The Big Day with Pics!

Here are some pics of Tayler's room. He and his friend, Jake, organized it all in about an hour and a half.

My cookies that I had visions of making:)

Unpacking and getting ready for Christmas

Unpacking the formal living room

The boys resting after a long day.

Some of my "making the house a home" Brian referred to.

My first cup of Starbucks coffee in the new house (oh it is the simple things:)

Here is a pic of our first meal in the house....home made lasagna (and yes, I-Karin, made it:) and no, no one got sick!

Here is Tayler unloading some of his things excited to get his room organized!

Here is us "signing our life away" Don't we look so serious? (of course the diet coke couldn't miss out on the big day:) Here we are with our mortgage broker as well. He reminded us of Brian's dad so much!

We still have unpacking to do, but we are both able to park in the garage (an achievement Brian is quite proud of) And of course, we still want to paint, change out light fixtures, door knobs, etc. But, all in due time. Thanks so much for following along. Feel free to continue to stop by the blog and check out what is going on in our lives.

"My perspective" and some pics!

Well, first I would like to thank my wonderful, strong boys for all of their hard work. What Brian didn't mention is that he is covered in bruises from lifting all those heavy objects:( Well, today is Sunday and we just got home from church. I have a ten page research paper to write and a power point presentation then youth group tonight. Brian has two papers to write. Yikes!! Anyway, I have some pics to share of the move, our first home cooked meal, my cookies I had visions of making:)(I told you I would prove them wrong:), my first cup of coffee I couldn't wait to make in the new house, and some pics of the house in general. As for any other updates, the washer is giving us issues so it looks like we will be buying a new one tomorrow. Oh well, it was worth the shot of trying to use an older one. We will be spending our fourth night tonight and really only have details left. I absolutely LOVED staying home Friday and "making the house a home." I was so excited to add my touch, drink my coffee, and just sit back in gratefulness.

ps. this blogger isn't letting me post pics right now, I will try later.

Our First Night...

We went and got the Uhaul at 9 a.m. Tayler was allowed to skip school in order to help me move. In the past I probably would not have let him "help" due to the fact that he would not have been much help. But, this year, it was amazing as I was looking in the face of a young man wanting to prove that he could lift and move things that seemed to be way beyond his capabilities. Our first task was to get the washer and dryer from the old parsonage. It was a rainy day and the ramp to the Uhaul was very slippery. Tayler was able to help me push everything into the truck.

We got home and got the lower half of the townhouse loaded in about an hour and a half. We took a break to watch Full House and eat some lunch. I got a call from a friend who had helped us earlier in the day with some wiring and he was coming over to help us move. This was a good thing because Tayler had really started to lose momentum. It's amazing how much junk we accumulated over the past year and this was after throwing away a whole storage bin of stuff, a garage sale and several trips to goodwill.

Around 2:30 Tayler and I headed to meet Karin at Stewart Title. We got there right at 3 and began the paperwork. I honestly don't know what everyone talks about it being so bad. Our closer was very helpful and it went very quick. We even got a check back. We were officially homeowners as of 4:15 p.m.

We headed home to finish loading the truck. Tom came back and called a couple of other guys from our church to come help load this old piano. We got the truck over to the new house around 5:45. We began unloading and officially ended around 8 p.m.

My goal was to have everything in our garage and our beds up. We were able to accomplish that with relative ease. Karin went to get us something to eat and I put Tayler to bed. Karin then went and cleaned our townhouse while I watched Seinfeld on DVD.

She got home around 11 and was exhausted. We laid in bed just saying "I can't believe this is real" and "congratulations homeowner". We fell asleep and were pretty restless. Tayler fell asleep right away and seemed to sleep through the night.

Now, the final detail is that the temperature was around 36 and raining all day. It was nasty and miserable. During the night a huge system came through that produced massive winds. It made it kind of difficult to sleep. I had an irrational thought that the wind we were hearing was somehow our house and the way it was built. I woke up this morning and saw all of the wind damage around our neighborhood and town. While it was bad to see all of that I was glad that it wasn't our house.

So, Karin is at home today and is making the house a home. We will be without a few things for a few days (including a landline, refrigerator, cable, internet and a connected washer and dryer) but we are very excited to be in our home. I'm sure Karin will give a more thorough account later and her perspective but I wanted to fill everyone in.

Tomorrow is the Big Day!

Yes, we will be moving in tomorrow.......rain, snow, and shine! We were pushed back yesterday from today to tomorrow (does that make sense) at 3:00 p.m. The weather here has been lovely but tomorrow it is expected to get ugly! Oh well, can't complain.......at least we have a home. We are so excited and nervous, a little stressed......getting those last things done. But, tomorrow it is! We will post some pics of the move along with pics of the yard. They decided to put the sod in (we are so glad as we will not have to look at mud mixed with snow all winter) We know it may turn brown, but at least it won't be mud! Our computer will not be hooked up for about a week but Brian will try and post pics at work. Thank you for all of your prayers, excitement, and support during this build. Y'all come by now-ya hear:)

Thanksgiving at the Hume's!

Thanksgiving was awesome! Melody and Karin prepared for nine hours today....well, Tayler helped as well. There is a pic of his apple crumble that he made all on his own. Our menu consisted of spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizer, for the meal, turkey with rosemary and other herbs, mashed potatoes and yams with garlic, rosemary, and parmesan, broccoli and cheese casserole (a Southern fave), butternut squash with garlic, red and green peppers, and corn, and of course dressing(my Aunt Martha from Alabamas recipe). YUM! And lets not forget Tayler's apple crumble for dessert. This was one of the absolute best Thanksgivings ever! and of our last meals in this townhouse! YEAH!!!

Who knew I could fall in love with plastic?

I had a feeling I would fall in love with these tubs.....do we only call them tubs in the South?:) My friend, Emilie, let us borrow some plastic tubs ( I mean....containers) to pack our things in. Oh are these better than boxes! I got so motivated and packed like a mad woman............and the weird thing is, it didn't take that long....sure I am not finished yet, but I got a lot done. I highly recommend purchasing some if or when a move is in your future. It is amazing how much bigger this townhouse appears when you de-clutter. It is like I can breathe in here now:) Okay, so I feel a lot better now about making Thanksgiving dinner here tomorrow. Emilie you are the BESTEST!

Pushed back!

All of our friends whom just recently built homes know this phrase well! We were warned of these words:) We found out that our move in date was pushed back to Wednesday instead of Monday because the loan company was closed this week for Thanksgiving; thus, they are behind on paper work. This isn't really bad news as we weren't planning on moving in until Thursday. But, the problem is that we were going to paint all of next week before moving in....remember the paint color drama and all the time Karin put into picking those colors:) Now, it looks like we will have to paint with everything in there at an unknown time....probably after we get settled. Oh well, we can't really complain b/c we are just so excited about having a home! That is all that really matters. All the rest is just bonus.

On another note, Karin's sister, Melody, is coming into town and we are looking forward to time with her. I will post pics of her visit and our unique, vegetarian Thanksgiving cuisine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Walk through!

We had our walk through this morning. Much to our satisfaction, there were just a few imperfections. We were super impressed as we have heard several "horror" stories from friends whom have built with various builders. The builder was very friendly and addressed all of our concerns. Our closing date is still on for November 27th....just six days away. Hmm, maybe I should pack? :) Emilie, if you reading this, show us some love in the form of plastic tubs tomorrow!:)

Fabulous Kitchen!

I love my kitchen!! It is so awesome and I couldn't ask for more. Sure, in the process, I have thought about having more space, an island, etc but seeing the kitchen now couldn 't make me happier. I love the countertops, the cabinets, and the appliances. I am in awe and so grateful to God for providing for us. Now, if I could just cook!:) Hopefully, this kitchen will be motivation for me to start. I have grandiose visions of me baking homemade cookies for Christmas, (much to my family's jest) and possibly (if I really want to shoot for the stars) my husbands famous scrambled egg favorite that he had growing up that his mom made every Christmas morning. But, I can see it. So, only time will tell. I'll prove them wrong:)

Shutter pics as promised!

I went by the house today. While I was not able to get into the house to take updated pics, I do have this one of the almost finished product. Here are the shutter pics as promised last week. I will try to post more when I can get in.

Rock a bye Baby!

I visited my friend today whom just five days ago gave birth to what she thought was going to be a girl, but indeed ended up being a boy! ..........her fifth boy:) whew!! I was so excited to see them. He is so precious and so tiny!...tiny fingers, toes......life is really a miracle.

While BRIAN Is Out!

This is what we have been up to the last two days/nights as Brian was out of town. A few of the middle schoolers wanted to paint and take ownership of Brian's office. Brian was touched by their desire to help out and make his office their room, so he gladly purchased paint as he was leaving town. So, we worked on Thursday and Friday nights. The youth had a blast and we are going back tonight for a few touches. Kate here was pretty impressed with her perfectionist skills on the door. Erin was quite creative with the collage. Mitch was a very hard worker painting and assisting wherever he was needed. Jeni gave us instruction on sponging and really took ownership of the choices of paint color. Tayler assisted wherever he was needed and he and Kate took on a wall and sponged it to completion:) Jake also helped out and was quick with his painting skills. I told them and Brian I would post the pics. So, here you go!

I am so proud of them. They rocked it out!!

Shutters, a Designer, and 3 years in Indiana today!

Tonight we went to our home (on our 3 year anniversary of being in Indiana) and discovered that they put the shutters on today. They are putting the finishing touches on the house in this last week before the walk through on the 21st. (Feel free to leave a comment as to what to look for or ask during the walk through as we have never done this before)
We also met our friend at the house whom was an interior designer for commercial and residential in his past life:) (he has since moved on to other things). He shared his expertise on color, lighting, and spacial formation. He had a plethora of information for us. I (Karin) was happy to find out that all of my TLC and HGTV watchin', paid off as I pretty much knew what I was talking about. It also paid off to get color schemes and "samples" from many stores as he agreed with paint color choices and accent wall choices. We also discussed landscaping, overall improvements, ways to best accentuate architecture, etc in the home. Of course, all of this will be done over time, but that is part of the fun. We are so grateful to our friend for taking time out of his day to help us youngins' out.......young in these matters anyway:) I will post pics tomorrow of shutters and paint color choices.

Carpet is in!

Not a very exciting post, but they put the carpet in. It looks darker here than it actually is. It is on the whiter side of a lighter cream color. (does that make sense?) We are a little over a week away from our walk through(can you believe it Emilie? we are catching up with you:). Now, comes the stressful part as we have to say yes everything is right or no, fix this:) We have found a few minimal things recently and we are hoping not to have anymore so that we can close as scheduled. We are meeting a friend tomorrow night who is going to consult us with his expertise on painting and lighting in rooms. We are so thankful for this as we would have to pay a great deal of money for someone of his skills to come in if he were not doing this sacrificially. We will update you with color choices and the like soon!

Let there be Light!

These are some of what we bought today on our shopping excursion. I am not sure that you can really appreciate the pieces as they are still in the box so you can't get the full effect. But, they are more of a bronzy finish and go well together....anything is better than what we saw in our house yesterday. Let me explain. When we went to the house yesterday, to our horror, the lighting looked like something out of a bad 80's movie.:) So, we decided to look for some better options. We found these today at a good price (on sale) We will take some pics to show you what is currently in the house. I am sure you will agree it needed to go. Now, I am being dramatic in this post and we are just thankful to even have a house, but this was in our budget and goes better with the look in the kitchen. What do you think?

Six wonderful years!

Yes, today is our sixth anniversary. Six years married. We celebrated the day as a family with some shopping in Avon and Santa Clause 3 (yes, they are still making those movies) Then just the two of us went on a date to Benihana's. Dinner was fun and festive. I love how the dinner is an experience and interactive. They even make music with their cooking utensils. Not to mention when it is just two of you, you sit with random strangers (i.e. the man and woman smiling in the background of these pics) That can be interesting! Overall, the day was fun. It has been a good six years as a family and as husband and wife. We have all grown so much and our lives have been so blessed. God has given us so much grace and has been so faithful proving His love to us time and time again. We are very grateful to God and for one another.