What's new?!?

Well it has been a while!! 

We have been super busy enjoying our new home! So much has happened in the past five months it's ridiculous! Where shall we start?

Well first off, we are officially boat owners now too!! We purchased in October and it is pretty sweet! 1999 Baja Boss Hammer! Isn't she pretty?!

My husband got to take a few rides in her and my son and I joined for one ride before we had to put her away for the winter. He took her out Monday and Tuesday the week of Halloween. Halloween was Friday. Isn't my little man the cutest Blue Ranger you ever did see?!?

And then we had our first snow in the new house on Saturday morning after Halloween!! Yes you read that correctly. Snow in South Carolina on November 1st!! And not just flurries! I mean a legit 4 - 5 inches of the white stuff!! Don't believe me? Here is what I woke up to. It was not even forecasted and I just wanted to take the dog outside to do his business! I think I actually screamed out loud!

After the snow came our first Thanksgiving feast in our new home! Check out my turkey!!

It was absolutely delicious! As well as the rest of the food. It was just us this year. My mom and my husbands family all live in Georgia and it was just too hectic of a time to make the trip. My dad lives nearby but he was enjoying the holiday with my step mother's family. There's a "past" there so I won't get into why we didn't join in the festivities. We can just leave it at some people you can have in your heart but not in your life. Anyway I did get to see my dad and step mom that afternoon when we dropped off the little one to go shopping! Yes we are those idiots that go Black Thursday/Friday shopping!

Next on the agenda was a couple of projects that my husband and I were wanting to do. I have always wanted to have a farmhouse kitchen table. I think they are absolutely beautiful! So my husband sold our table and agreed to build my new table. My brother-in-law and his family came one Saturday and they knocked it out! It turned out great! Here's a picture!

We stained it with an Ebony stain and painted the legs a really light gray almost white color. I'm in love with it! And now we just needed some chairs! My husband built a bench at my request for one of the long sides and he found four chairs for $30 on Facebook for sale. So he bought them and together we reupholstered them. Here's a picture!

I found that lacy fabric in Walmart. It was just beautiful! Of course this isn't the completely finished product but we had a Christmas dinner coming up that we hosted for my husbands family so we left the chairs black but has since then painted them the same color as the table legs to match.

Which brings me to our next first in our new home. Christmas!! My favorite time of year! We bought a new tree this year and put it in the front room. I still don't quite know what I am doing with that room. I think it will probably just become a sitting room. It also makes a great Christmas room. It was nice having the tree in there out of the way of everyday traffic through the house and was also nice to keep all of the presents, paper, toys, etc...in there out of the main living room!

Here's our tree!

And up next was stocking it full of presents! Can we say spoiled much?!?

Oh and how can I forget? The week of Christmas my husband decided to take my beautiful black beast up to the dealership after receiving a "trade-in" postcard in the mail. He wanted to see if they would even be able to do it without putting us in the negative. And much to my surprise, they gave him more than we originally paid and he managed to get me into a new blue beauty that is fully loaded! It feels so great to finally be up to the rest of the world in technology! Sad thing is that he thinks he is going to be able to get this one day and I will get a new vehicle...wrong! I love it!

Of course it's not all the way there yet. We just bought new wheels and tires! Now we are waiting on getting the lift before we can put them on. Because right now they won't fit! So all in all 2014 was a great year! And a year of firsts! Bought our first new construction home! Bought our first boat! My baby boy's first year of school! I am so excited to finish the first year in our new home! Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more!

My Husband and I November 2014

I'm back!!

Well I realize it has been awhile since my last post but it has been a crazy time! Moving was horrible! As it usually is. Next time remind me to hire people to pack us and move us! We are just getting too old for this! I say this as my husband turns only 28 in a couple of months! LOL

  Here are some updates! The new refrigerator was delivered the day after closing. And it is absolutely wonderful!

 

We started moving the day after. My brother was kind enough to lend us some arms and both he and my husband managed to move almost everything in one day. We spent the night in our new home that night and it was great! Everything we needed was accessible thanks to my professional packing skills! And most importantly the Keurig was in place and fully stocked for the weekend! A weekend of just plain work! We worked our little tails off cleaning out the house we were renting and trying to get our new house functionable. But I am pleased to say that from Friday to Sunday we were able to move our entire home and clean out the other house so we did not have to return back after Sunday. We turned over our keys and received our full deposit back! And now we could channel all of our energy into the new home. Which after that weekend, our energy levels were on EMPTY!

 

Since moving, I will be the first to admit, I have gotten extremely lazy! I managed to get the majority unpacked and somewhat in the area that it belongs in. But I stopped after making it a functioning home! I am slowly starting to begin all of the projects on my list. My husband has been so kind to help cross one off the list! Check out my new vanity! I mean I only wanted the table but he added a side piece that holds my hairdryer and straightener with a shelf underneath also! Such a great man I have!

 

And I decided to make a makeup stand to put on the vanity as well! It only cost $3 to make and it turned out so cute!

 

All in all it has been crazy this past month! My husband started chopping away at trees with a skill saw! It was definitely a site to see! Needless to say, the next time he returns to landscaping he will have a chainsaw in hand! My baby started Kindergarten! And yes I cried! My eyes only watered the first day after I walked him to his class. A week later, I decided he was ready to get out of the car and walk all by himself. And it was only after he closed the door and I began to drive away that I began to blubber like a baby! It is so hard to believe that he is already in Kindergarten and I feel like I just gave birth to him yesterday!

 

It has been a crazy first month and I am sure it will be one heck of a year! Stay tuned more projects and pictures to come!

Closed!!

So closing went great yesterday! Of course we couldn't get to that point without experiencing another issue with NVR! We received our HUD-1 Statement with the amount we needed to bring to closing the day before closing. So we made the trip to the bank to get an official check only to receive notification three hours prior to closing that they made an error and the amount to bring was incorrect! So we had to go back to the bank to get a new check. They are just such a pleasure to work with(if only you could hear the sarcasm in my voice!). But thankfully, it is over!

 

We met with the closing attorney, who was super nice, and signed a bazillion papers and received our keys! We are relieved that this process is finally over! Now that my online banking has a big "LOL" where the account balance used to be, we did what only comes natural after spending all of your savings. We went to HH Gregg to spend some more money on a refrigerator! It is being delivered today and it is freaking sweet! So I am excited about getting that bad boy in this afternoon.

 

Overall my experience with Ryan Homes has been pretty good. NVR has been a big pain in my ass but I guess anyone that is about to loan you a bunch of money is guaranteed to have a big stick up theirs! But don't think you're going to get by that easy NVR! (Survey time!! *wink*wink) Our sales agent has been easy to work with. Our project manager has been pretty cool and has definitely done a good job throughout the entire building process. Though, in finding out yesterday that someone tracked mud through my entire house, his job is not completely finished! But I spoke with him this morning and he assured me that it will be cleaned this afternoon.

 

So now let the fun begin! Tomorrow is moving day!!

 

 

My cute little flowerbed that our project manager promised us considering that fire hydrant was sticking two feet higher than it was supposed to be!

Day before closing!!

The day before closing is finally here! We just received the HUD1 Settlement Statement and the final amount due at closing tomorrow which is way lower than we were expecting so no more complaining there! We are just super excited that the moment is finally closing in. The moment where we can kick our feet back and finally look at how far we have come. We can stop and think about how much we have accomplished through the ups and downs. We can think about all that has been sacrificed, the time that has been spent, and all the blood, sweat and tears that have brought us to this very moment.

 

We have learned so much over the past ten years, my husband and I. I feel that we have worked so hard and I truly believe that we deserve so much. Now that I sit back and think about everything that has happened, everything that has come and gone, I know that everything has been worth it to see what we will now be able to show as trophy for all of our accomplishments!

 

I am so thankful for my husband! He has been and remains my rock through everything and someone I can depend on. Not only has he helped bring our child into this world, but he has helped me provide a wonderful life for our family. A life we can be proud of and a life that we know we earned every bit of!

 

So enough with the mushy gushy stuff already, I know that's what you're thinking! We are making the last minute preparations for closing, finishing up all of the packing, and mentally getting ready for this next chapter of our lives. We had our pre-settlement meeting yesterday with Jeff, our project manager. That went really well. The house looked absolutely amazing! There were still a couple last minute touches that needed to be finished like the front door needed to be painted the right color, the flowerbed around the fire hydrant needs to be finished, and we are still waiting for the hardware for the cabinetry in the kitchen. Otherwise, everything is ready!

Our new home!!

 

Mailbox is in!

 

One more money shot!

 

Update: One week until closing!

So it has been mainly touchups and repairs for the past week. My hubs went to check on everything yesterday and the 'touch-up' guy was there so the house was open. That happen to be from the same company that will come do our 10 month inspection as well. So he was able to offer some helpful tips and advice of what to look for and how to flag it for repair if necessary. Everyone wants to think that everything will remain perfect but we all know once the house settles there could always be imperfections that start to surface. So I think it's great that they do a 10 month inspection! It was such a bummer that the house was locked up when we went back out there once I got home but at least the hubs took pictures of what matters most to me! I'm sure you've guessed by now that the selling point for me on this home was definitely the kitchen!! Appliances have arrive and been installed. They look great in there! Also, the blinds have all been installed and the front door has been painted but I am a little concerned on the color. It looks more like a very dark army green or gray. It's supposed to be black so we shall see about that! Here are some pictures!

 

 

Just beautiful! I am absolutely stoked about getting to work in here! I think I will be afraid to cook though. I don't want to get it dirty!

 

Four days until our pre-settlement meeting and six days until settlement! It just can't get here fast enough! But it's also a reminder that I only have one week to finish packing my house! AHHHH!

Update: Two weeks until closing!!

Ok so the hubs and I decided to take a peek yesterday to see what has been done over the past few days and when we rounded the corner we were super stoked to see grass! But let's not stop there! The garage door was installed, bushes, a tree, and (uh oh) front door hardware! I thought for sure it's locked now and yes my intuitions were true! So I thought we were limited to peeking through windows from here on up to closing. We walked around the house to find our brand new deck and then my other half discovered the back door was not locked! Score!! So let's forget about garage doors, grass, trees, bushes, and decks and skip to what's important! My new kitchen sink and faucet is exactly what I wanted! Oh the little things bring me such joy! Like my new garbage disposal that I can't wait to use! Here are some pictures!!

 

 

Pedestal sink in the powder room

 

Master bath shower and tub with faucet now

 

The new deck is partially completed. Can't wait for our first cookout! 

 

Our little bushes! That pine straw will probably be the first to go!

 

And a tree! I didn't realize we would be getting a tree but I am very excited for it!

 

And here is the almost finished product! The door will be black. It's just primed right now. So exciting that the day is almost here!

 

Update: Just a few pics from this past weekend!

Bathroom Vanity in the Master Bath

 

 

Carpet Installed Master Bedroom

 

Carpet in Living/Family Room

 

Finally a column was added on the front stoop. I'm not sure if that is painted the color of the house or if that will be painted white. We shall see!