Saturday, November 1, 2014

A week since move-in

It turns out moving into a new house can be a lot of work...

Wait, what?


I've gotten good at catching that look on her face.  She moves fast, though...


So, the move went very well - almost too smoothly for something that was planned down to the minute.

Tuesday night, we picked up the U-Haul truck after work.  We had stuff at both parents' houses - most of the stuff we felt should be "indoors" like blankets and stuffed animals were in my mother's basement.  We unloaded that first - about 30 minutes and off to Alicia's parents where we had 2 bays of the garage in use.

The only wrinkle of the whole process was that it was a little drizzly, so as it got progressively darker and we finally worked the truck light too hard and it had issues staying on (and we had so much stuff in the truck it was almost blocked anyway), we decided to call it a night.

Back to the apartment...  Life as normal.  We even had enough for one more day of coffee.  But Wednesday morning, after daycare and pre-K drop-off (one place), it was back to the garage to finish unloading.  We had parked the U-Haul there for the night so no waiting... we cleaned off the floor of the truck since we'd tracked it up pretty thoroughly from Tuesday night's drizzle, but by a little after 9, we were loaded, and ready to head to Liverpool to do a little cleaning at the apartment









But we were strategic - and there was no need for the U-Haul there; we had no "big" stuff, so we left it, and even had time to relax in front of the TV while we waited for closing, which went smoothly - except that we planned to eat at Quizno's before hand and they closed.  Fortunately, Empire Sub Shop in the village is very good.  I'll hit up Quizno's another time.

Planning to the minute?  Closing was at 1, Wally was coming to paint at 3, and there were deliveries scheduled for anytime after 3 (they actually called at 12 saying they were close, but umm, we weren't).  We walked around the house for a few minutes, checking things out, then went to get the truck, and were back at 3:01.  Close.

As for the painting, we decided we'd stick with Ryan-standard beige for most of the house, but I promised Marissa she'd have a pink bedroom, and by golly, she was going to have a pink bedroom on day one.  Keith hung the drapes while we were at dinner Thursday night and here's how it looked when she walked in.



We had a happy 4-year old.

But I've skipped ahead... Wednesday night was our last night in the apartment, and the movers brought the big stuff Thursday morning... also known as:



We're told we have some heavy furniture... but once it's set up, it looks pretty darn good.

Starting in the dining room, just because.



Then the morning room, to the right of the kitchen - still full of boxes, but a few less each day.  Note the piece in the far corner was added Sunday after the move - who can pass up a great-looking buffet for 85% off?  Note the ceiling fan was added as well.  These pictures were taken the night it was warm out.  


Family room/great room/den, or the room I usually end up just calling the living room.  Note the archway in the back - that was a surprise feature that was added from the model we saw to the current Verona.  Also note the 9' ceilings which we also didn't remember seeing in the model.  Anyway, the archway leads to the bathroom and my office.


Our main upstairs bathroom.  We were going to do a solid curtain, but Marissa really wanted the fish hooks from the Stonecrest bathroom, so we called an audible and brought back the fish theme.  Yes, we let her have a lot of input.  This is her bathroom after all.  It'll be Lucy's, too, but since she can't offer much of an opinion yet, she'll be stuck with Marissa's ideas...or we will spend a lot of money redoing it when she does have an opinion.


3-light fixture in the main bathroom.


Speaking of Lucy, here's her bedroom.  The color in it comes from the furniture.

...and the light switch

Oh, here's Marissa's light switch


Washer/dryer... arrived Friday morning along with the refrigerator.


And the master bedroom... spacious.


The upstairs play-room... spacious.


There is still a lot missing from the pictures, but we have to leave something for you to want to see at our Open House. Date still undecided. We would like to get a few more boxes unpacked first. 

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

It's ours!!!

Well, it's official!  We're homeowners again.

To close out the process with a bit of stress, when we went into the credit union Tuesday afternoon to set up the wire transfer (they told us we could do it Wednesday morning, but we had a few minutes and wanted to get it done), they told it could take 24-48 hours to get to NVR.

What?

This wouldn't've changed plans too much except that we would've had to reschedule closing, and break in to get our truck unloaded.  But it worked out; the transfer "only" took about 9 hours... so a few minutes of paperwork to sign, and we were off to unload a U-Haul

Yet still, this hangs on the apartment wall...

Closing day was busy for those of us over 5 years old, but the furniture doesn't arrive until tomorrow, and so we don't officially move in until Thursday.

We decorated the island


And got the living room set up... at least with the furniture necessary for two people to collapse and take a 5-minute break during moving


Moving day tomorrow.  For now, good night 


Monday, October 20, 2014

the ghost in the microwave

See it?  Looks just like Alicia.  Freaky.

Countdown to Close: 2 days
Countdown to Move: 3 days

The madness is mere hours away.

So, we had our final walkthrough today.  The good news is our house was audited for energy star rating; the bad news is they turned the heat off and we were freezing for the first half of it.  But, we have a nice new furnace and a fireplace, and it didn't take too long for things to get up to temperature.

Wanna see a picture?


That's the teaser.  Ubatuba granite... very similar to what we had at Stonecrest, but a little darker, and really looks sleek with the cabinets (which are very similar to what we had at Stonecrest, but a little darker) and the floors (which are very similar to what we had at Stonecrest, but a little darker).

There is some rather minor touch-up work to do be done, including a bunch of holes from one placement mistake with some shelving, but overall, that place is in dire need of some occupants, and we are eager to accept the invitation.

Here's the timeline (as we hope it plays out):
Tuesday night: load truck
Wednesday morning: finish loading truck
Wednesday midday: close
Wednesday afternoon: unload truck, paint Marissa's room, stove delivery
Thursday morning: furniture arrives, cable/phone install
Thursday afternoon: house setup
Thursday dinner-time: MOVE IN!!!
Friday: washer, dryer, and refrigerator arrive (ok, so it's not ideal - but we have another fridge), water meter installed, Guardian completes install

Until after closing!

Monday, October 13, 2014

The color of money

... and grass seed.

We didn't promise new pictures, but reserved the right to post more, so here we are.  The lawn was seeded at the end of last week, and while I was too inept to take pictures properly so I could recover them and post them, I did make another trip up this morning to get these.

The lot looks more spacious when the crap is not in it!  Little slope on the north side, but still nice and usable!




Thursday, October 9, 2014

It's been a good week

We have new pictures - in fact, if a picture is worth 1,000 words, we've got over 50,000 words to share... but fortunately, we're selective.

Let's start with this one.  It's one of my favorites.


So, after weeks of stressing over a bunch of things, mostly involving math and how others interpret math, we're finally destressing a bit.  In fact, you could almost say 
#2thumbsup

Sorry, still on #Wednesday time.

On the NVR Mortgage front, in the past week or so:
  • We finalized our closing
  • We got confirmation of final mortgage approval
  • Our escrow waiver was approved
Woot.
#win

On the home front, well, two things greeted us when we walked into the garage.  First, the mailbox.  I'm not sure how the mailman is going to get over there to leave the mail, but maybe it's a new construction thing.  

Also, it's slightly out of frame, but there is a stack of three drawers in the garage.  The only way this cabinet would not be in the kitchen was if our custom order stack of four drawers was the exact same width.  

Woot.
#win


So, let's get a look at that kitchen, shall we?


Island 

Pantry

View from the family room

Yes, with Ryan's a la carte pricing, each of those shoes cost us $60

We don't have a backsplash in the kitchen - we'll probably put in something nice down the road, but we didn't want to do one right away.  It's not a standard option through selections or customization, but it can be done if you ask.  
Keep in mind, we have yet to meet a contractor who enjoys putting them in. 

Obviously the granite isn't in yet; it was held up by a few kitchen projects, but it should've been going in today or maybe tomorrow.

The carpet's in, though.  We asked if they did scotch-guarding on the carpet, and were told they're stain-resistant.  But then, wait, what's this?  We were supposed to have been given an option to upgrade to a scotch-guarded carpet, and weren't?  

There seems to have been some miscommunication along the way - perhaps because we were so agreeable on all of the decorating decisions, she didn't even think to ask.  But whatever the reason, they're looking at ways to improve communication, and we're getting our carpets scotch-guarded before we move in.

Woot.
#win

On the topic of communication, my suggestion to Ryan's sales folks, and to anyone looking at options, don't just consider the option, make note of what ELSE the option gets you.

For instance, we thought about not getting a laundry tub.  But that comes with the water-hookups.  No tub?  No plumbing to add one without explicitly adding it.  Almost silly to not put it in.

We were talking about the new sump pump which was replaced because it kept tripping the breaker. Our project manager suggested that we look into a backup for it - that would come standard with a finished basement.  Sump pump is standard anyway, but we'd've definitely added a backup system to it... and we will.

Now, let's go on a tour

Family room fireplace 

Family room (facing north) 

Office window 

Main Floor Bathroom
("Powder Room")

Living Room
(Downstairs Playroom) 

Dining Room
(Dining Room) 

Bonus Room
("Upstairs Playroom") 

Mandatory view of the progress of the next door neighbor to the south 

Master Bedroom 

Master Bath Toilet Closet
(Door was forgotten... this is why we do walk-throughs) 

Hallway view, looking north 

Laundry Room 

Get your mind out of the gutter
Really, I see your mind right there 

View into the attic 

Main Bathroom 

Hallway Lights 

Dryness! 



This will be our last blogged walk-through.  We currently have no plans to do another walk-through until our pre-settlement walk-through in 11 days.

We close and do the initial move in 13 days, and the furniture and family move in 14.

We will update the blog with any new information, thoughts, or random flashbacks, but as for new pictures, you're going to have to wait for the open house.  Oh, let's get this out of the way now... NO GIFTS!!!

*food, beer, wine, and spirits are not gifts and are always welcome at our parties.

See you soon!
Phil and Alicia