior doors weren't installed yet. The painters still need to come back and paint those plus touch up all their work. The closet organizers still all need to be installed. And finally, the fireplace insert and mantle haven't even been begun. Talk about waiting till the last minute!

I think Brad is still hoping that the interior is mostly done by the end of the week so that we can get in there over the weekend and clean up some. I don't think that's gonna happen though. Even if it is pretty much finished, I won't really have time to be there much since I'm going out of town for three days.

I WILL be out there tomorrow morning, so I'll try to post again before the weekend to let you guys know the update. Stay tuned...

This Week's Progress

Lots of progress was made this week. The concrete was finally poured for the garage. That's Thomas and Philip in that first pic. Thomas was doing the siding and guttering, and here he's working on wrapping the garage doors.

The crown moulding was installed this week, along with most of the trim around the doors and windows (except that window in Anna's room, but she wanted to pose for a pic for you all). Speaking of doors, most of the interior doors are in. There were a couple that we replaced or were delivered late, but those shouldn't take much time to install.

When I was out there this afternoon, the laundry room and bathroom tile was being installed, so hopefully I'll have a pic of that for you later this weekend. There were all kinds of saws and other power tools being used out there this afternoon, making it very difficult for me to control the kids, so we checked it out and decided to get out of the way and come back later.

Finally, the appliances were delivered this morning. They are awesome--sooooo beautiful! I know I splurged a little (a lot for me) on them, but I don't think I'll be disappointed. I can't wait to cook something! As I came home this afternoon and was trying to cook here in this tiny apartment kitchen, I found myself daydreaming that I was really working with my new appliances and those beautiful granite tops. Wake up, wake up, Nancy!

Appliances

We bought our appliances last night. After perusing the options at several stores in the last couple of weeks and researching online and through Consumer Reports until my eyes were threatening to bleed, we headed out last night planning another grueling schedule of shopping around, visiting various stores, getting quotes, etc. I figured we'd be at it for hours. Well, we did spend hours, but all at one place. We decided to visit Sunrise Appliance first, just to look at all the various options besides Kenmore, because we also knew the odds of finding a knowledgeable salesperson there were good, as opposed, frankly, to the refrigerator guy at Sears who seemed befuddled and confused.

So to make a long story short, they had slightly higher prices on individual items, but when buying several appliances in a bundle, they definitely were very competitive. We did actually spend a couple hours there, but it definitely wasn't grueling, and most of that time was me being indecisive. The sales guy definitely knew his stuff, and the price was good for what we got. It was such a relief to just go ahead and buy everything and NOT to have to run from store to store comparing everything.

We went mostly with GE Profile appliances, and I got the french door fridge/bottom freezer with the ice and water in the door and a convection oven--hey, you only live once, right? I did vary from the GE on the dishwasher because I was just not happy with the choices there. Instead I chose a Kitchenaid dishwasher with the clean stainless front with hidden panel and stainless tub. Overall, it was a better dishwasher for the price, and it is on the opposite side of the kitchen from the other appliances, so I don't think people will really notice the difference in stainless finishes. (GE really needs to update the look of their stainless dishwashers. The big plastic control panels cheapen the look for the price you have to pay.)

So, the appliances will be ready for delivery by the end of next week. I can't wait!

Oh, and one other quick update: we get to pick granite this week too. Wahoo!

Exterior Trim, etc.

In addition to the flooring being installed this week, the exterior trim was begun this week. So the soffits and vinyl shakes are pretty much done, and the guttering will be done on Monday. The guttering, porch ceiling, and some trim around the doors and garage doors is all that remains. All the exterior fixtures, doors, and windows have been caulked in advance of yesterday's rain.

The garage floor will be poured Monday, so that will help keep the hardwood flooring nice and clean. Of course, the flooring is covered anyway to protect the finish, and we just bought some rugs to help keep things clean.

Other updates: the grading will be done sometime next week, so the huge mountain of dirt that all my new neighbors are coveting will go away. That also clears the way for the septic to be installed, because that's where that needs to go, under the big dirt pile. That also allows us to get the driveway prepped. And, warning to my hubby and his back, that allows me to begin planting trees!

Flooring

The hardwood flooring was installed this week. At the same time, the outside trim was being installed, but I'll post on that separately.

I'm excited to see the floors. I was worried about the color of the flooring next to the cabinets, but they are different enough that it works just fine. Ignore the dustiness. Obviously nothing has been cleaned yet.

The hardwoods are throughout the whole house except for the bathrooms and laundry room which will be tiled probably next week.