Season's Greetings!

We thought we should share some new photos of the house decorated for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season.

Finally!!!

Home Sweet Home

We are just sixteen days from closing on the house and it's basically finished. The yard is in and we have carpet in the bedrooms. Most of the touching up work is done so there are just a few little places that need to be fixed.

The Home Stretch

We are less than a month away from our closing now. The appliances and the backsplash are installed in the kitchen and there isn't much left to do inside but install the carpet in the bedrooms and do some touching up. We still need some paint outside and a yard and landscaping but it will be done before we know it.

A Rock and a Hard Place

We stopped by the house tonight and found that we have hardwood floors (which are covered in a special technologically advanced protective layer of cardboard). We also have the granite countertops in the kitchen and the tile in the bathrooms. Most of the painting has been done and it's really starting to look like we could live there. We're hoping for a driveway and a patio by the time we return from our trip to the windy city.

with all the trimmings

So much has happened since our last posting. The cabinets and trim are all in and they have started priming the walls. The railing has also been installed and covered in very special plastic that I know we paid extra for. Our official closing is September 18. The countdown has begun.

You say sheet rock I say drywall.

The drywall is now up at the house and has been taped with a layer of mud applied. The drywall work should be finished by the end of the week and the cabinets and trim work will start right away. We're probably about 60 days away from closing. It's really starting to come together and we're able to see what it's going to look like. We're beginning to shop around for a refrigerator and washer and dryer. It's getting really exciting now.

The bright SIDE of life

Thursday night we stopped by the house to find that the windows are in, the siding is up and the fireplace is in. A lot of the wiring has been run so things are moving along just fine. We are experiencing one of the joys of building a home...finding mistakes. It seems the builders forgot to frame a door for one of the bedroom closets. We've already called to make sure we are getting all the closets we've paid for.

It's a Wrap

We stopped by the house on Sunday to check on the progress. The builders have the wrapping on the outside so we're pretty sure the windows and siding will be going up soon. The roof is also on so it won't be too long before the house is closed in and they can start on the interior.

You can also see that the first resident has already moved in. We found this bird pearched above the upstairs bathroom. He'll be evicted soon.

The Framing Phase

We visited our lot this evening and we now have some framing! It is amazing what they can do in 4 days! We were just out there Sunday standing on nothing but a slab, and now we can really see the shape of the house. We weren't able to walk upstairs since there are no stairs yet, but we could still get a great idea of the floor plan. This is the fun part where it seems to go so fast, but soon it will come to a screeching halt when they get this part finished.

How Firm A Foundation

We have a slab. We went out to our house this morning and we now have a foundation. Here are some pictures of concrete.

Expensive Dirt

Here it is .... the most expensive (and only) dirt we have ever purchased. We are excited to share the progress of our house being built. As you can see, Brett is already getting used to the idea of having a mortgage!