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Moving day cold!
Friday just happened to be the coldest day of the year so far! I woke up early and took the kiddos to mom and dad’s house for the day. On the way home I stopped to get coffee and donuts for the movers.
The guys arrived at 9:00 and got to work. By noon they were headed to the storage unit, and then to the house. I had pizza waiting for lunch and then the unpacking began. Once the furniture was off, the boxes went really quickly. Most of the boxes ended up in the dining room, which was fine.
By 4:00, the house was full of our stuff and we began to unpack. I made the bed first thing, I didn’t want to leave that till later. I knew we would be tired and making a bed was the last thing I would want to do. Then I started on the kitchen. It took the rest of Friday and most of Saturday for me to get it in order. Mom and dad were nice and brought us dinner Friday night. They also brought the kiddos back. Hal had a little accident in her carrier but thankfully it didn’t get on her so she was allowed in the house. 😉
After dinner, Matt and I headed upstairs. First order of business was soaking in my new tub! Matt hopped in the shower. Tub > Shower!
Julio was a crazy pants that night and no one got a whole lot of sleep. We woke up early and waited for the TWC and Direct TV guys. Direct TV was early but the poor guy had a time. He spent the entire day at our house. I felt bad I didn’t have any food to offer him. He went to dig the hole for the dish and hit clay. We think the ground was a little frozen because the clay was crazy hard. Then he realized the hole was too close to the house and the dish wouldn’t turn so he had to move it. Then something else wouldn’t work. It was just one thing after another. The guy was really nice and kept a good attitude.
Since we ended up spending the day at the new house, we had to run to the Townhouse on Sunday to get the rest of the odds and ends and clean. 7 hours, and 2 trips later we were done! I hadn’t expected it to take us quite as long as it did. We ended up borrowing my dad’s jeep and I’m glad we did. It saved us a third trip.
After the crazy weekend I think Matt and I were both ready to get back to work yesterday. Now we are both working from home since another round of snow decided to hit this morning. They said it would be a snowy winter but this is getting a little ridiculous! And more is on the way. I will probably try to walk around the ‘hood in a little while and take some pics. My camera is at mom and dad’s house so I’ll have to use the little point and shoot. Look for snow pics tomorrow.
~k
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Keys to the Casa
Well, it’s OFFICIAL! We have a brand new house!
Due to weather concerns, our closing attorney pushed our closing from 10:30 yesterday to 2:30. While I would have preferred to close a little earlier in the day, this allowed us to sleep in and take our time. We met the builder and warranty guy at the house at 12:30 to make sure everything on our checklist was complete. Once the details were finalized, Matt and I headed to lunch before going to closing.
Closing went smoothly and an hour later we had keys in hand. Since the locks are contractor locks we had to run back out to the house to re-key the locks. I also wanted to put down some contact paper under the cabinets in the bathrooms and “frost” the bathroom windows – let’s just say that was a disaster and move on. 😉
Gift basket the builder left at the house! I thought it was great they put some TP and paper towels in the basket. I was smart and brought those items but it was really fun to walk into the house and see our house warming gift! As we were leaving closing it started to snow. Once we got to the house the flakes were much bigger. It snowed pretty good for a few minutes and then let up. A little while later, I looked out the windows and the snow was really coming down. Big, huge, flakes. It snowed like that for 10-15 minutes and then quit.
I don’t feel like the pic captures just how hard it was snowing at this point. Matt worked on our driveway for a little while but didn’t make much progress. It’s pretty much just a big sheet of ice. Our driveway doesn’t get much sun and the concrete is too new to use a de-icer.
Temps will continue to fall tonight so tomorrow morning should be fun. Thankfully we hired movers and I can just direct traffic.
Sunset after the “storm”. I should mention, the new ‘hood looks beautiful with snow! Unfortunately I didn’t take any pics. My camera was at home and it was starting to get late.
~k
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#icepocolipse 2015
The last few days the forecast has been up in the air for what we were in store for this week. Some models had Raleigh getting a few inches of snow. Others had use getting up to .5″ of ice. Yay Snow, Boo Ice!
Yesterday morning my office sent out an email stating people could work from home that afternoon should they be able. Around 12:30 my coworkers and myself headed home. It was a pretty slow afternoon as we waited to see what was going to happen.
Around 4:30 the wintery mix started and then came the snow. We got a decent dusting of snow then the sleet set in. It sleeted most of the night and we woke up to a white Tuesday!
We got lucky that we got sleet and not ice. Ice would have been terrible considering closing is tomorrow! Oh yeah, we are closing tomorrow! Come Hell or Snow (or ice)!
The attorney called Matt earlier and they have pushed our closing back to later in the day. This should be better since we have to run over to the house for our pre-close walk through. Basically we just have to sign off that the things from our walk through have been completed. The list would also include ANOTHER microwave.
So funny story, the replacement microwave came in last week and the door was broken. That’s 6 microwaves between two house! Ya’ll it’s crazy. 😉 We did get the new microwave installed at the current house and it is operational!
I told Matt we would have picked the COLDEST week of the year to close/move! Wish us luck on Friday!
~k
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Microwave killer
When Matt and I met almost 7 years ago, he didn’t have a functioning microwave in his house. He told me it had broken shortly after he moved in which meant he had lived there for a few years without one! Like who does that?! Anyway, when I moved in I brought my little counter microwave. That worked well for a while but after we got married we decided it was time to replace the microwave. We went to Lowes armed with some gift cards and bought a new one.
As we were taking the old microwave down, we noticed that whoever installed it had drilled directly into it. So, no wonder it didn’t work. With a new microwave installed we went about our daily lives.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, like the week before we list our house. I go to heat up some frozen bread in the microwave. I notice it’s not really getting warm or defrosting but I can’t really tell. Finally I tell Matt I don’t think the microwave is working. He comes in the kitchen and puts a cup of water in. A minute and a half later it comes out, cold. You’ve got to be kidding right? Here we are a week from listing our house and the damn microwave goes out. We decide to disclose this to the buyers and say we will fix it before close.
Yesterday we had the inspection on the new house. I had kind of questioned whether we really needed to have an inspection done on a new house but Matt assured me we did. Turns out, he was right! The inspector found a few things wrong with the new house. Nothing crazy but one of the toilets that was replaced is leaking and there is an issue with some of the flashing on the roof. Oh and let’s not forget the microwave. But it’s a brand new microwave right? That’s right, our BRAND NEW microwave, that’s probably never been used, is not working!
I’ve never once had an issue with a microwave, NEVER! Matt, on the other hand, has now been labeled the “microwave killer”. I have no clue what the hell he is doing but this has to be his fault. All the microwave issues started with him. 😉 So it’s looking like we will get another new microwave for the new house. Plus we will be purchasing a new microwave for the current house.
Can we just move already?!?! haha
~k
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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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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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House update – It’s coming together
Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for a friend at my mom’s house. Her house is about 10 mins away from our new house. Once the shower was over, mom and I decided to go check on the house progress. I was peasantly surprised to see lights were up and fixtures were in. As part of our offer, Matt and I asked for upgraded bathroom fixtures in the Master bath. It really was such a small thing but something I am now super happy we asked for. I think it really looks nice and adds a little something to the room.
Master bath tub 
Master bath sinks Mom and I also ventured up into the attic. There was a good bit of room up there but the stairs are really steep so I’m not sure how we’d get anything of substance up there. But you can get up there if you need to. Coming down was an adventure because the stairs are so steep it was kind of scary. I told her I had been there done that, and I wasn’t going up there again! 😉
Attic looking towards the front of the house. Overall I’m pretty happy with the lighting package. I’ve known from the start I would replace the dining room light. I fell in love with a chandelier from World Market. I’m not that crazy about the foyer light so I have a feeling that will be replaced at some point too. The bathroom lights are fine but I might replace the globes eventually. They just seem a little plain. But really, I’m just so happy with got this house!
Dining room 
Foyer (kind of blah) 
Island Pendant – which we both LOVE The other builder we were considering finally has some of their houses for sale. The plan we were looking at is for sale with about 700 sqft less than we got and pretty close to the price we are paying. I feel like we got an EXTREMELY good deal from our builder, plus I think our house will be much nicer in the end. Not to mention it’s already appraised for more than we paid. 😉
Kitchen faucet and tile. Tile will have white grout (though I kind of like it dark, it’s too late to change now) 
Subway tile around the fireplace! Really glad we changed this. 
View into the kitchen. 
Mud bench. It will be painted the same as the doors but the bench will be left natural. 
The door color 
Laundry room cabinet and SINK!!!! I am so excited to have a sink in the laundry room! While we were there, we stopped by the office. The builder’s agent was on site and I wanted to check in with her. She told me that her and another agent agreed the vanity in the Ensuite bath was too small. She was going to work to see if we couldn’t get it changed out. I must say it doesn’t look as bad with the vanity sink and lights in but it’s still not ideal. I really just hope they change it out for something a little wider.
Ensuite vanity and light Matt and I will be running by the house this weekend so I should have more updates next week.
~k
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House Update – Cabinets, flooring, and moldings oh my
Friday we took Matt’s parents to the house. I heard the cabinets were in and I suspected the flooring was down but man were we surprised. All the hardwood had been laid, all the cabinets were in, and the moldings and shelving were in.
I am in LOVE with the kitchen cabinets!!!! They are everything I hoped and more. They are beautiful! I couldn’t be happier if I’d actually gotten to pick out our cabinets. The floors are equally amazing. You can see the variation in the wood and it’s going to look great once they’ve been sanded down and poly’ed.
Matt and I were totally surprised to see they had the moldings and shelving done. The bookcases beside the fireplace were also done and look great! We were both glad we decided to have them be cubby style. We had the option to have one component and one cubby or both cubby. Cubby was totally the way to go.
The only thing I wasn’t really happy with was the vanity in the Ensuite bathroom. It is comically small. I’ve emailed the builders agent to see if that is the correct vanity but I haven’t heard back. I’m sure she will say yes. I’ve told Matt it will have to be replaced because I think it’s going to look stupid and well, dinky. I’ll have to find out how much it will cost to upgrade, otherwise it will have to be changed once we move in. (Which won’t make Matt happy but oh well.) In my townhouse I was able to find a vanity on CL for about $50.00. Maybe I’ll luck out this time unless we can get the issue resolved.
