Thanks Given - Day Twenty Five

Today, I am thankful for our home. To me, it is so much more than shelter. (Of course, I'm thankful for that too.) But, I just love everything about it and it fits us so perfectly. We put so much thought into every detail. It was a ton of fun watching it come together and I love living here even more. I'm also thankful that Tom and I were so much on the same page about things. I've heard horror stories about people building houses together, but we didn't go through any of that. In fact, I've not had any of our customers go through that either, so maybe it has to do with the builder. :)

That's it. I'm keeping it short tonight because I'm trying to get caught up around here and I'm in the middle of a good book that is calling my name...

We're Building A House! - Construction Update - 4/25/12

This will likely be my second-to-last update. The landscapers are outside right now finishing up the grade, planting the plants and getting ready for sod and seed. So, I'll likely put one more out there once that's finished.

We left off with a lot of the interior finishes happening. That's where we'll pick back up again.

Outside, the cedar trusses were stained first, then the paint began. Martha Stewart Seal (Dark) & Flagstone (light) are the two colors we used. Along with Tailor's Chalk for the trim color. The driveway also went in which we were very happy about since we had unseasonably great weather.

The decking was finished up too. We thought we were going to do these solar caps but one stopped working within a week so those are out. We'll find something else!

Granite! I love this stuff. It hides crumbs and spill and really lightens up the space.

Here's a full view of the kitchen.

We debated long and hard about which tile to use as the backsplash. We even did a Facebook poll. The dark won out in the poll and is what we ultimately chose.

The master shower turned out super cool!

Carpet went in at some point. We let the kids pick their colors. I swear the walls in this room are painted gray. They just look purple because of the crazy bright carpet!

Cabinet Pulls went on...

Here are some shots of the main areas right before we moved in.

Master Bathroom

Kitchen (still needs the final clean and a piece of crown moulding above the stove.) The dark paint color is Martha Stewart Zinc.

Family Room into the Hearth Room. This is a lighter gray - Martha Stewart Bedford Gray.

Family Room from the Dining Area

Exterior Shot

Finally, here's a sneak peak at the landscaping they've been doing in the back yard. More of this to come!

Our First Showing

Movers were here delivering all of our earthly possessions last Thursday until 11PM. Fast forward to today, Tuesday, four days later.

Today, four days after moving in, we had our first "showing." Obviously, we built this home for ourselves and the family to LIVE in, but we also knew we would be using it as a model for our custom home building business. We just didn't expect it to be quite so soon! Just like all of our potential customers, we win some and lose some so not sure how this one will turn out. But, Tom did say the meeting went well and was encouraged. Great sign! They're hoping to start building within the year, so we'll know soon enough.

We have been talking with this customer for about two or three weeks and they were watching as the house was built. Our intent was to get them through the home prior to moving in, but timing just didn't work out. So, today was the day. Honestly, it was in pretty good shape, all things considered. I have almost unpacked all of the boxes that were from the rental house with the exception of the pantry (still waiting on shelves) and the toy room. (The kids have kept themselves so entertained without them, I'm considering my strategy before releasing them from boxes.) We even have a few decorative items out like the lanterns and some paintings propped up on the mantles.

Don't get me wrong. There is still plenty to do. The basement is filled with boxes of things that we brought from the old, old house and didn't unpack at the old house. The kids closets need organized as does the pantry. Our bathroom still needs a towel rack and toilet paper holder. I don't care. I'm still impressed with us and I'm not too humble to admit it. :)

And, I can't forget that in the last five days, we've done the following as well...

- Josie's first soccer practice and game - Tom's coaching so we were snack parents for the first game too. (And, I can't forget that Josie scored a goal!!!!)
- Hosted Easter for Tom's parents and Nicole and cooked my first ham in my new oven! It was actually a lot of fun to have a family holiday in the new place so early. And, I don't think we've ever celebrated Easter in Indiana.
- Read The Paris Wife in two days. I joined a new book club and this was the first one, so I felt like I had to read it! Plus, it was really good!
- Put Josie on the bus for the first time. She loved it. :)
- Grilled out at the new house for the first time and for the first time since moving from the old, old house. We just didn't grill at the old place.
- Made three batches of chocolate chip cookies (pre-made, frozen variety) for the movers, ourselves and the girls, including Nicole.

It's been a full few days and I'm glad things are winding down a bit. I'm off tomorrow and will try to catch up on laundry and the kids' rooms. I just can't express how happy all of this makes me though. A better wordsmith would be able to verbalize it, but I'll just say it's perfect and all I ever imagined.

If These Walls Could Talk - Part Two

OK - this is moving week! It's so exciting to be moving into our new house, but I wanted to take a minute and remember our house on 150 W. (Just like I did at our old house here.) Although it has had it's challenges, we also made lots of memories as well. It's been a relatively short 8 months in this home but full of activity nonetheless.

Moving in was somewhat of an adventure because it took FOREVER! This was the first time we hired professional movers so we thought it would be a breeze. I think they pretty severely underestimated the time it would take to do the full move. Anyway, we finally got in and settled.

The house has a little step down into the playroom. I remember the first time we visited with Jack, my aunt Trena was with us and she said Nicole had a little step like that too in their old house. She said Jack would have it mastered within a few short weeks and he certainly did! It's hard to believe he had just started walking when we moved into this house!

One of the first, significant event that happened in this house was on August 13th. We were actually at the lake this weekend, but returned home shortly after on Sunday. This was day of the tragic State Fair Stage Collapse. Our Sales Consultant, Andrea, was very seriously injured and in a coma for weeks. She is on her way to an awesome recovery now, but it was a life-changing event for many people. I miss her daily and the first few weeks at this house were cloaked in a range of emotions and prayer for her.

The very day after the accident, was the night before Josie's first day of kindergarden. While it was difficult to be happy and excited, I think we managed to put up a good front. Nicole was over too and we all helped Josie pick out the perfect outfit. The first day of school is always an event to be celebrated and it was extra special considering it was our first born's first day of public school. She had a great two weeks with Mrs. Hahn and then, due to scheduling changes at the school, she was moved to Mrs. Brown's class and has had a wonderful year!

Tessa's first day of school came next. Another year at Bradley! It's hard to believe that in two weeks, I'll be taking her in for Kindergarden Round-Up!

I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but I nursed Jack for the last time in the rocker in his room at this house too. It's always a bittersweet moment. I cherish the time I get to spend with each of my kids in those days because it always passes so quickly. But, it also brings a certain feeling of independence as well when that time is over.

Thanks to Pinterest, we've done a bunch of crafting in this house! I think I had extra free time since it was a smaller house and we didn't have as much to maintain. Either way, we surely had fun!

Josie had her first "scary" Halloween costume here too!

And, Jack learned to dance. :) He and his sisters had many dance parties in this house...

Josie also celebrated her 6th birthday in this house! She had her first true "friend" birthday party complete with goodie bags and a pinata!

On Thursday, we'll be moving on to a new chapter in our lives. We don't know how long we'll live in this house but I imagine we'll see plenty more firsts - first bus rides, more first days of school, first bike rides with no training wheels, first sleep-overs, and maybe even first boyfriends and first dates. Oh, what an adventure it will be!

I Know You've Been Waiting... :)

Well, it's only been about six months, but I'm finally getting around to posting our floor plan on here. Why the delay? I didn't want someone stealing our creation! :) I had Tom draw up a nice sketch of the plan without specific dimensions. So, I suppose you can go ahead and steal it, but I can rest easy knowing it won't ever be exactly the same!

We tried hard to create only "usable" spaces. The guest room on the main floor will be used a lot since both of our parents live out of town and I'd say we have an overnight guest once a month on average, if not longer. Plus, it will double as an office with a desk. I love that guests will have their own full bath, not having to share with the kids, but it also doubles as the powder room off the kitchen. The kids' play area/loft upstairs is bigger than it looks on paper. It will be a great place for toys today and study areas down the road. There's also a laundry chute up there!

I'm just in love with how all of this came together! I really never imagined how excited I would be about this place. It's just turning out to be my dream home! It can't happen soon enough!

Here's the first floor.

And, the second floor...

We're Building a House! - Construction Update - 3/12/12

It's times like today that I laugh at my naiveté. Once upon a time, before we started construction, I had this hilarious idea that I would post a photo on my blog daily of the construction. Right off the bat, I only managed a weekly post for about, oh a week, then bi-weekly, and finally monthly. Today, I'm at six weeks. Oh well, best intentions...

Either way, I'll still chronicle all of the progress over the last six weeks with photos here. These have probably been the most exciting six weeks as drywall is done, painting is done and finishes are started. We are looking at a complete date of March 30th. Right around the corner!

I believe we left off at framing. Drywall was up next.

The ceilings were finished up and then the first coat of primer went over all the drywall. To start, we're just choosing a base color and then an accent color that is darker. The primer was tinted light gray. The base color will be Bedford Gray (Martha Stewart) and the accent color will be Zinc (also Martha Stewart).

Next up - cabinets! This is always an exciting part of the construction process because you start to get an idea of how the living areas of the home will lay out. The kitchen cabinets are actually a subtle gray. They all have soft close drawers and doors which will take a little getting used to but will be useful in the long run.

These are the master bathroom cabinets.

As the trim carpenters were finishing up on cabinets, they moved onto trim.

I love our doors! They're solid core, which we've never had and they remind me of our house in Newark with the three panels.

Up next were windows. This is the same trim as we had in our house on 500 N. It was an old farmhouse and we loved the bigger piece on top with side pieces. We added a sill too. The baseboard is not down in this photo, but we used a higher profile for the main floor and shorter for the upstairs. 

I was surprised to see the sliding closet doors were also the same profile. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I love the way they look! 

Next, they worked on the stairs.

And, finally, the beams in the main living area and the balcony. The beams will be covered later with hand-hewn white pine once it is stained.

These are the corbels that will be used on the fireplaces and the balcony. 

Next, our painter stained all of the special wood we had brought in from a guy in Knightstown. Tom went over and gave him dimensions of all the areas we needed and the guy custom made pieces to fit in each. I loved this idea because he could make the wood look old but it wouldn't have any of the implications of actually being old. (Rotting, bugs, etc.)

This piece actual became one of the headers. 

And, one of the fireplace mantles.

At last, all of the woodwork was stained and installed. I think we achieved a wonderful, rustic look, without going totally overboard 

I think this is the coolest area of all. This is our dining nook. We decided right after it was framed, that we would leave this portion of the ceiling slanted and add paneling. It turned out so much cooler than we could have ever imagined.

Lights were up next.

Stone was started, and finished, last week. They started outside, since they had nice weather.

And, then moved inside.

I didn't get over there fast enough to see the wood floor before it was covered back up with protective cardboard. Tom snuck in a photo though. 

Just this weekend, the flooring guys were working on tile. We decided to go with a river rock base in the master shower. Here, they have started prepping for it. 

This is the river rock we selected.

Finally, Tom got a photo of the outside without the dumpster. It still needs a coat of paint, but it does look very similar to the very first rendering.

Really, we only have about two weeks left for the big changes. The final week before occupancy is for touch ups and cleaning. So, the next two weeks will bring more tile, finishing up the deck, carpet, countertops, appliances, concrete, paint and probably other things I'm forgetting!