tis' the season

some pictures of the awesome christmas gifts we received for the house!! thanks very much everyone!

eat, drink and be merry...

here is our new table! we finally found what we were looking for...a counter height table with simple lines and dark wood.

a few more pictures of some of our christmas decorations. a few of the pictures are a bit dark.

big snow

it's difficult to tell from the picture...but the wall of snow blocking our driveway was really high! shoveling = not fun.

"it's beginning to look a lot like christmas"

the tree...obviously not decorated yet...

our little white tree above...

stockings...only penguins allowed...

quinn's new favorite spot...

xmas lights

putting up christmas lights!

it's a start!

GRASS...

...no, not the kind you smoke. we have the beginnings of a lawn! FINALLY! we'll post a few pictures soon.

poem

my friend molly sent me this poem the other night...she was reading emily dickinson and thought of us. love it! thanks molly!

1142

The Props assist the House

Until the House is built

And then the Props withdraw

And adequate, erect,

The House support itself

And cease to recollect

The Auger and the Carpenter-

Just such a retrospect

Hath the perfected Life-

A past of Plank and Nail

And slowness-then the Scaffolds drop

Affirming it a Soul

lawn

we decided to try for a lawn yet this year. we are told that it is still ok to plant at the end of the season...we shall see. the weather will need to cooperate. we decided to go with hydroseeding. so strange to have a bright green yard.

the move

a few pics from the move that we didn't get a chance to post until now.

mailbox...take two

apparently the mailman didn't like where we had our mailbox placed. we found a little note the other day stating that we needed to move it to the other side of the house on the property line. i was wondering why we only received one piece of mail(card from jen) since we put it up...they were holding our mail at the post office until we moved the mailbox. soooo, there we were last night with a shovel(which we acquired just the weekend before...good timing) digging up the mailbox post. so...for real...now, send mail. :)

sold

the move is complete...besides a few plants that are still at the apartment. we had a lot of help this past weekend which was very much appreciated!! needless to say i'm glad we won't be moving again for quite a while. between hauling boxes, furniture, putting up blinds and trying to find a place for everything, we were exhausted! i think we are just now starting to recuperate. it would have been nice if we didn't have to work this week. last night we put up our mailbox with some help from my mom & sister.

he looks worried in this picture. odd. nothing to worry about. me + big drill = perfection. ;)

we had to test it out as well. :) send mail!

official homeowners

we are now homeowners! more to come.

only a few more days...

close is officially scheduled for this friday. the carpet is down(you can see it in the picture although it's difficult to see the actual color because of the lighting). the appliances are hanging out waiting to be installed (the fridge is in this picture with the blue protective sticker still attached). we had a walk through today with our realtor & builder. it went well, just a few finishing touches. well, kind of...we found out that they installed an electric water heater instead of the gas water heater that we chose. they will be changing it out and venting it...more of a hiccup for them for making the mistake.

"If you go to a party, and you want to be the popular one at the party, do this: Wait until no one is looking, then kick a burning log out of the fireplace onto the carpet. Then jump on top of it with your body and yell, "Log o' fire! Log o' fire!" I've never done this, but I think it would work." ~ Jack Handy (Saturday Night Live)

finishing touches

as we near our closing date, the builder is installing the final pieces of our home. i think these are the most exciting. for example, doesn't this sink faucet look great in her hand?

sleek dishwasher huh? the buttons are on top so you can't see them, so it looks really cool from the front, but will take some getting used to. just like a new t.v. remote when you aren't used to where the buttons are yet.

now it may look like someone just took a shower in here, but that's just the way the shower door looks. can't tell from the picture but it looks cool in real life. you'll just have to take my word for it i suppose.

the creme de la creme, i really shouldn't have to say anything right? a picture is worth a thousand words? it's big enough that even I can fit in it.

almost there...

all of the trim is attached. the countertops & cabinet pulls are all attached as well. we have toilets, bathroom sinks & mirrors. they installed the microwave. the fireplace mantle & surround is also in place. the big tub for the master bath & the carpet will be last.

one more thing...the water softener & furnace were also installed in the basement.

tile, tile and more tile

all of the floors now have grout. they just need to finish the fireplace and master tub.

moving along quickly

we went back to the house tonight and no grout yet, but they did hang the lights we dropped of yesterday. they also installed more cabinets, countertops and trim. we also saw that the air tub for our master bathroom was sitting in the garage! tomorrow the appliances are being dropped off at our apartment.

vanity lights in both bathrooms...

this is the light that is in 2 of the bedrooms...

the fan looks good, but they have the blades the wrong way...we'll have to flip them around to the darker sides after we move in.

the island is in place...