The Zepp's adventures

Another new adventure

2010-07-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

After much prayer, thought and contemplation, Brent and I have decided to pursue domestic adoption as a means to grow our family! We couldn't be happier about this decision but pray that God will bless us with a family soon. We obviously have no idea how long this process will take or when we will be heading forward butwe trust that our child is in God's hands and when His timing is right, we will reap the blessings of it! As the process continues, the blog will become more active, documenting this joyous journey for friends and family, and ultimately our child/ren!!!!! Thanks for all your support and continued prayers through this process! We love you all!!!

Jamaica!

2009-11-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

It has been over a month since the last post. The house continues to get better everyday. We fall more in love with it as we continue to get settled in. Our newest adventure was a trip to Jamaica. We were down for just 1 short week but our lives have been changed forever! Brent and I were at different schools but it couldn't have worked out better. Brent was on the sports team and I did individual counseling and helped lead a grief and loss group with Jen. I also ended up in the classrooms teaching lessons on health, and math as well! I was reminded of the love and joy that can be found, even in a state of loss. Brent and I are longing to get back, although we have no idea when that will happen! Of course, it is all in His ultimate timing but we do hope and pray we can make this trip happen more frequently. Brent and I gained a new appreciation of each other, our marriage, and for all the blessings we have! We created a really fun slideshow of a few of our favorites on http://jamaicalove.slide.com I hope we will continue to share our stories for months to come and that this trip will continue to guide us and change us! God is sooooooooooo good!

One Happy Couple

2009-10-04T20:23:00.001-07:00

We couldn't be happier now that we have keys in hand!!!

ALL DONE!!!

2009-10-04T20:02:00.001-07:00

Hip hip horrary! The day has finally arrived! After a very long LONG battle with our loan, we finally got to the end! We had to take the day off of work on Friday to drive up to Bellevue to sign with Escrow and then we drove our papers back down here to the county and played the waiting game until about 3pm when we got the call that we got our keys! We moved on Sat. and worked our hinies off (with the amazing help from my mom and sister) and are now ALL unpacked! We are beyond exhausted but we are unpacked, things have a home and life is working on getting back to normal! We did treat ourselves to a new couch, new love seat and a new bedroom set. They will be delivered on Wed. so right now we just just sit on stools in the living room and are sleeping in the guest bedroom. We are hoping to also purchase a dining room table but haven't found anything we are in love with yet! (we're using an old one now!) For all our out of town family and friends, you are the reason we created this blog! We hope that these final pictures will give you a better idea of where we will now call home! We hope you will be able to visit soon! Enjoy our "virtual" tour....
Here is my sister sitting on a stool in the living room, she is sitting where our love seat will go and you're looking into the kitchen nook....

Here is a shot from the kitchen nook into the lilving room. The kitchen chairs are our "couch"....

Here is our stove and mircowave....

The rest of our kitchen, we're also in hunt of some kind of breakfast bar stools...

Our kitchen nook.....

Our large and in charge pantry.....

The office room....

Our guest bedroom, for all you come and stay in when you visit, aside from the bedding, the rest of the room is golf....

The one room not yet put together...our Master bedroom. Still not so sure what to do with all the space, we'll think of something.....

My bathroom, that I have yet to figure out a theme for...I just wanted to throw a shower curtain on until I figure it out....

We'll that's the basics of our house! If you want to see the rest of it, you'll have to come visist! I think that the blog will be put on hold until the next "adventure" in our life! Hopefully we will be blessed by God yet again with a new member of the family! Stay tuned and please continue to pray! Thanks!!!

Day who knows, but we're so stickin close!

2009-09-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We are do to sign with escrow on the 29th and all our ducks are in a row but one... our certificate of occupancy won't get released until we do our final appraisal. Since our how is bascially done, minus a touch up here and installing a screen there, we are hoping to get our appraiser to do it one day early so we can stick to our plan! Please pray it happens so we can indeed sign with Escrow on the 29th. Our plan is still to get our keys on the 1st sometime betwee 2-5pm. Let me tell you how unproductive that day will be at work! Our plan is to get movers on Sat. Oct. 1st in the morning and then be all moved into our BRAND NEW HOUSE by dinner time!!!!!! We will hopefully be hosting our first Sun. night dinner (carry out of course) with my Aunt, parents, sister, and cousin!!! Long journey looking like it is coming to an end soon!!!! Please keep your prayers coming, just to help us get to the finish line-injury free, on time, and hopefuly without any more gray hair!!!!

Day 40

2009-09-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

The vanity in the upstairs bathroom

Our vanity in our Master bath

Our kitchen

Here's our stove/microwave area

Well day 40 was last week but that's when these pictures are from! Yesterday was day 45 and rumor has it our carpet is just about finished, we got mirrors, and shelves that that's what they were working on this past week! Not sure when we'll get out there as we're hanging out with my parents all day on Sun. but I will hopefully stop by there after work someday! We are still on for Setp 29th for our close date so I don't think I'll do too many more posts so we can all be surprised when everything is put together!!

Just finished Day 36

2009-09-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went and checked out the inside of the house. We brought with us my Aunt Ann, Hillary, Garret, mom, me and Zepper. It was really nice to share our "soon to be home" with family! Can't wait to move in

Here is Garret trying to figure out our wiring in our living room.

I think this is where the oven will go. The living room area is on the right of the little wall. Right behind the wall with the boxes on it is our 1/2 bath. The door to the left of the wall is our VERY large pantry and just down the little hallway is our garage

Our living room again. That's our front door (that's open) and our closet on the right.

Our staircase looking up at our laundry room

Our "we hope to be our nursery room.....it looks really dark but it really isn't....and of course there will be a light in the room as well

Part 1 of our Master

And Part 2 of the Master....now in contrast to the extra rooms, our bedroom is NOT lacking in light. I guess I won't get to sleep in as late as I'd like anymore

Our bathroom in our bedroom, again with another window. Just to the right of the bathroom wall is our closet with yet again more windows (3 to be exact!) Our closet is attached to the bathroom, which I think is pretty nifty since I always bring my clothes into the bathroom with me when I take a shower

Here's the outside back of the house. Everyone is standing on our little patio area-perfect for our plug in George Foreman grill!!! Zepper is trying to convience me that we need a man grill now that we hve a real house. We'll see about that!

Here's our house, all that's missing from this shot is our black front door, our black garage lights, and some landscaping!! It's coming along!!!! Stay tuned!!! We're hoping that in 1 month from today we can move in!!!!!

Coming along- Day 34

2009-09-02T06:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been FOREVER since we did a post! The house is really coming along. I'll post more pictures hopefully this weekend. Brent is out of town for a golfing trip and took the camera! Today we are on Day 34!!!! We walked through the house this past weekend and boy are things looking like a house....we have walls up, paint on the walls, a garage door, and this week our millwork was going to be started. Our cabnets should be finished today and things are really coming together. We've had a few set backs so now we are shooting for Oct. 1 close day. We are going to wait another week before we give our notice to the apartments cuz in case we have to push it back even more. SInce Oct. 1 is in the middle of the week, we will probably wait until the 3-4 to move into the new house and say goodbye to apartment life! It is getting closer everyday. It comes with a lot of crazy emotions-mostly all good. :-) We have a few glitches to work out as far as space is concerned as we are seeing once again that our house isn't true in size to what we were told it would be or to houses we were shown and told ours would be similar size, but oh well! It really isn't that wierd to have your dining room table in your Master bedroom, is it????? Stay tuned....more to come!!

Day 18-our interior of the house

2009-08-11T09:41:00.001-07:00

Brent and I got to see the inside of the house! Although it is still in need of a lot more work (walls, carpet, paint, appliances, etc), it is starting to look like a house. I will try to give you the virtual tour of the house...
Here is what you will first see when you walk in the front door, our small living room looking out into our backyard. We will have a fence put up with some hedges so you won't really be able to see that house through the window very well...

This is the opposite view of what you'll see coming in. This is taken from inside the living room looking at our front door (which will be black on the outside and I think just normal door color on the inside) and the hall closet on the right and wall on the left....

Now we're in our kitchen standing about where the island will be looking out into the backyard off the porch. Just to the right (which you can't really see) will be our small breakfast nook).

No house is complete without some countertops and a kitchen sink...(that's what you're looking at now). Our staircase goes behind the kitchen and spits you out in the breakfast nook area. Our stove is I think on the left of this picture and I don't remember where our fridge will be???

Now we've traveled upstairs to the hall bathroom...

This is our bedroom taken from the bedroom door. It kinda does an L shape so you can't really see it all. That goes into our bathroom, where our closet will be.

This is our 2nd bedroom. The picture of the office didn't turn out cuz it just looks like all boards but it will be to the right of this room...

Here's our furnance, which for some reason Brent was really proud of! It too is upstairs next to our laundry room

There were a few more pictures but I can't remember what they are and so as not to confuse myself, I'll just wait til they take shape! The house is coming along. It will be nice when it is finished. Not everything we had thought it was going to be, a lot of suprises along the way, but in the end I think it will do us just fine! And the best part of it, is we won't be paying RENT any longer!!!!!!! I'm not sure when we'll get more pictures but check back. We'll try to get back in on the 23rd!

Day 17, our grey house

2009-08-08T13:17:00.001-07:00

So I am finally back to the blog....Zepper insured me he took care of everything to keep you all up to date on the house! I am feeling better each day from my surgery and am thankful I can be back involved with the blog. A lot happened while I was "out of the picture". I also kinda lost track of what day we were on, but Friday Aug. 7th, was day 17!!! As you can see we now have siding on the house and you can start to see our grey house!!! I wasn't 100% sure about the color but now seeing it on the house, I think I am liking it more and more!

Here is the back of the house!

And the front porch area!

Tomorrow we are going to get to "walk through" the house so stay tuned for our first interior pictures of the house. It will be the first time we get to start to see the offical layout of the house on something more than a picture! Although we saw the one home under contsruction, we have never seen OUR house. It should be pretty exciting! I am starting to begin to feel like this is our home more and more! (I'm starting to get attached!!!!!!)

Days 10 & 11

2009-08-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

Zepper here again! Well I got Brittny out today for the first time post surgery so that is a very good sign. Look at the progress on the house the roof is complete with shingles and vents. It looks like the house is completely wrapped and the siding is ready to go up. I am afraid that once the siding goes up that the pictures may slow down. Once the outside is complete then the inside begins with fun stuff like electrical, plumbing and sheet rock (whoopee). Anyways enjoy the pictures on another beautiful Washington summer day.

Day 9

2009-08-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

This is Zepper doing a couple blogs while Brittny is recovering fully from her surgery. First an update on Brittny - she has had a very trying week! She had a laparoscapy on Tuesday which the news that came back was good but the recovery has been tough. She has been dealing with much pain, naseu and other stuff I won't go into detail about. But with your prayers and much rest she is feeling better day by day. Once I got Brittny on the couch, loaded her full of drugs and watched her slip away to la la land I was able to sneak away for a few pictures. Day the nine the framing has been complete and the siding and roofing materials look like they may be next. Check it out......

Day 8

2009-07-27T08:39:00.001-07:00

The King of his castle....

Here is our first picture of the house together since we purchased it back in April. Once again, I promise the house is straight...Zepper tried to do one of his Professional photographer moves and tried to balance the camera on the side mirror of the car....Oh dear! So the house is really coming along and it was super fun to see the tressels for the roof going on. The roof should be complete within the next week!!!

Brent wandered into our neighbors lot to get the back side of the house.

Things are really coming along quickly. This will probably be the last week where things are changing daily cuz soon they will head inside and we won't be able to take pictures without our sales manager and a hard hat! :-( I will try to get out to the house today to take some pictures but then don't know how much Brent will be able to get out there as I won't be driving or very mobile after surgery! I'll try to post again around the 11th but continue checking in....Brent may just take the reins on this one! Enjoy! (oh and Aaron...I didn't get your post, just your question about it!)

Day 7

2009-07-23T18:51:00.001-07:00

So once again the house looks different today! So now that I can start to make things out I thought I'd share what you are looking at....This is a picture from the sidewalk (duh) standing at the tree in our front yard area. Right now we have neighbors to left (when looking at the house) and an empty lot on the right (when looking at the house). .....

This is a picture straight on to the house. You are looking directly into the garage. Right above the garage is our guest bedroom (or nursery if God blesses us with children) on the upper left window and our office on the upper right window. The front door is the rectangle next to the garage which looks into our entry way and then our living room. Our Master is above the front door (that will be ou bedroom window). If you look through the garage (past the tubs), you will see our kitchen....

This is the side view of the house taken from the empty lot on the right. There aren't any windows on that side of the house except the small one in our Master closet. This will be the side of the bedrooms and garage and back of the kitchen.

Kinda cool how it is all coming together. Only a few more days of things changing daily cuz once they get the siding and roof on they'll head inside and then pictures will only be coming about once a week. But for now it is fun to see the daily changes!

Day 6

2009-07-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Things are really coming along! Tonight we got a few pictures now that that the bottom floor framing is done and the 2nd floor has started to go up! We also snuck onto our neighbor's dirt to get a picture of the back of the house....it looks like our house is goign to tip over, but fear not...I was just afraid we'd get in trouble so didn't want to stay long in the "construction zone" of our neighbor's dirt! Tomorrow the 2nd floor framing should be done!

Day 4 and 5

2009-07-21T20:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay....we had a very busy weekend enjoying God's creation and hanging out with friends. Here are some pictures of day 4 and 5. It is really starting to look like a house and I am finally starting to see why we paid so much money...we do actually get more than just some dirt and a few weeds, we actually get a house!!! Things are coming along! ENJOY!

Day 3

2009-07-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

Well it is about a million degrees today and I wasn't brave enough to venture out in my non-air conditioned car to go get pictures today! :-( We will be stopping by on Sunday after church to snap the most recent ones of the framing that took place today though. So check back then!

We do have a praise report....Brent got a call yesterday when we were out at the lake skiing saying that somehow the fireplace has been removed (even though we were told it was pretty much impossible). We're not exactly sure of all the details because we think that by taking the fireplace out it will save us over $2500 so we're not sure if now that it is gone if that will come off the purchase price or if we will just use that toward other upgrades (such as a fense or landscaping), however these are mild issues. We are just in awe of God's amazing grace and blessings He gives us daily. This journey of buying/building a house has had more ups and downs than a good ride at WildWaves, however through it all God has remained faithful and true. I know that I must continue to learn to focus on the good and to allow those to lead my days instead of being dragged down by the bumps along the way. Thanks for your love and support! CHEERS to another victory in the house department! We are trying to think of a thank you gift for our Showroom consultant because she has been more than helpful but haven't come up with anything good yet....any ideas???

Day 2

2009-07-16T13:52:00.001-07:00

I drove by today to get some new pictures but couldn't get really any of the house cuz they were currently delivering more lumber! I snapped a few and talked to the delivery man so he didn't think I was some crazy women taking pictures of him while he was working! The process really has started! Enjoy

Day 1

2009-07-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness after over 3 months we can finally say that our house is started! Took just as long to get to this porcess as it will to build the whole dang house! CRAZY! We are still trying to iron our some bugs and at this point are still excited about our house being built but would not reccomend Quadrant Homes to anyone. I know the house will be great but this process has been nothing but a nightmare and tons of lies and misleadings! :-( We continue to know there is a plan for all this mayham.

Please pray that we can get our fireplace figured out. When we first bought the house we looked at some floorplans (but I'm such a visual person it didn't help much) so we went into another home on site that was under construction. We were told although the layout is a little different, the size is similar, in fact yours will be bigger. We used that model in our minds when we were at the Showroom. We remember what the living room looked like and decided we watned a fireplace. Well I have had concerns since then (but more just in the last month) that our living room is smaller than the model we were showed. So on Tues. Brent and I went up to another site and looked at a floorplan just like ours that is about 10 days from completion. Well turns out that our living room is in fact WAY smaller than we were told and the fireplace really won't work in it. We have been told there is nohting they can do about it...we ordered it, we're stuck with it! (Great customer service right??!?!) So we are going to try to change their minds but if not our living room is going to be one cramped room. :-(

NEways, we are excited for this new stage in the process. Check back often as the house will be changing almost daily for the next few weeks and we'll get out there as much as we can to get pictures! My sister-in-law just reminded me that living in Singapore she's never really seen a house being built so I will try to take an extra amount of pictures for her, but you all will get to enjoy them as well! Thanks for all your support everyone. We love you all!

This is a pictures after Day 1 when our floor slats got laid! Again some of the picts won't be the greatest cuz I don't have a hard hat on and can only stand on the sidewalk!

Here's our lumber that will be used for the framing

Foundation #2

2009-07-10T14:14:00.001-07:00

I drove by the house today and didn't have the camera so just snapped one of th 2nd layer of foundation with my phone! I didn't have a hard hat on so couldn't get any fun pictures of it but it at least shows progress! Brent will meet with the superintendent on Tues. and then Wed. they'll lay lumber and get this thing started! One of the sales managers found a house that is being built in another community with our same floor plan so we will also get to go check that out on Tues. evening. Although nothing will change, it will just be nice to see what our house will actually look like and start actually getting to visualize it. We haven't really be able to do much of that yet cuz all we have been looking at is 2D floorplans so it will be wonderful to actually see it all together! Stay tuned cuz starting next week the house is going to fly! :-) Thanks for sharing in our joy and excitment! This is taken from the sign (our first picture of the house) so basically we are just looking at the driveway up to the house and into the garage.

Praise the Lord

2009-07-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

Hip Hip Horrary we FINALLY have foundation! We had one layer laid last week and the final layer will be laid this week. On the 14th we will meet with our Superintendent and then "Day 1" will be July 15th! If everything goes well, we should be able to close before Oct. Once the 15th comes, follow the blog closely (like almost daily) as the house is going to fly up at that point. We are very happy to finally be starting this porcess. Although it is still hard to see the look of our house here are a few glimpses of what is to come!

We're thinking we should have a contest for our friends and family...print off one of the pictures of the foundation and come up with your own ideas of what the house will look like....the winner of this game will get first dibs on which items they want to carry down the 3 flights of stairs on Moving Day!!!!!

We love you all!

Diggin' Deep

2009-06-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

We have had several disappointing conversations/situations with the house as of late. Brent and learning more and more that thi whole process is not on our time, but that God is in control and we need to honor and respect that. I also have decided that I am going to be posting comments in past tense. As my dad says "you gotta dig deep" to get through this so that is what will do. We have been told things and I have passed them onto everyone and unfortunatly our trust with Quadrant has been broken some...so now to not continue to get disappointed I will share only what I know for sure, not what we are hoping for or what is being told. So here is what I know....

After much confusion and a long waiting game, our permits are in and our site has been released to begin building/foundation. They have layed the footing for the foundation to be poured. We will meet with the superintendent once 2 layers of foundation have dried and our number gets pulled. The clock will start after we meet with the superintendent. That's what we know as of now. When that stuff will all take place, we don't know... it could take as long as a month.

We are continuing to lean on each other for support and of course turn to God and we are learning how to have difficult conversations with people and learn to clearly communicate our emotions (especially that of disappointment) with people! Both of which are bad things to be able to do!

I guess the other thing we know is that our house will be done in time for our nephew from FL to come for an extended visit next summer as well has being done for my good friend from England to come as well next summer!!! Both are very exciting!!!!

Looking good

2009-06-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

I just got an email from our sales manager that said everything is still looking good for permits to be done and ready by Monday June 15th. If so they will be able to lay foundation and we can meet with our Superintendent and hopefully that will all be done by this time next week!!!! So we could maybe start the clock counting for Monday June 22nd!!! That would be us to a close date of Mid-early Sept. We had hoped for a close before I went back to school but if this all plays out the way we are hoping we would have only missed our timeline by 3 weeks or so, which from what I hear from a lot of people that that is pretty good, considering we are building! Stay tuned cuz once the clock starts there should be a lot of pictures. Keep praying though, cuz we are really in need of some good house news so hopefully we'll get some soon!
:-)

Permits finally????

2009-05-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I will regret saying this or not but Brent talked to Quadrant Homes today and got the "A-OK" that they will indeed be submitting for permits on Monday! We're not exactly sure what that process will look but we know that we SHOULD have permits by the 15th. Hopefully shortly thereafter we will be able to lay foundation and then get this ball rolling. Like I keep saying once we lay foundation the process should fly by, it's just been this wonderful waiting game of permits and loans that is tripping us up! Thanks for all your support. As my Uncle always used to say "there is a new adventure coming and I know it is going to be a good one!" Although he passed away several years ago, I couldn't agree more with his wisdom, especially for this situation! Stay posted...more to come (and hopefully some more picts soon too)

Exciting news:non-house related

2009-05-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

Ever since the first day I met Brent I shared with him about my experiences when I taught down in Jamaica back in college. i truly believe that there was a piece of my heart that got left back there. I have always told Brent I would love to go back, but it has always been nothing more than a dream. However, my dear friend Jen (maid of honor) had an opportunity 2 years ago to go down to Jamaica through an organization that does dental work for kids down there. She said that there was another aspect of the trip that included work in the schools. Last year she got to go on this trip. She of course had the time of her life and the 2 of us always joked about how cool it would be if Brent and I went. Well, we have been praying about it and talking about it tons and have made the decision to do it! So Brent and I will be heading to Ocho Rios, Jamaica Nov. 7-14, 2009!!!!!!! We will be working with SuperKids, Great Shape! Inc. We will be working in a school teaching reading, computer skills, art, music and sports. Of course I will be mostly teaching reading and Zepper will be mostly doing sports and maybe some music! We are ultra excited and are very grateful for this opportunity. Of course there are a lot of unknowns at this time but we came to realize that the timing will never be "perfect" but this is pretty darn close to it....the house will be done (God willing!!!), I am able to get the time off of work, no kids yet (and even if I did get pregnant sometime soon I would be less than 5 months along), and our finances are finally in a pretty ok spot. We will of course be asking for continual prayer support and as the time gets closer will ask you to pray about whether or not you too can financially help out. Right now, we just wanted to share the exciting news!

I'm already getting relaxed just thinking about it!

Errrrrrrrrrr

2009-05-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

This past week has been nothing but frustration. We learned on Sun. that there was a slight glitch with our leader and Quadrant. We weren't too concerned as we figured we could just get it straightened out on Monday. Well through the course of a LOT of phone calls made by Brent, we finally realized what the problem was, which was much bigger than anyone had thought! Turns out our lender issued us the wrong kind of loan. Brent has been working like a crazy man trying to get it all figured out and getting them to make it right. We think we are on the right track now and will now hopefully be able to start the permitting process THIS week (yes I know I sound like a broken record with this statement). We know that God has a plan in all this and it is in HIS timing but I must say the frustration is building up. I admit, I'm not a patient person and so the fact that God is contining to show me and teach me "Let it go Brittny. I am in control. My plan is better than your plan. TRUST ME!" is driving me batty! So stay tuned....i'm sure one of these days I'll actually be able to post new PICTURES indicating we actually have the start of our house!

Waiting game

2009-05-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

We are anxiously awaiting the call from our Sales Manager informing us that permits are in and we are good to go to lay foundation. It has been a rather boring week in the house process. Brent has taken care of a few more details with our loan, we locked in our rate at 5.1%. We were a little disapointed as when we started this process we were quoted at 4.875% but sadly the interest rates have been heading up for the past few weeks so we figured we didn't want them to go any higher. Although they could go down again, I'm not into taking risks so we went ahead and locked it in! Even at 5.1% we still feel like we are getting a rather good deal compared to what things were a few years ago. We're just ready to start this process but know that even in the waiting, God has a plan! Patience just isn't one of my strongest points!
Oh yeah and Happy May!!! Hard to believe how the time is flying!

Life's a dance....

2009-04-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

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!

Some more showroom fun

2009-04-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay of posting new picturs....the work week has been insane Jane for the last several days. We are contininuing to make progress ont he whole process and are just waiting on final loan approval and such. We had our final lighting meeting on Tues. and will have our final showroom visit on Thurs! Once this is done (and we have final loan approval) they will begin getting permits and will be able to lay lumber!!!!!!!! That's when the fun will start-also that's when the clock will start. We're hoping for a late July-Aug. close date!!! So far the process has been mostly fun and to date we've only had 1 ummmmmm how should I put it...."disagreement". I do now see why they say building a house CAN be tough on a marriage! Thankfully we have gotten most of the tough issues out of the way at this point with only 1 ding to speak of! :-) Not bad when comparing to some of the nightmares I have heard! OK now for some more pictures.

This is our sink in the powder bathroom downstairs...

The color of our house outside...Harbor Gray with white trim

Here is the style of front door we will have...except ours will be black per Brent's request to make it really stand out and add to the curb appeal! It will be SHARP!!!!! We will have a nickel (silver) peephole , no knocker as I'm not a huge fan of the look of knockers and a long oval type doorhandle.

So that's what I have now. I'm heading back to the design room today to show off our selections to my dear friend Jen so i'll try to get some more pictures! And hopefully within the next few weeks we'll start getting some actual house pictures!!!!! ENJOY!!!

The Showroom-Part 2

2009-04-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

OK so here are the results from the last trip to the Showroom....although we picked most of the big "fun" stuff at the first visit, I forgot to take pictures so those picts will have to come later. Here's what we have so far (all these items are subject to change until my Jen Moore gives her seal of approval this weekend). They don't really go any real order so here's what we have....

First up- The Kitchen Faucet- This is a hose type with sprayer all in one :-)

Next, Zepper's kitchen sink (Whoa baby!!!), our kitchen flooring, cabinets and counter tops

Now we have our bathroom(s) flooring and carpet (this will be throughout the whole house)-the carpet is called Morning Dove

Now for the best part of all....my tub!! I LOVE MY TUB!!!!

Stay posted...we'll keep the pictures coming! We want to keep you in suspense!!!! Vanity sinks, house color, appliances, fire place, etc. Enjoy!!!!!!!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

My "design team" and I finished designing the house yesterday...however you'll have to wait another day to see more picts. Today is a celebration of Christ's resurrection and that is much more important than seeing new pictures from the Showroom. We pray that you are blessed by God's amazing love and grace today! Brent and I are so blessed by how God has used difficult trials in our life over the last few years to bring us good and blessings beyond our imagination and we hope that you too have see Him working in your life! Happy Easter! The Lord is risen...The Lord is risen indeed!!

The Showroom

2009-04-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

Brittny is taking a break from the blog tonight so Brent said he'd do one....yes we can all get the male point of view in building a house!!!
Well the other night we decided to meet Susie and Hillary to start making choices in the showroom. I went in and loooked around there were lights, carpet, flooring, paint, firplaces, doorknobs, bathtubs, windows, trim, counters, appliances just sooooo much. I decided this process would work much better for everyone if I went to The Ram, had a beer and watched basketball and let the girls do the designing. It turned out to be a very good decision on my part. Brittny, Susie and Hillary completed more than half of the designing in just a couple hours. We can really start to visualize our house now. It has kilm beige colored walls, morning dove colored carpet, pretty flooring to match, dark bronze handles, black appliances, a sweet fireplace, cider colored trim and doors. Wow this house is going to be pretty sweet. I think this house is going to be more beautiful than I ever thought our first house could be!

Zepper

We finally made a decision on a house

2009-04-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

April 5, 2008

After what seemed like a never ending battle of previewing listings online, driving through a million neighborhoods, walking through a bunch of houses, falling in love with a house and putting an offer in on the house (and quickly loosing that love), we finally reached the decision to take a leap of faith and BUILD A HOUSE!!! We decided on a Quadrant Home in Tumwater, WA in the Ridge at Suncrest neighborhood! We are anxiously awaiting on a few more minor details to go through tonight/tomorrow but should be good to go as of Wednesday. Of course more details will be coming! Pleae check back on our site to see pictures of how the house is coming and updates on our progress. Also if you have any house building advice, please post that as well! Thanks for all your support in advance as who knows what stresses building a house may bring! We know God has amazing plans for this new adventure in our life and we hope you can join us for the ride!

Here is our first picture of our house.....