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Under Contract
Under contract!!! YAY!
Matt and I put our house on the market on Thursday the 15th as we had someone requesting a showing before it was officially listed, it had been listed as Coming Soon a few days prior. We had planned to list it on Friday but were able to get everything done by Thursday. We had a few more showings on Friday and received our 1st offer on Saturday. The couple didn’t have a pre-approval so we waited for that before we made our counter. On Monday, once they got their letter, we countered. Negotiations continued on for several days and by Wednesday night we had received another offer.
Our Realtor told everyone to submit their final offers on Thursday. Thursday night we had an offer we liked and accepted. By Friday morning we were officially Under Contract!
We have everything lined up for the new house now. Final walk through with the builder is the 11th and we close on the 18th. I am super excited we are able to close sooner than we originally expected. We gave ourselves some time just in case our current house took longer to sell.
So that’s where we are. I need to start packing because I don’t have much time. We have some moving companies coming this afternoon to give us quotes but only for moving. Packing will be on us.
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House Tour – Part 2
I decided not to make you wait for the rest of the house. I’m so nice. 😉
Master Bedroom 
Master Bedroom 
Master Closet – This will mostly likely be my closet. 
Master Closet – Mostly Matt’s closet 
Master Bathroom 
Master Bathroom – Tub 
Master Bathroom – Shower 
Kelly’s Craft Room 
Half Jack Bathroom – Connects to bedroom #3 
Half Jack Bathroom – Vanity Area 
Bedroom #3 
Bedroom #3 
Ensuite bedroom. This is the biggest of the bedrooms. 
Ensuite Bathroom 
Ensuite Bathroom – Notice the NEW vanity!!!! Looks soo much better. I’m really glad we were able to get a bigger vanity. 
Back of the house. I LOVE our screened in porch. This was one of the selling features of this house. Eventually we will put a patio area on the side by the stairs. 
Front porch. Because I forgot to post one yesterday. You may have noticed the Master Bath is the only bathroom currently with a mirror. This is on purpose. I have mirrors for all the bathrooms except the Ensuite. I was waiting to see what the vanity would look like before I bought something for in there. I have a “Pinspiration” bathroom for the Ensuite which has a Pivot Mirror above the vanity. Now that I know what size it is I will probably buy one I found on Amazon. And once I paint the vanity it will be my Pinspiration bathroom! 😉 Just don’t tell Matt. He’s not really digging the whole “let’s paint the Ensuite vanity” idea. But I think it would look AMAZING!
~k
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House Tour – Part 1
Now that the house is basically finished I thought it would be good to do a house tour. Matt and I were over there this weekend and managed to finally get pics of all of the rooms from various angles. I’m going to break this post up just so it’s not picture overload!
My front door still isn’t the right color but that should be fixed soon. I also want the crossbars removed. I want to frost the front door and put our house numbers in the middle but I can’t do that with the crossbars.
Front of the house 
Foyer 
Dining Room 
Kitchen with Light Grey cabinets and dark island 
Breakfast nook / Kitchen 
Living Room 
Living Room / Breakfast Nook / Kitchen 
Mudroom bench, next to first floor bath and Matt’s office. 
First Floor Bathroom 
Matt’s office. There is a closet to the left. 
Stairway. The bonus room is to the left. 
Bonus Room / Media Room 
Laundry Room (with sink!!!) on the 2nd floor. I will post the upstairs bedrooms along with the back of the house tomorrow.
~k
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The coolest thing!
Last night as Matt and I were getting ready to go to sleep, I heard my email alert on my phone. It was almost a quarter till 11 (yes, I know we are old 😉 ) and I normally wouldn’t bother looking at my phone but with all the showings we’ve had in the past few days I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a showing alert. I grabbed my phone and saw I had a blog comment. I figured it was spam until I read it. Umm holy cow!
Not only was this NOT spam, ya’ll, it was someone famous! Author L.N. Cronk managed to find my blog! But not only did she find my blog, she commented on my 2013 Book Review post that featured her Chop, Chop series. A series of 8, or 9 as she graciously pointed out ;), books that span across the life of a boy and girl from highschool to death. The series will tug at your heartstrings as you follow their journey through life. I will say again, the series is rooted in religion though I didn’t find that it distracted from the overall storyline.
When I first started my blog like 5 years ago, I had dreams of being a “famous” blogger. As time has passed, I’ve realized 1) I’m not a really good writer, not that I ever claimed to be and 2) this blog is for me. Should people see it and find it interesting, YAY and welcome! That would make me extremely happy but the days of me being a “real” blogger have gone to the wayside.
Can I just say, I’m still kind of freaking out that L.N. (we are besties now :D) commented on my blog. I’ve had a huge smile since last night. I really just think it is the coolest thing!
~k
P.S. I am going to try to do a house tour this week. I finally have good pics and the house is basically done. I also should have some updates on our current house.
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Finishing Touches – House Update
Matt and I ran over to the house on Sunday morning but I think we went too early. No one was working so we were unable to get in. The biggest thing I noticed as soon as we drove up was the mailbox!!!! YAY!!! Needless to say I was pretty darn excited about that. We had grass in the front yard and the door had been painted. Unfortunately the door was black. I emailed the builder’s agent and was told there was a “paperwork” issue. She said my paint color had been approved and the door would be repainted to the correct color.
As we walked around we noticed there were a lot of spots that had been filled/repaired on the front porch. It makes me happy to see they are noticing some of the same small details and correcting them before we even notice. I did notice one of the railings on the screen porch is lower on one side than the other. I’m sure the builder will see and correct this before I mention it but at this point it looks like we are in the home stretch.
I was also told the new vanity is in! The builder’s agent said she walked over on Saturday and it looked really good. I’m really excited to see it. I plan to go over at lunch one day this week. I’m currently working from home due to icy roads so I don’t think it will happen today.
Speaking of the ensuite bathroom, aside from finding a mirror, which I can’t do until I see the vanity, I have everything ready for that bathroom. I found a shower curtain on clearance at Kirklands for $8.00. They also had a picture that coordinated and after some debate I went back and bought it. I basically got the bathroom done for under $35.00. I liked the shower curtain so much I decided to put it up now while we show this house. I think it really looks great! My vision for that room is coming together nicely. 🙂
In other news, we are planning to list our current house either tomorrow or Friday but we already have a showing for tomorrow. We decided to do a “coming soon” listing and were able to schedule an early viewing. 🙂
~k
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2014 – A Year End Book Review
I did this post last year too and I like the idea of keeping a list of books I read throughout the year. The current tally is 50 books! WOO HOOO! That was my unofficial goal for the year. It was also a rather pricey year for books at Casa de E. hehe. Thanks to mint.com Matt was able to pull up how much I’d spent on books. Whoops. It was a little more than I expected. I feel like this was the year of the series though. I got sucked into
severalnumerous series this year. Most of the books weren’t more than a few dollars but it adds up for sure.A Demon’s Wrath: Part 2 (Peachville High Demons Book 8), Sarra Cannon
Demons Forever (Peachville High Demons Book 6), Sarra Cannon
Rival Demons (Peachville High Demons Book 5), Sarra Cannon
Shadow Demons (Peachville High Demons Book 4), Sarra Cannon
A Demon’s Wrath: Part 1 (Peachville High Demons Book 7), Sarra Cannon
Beautiful Demons Box Set, Books 1-3, Sarra Cannon
Hard to Come By: A Hard Ink Novel, Laura Kaye
Thirty-Three and a Half Shenanigans (Rose Gardner Mystery), Grover Swank
Conquer Me (Royals Saga, Book 2), Geneva Lee
STRIPPED, Part 3, Kellie Perkins
STRIPPED, Part 2, Kellie Perkins
Billionaire Unmasked ~ Jason (The Billionaire’s Obsession), J. S. Scott
Being Neighborly: a novella, Carey Heywood
One Night with a Billionaire, J. S. Scott
BROKEN SYMMETRY: A Young Adult Science Fiction Thriller, Dan Rix
Command Me (Royals Saga, Book 1), Geneva Lee
STRIPPED, Kellie Perkins
Crash (Billionaire New Adult Romance), Vanessa Waltz
Going Down (Wish Upon A Stud – Book 1), Elise Sax
Hard to Hold On To: A Hard Ink Novella, Laura Kaye
Shattered Hearts (Shattered #1), Octavia Wildwood
The Job Offer, Eleanor Webb
PSYCHOPHILIA: A Disturbing Psychological Thriller, Michelle Muckley
Thirty-Two and a Half Complications (Rose Gardner Mystery), Denise Grover Swank
Thirty-One and a Half Regrets (Rose Gardner Mystery, Book 4), Denise Grover Swank
Thirty and a Half Excuses (Rose Gardner Mystery, Book 3), Denise Grover Swank
Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons (Rose Gardner Mystery), Denise Grover Swank
Business as Usual (Off the Subject Book 3), Denise Grover Swank
Redesigned (Off the Subject Book 2), Denise Grover Swank
A Separate Peace, John Knowles
After Math (Off the Subject Book 1), Denise Grover Swank
Top Secret Twenty-One: A Stephanie Plum Novel, Janet Evanovich
Hard As You Can: A Hard Ink Novel, Laura Kaye
Hard As It Gets: A Hard Ink Novel, Laura Kaye
Presumed Dead (A Dylan Scott Mystery), Shirley Wells
The Back Road, Rachel Abbott
Only The Innocent, Rachel Abbott
Worn Me Down (Playing With Fire, #3), T.E. Sivec
Because of You (Playing with Fire, #2), T.E. Sivec
Sleep Tight , Rachel Abbott
A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire, #1), Tara Sivec
Here (YA Romance), Ella James
Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes (Rose Gardner Mystery), Denise Grover Swank
The Last Year Boxed Set, Books 1-4, Trisha Leigh
Last year I kind of got on a paranormal kick. I’m not normally one to read about things like witches, demons, or aliens, but this year found me reading about all of these things. Mostly the books are well written and suck you in. Here are a few highlights from the past year.
The Rose Gardner Mystery series by Denise Grover Swank
These books are similar in style to the Janet Evanovich series I’ve read for the past few years. The difference being Rose has a gift for seeing things that will happen in the future. It could be something as mundane as a dog running away or something big like a murder. Her “visions” find her in a series of comical adventures which lead to a relationship with a local State Trooper. Over the course of the series (which isn’t complete) Rose finds herself in numerous bad situations caused by her visions. The books are funny and well written. By the time I finished the last one, I’d say I was a tad bored with the series as a whole but I also read most of them back to back. I will more than likely keep my eye out for the next book and read it when it comes out.
If you hadn’t noticed I’ve developed a little bit of a thing for Denise. Something about her books draw me in. If you are looking for a new author check her out!
The Playing with Fire series by T.E. Sivec
I stumbled across these books when I was looking for something a little more “adult” oriented. I was pleasantly surprised that the storyline was actually good. The sex scenes were steamy but played well into the storyline. This series is about 2 friends who set out to find the truth behind what happened when one of their friends is tragically killed. Book 4, the last of the series, came out in Sept but somehow I missed that one so I will be downloading it later today. 🙂 You can now buy the series as a boxset if you’re interested. I would definitely check out this series if you like a little spice and a fast moving story. (ETA: I read book 4 in a day and it deals with pregnancy loss. It was quite the tear jerker. I think you could read the first 3 books and not miss if you don’t read the 4th book)
The Hard Ink series by Laura Kaye
Not a bad overall plot but the individual storylines pretty much the same: troubled guy meets girl in some extraordinary circumstance and falls in love. All of the books take place over the course of a week or two. A group of dishonorably discharged Army buddies come together to find out what really happened on a mission gone wrong involving their commander when the commander’s son goes missing. His daughter contacts one of the guys and the group is reunited in order to save the son and clear their names.
The Peachville High Demons by Sarra Cannon
I finished the year with this series about witches and demons. Harper is a teen that has been bounced around from foster home to foster home when she finds herself at a home for girls in Peachville GA. Once arriving, Harper starts to discover that Peachville isn’t your ordinary small town. The town has secrets and she is about to be thrown right into the middle of them. It turns out Harper comes from a long line of witches from Peachville. The story unfolds as she falls for Jackson, a demon from another dimension. Together they set out to right the wrongs being done the demon world by the Order of Shadows witches.
Happy New Year!
~k
