Chrismas and more

Over the past 2 weeks a lot has happened at the house. We now have all the cabinets in place, paint and trim on the walls, the outside painted and tile on the floors. There is even the tile in the master bath shower, tub surround and counter. It's getting so close the house will be all done by January 29th for the final walk thru. They will then have 1 week to fix anything that needs to be fixed before we close.

We also had a great Christmas. We didn't do much for each other this year because of the house, but we still had a blast. We both worked Christmas Eve. In the morning we slept for awhile then drove to my parents house. Yesterday we had James' dad and brothers over for Christmas at our house. James wasn't feeling good so he went to bed, but everyone else had a lot of fun. He has now made a full recovery.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and have a great New Year!!

Painted yellow (still have trim to do)

Master shower

Tub

Sinks

Kitchen and Dining Room

Busy Day . . .

We had a very productive day on Friday. It started out with James deciding to fix the roof. There was a smallish spot that was starting to leak, so before it started to rain he wanted to fix it. We went to Home Depot and he got all kinds of stuff for it. Meanwhile as I sat in the truck waiting for him there was a weird guy either selling drugs or stolen property. He kept walking around saying "Hey I got a deal for you". Needless to say I immediately locked my door and started planning my escape. LOL

After he was done getting all the supplies we went over to the new house to take a look. The day before we were there and the roof tiles were still not on and there was a roof vent exposed to the outside. James was freaking out, so much so that he took it upon himself to take a piece of plywood upstairs and reached out a window to cover it. So Friday when we went by they started to put the tiles in place. They also had 2 of the 3 columns in front of the house covered in stone, and the stair railings up. It's amazing how quick it is going and how much it really looks like a house. We were over the other night and it was freezing outside, but inside it was nice. The insulation is AWESOME!!! Before we know it we will be moving in.

After our daily check on the house we went to Davis Ranch just outside of Sacramento to get our Christmas tree. We found the perfect one right away. James cut it down and home we went. As soon as we got home to the roof like Santa he went. Later that night since I got the night off we put the tree up and decorated it. All my childhood ornaments, our new wedding ones, and all the ours we have collected went up. After it was done we sat back and just admired the tree and each other. I can't believe it is already Christmas, before we know it it will be Christmas again!

Justice helping Daddy secure the tree LOL

all done

stone columns

stair railing

garage door (not too fond of the sunburst
window, what do you guys think??)

Lots of updates

So lots has happened since my last blog. First off we had a great Thanksgiving. We went to my aunt's house for dinner with my family. Then the Sunday after we had James' dad, brothers and one of their girlfriends over for dinner at our house. It was the first Thanksgiving dinner I have cooked by myself. It went really well!! On the 6th we went The Singing Christmas Tree, it was amazing. We can't wait to go again next year.

As for the house we now have Stucco, a garage door (with an opener), and all the drywall seams and nail holes are all taped and mudded. We are moving right along to the closing date. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

STUCCO!!

the granite we picked out

garage door

Buddy & Justice

What a difference one day makes . . .

Since they were going to be installing the insulation yesterday I wanted to get some pics before the drywall went up today. So after James left for work I realized he took the flashlight. On the way to the house I stopped at Target and got a flashlight. Then on my way over to the house I again realized James had the hard hats in the car. I figured no one would be there anyway so I just continued. When I got there though, not one piece of insulation was up. :( And to add insult to injury the house next door had stucco!

So today armed with my hard hat this time I went back over and much to my surprise the insulation was up AND most of the drywall too!!! It really looks like a house now. It was so cool to be able to see it with walls. Hopefully tomorrow they will finish it off. Enjoy the pictures below, more to come.

just the insulation


looking into the dining room and kitchen from the family room

from the kitchen thru the dining room into the family room

garage

tunes for the workers LOL (held up by wire)

Stamp of approval

So today we had our pre-drywall walkthru. It went great, everything is where it is supposed to be. We did find out that our close date may be pushed back to Feb 6th, instead of Jan. 15th. Bob the builder, no seriously that is his name LOL!!! Anyway Bob had no idea about the change, so maybe we are on schedule after all we should know before Thanksgiving. Tomorrow will be the frame inspection, then Mon insulation will be installed followed by drywall on Tues and Wed. By next week we should have stucco.

On the loan front, we locked into a 90 day lock. The rates came back down after Halloween when they had gone up. We locked today at 6.25% YEAH!!! By Thanksgiving we should have all the final numbers.

We are going to try and get pictures with insulation and drywall. We just have to be sure and get there on time to get them or we'll miss it.

I hope all of you are doing well, and have a great Thanksgiving!!

all ready for stucco

electrical box in garage

plumbing!

Been a long time

Ok it's been a long time since my last post and a lot has happened since then. First we went to Las Vegas. We had a lot of fun and only lost $50. The machine ate it within 20 min so we decided it wasn't worth it. We went and saw 2 shows there. We saw Zoomanity and V the variety show. It is amazing all the people standing on the sidewalks passing out hooker cards. It's ridiculous!!!But while walking the strip we found the water show at the Bellagio. AMAZING!! We stood there forever watching. We stayed at the Stratosphere which was very cool, but it is all the way at the end of the strip so you have to drive to get to the main part. All in all it was a great birthday trip.

In front of the Bellagio


When we got back we found that lots of progress had been made on the new house. When we left we just had a first story and part of a 2nd. When we came back we had a full second and part was being covered in plywood. The dates on the pictures are accurate so you can see the progress that is being made in such a short time. We have our predrywall walk through on the 20th so we should know if we are still on target for Jan 15th. We walked through by ourselves today and they have plumping, duct work, and electrical in.

Well I better get going James is starving. LOL surprise surprise!!

when we left for Vegas

a few days after we got back

a few days later

Cloth diapers . . .

Ok so in preperation for having kids James and I have decided to test out cloth diapers. So far I have given samples to a few friends and their babies, Annika and Hannah, Kristi and Maddie, and Jessica and Violet. The reviews are mixed, they say it is more work than disposables, but they don't leak. I think for the savings they will provide vs disposables we are going to use them. To that end I found a great store online that sells many brands and all kinds of accessories. The woman who started the store now has a blog as well. I encourage everone to take a look and see how cloth diapers have evolved. It is AMAZING!

http://theclothdiaperwhisperer.blogspot.com/

http://www.kellyscloset.com/

Best birthday ever!!!

I had the best birthday ever!!! The day before on Friday after sleeping part of the day to recover from the night of working before, James woke me up with a big surprise. While I had been asleep he MADE me a cake with frosting from scratch! He also had a big bouquet of flowers, that he again made all by himself from 3 seperate bouquets. Isn't he awesome!?!?!?! Then we went to dinner with my family at, duh, Chevy's. James made me open his present last. He did so good, my mom was impressed. Candles, lotion, a book about soulmates, and See's candy, what else could a girl ask for???

Today my friend Jenn came up for my birthday to have lunch. Then we went with my father in law to the Del Webb community since they were having a big event there. By the time we were done James was up so we went to the model of our new house to show Jenn.

I had a great day. Friends, family, and the best husband ever, what more could I ask for?!?!?!

my beautiful cake :)

Amazing what a few days does

So over the last week we have watched the house take form. It has gone from a slab to what looks like a bare bones house. It looks like they should be framing the 2nd story this next week. We even got to walk inside with hard hats. it was so cool to be able to see what it will look like.

earlier this week (view from back)

earlier this week (view from front)

today (view from back)

today (view from front)

The Family Approves

Yesterday James' dad and brothers came down and we took them to the model of our new house and the lot. They all loved it. We showed them what we want to do with the backyard. We had a great day. We then took them to the Del Webb community that is close to ours so his dad could see homes for him. We all loved the smallest model for him. It is only 2 beds and 2 baths and is about 1300 sq ft, but it has a great open floor plan. He is really excited to get down here too. Now just to get his 5bed, 2.5bath plus 1 bedroom in law unit, 3500 sq ft house sold in this market!!! We definitely have our work cut out for us. The plan is to get it ready to sell over the next year.

WE HAVE CONCRETE!!!!!

So we did our daily drive by and low and behold they poured the concrete for the slab!!! YEAH! James of course couldn't keep his fingers out of it, silly boy. Our new neighbor stopped by his lot and we got to talk to him again (we met him and his wife in the office a few weeks agao). They seem like a nice couple, he just graduated nursing school in May. So far that I know of there are 3 RN's, 2cops, and 1 firefighter along with a couple teachers on our street. Take care everyone.

busy day

So yesterday we went out to check on the progress of the house. It's already to be slabbed STILL!!! Can they get a move on it already?!?!?! We took the chance to walk all the way around it and get a better look at it.

After checking out the new homesite we went and got new cell phones. We went to just get James one, but they were buy one get one free so I got one too. We both chose the LG Shine, mine in red, his in silver. For those of you that don't know James' phone was BEGGING to be put out of its misery. The poor thing had been dropped in the hot tub TWICE, the dog water bowl once, dropped too many times to count and still worked. Most recently it started to shut itself off. He has had that phone for about 5 years, it didn't even have a camera!!! All phones have phones. So after we chose out phones the tech at the AT&T store took our phones apart to get to the sim card. He took the battery off James' phone and ALL the screws fell out!!!!! We were all cracking up. So we left the store new gadgets in hand. I forwarded the new numbers to everyone I could think of, if I missed anyone drop me a note on here and I'll send it to you.

James and I with the house behind us

James showing off the new house

family room, dining room and kitchen(closest to farthest)

garage with kitchen behind

First Blog :D

This is what our new house is going to look like, just a different color.

Ok so back in August we bought a lot in a new area of Elk Grove. We are so excited to be able to have this opportunity. Since then it has been torture how slow things seem to be going. When we were just looking it seemed like the houses were just going up like lightening, but when it's yours it just doesn't seem to go so fast. Maybe that's because we go by everyday?!?! :D

In the past few weeks we have seen lots of movement on the lot. Below are some pictures of what's been going on in these weeks. We are supposed to be in the house in January.

our empty lot

trenched and framed for the foundation

better view

me in front of the lot (not our house behind)

foundation poured and ready for the slab :)

uba tuba verde granite for kitchen and natural beech cabinets

tile and carpet for house