LIVE LOVE LAUGH

Granite 12/19/2015

It's so crazy how fast everything is moving now. Another trip out to the house and we found lots of surprises. Our granite was installed in the kitchen and both bathrooms. We picked out this kind of gray/white speckled granite for the kitchen to go with the cabinets and floors. And you know you pick it out with this little 4x4 square so who knows how it's really going to look. But once we saw it we loved it, especially with the subway tile back splash we picked to go with it. The only thing left to be done in the kitchen is the appliances.

For the two bathrooms we picked out the same granite and it's pretty much black. It does have a few specks of light gray in it but we really liked it as well. In our bathroom we did top mount sinks and in Alicia's we did an under mount. (Check me out using all the right lingo. Oh and did you know that where the toilet goes is called a water closet?) Anyway, we are also going to have a small back splash done before they put the mirror in.

This is the tile that is in the bottom of our shower.

Look at that shower head!!! I can already tell a nice hot fully flowing shower is going to be heaven. In the shower the decorative tile in there is what is also going to be our back splash on our sink. I love it.

We are even decorating outside. We decided to go with a paver driveway as well as a paver patio in the back. I love the way it looks. It's not done yet but there will also be pavers going from the driveway to a front porch which is going to all be pavers as well.

And this is the color of the house. A nice tan color with a little bit darker trim. Much much better and or course it was the first thing Kev noticed pulling up and made that same comment. "This is much much better, this is what I picked out." Too funny. Not too much longer and it will all be done and we'll be moving in.

Painted House and Cabinets 11/29/2015

Kev and I decided to go out and check on the house. We are driving up to the house and he's like, "are you kidding me? There's no way I would have picked that color." Now he is saying all this and we have barely pulled up to the house, we aren't even out of the truck yet. So we get out and he is just beside himself. "I hate it, I fucking hate it!! Why would we pick this?" And on and on it went. Now I'm not saying a word, cause I didn't like it either but I did not want to add fuel to the fire. In my mind I'm thinking....how the hell am I going to live with him bitching about the color of this house for the rest of our lives?

So we go inside and start checking out what else is new. They put the cabinets in. They are this grey color that we picked cause Kev had seen them on one of the HGTV shows that I watch, and then he started to look at them on Pinterest and we really liked them. We staggered them so they are not all in a straight line. Super excited about them. But as we are checking them out, the house color is still the topic of converstation..."I hate it, I just hate it."

They also layed the tile. It's kind of hard to tell how pretty it is cause it's dirty and all those white things are the spacers, but it's a dark gray. We had it installed at an angle. We saw it that way in one of the models and just loved it. It is in all the open living area and the hall bathrooom, and then there is carpet in the two bedroooms.

They also layed the tile for our shower. I just love the shower. Actually, I finally have a real shower. At the other house, there was not a shower in our bathroom and then the other two bathroom showers were tub showers. This one is going to be amazing with nice glass doors, a little bench and an awesome shower head. It's gonna be sooooo enjoyable.

Then in our bathroom we did a different tile. We both saw it and said WOW!! We were like, should we have put this in the whole house? I love the way it looks, especially with the grey cabinets.

So that's all that's new on the inside......but the outside is still being bitched about. We actually rode around the neighborhood for like an hour trying to see a house that's the color of ours and how it looks all finished with the garage and trim etc. Kev just could not get over the color and how much he hated it. So then I suggested that we go down to the models and go to the design center and check out the color to make sure it's right. When we got there our designer was there and she pulled our file and checked what color we picked and then showed us what it is. We told her that our house does not look like the samples. I told her how much Kev hated it and just wanted to know what we do now. She said "is it kind of like a yellow mustard color?" We told her yes and she said "that's the primer." Oh praise the Lord!!! So our house is not that ugly color? She explained it was the primer and that the color will be like the samples. I cannot even explain to you how relieved I was to know that I was not going to hear the color complaint for the rest of my life EVERY single day. lol All is good with what's happening with the new house. It's getting close!!

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!!!