Life's a dance....

That is a lesson we are learning time and time again. We have had several moments of the crazy "up and down" battle. It began with a little misunderstanding on our parts with our construction deposit. We thought we didn't have to pay our construction deposit, (the up) and then we quickly found out that not only do we have to pay the 3.5% deposit, we have to pay it by Wed. (the down). I must admit we were a little anxious about where we were going to just come up with that kind of money, since I have learned, thanks to Papa Bob, that money really doesn't grow on trees (yes another down) but it too was followed by an up when I checked our bank account this morning to start trying to figure out where I could get that money from. Thanks to Mr. Obama our 1st time home buyers tax refund was nicely delivered into our checking account for the full amount of the deposit minus a couple hundred dollars (which we were able to tap into our house fund for anyway)!!!! What a huge blessing! And the best part about it, at closing we GET THAT MONEY BACK!!!!! So basically when we close we will transfer some of the construction deposit to cover closing costs, and then we will actually get several thousand dollars BACK at closing! Who makes money when buying a house?!??!? Thank you Jesus for the blessings you are giving us in this house!
So we are back on the "up and down" rollercoaster....we had our final visit at the showroom, which was bascially going over every item we have picked out and confirming it so we can continue moving this process forward! Everything was going wonderful, our refridgerator actually went down in price almost $100 because the newer models don't say "Whirlpool Gold" they just say "whirlpool" so even though it is the same fridge, just the updated version, it is cheaper! (a huge blessing) Another huge blessing is we misunderstood our closet shelving. We had requested closet organizers (so we didn't just end up with empty closets) since that is the way the paper work was making it appear that that is what would happen. Well, our consultant told us how wrong we were. We actually do get some organizers standard, we just don't get the extra shelves (which is fine) and spot for shoes (again-not an issue). So yet again, we saved almost $250 and another blessing! But as we all know "what goes up, must come down!" We were on cloud nine heading into the bathroom section. And of course I was already getting gitty as I was remembering my tub! We went to the tub in the hall bath and confirmed that was the correct tub and then she hit us with a huge bomb! She said "and this is the tub for both bathrooms, correct?" And of course I said "NOPE! I want that one in the Master!" and pointed to my dream tub! Well, the down is apparently we can't have that tub in our floorplan as there just isn't enough room between the tub and toilet. And since we are in a "cookie cutter" house, we can't just change the floor plan. Well to say the least, I was bummed but was trying not to be too vain, as I kept reminding myself "this is our first house. Our first house is going to be WAY more than I ever dreamed it could be. Why am I so upset about a tub?" So although I was bummed I got over it and we moved on. (but wait, the story isn't finished yet) Our consultant could tell out disappointed I was and said "do you want to go look at other vanities to maybe upgrade to since you have already saved so much money?" Well I must admit, my vain attitude came out, instead of just taking the savings and being thankful, I caved to the power of consumerism! I asked Brent if it was ok to upgrade our vanity since I couldn't have my tub. Of course being the wise man he is, "whatever makes you happy" was the response that came out of his mouth! So we went back to our consultant and said yes we wanted to upgrade. Her response floored me the most of all....she said "well good, I was hoping you would because we are going to upgrade you for free since you can't have your tub!" I was a little embarassed at my childish response to being told I couldn't have something I wanted, but then to have her TRY to make it right and give us the upgrade for free was pretty darn cool!!! Although I can't soak in the new vanity after a hard day at work, at least it has more storage and she was very kind to try to make it all right!
So in the end of the showroom visit we ended up saving almost $650 (since there were a few other items I charged myself for, but they were actually included-hey I never said I was good at math) and got EVERY little thing we wanted and more (except my tub) for our first home! Not bad if you ask me!! They will be submitting for permits today so hopefully in about 2 weeks they'll be able to lay lumber and start pouring foundation and then the fun will begin!!! Stay tuned, more is sure to come!