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March 26, 2004

We had our first walk-through this morning and I think the builder, Nathan, is now regretting letting Kevin have access to his roll of blue tape, as you'll see by the pictures below. *wink* When we arrived, the carpet-installers were finishing up with the carpet on the basement stairs, the dryer was sitting in the middle of the foyer, and there were a LOT of blue pieces of tape soon to be joined by many more pieces of blue tape.

Refrigerator
Back of house (great view of deck!)
Family Room
Family Room (another view)
Zack's Bedroom
Alex's Bedroom (just off of Zack's room)
Kid's Bathroom
Master Vanity
6' Jetted Tub
Basement Stairs
Blue Tape Boy

March 14, 2004

More pictures!

Dining Room Light Fixture (hardwood floors are down, but protected w/cardboard)
Kitchen Counters!
Deck Speakers (L) Deck Speakers (R)
Madi in Laundry Room w/Washer (Dryer not yet installed)
Shower Stall in Master Bathroom
Foyer Light Fixture
Tile Floor in all Bathrooms
Zack in Mirror in Master Bedroom (mirror to go in the bathroom)
Alex w/Kitchen Faucet
Madi on the Staircase
Kids on the Front Porch

February 29, 2004

Our closing date has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 31st! We'll have a walk-through on the 24th and another one the early-afternoon on the 31st, then the closing is at 3:00pm. I can't believe we're just a month away! Below are pictures we took of the interior today. (P.S. It was a beautiful 65 degree day full of sunshine!)

Double-stack fireplace
Kitchen cabinets - left side
Kitchen cabinets - window over sink area (dishwasher will go on the right)
Kitchen view into family room
Laundry room cabinets!
Bathroom tile
Another deck pictures
View from the front porch to the cul-de-sac

January 31, 2004

The 6' jetted tub replaced the 5' garden tub in the master bath.. YAY! Apparently, the framer made a mistake and made the opening for the tub only 5' instead of 6'. Because of this, they had to move two exterior windows over a foot and move the plumbing for the master bathroom commode over a foot to accommodate the 6' jetted tub. Also new on this trip is much of the drywall is up as well as the landscaped yard and front porch. New pictures are below.

Alex & Madison on the front porch
Family Room
6' Jetted Tub
All of us on the front porch
Landscaping

December 29, 2003

Today was the "Pre-Drywall" meeting with the builder. Kevin and I met Nathan out at the house and it was the first time we have walked through it since the basement was poured! It was exciting to see the walls up and the wiring in place. There were a few items to correct (speakers in the family room and the jetted tub in the master suite) but most everything else was good to go. Nathan said the drywall could be up within 10 days! We were surprised and delighted to see the deck was built, also! It was supposed to be a 12x36 deck, but because of the layout of the property and the location of the deck stairs, the finished size was 12x43!

Family Room
Foyer
Master Bathroom
Basement
Deck
View from Side w/Basement Door

November 14, 2003

We have windows, a roof and much of the siding now!

Picture
Another View

October 24, 2003

And now we have a second floor!

Second Floor

October 18, 2003

Well... we have a first floor!

First Floor

October 3 , 2003

They've grated the yard a bit and are in the middle of finishing the basement (plumbing and floor). While I was there, I took some pictures of the clubhouse and amenities. :)

Basement
Pool & Clubhouse
Tennis Courts
Playground & Basketball Court

September 19 , 2003

Here's another one! Lot w/kids and Kevin.

September 18 , 2003

We're settled in at mom's here in Georgia and driving by the lot at least once a week (more if Jen calls to say "they've done more work on it!") New lot pictures:

Outline of the basement
Walls of the basement
Giant concrete-pouring rig (interesting way to pour concrete)

August 16 , 2003

Jen drove by the lot today and took a couple pictures for us. The builders had cleared and leveled much of the lot the day before, so there is a better indication of what the lot / yard will look like. The links to these pictures are below. It's started! WOOHOO!

Kevin and I are in the middle of packing everything to move down to mom's and dad's. We load the truck on Tuesday, September 2nd and will arrive in Georgia on the 4th.

Lot view (close-up from the front)
View of the cul-de-sac (Sirocco Court - our lot has the mound of gray rocks in it)

July 11 , 2003

Today was the Builder's Orientation Meeting for the new house. Kevin and I flew into Atlanta last night and stayed at Jen's and Chuck's. Jen dropped us off at the Oakwind Subdivision model home for the meeting. The meeting was with Lori and with Glen, the builder. We basically went over all of the details of the house, exterior and interior. We also had to decide on the location of things like the outlets in the basement and the water spigots. We got to see the blueprints of the house, but weren't allowed to have a copy of it. :( Something about copyright laws, blah blah blah.

After the meeting, we walked the entire lot and it's a lot bigger than the pictures show. The treeline will have to be pushed back another 20 or so feet from where it is now. We also saw the location of the house. They were staked out at each corner. I think the lot is going to be great!

Jen and the kids (Mason, Bening, Madison and Eleanor) came to pick us up and we once again asked for the key for the Churchill model home in Double Creek Subdivision. We took some more pictures and they are posted as links below.

These are pictures taken from the model home -- I only *wish* we had stuff this nice. Use your browser's BACK button to return to this page.

Lot #145 (from the rear of the lot)
Foyer stairs
Basement stairs
Master Suite
Bedroom 4
Kitchen
Living Room
Family Room
Family Room Balcony (with Eleanor, Bening, Mason and Madison)
Family Room from Breakfast Area (with Kevin and Jen)
View from Guest Room
Laundry Room
Eleanor, Bening, Mason and Madison on the foyer stairs

May 31, 2003

Kevin and I flew in to Atlanta this morning on Delta Airlines from New York (LaGuardia) to sign the contract on the new house. Jennie picked us up at the airport (South Terminal... no, wait, NORTH Terminal... no, wait...) and we drove directly to Oakwind Subdivision (do not pass Go, do not drop luggage off at Jen's.) Instead of stopping at the realtor's office first, we decided to check out the two lots that were available for the Churchill model.

The lot we had reserved (#139) was larger (about a half an acre), but that included a 40' easement to the left of the property that belonged to the Colonial Pipeline (a gas line running from Texas to New York... how they came through Georgia is beyond me). Anyway, the easement, and the severe slope of the property made us think twice about the other available lot (#145). Lot #145 is a little over a quarter acre, but is in a cul-de-sac (always a huge plus), and the lot is more level.

We then went to the realtor's office and met with Lori. She came with us to walk both lots again and answer any questions we might have had regarding them. After that, we decided we'd rather have lot #145 in the cul-de-sac. Lori went back to the office and Kevin, Jen and I headed to the Design Center to choose interior options and upgrades. On the way out of the subdivision, I decided to call Lori to ask her to formally move our Lot Reservation from lot #139 to lot #145. Cyndi (her business partner) answered the phone and took the information. She said that it was a good thing we called and told them because she had a client looking at that lot the day before! *whew!*

A quick stop at McDonald's for lunch... then...

At the Design Center, Tracy gave us a tour of the facility and helped us choose our interior and exterior colors, and took notes. She really spent a lot of time helping us and we were very grateful. Jen had promised herself that she'd leave all the design decisions up to Kevin and me, but when she saw the kitchen samples, she had to really bite her tongue!

We chose the exterior stone (Buck's County Ledgestone) which is considered an upgrade, but with nominal cost. Kevin and I both liked the variety of natural looking colors in this pattern of stacked-stone. The color we chose for the exterior siding is a gray-toned color. The trim is an off-white and the shutters and door will be forest green. The stone will also be used for the fireplace in the family room in lieu of granite. We chose the "Morrison" double-mantle for the fireplace trim.

One of the upgrades I wanted to be able to do for the house is carpeting. There are four levels of carpet, beginning with Level I (the standard for every house). There are three levels of Berber carpeting, starting with Level II.

We chose a Level IV Berber (with 8 pound padding) in the most gorgeous pattern. It was a *little* more than we expected (*bats eyes at Kevin*), but, comparing the carpet samples at the Design Center, we could hardly chose something else! It's called "Mesmerize Berber - Irish Cream." The weave is a very tight loop and it is very durable. The multi-colors will help hide dirt and sand. ;)

Next, we chose the hardwood flooring for the foyer, kitchen, breakfast room, and dining room. Kevin and I both chose (separately) a pattern called "Seashell" which looks like a patchwork of hardwoods and includes all the soft colors of hardwood.

Tracy then had us take the hardwood floor and Berber carpet samples with us to the kitchen area to select our cabinetry (here is where Jennie hid!) Although I absolutely *loved* the cherry cabinets, they would not have matched the flooring we had already selected and would have made the kitchen a bit dark. Therefore, we selected the Honey Maple with raised panel arches with brushed nickel hardware.

The countertops (Jen ran to hide again) I wanted to upgrade to granite, but... which one? I didn't want something too dark, but not too light, either. And it had to match the cabinets and flooring. Also, it had to look good with the stainless steel sink, gas stove, microwave, dishwasher, and refrigerator. We hmm'd and haw'd for a bit then... "Jen? Which one do you like?" She hopped up and went directly to the display and picked out "Tropic Brown." So, Jen gets credit for picking out the countertops. ;)

Next, we chose the tile for the flooring in all the bathrooms. The selection was called "Ridgeview Green" but it's really a more earthy tile with specks that match both the hardwood floors and the Berber carpeting. For the bathroom cabinets, we upgraded to the Honey Maple color to match the kitchen cabinets, although we stuck with the standard white countertops and built-in basin. In the Owner's Bathroom, we opted to raise the cabinets to 35" in lieu of the standard size.

Our tour ended there, since we ran out of time, but all that really remained was the selection of the lighting. Thankfully, there are 14 standard lighting packages from which we can choose, so I'm sure we can pick one from those choices.

Following the Design Center tour, we called Lori to have her meet us at the model home for the Churchill. Oakwind did not have a Churchill model through which we could tour, so we had to go to another Morrison community to see one. She said she had clients with her, but that she'd meet us there as soon as possible. Off we went.

There was no one there when we got to the model home, so we decided (well, Jen decided and Kevin and I followed her) to go up the stairs to the back deck and "peek in the windows." We ooh'd and aah'd for a bit then we saw movement on the front porch. "Ah, she's here," we said, so we knocked on the door. No answer. We went around front and realized that the car parked there was not Lori's car. We knocked on the front door anyway. Again, no answer. So we sat on the front porch steps and waited.

About 10 minutes later, a man and a woman emerged from the house and locked the door behind them. "Are you waiting for a realtor?" the woman asked. "Yes," we replied and she and the man got in the car and left. Lori pulled up at that moment and let us in to the model home. We joked about how the other couple wouldn't let us in, but that was okay with us.

We toured the home (OH MY GOSH!) and realized that we had made a wonderful decision! The basement stairs had an open cut-out (including handrail and spindles) near the top and they had moved the door to the base of the stairs. We immediately opted for that upgrade! Kevin fell in love with the family room with its cathedral ceiling. I loved the fact that the laundry room was upstairs! The bedrooms were not as large as we thought (it's hard to tell on a floorplan), but not small by any means. The playroom off Bedroom 3 was done in a very cute fashion, but we opted to open it up to make that room seem more spacious.

With the tour done, including a look at the giant 9' ceiling basement, we headed back to the realtor's office to sign the contract! Jen dropped us off there knowing that we'd be awhile and she said she'd come back for us later. We got about half-way through the paperwork, when we heard the doors chime behind us. It was the same couple we saw at the Churchill model home! Lori excused herself and went to help them. Apparently, they were the clients of Cyndi's who wanted the Churchill built on lot #145! They had come to reserve it, but we scooped 'em! They were NOT happy.

We were almost done with the paperwork when the door chimed again... this time it was Jennie with mom and Tiffany in tow! They couldn't wait to see us and the lot / model! So Jen took them to see the lots and walk through the model where the realtor's office was (the model home was a Bethany and it was GORGEOUS!) Then they left and mom came back when we were done with the paperwork.

Mom drove us down to lot #145 and we placed the "Under Contract" sticker on the lot sign and mom took a picture. Lori gave us the key to take mom through the Churchill again, so we went back to the other Morrison community and gave mom the tour.

We didn't get to Jen's until 8:30pm and we were hot, sticky, and exhausted, but it was a great day!

Jen, here are the pictures of the bedroom furniture. The burgundy fabric on the bed is the runner I made (needs tassles still). The matching pillow is done. =) The color in the second picture looks cherry, but it's really a dark oak. Below is the kitchen window sill I was telling you about. The towel rack (with the towels OFF... LOL) is on the right. It's kinda blending in to the backsplash, but I think you get the idea. Now... go get more iron scrolls for MY living room! $2.50 indeed!