Another month til closing? Really?

So we stopped by the house on Friday (3/22) and were so excited to see the appliances had arrived! Only the microwave and fridge were hooked up, but I still did a little happy dance :) For the appliances, we stuck with the basics RH offered us for now, and plan on upgrading down the road. Electricity and heat were on, it was like a sauna in there, and laminate in kitchen, foyer, and laundry room were installed. Now it really feels like a home. Super anxious to get in there already. 

With all of the progress we've seen this week, it's hard to believe we still have a month to go, but we do. Closing letter came yesterday, stating our pre-settlement walk through to be April 18th with settlement on the 22nd. Soon enough we will be in our HOME. :)

We have Cabinets!!!

We stopped by the house today since we did not take pictures over the weekend, and were thrilled to see our cabinets installed! They are GORGEOUS and we are very happy with our choice of Cherry Bordeaux.

Railings were also installed, and they were putting on a coat of stain while we were there. We chose Cherry stain so it should be a close match to the cabinets.

We did happen to stop by on Friday and saw our tile in the bathrooms was put in. Today it was grouted and ready to go. This is the guest bathroom. We chose the upgraded tile with ivy accent piece in white for the tub. 

And here is our master bath. Upgraded tile with mosaic accent.

Close-up of the mosaic. I plan on painting the bathroom a similar color to the green glass tiles.

Master bath vanity

Master shower

And finally, the front porch is done! No more walking up planks of wood to get inside our house!

More to come this weekend. Stay tuned...

Drywall! and appraisal!

Hubs and I stopped by the townhouse on Saturday (3/9) to see what it looked like inside with drywall. Since they put locks on, we had to go when workers were there, and when we arrived we were THRILLED to see they had started our siding! WOW does it look like a house now!

 The worker just couldn't help himself ;)

Living room with bay window 

Hubs looking into our kitchen and morning room. 

Bay window and front door 

Morning room windows and French door 

::Dreaming of Cherry Bordeaux:: 

Storage area in basement with powder room rough-in 

Rec room and sliding door 

View out of the rec room door

LOVE the tray ceiling in the master! 

Love the master...

...And love the master closet! 

My beautiful soaking tub 

Master shower 

Laundry room. I cannot WAIT to not have to walk down three stories and battling the elements to do our laundry! 

Guest bath 

I just HAD to get a pic of the worker outside our office window! 

Guest room...:) 

Another piece of exciting news...our appraisal came back! With just over a month to closing, we were not expecting this to happen so soon, but everything came back great so we are good to go! Looking forward to seeing the progress this weekend. I promise to keep up on my posting, guys!

We Have a REAL Closing Date!

Well we had our pre-drywall meeting on Friday (3/1), and our PM Jim gave us our official settlement and closing dates--April 18th and April 22nd! WAHOO!! The official dates make it seem so much more real now!

We were hoping for earlier in April or the end of April, since the hubby will be on business in San Diego for two weeks straight mid-April, which could be problematic. After reading all of the NVR horror stories about having paperwork faxed last minute and needing to keep a constant stream of communication, the fact that he will be on the other side of the country right before we close if worrisome. With me being a teacher, it is virtually impossible to call and fax documents in the middle of the day. We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but we are a tad worried. 

My parents came down for the meeting and a visit. My dad is a contractor so we thought he would be a good second pair of eyes, especially since neither one of us really knows what to look for! My dad plans on building a deck for us in the summer so he asked our PM to put some kind of beam on, which will not be a problem. When he brought us outside to point out what they were talking about, we noticed every other unit in out building has one of the beams already, making ours the only one that did not add on a deck as an upgrade. Talk about awkward! Oh well, my dad is excited about building our deck for us, so I guess we will just suffer a few months of embarrassment being the only townhouse without a deck ;)

Everything else with the house looks great. I know I've said it before, but I absolutely LOVE our elevation E choice---partial stone, bay window, with a small peak roof. I think it is the best looking one! I love our tray ceiling in the master, and am so excited to use that soaking tub. Yay for the Strauss! Our PM said he has worked for Ryan for 25 years, and he believes the Strauss model is the best of all the townhouses. I have to agree! 

We took a trip through the model to show my parents some of the things we eventually want to do, and to show my mom what it will look like when it is all done since it is hard to envision just from framing. I am SO excited to finalize paint colors and start designing our house!

Sorry the pictures kind of suck, I clearly was not that into taking them. Or taking notes either, even though I brought a notepad. Oh well. Insulation was finished yesterday, and drywall will begin tomorrow! Yay for drywall! Looking forward to our visit next weekend!

And on a side note-------> Yes, our wedding was in October, but we finally planned our honeymoon! We will be going to the Paradisus Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic! The all-inclusive resort is beautiful and affordable, and since C has so many miles from business travelling our flights were free! Except for the taxes of course, but I still think $200 for two round-trip tickets was a good deal. Fingers crossed Congress can get their acts together and figure out all of this sequestration nonsense so we can actually go. This vacation is much needed!

Here are some of the pathetic pictures I took. If you think these are bad, you should see the ones I didn't put up!

Circuit breaker...obv 

Utility closet 

Rec room 

Standing in the kitchen looking towards the living room. My dad and hubby talking with our PM. 

I took a picture of the dripping pipe. Our PM said the plumber is aware of issue and supposedly fixed it. Obviously not. PM said he would be back on Monday to fix it.

Master closet. We took a trip to IKEA on Saturday and plan on doing one of their closet systems. Much more affordable than California Closets, but we know not as good of quality. Does anybody have any experience with IKEA's closets? Are they worth it? 

My beautiful soaking tub! 

Other side of the master bathroom where the shower and toilet will go. 

Laundry room---another reason I LOVE the Strauss! 

Guest bath 

Bedroom #2, or what will be the study 

Bedroom #3, or what will be the guestroom for now...and hopefully a nursery in the future :)