Drywall, Paint & Doors 11/08/2015

That's right there have been more changes.  Once again looking at the house from the outside you would say nothing has changed, but then we went through our new doors!!! Yes the doors are up.  We did pick out some new ones instead of going with the standard 6 square which we had in our old house.  

Alicia and I are at the front door and its white right now but will be painted once the house is painted.  I think it's going to be a dark green but can't remember. 

But this is what the doors look like.  Different then our old ones and that's why we liked them.

So once we got inside we realized all the walls had been dry walled and painted.  It's funny cause we picked stuff out so long ago that we can't remember some of the stuff we picked out.  That's why I said I think the front door is green.  As we walked around inside we were trying to figure out what color the walls were.  Plus we were asking each other is this the color we picked out? lol  And Kev was like I thought we were getting two tone paint.  Well the two tone is that the walls are all the same color and then the base boards and doorways are a different color.  If you look at the walls they look like a shade of green but then in another room they look like a shade of beige.  I guess once we are in and really seeing it we'll have a better idea.  But for now, it's painted.  The baseboards are not on yet I think they do them after they do the floors, but really I have no idea when they do what.  

This is the door to the outside patio .  It's in the den and you can see how that room has lots of windows.  

Kev in our bedroom.  This is the wall our bed will go against.  So basically when you walk in the door this is the wall you see.  If you went to the right that's where our bathroom is.  

This is part of our closet in the master bedroom.  It has some built in shelves which I like cause it's something we won't have to do.  

So that's what's new on this visit.  Hoping to see more again on the next trip.  

We Have Walls 10/25/2015

Slowly but surely the house is getting built.  Alicia and I decided to take a drive out to see if there were any changes cause from the outside everything still looks the same.  And the last pic we got from the sales lady was this, and it looks the same.  lol  But she did tell me they are not allowed to take pics inside, I forget the reason so this was the most recent. 

Looks the same right?  Except now we have a house on the right of us being built.  And that was the other reason we went to check ours out.  Doesn't that house look like its touching ours?  It isn't, it's just the angle of the picture.  There's about as much space as there is on our left side.  It's funny cause if we had looked at these houses a few years ago there's no way we would have been ok with a 15' backyard and our neighbors so close.  But now we're ok with it.  It's the community that really sold us. 

So here's some new pics of the house with some walls.  

The kitchen bar and nook.  On that left wall is where the stove and oven go.  That opening for the closet is the pantry.

The living room.  That's the wall straight ahead that the TV will go on.  We had them wire the outlet higher so that we would mount the TV.  

That's the master shower.  You figured that out by the way I'm washing my hair right?  lol   So the shower has a bench seat and a nice little ledge on the side.  It will all be tiled.  

This is the Alicia's bathroom.  Her bathroom has a tub shower.  I like that there is a little built in shelf for shampoo, soap, whatever.  

So like I said it's getting there.  It totally looks different with walls.  And with the walls and ceilings up we did notice that they didn't put some lights where we wanted.  We are having can lights put in the kitchen, dining room, den and living room and in the living room they put them in the wrong place.  So Kev met the contractor out there a couple days after Alicia and I had been out there and noticed and he realized they weren't right and is going to fix them.  He told Kev it may just be easier to add the two where we want them and leave the others where they are rather then moving them so we may have a couple extra lights, which is fine.  But at least we'll have the two where we wanted them.  

More updates soon....I hope!!!

Not this Year? 10/3/2015

So at our apartment we need to give a 60 day notice of what we plan on doing, whether  we are going to renew our lease or move out.   I sent an email to both our contactor and sales lady to ask them about our move in date so that we could makes some plans.  

Hi Colin, 
Kevin and I are wondering if you can give us a move in date.  We are currently renting an apartment and need to give a 60 day notice for move out.  When this all started we were told 4-6 months which would have put us moving in no later then November.  Julia had recently told us it may be closer to the beginning of Dec.  So we'd really like to get a better idea of an actual date so we can make plans.  
Thanks Colin!!! 
Elaine

I didn't get a response back right away  but they did call Kev the same day that I asked if they received my email. 

Hi Elaine,

 

Yes, Colin and I spoke with Kevin this morning.  We do not have a completion date yet for your new home, as we are still experiencing some construction delays that are beyond our control.  Colin is confident that we can give you a better estimate once we get to the point of installing countertops.  You can see from the attached photo (taken today) that we are a ways away from that yet.  We advised Kevin to hold off on giving notice yet to your landlord, and in fact to expect that we may go into January.  We will keep you posted as we get closer.  In the meantime, you two are welcome to join us at Encanterra whenever you might like!  I hope to see you soon.

 

Julia

My response the next day after I couldn't sleep all night. 

Wow!!! I don't even know what to say about this.  I'm not sure you understand how much of an inconvenience this is.  I reluctantly signed a 6 month lease even though we were told it could be done between 4-6 months. And now I have to go longer then 6 months?  That is going to cost us an extra $600 a month.  

I don't understand how this is happening.  Construction delays that are beyond your control?  You don't have contractors that can do the job?  Shea was supposed to be different then other builders, better then other builders.  So far not so sure.  The sale of our home with Shea Realty was horrible and I really was hoping the home build would go so much better.  How is it that I have 2 friends that bought homes with different builders 6 weeks after us  and they have move in dates in December.  Actual dates, not we may go into January, but we'll let you know.  Im so frustrated right now. I'm very disappointed, very inconvenienced, and very very unhappy.  

Elaine 

Kev and I then went out to the house to see where it was at plus Kev hadn't been out there in a while.  A couple of days had gone by since my last email and I didn't hear anything.  But while we were at the house Julia, our sales lady, called to say she wanted to talk to me about my email. I told her we were at the house so she came right over.  It's the first time she had met Kev in person and she said to him, "I was just telling Elaine that I wanted to talk to her about her email."  And then I said, " Julia.......(pause and deep breath) I am so so pissed right now....I'm so pissed!!!"  And the BS started from there.  There are so many houses being built that they just can't keep up with the demand and they are not going to jeopardize doing things 1/2 assed just to get our house built.  Anyone buying new is being told a time frame of 10-12 months.  I of course said things all throughout her explainations and several times explained to her the time frame we were told and the notice we needed to give the apt and what was I supposed to do about having a place to live.  She kept talking and at one point I said as I pointed to my ears, "you know what I am hearing?  BULLSHIT!!! Just a bunch of bullshit.  I'm pissed."   So then it got kind of awkward and had some silence and Kev said ok, let's go eat.  And we left.  She said she'd keep us posted.  But basically the overall outcome was we won't be in til January.  And to be honest she wouldn't even totally commit to that. I wanted to cry when we left, but then Kev and I both said, it is what it is and getting worked up and upset isn't going to get our house built any faster.  

But I did get a few more pics. 

This is the garage.  It has windows so that will be nice cause it will add some light in there.  Kev is looking up at the attic and advised me it's pretty small so I'll need to be getting rid of some stuff in storage.  

And of course this is why we picked our lot.  I took this picture from our back patio.  I made it my screen saver so it will help to keep me calm and remind me it will be worth the wait. 

New Pictures

These are a couple of new pictures that we got from our contractor a few weeks ago.  Now that I'm not working right down the street I can't check on the house every couple of days so we like that he sends an occassional picture.  

Walk Around 9/13/2015

Today Alicia and I spent a few hours out at the new house.  We did a walk thru in each room and tried to figure everything out....lol it's hard with no walls.  But here's something I thought was weird, all the windows are in.  I guess with the framing done the windows are put in to hold everything in place.  Once we walked around we then had to go check out the model again to remember where everything really will be.

I swore that the windows in her room were the wrong size and that they forgot to put windows on one wall in our bedroom. Well once we walked thru the model again I realized they are building the house correctly.  We had fun trying to figure out cabinets and furniture.  Kev and I went and looked at furniture last week so I was trying to get another idea of what would actually fit and look good.  I want to borrow furniture and put it in the house first before I buy it to see if I like it, do you think anyone will let me? 

Of course once we were done with seeing our house and the model again we went to the bistro to eat.  Food again was really yummy.  We were talking to our waiter about the hours for the restaurant and bar and he was telling us that they are going to be making some changes in October, but they all sound like good changes.  Mainly longer hours in the bar. Can't wait!!

Now that's Progress 8/21/2015

I'm amazed what can be done in one week!!!  I'm loving how fast it's going.  At this rate we should be moving in in October!!!  But I'll keep telling myself December and if it's before that....awesome!! 

Framing 8/19/2015

How excited do you think I was to see this yesterday? 

Pretty damn excited.....until I saw this today!!!

Oh yeah!!! Things are definitely happening.  I would love for this pace to continue so let's hope it does.  

Making Progress 8/12/2015

Since I work right by the new house I will go by now and then to check on it.  I keep hoping I'll go by and it will be done...lol eventually I know but I want it now!!! 

So here is what was happening last week. All the footings were set and the pipes are in and it's ready for concrete. 

Pretty exciting right?

But then I drove by on my way to work this morning and this was happening...

They poured the concrete!!! I stopped in front of the house to take a picture and the finisher looked up and I waved and said....that's my house!!! He just smiled and went back to work. lol  Let's hope they keep that progress going!! 

Sharing the New House 7/25/2015

I was so excited to share what our soon to be new house is going to be like with my sisters.  Janet and Diane were in town so the two of them and Mary came down and I drove everyone out to Encanterra.  It's about a 40 min drive from our apt but one we drive through those gates everyone forgot about how far it was.   I explained to them how when Kev and I go through those gates we have this sense of peace.  It's hard to explain...but they got it.  They saw what we have been talking about and could feel it too.  

It was such a fun time.  We went through a few of the models and of course spent lots of time in ours and just talked about what we are getting and how we hope to do different things etc.  I took them all to the design studio and showed them granite, tile, cabinets, sinks etc anything I could find that we were going to be putting in our new house.  Kevin and I have never had a new home so all of this is so exciting.  

After the design studio we went and had lunch at the bistro.  

After lunch I gave them the tour of everything else that we fell in love with at Encanterra.  It's all so beautiful and everything Kev and I are looking for especially once we are living there and able to enjoy the whole atmosphere.  After the tour we looked at the models for the town homes and then went over to check out our new lot.  It's really funny cause if we had been looking to buy a new house a few years ago we definitely would not have chosen a home that has a very small front and back yard.  But here we are with a 15' backyard.  Super tiny but no maintenance which means more time to rax and enjoy our new lifestyle.  On our way out we decided to check out the rest of the models just to see what they were like.  They are all really nice, but we have ours picked out and can't wait to see it all done and put together.  

After spending all day out at Encanterra we headed home but first stopped at a new restaurant by our apartment, Barrio Queen. 

Then of course the day ended with some card playing....which then lead to Sunday card playing in our pajama.  Can't wait till next time, hopefully it will be in our new house.

It's Finally Started 7/23/2015

We feel like we've been waiting forever. We started this process back in March but did have to wait til we sold our house in order for everything to get started but the time has come.  

That's a big deal to have the service box set...lol now let's get some walls up!!! 

SOLD

It's true...it happened.   How long has Kev been saying that we were going to sell our house and move?  A long time in case you don't know.  I think everyone thought we would be moving up north, and that still may happen some day, but for now we sold our house and bought a new house right here in the valley.   We put the house up for sale and it sold in one day!!!  Let me just say that the whole process of getting the house ready for sale and then the selling process was horrible.  We found a house that we fell in love with in a community out in Queen Creek called Encanterra.  The purchase of that new house was based on us selling our house, so it was a contingency.  We still question the fact that they told us we had to use their realtors, but we did.  And without going over all the BS again, let me just say that it all sucked.   Yes the house sold in a day and that was awesome, but just the whole process was really stressful!!  But it's over, it's sold, and we are living in an apartment while our new house is being built.

I still can't believe that our big 5 bedroom house with our awesome yard is no longer ours.  But when our new house is done I will be more then over the fact that we no longer have the house that we've lived in for the past 24 years.  We're excited about the community we'll be living in and really excited that it is the first "brand new" house for both of us.   And look....there's a sign on our lot that says sold.   Once they start breaking ground, I'll have more updates.  

  

It Started with a Lei

Our trip to Hawaii was finally here. Paul was getting married.  We had all our travel plans made with a travel agent and the first thing was to be greeted by a someone holding a sign with our name on it.  I love that, it just makes you feel so important.  Once we were gathered, the lady with him was giving us our Hawaiian Leis along with a hug.  

Every time I see this picture, I have to take a second glance.  Doesn't it look like Paul has a fist over Sarah's head?  He's actually holding the hanger to her wedding dress.  They carried it on to the plane and had it hung for them in the cabin and not down in the baggage.  

We had a big group on our flight, Kev and I, Dick and Kerry, The Barkyoumbs, plus Eric & Gillian, Brad, Panda and the soon to be married Paul & Sarah.  

Cuddling with Avah 2/01/2015

Today was a great start to a new month. Kevin and I went to the hospital to see Avah, who is now in an open incubator and getting ready to go home.  But our whole intention was not just to see her but hold her.  We got there and I was going to pick her up right away and hold her but Kev told me to wait for a nurse and let her hand her to me.  So we sat for a while and I was telling her how I was going to pick her up and hold her and so was her Papa.  Then I couldn't take it any longer, the nurse never came in so I just reached in there and picked her up.  Oh my goodness...she's so tiny!!! But it was so fun to hold her.  I've been wanting to since she was born in November but with her being 11 weeks early we weren't allowed to.  We could only just softly touch her.  So Kev and I took turns holding her and I took a handful of pictures. They are saying she may go home this week some time. She has consistently been gaining weight and is almost at 5 lbs.  

I couldn't resist taking her little beanie off and seeing her cute little outfit.  She is filling out and even getting some little chubby cheeks.  

Day 11 Learning

One of the things I have been saying for a long time is that I need to go to the Apple Store and get some extra info and help with my iPhone.  I've had it for a while but I still know I need to learn what I'm missing.  I did find this post on Pinterest so until I get to the store I may start here. I pinned it, but have not read it yet.  

Day 10 Neighbor

Here's an odd post cause I can't get a picture of my neighbor.  If you are facing my house, the house to the right has new owners in it.  They moved in right after Thanksgiving and we have yet to see them.  Not sure how many people, kids, nothing.  The neighbors on the other side aren't out much either, but we do know them and at least say hello and wave.  They have 5 year old twins and a 9 month old baby.  If I somehow get a neighbor picture I'll post it on another day.

Day 9 Flower

Right now none of the bushes I have in the backyard have any flowers on them.  My gardenia bushes by the front door do not have any flowers on them, and I don't have any fresh flowers in the house.  I thought about opening the container of the flour in the kitchen and taking a picture of that, but then I figured that wouldn't count cause with the spelling, it meant a flower of some sort. So I took a picture of a picture hanging in my living room.  This was a picture that was donated to us for our 3 Day garage sale from Alicia's friend Stacy, and I just really liked it and couldn't part with it.

Day 8 Opposites

Here are my opposites for day 8.   The features on these two girls are definitely different.  One has light hair the other one dark.  One is petite the other one isn't.  It's so fun to see how they are each their own person and different is so many ways.

It's not a picture I took today, but they had come to mind when I was trying to think of something was opposite, and this is a cute picture of them so I wanted to post it.  

Day 7 Key

Right away when I saw this, I thought that's boring, a picture of a key.  So I decided that I would post this quote I had found.  

It has the word key in it, and it has a picture of a key so it works right?  Plus this is something that I struggle with alot...losing weight.  I am good for a while, then slack off and it just is this vicious cycle.  But if you read the find print, that's the key....never give up!!

Day 6 An Addiction

Off the top of my head my first thing I thought of when I read this picture title was Diet Coke.  I love my diet coke.  I think I could say right now that I don't have to have it like I use to.  I use to start at 4:00 am and drink it til I went to bed.  I would quit for Lent and then go through major withdrawals. But I can say now I don't need it like I use to, I just really like it.  I'm currently not drinking it, but I crave one every day.

Then I also thought of the fact that I get on Facebook every day, and usually several times a day.  I love checking out pictures people post and just keeping up on what's going on.  I think I would miss it alot if I gave it up, so yes that would be another addiction.  

I love to watch TV.  I love to watch certain shows, I love to catch a good movie on it and hello HGTV. I just really enjoy watching TV.  When people say to me that they don't watch TV or they rarely watch it, I call bullshit.  Although it may be true, they just don't know what they're missing.  

And I can't leave out....chocolate.  If I could just eat chocolate every day and not worry about what it would do to my weight I would.  I do like my chocolate.  Actually I'm a sweet eater, but I tend to lean to the chocolate sweets especially.

.  

I'm sure I have other addictions if I sat down to think about it, but off the top of my head these were the ones that came to me first.