Friday, January 10, 2014

19 days!

It is hard to believe that our new home is almost finished.  Though we’ve had to make some changes, sacrifices and create a new normal over the past 5 months, they haven’t been that bad.  In fact, I’m going to miss seeing my parents every day.  Probably not as much as Dafney will miss them, but it will be a bit sad. 

We received the email yesterday stating that our final closing will be January 29th!  Holy moly…that’s in less than 3 weeks.  Seriously, so excited!  There’s hardly anything left to be done in the house.  It’s pretty amazing how fast a house can be built.  And to think, it all started looking like this {9/12/13}:


 Here’s some pictures showing the progress week by week. 
*Note - I did a horrible job of documenting each week's progress, so this is just my best guess of how things went :)

Week 1 - otherwise known as Demo Day/Week!  I bet it would have been fun to watch the demolition of the house...stupid work always getting in the way :)


I might have been a teeny-tiny bit sad that the house was gone, but I got over...really fast!  It was so exciting to see the whole process start.  

Week 2/3 - {pictures taken 10/6/13} What was remaining of the house is all gone.  And, the start of a new foundation!  Wow, look at how deep the hole is!





Week 4/5 - {all pictures taken 10/14/13} More digging and a brand new foundation!  






Week 4/5 - Let the framing begin!  I can't believe how fast the builders were able to frame in the house. 

Picture taken 10/17/13
More framing...

Picture taken 10/19/13
...and even more framing {pictures taken 10/28/13}:





The next week{s}...{I'm not quite sure what week this actually was done, but photos were taken 11/1/13} - We got inside to see some of the inside progress!  

A view from our dining room window.

A view from the loft/playroom window.
A view from Dafney's bedroom.

Dafney in her closet.

Dafney's bedroom.



Next week{s} - {photo taken 11/5/13} Raise the ROOF!  We have a roof and windows!


Next week{s} - {photos taken 11/18/13}  These photos were taken inside.  The insulation has started...yeah!  And, they've continued the framing inside.  It's starting to look more like a house on the inside, too.

A view from the floor of the Master Bedroom into the Master Bathroom & Closet.

The loft.

View from the upstairs to the main level.

Main level - TV/Family room.
Next Week{s} {photos taken 12/8/13} - In goes the hardwood floors!  They look better than I imagined {unfortunately, these pictures aren't that clear}.




Next week{s} {photos taken 12/15/13} - The cabinets are in and they look fabulous!  Now the kitchen looks like a real kitchen!  MIND BLOWN!  Also, the bathrooms are starting to look great as well.  Tile is in as well as upstairs bathtub!


Back door entry way/mudroom.

Master Bathroom Shower.

KITCHEN!!!

We have a railing :)

Upstairs Main Bathroom


Next week{s} {pictures taken 12/27/13}  Our appliances were delivered and our bathrooms sinks are now in.  

Someone is going to LOVE looking out these HUGE windows!

A view of the main level from the stairs.

Master bathroom.

Upstairs Main bathroom.

Appliances!
Next week{s} {pictures taken 1/2/14} - Kitchen sink is in as well as our countertops.  Oh my...I am in love with our island!!





...stay tuned for the completely finished product! 19 days until we close {not that I'm counting or anything}!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Happy 2014!

Happy New Year!  Can you believe we’re already 7 days into 2014?!  So far, so good!  I know that a New Year tends to bring {lofty} resolutions…you know the kind: lose 70 pounds, workout at the gym for 2 hours every day, save {crazy amounts of} money…and while I’m sure there are some people that can actually follow through with these resolutions, I’m definitely not one of them.  Yes, I’m the girl that signs up for a gym membership in January and by the 3rd week of January I’m in line to cancel the membership because I’m “over the gym”. 



With that said, I DO think it’s great to have goals both short AND long term.  And, that’s what I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: my 2014 short/long term goals.  I tried to make goals that were not only important to me, but also attainable.  There’s no sense in making a goal that just can’t happen, right?!  I also figured if I shared them with the blog-o-sphere, I’d be held more accountable, which would help ensure that I follow through and work hard at the goals I’ve set. 

Short-term Goals (in no particular order…I think these all have great importance):

Blog more often.  I often use the “I don’t have any time” excuse when it comes to blogging {and other things, too}.  But, blogging reminds me how much I LOVE to write and is relaxing to me.  Right now, I’m only blogging 3-4 times a month…and that needs to change.  I want to write/blog more.  I’d love to blog 3-4 times a week, but I think an attainable goal is to blog 2 times a week. You're welcome :)

Eat healthier.  Yes, this can be a lofty goal, but now that I have a child, eating healthier is definitely on my list of priorities.  Unfortunately, since we’ve been living with my parents, the healthy foods have not been seen much on our plates.  Now, that’s not to say we eat junk food…we definitely don’t.  But, we don’t eat the fresh veggies & fruits like I’d want.  Once we’re back to our own house, I’ll be able to better control our grocery’s and daily meals.  This includes healthier snacks as well as healthier meals. 

Get back into reading.  I’ve always loved books and do enjoy reading.  And, with a child, we do read…a lot, just not the kind of books I like to read.  Though, I do love me a good Elmo book now and then!  I have a long list of books that I’m dying to read.  Once we’re back to the house, I’ll be taking FULL advantage of our remodeled library.   

Spend less time in front of the TV and more time with my family!  Okay, so my hubby and I don’t tend to watch a ton of TV; though, we do have the shows we have to see, but we try to watch TV once Dafney is in bed.  But, I’d love to cut down the random TV watching that we tend to do {especially during the winter months}.  I want to take that time and spend it doing something fun with Dafney.  It will also help once our daily commute is cut down by almost an hour. 



 Long-term Goals {again, in no particular order}

Start or morph this blog into more of a foodie type blog.  I just adore food blogs and would LOVE to have one of my very own.  I really enjoy cooking and baking and would love to start creating some of my own tasty, healthy recipes.  I may need to take a couple food classes, though J  I’m totally envious of all of the amazing food blogs out there in the blog-o-sphere and HOPE that someday I’ll have my very own.

Be more organized in every aspect of life.  Everything from meal planning to organizing our pictures.  I feel so disorganized lately.  I want to be able to organize our photos, organize Dafney’s baby book {…yes, she’s 2}, organize our weekly meals, organize our home better, organize our files and more importantly, keep things organized

As much as this contradicts “spending more time with family” as I mentioned above, I would like to take an hour each week of “me’ time.  Time for me to spend in the kitchen, time for me to read, time for me to exercise, time for me to blog, time for me to do absolutely nothing!  It sounds glorious.  After having Dafney any ounce of “me” time was long gone.  I mean, I can’t even use the bathroom by myself any more.  I would love to have 60 whole minutes to do whatever I want to do.  I know for me this will be extremely hard.  I have a hard time carving out time to do the things that are important to me, but I know that it’s necessary.  I truly believe everyone needs and deserves a little “me” now and then.

Remember important dates.  You know, like birthday's and anniversary's.  I have a crazy good memory for birthday's and special dates in general, but this year, I want to really remember these special occasions for my family & friends.  At the very least, I want to call people on their special days.  But, ultimately, my goal is to send a card and if I'm really ORGANIZED, I want to send friends home-made gifts this year...cookies, bars, granola, etc.!  In fact, I started the year off right & just sent 2 friends some home-made goodies for their birthday's :)


So there you have it…my 2014 goals!  I hope to update about how each are going throughout the year.  

Here’s to a happy, HEALTHY, wonderful {exciting} NEW YEAR!