This is on the third base side of Great American Ballpark-- the home of the Cincinnati Reds, and what we like to call our "summer home". This quote just seemed appropriate for this post as it's a place we love, and because we are SO close to being in our new home!
Let me just say-- I want to be inside this house! I want to just go inside and stay there til we close. No one has to know, right?!?! It's so amazing inside you guys! I love it, it's perfect, and every tear, every stressful moment and waiting since December is all about to be worth it. I love our home so much and can't wait to be in!
I found out from our SR that our PM actually HAD sent out emails about going on vacation, but their Outlook accounts are really wonky and only seem to work about half the time. When we visited with our SR {we had to get the key to get into the house} today we had a good laugh because of the whole poop in the toilet thing. I'm glad we are all laughing about it already.
We tried visiting on Tuesday this week, and even asked our PM if they'd leave the house unlocked for us. I wanted to go in and measure windows and a couple of different things. Well, the house was locked when we got there. We were a bit frustrated as it takes us 30 minutes to get out to the house from where we live now. So that is over an hour of our time spent with nothing to show for it. And, it's late at night as it's after work when we do this.
So hubby called our PM on Wednesday and asked to please leave one of the doors open for us. So we were able to go in on Wednesday. Between Wednesday and going out today, we noticed that these things that were done this week:
Cable/Guardian stuff
Carpet Installation
Sod in the front yard
Seed/Sod in the back
It was neat going out today, because there was a huge list sitting on our kitchen island that had stuff that has been done with the house, and things that still needed to be done. Part of our purpose going out today was to go through a list that WE had made of things we wanted to make sure were taken care of. So it was great seeing this list. A lot of the stuff we were concerned about were taken care of already. But, seeing this list was neat because it made us appreciate just how much they take care of things, and working on things that we didn't even notice!
I'm not gonna bore you with the stuff we want to have looked at by the PM. It literally is a couple of spots that need to be painted, and some scratched cabinets that need to be replaced or taken care of.
I'd rather show y'all what everything is looking like, because it's amazing. I seriously didn't want to leave once we were in there today. I wanted to just sit and stare at everything and imagine what it's going to be like actually LIVING there.
TEN DAYS from today, y'all. TEN DAYS and we sign our lives away and get the keys to this home that we have been dreaming about.
Okay. Pictures!
We will start with carpet photos! All of these photos are from either Wednesday or Saturday (today) so they might be a bit out of order, but oh well :-)
Carpet selfie! I was so excited to have our carpet.
View from the kitchen island looking into the family room
Family room! Hardwood floors and carpet <3
Family room and hardwood in the kitchen
Looking towards the foyer from the kitchen. Light is coming from the dining room.
Carpeted Stairs <3
Loft
Bedroom #2 (next to the master)
Loft again, with gorgeous railing!
Loft!
View looking out the door in the master bedroom
standing in the morning room looking towards the family room
standing in the family room looking towards the front door
basement!
And our other photos! Just detail shots and some outside shots! It's gorgeous you guys!!
I FINALLY got to sit in my tub! It is gigundous! I can't wait to just relax and soak after a long day of work!
Hubby had to model the shower too! We still have to have the glass surround put on, and I'm asking our PM just to make sure it's gonna be installed... but everything looks amazing!
all of our hardware was installed (TP holders and towel rods)
sitting in the bath tub looking at the shower
master bath vanity.
one of two master closets. This one is the larger of the two, which is inside the master bath. It's mine ;-)
More shelving in the master closet. I will eventually make this into an organized closet with shelving and other things, but these shelves work for now.
More shelving in that first master closet
Hall closet. It's weird that these doors don't have knobs that turn. You just pull the doors open
Hall bathroom
Laundry room
Hubby studying the punch out lists that were on the kitchen island <3
Guardian stuff was installed! And we made our appointment for installation once we move in!
basement stairs. The basement looks amazing!
Half bath off of the family entry
morning room door and deck.
That damn small pantry.
our gorgeous kitchen. I seriously adore this place.
seed and straw in our back yard
Seed and Straw on the side yard. I love this because we can actually see how large our yard is. It's amazing and our boys are going to have so much space to run and play!
Sod and landscaping. There are just no words for how amazing this looks and how it makes me feel. I'm in awe and can't wait to be in this house.
Our mailbox was installed this week too!
Mailbox and our yard being leveled for sod!
The rest of our porch rails were installed. I am so glad we chose this elevation.
Dusk photo of our home.
So, I can't believe this, but this is probably my last post before we close! We have ten days from today, but we have A LOT going on this upcoming week. My daddy and my granny are coming up from Florida to visit for almost a week. I am excited because they'll be able to see the house, but bummed at the same time because I really wanted to be in the house for them to stay with us. Sigh. It's all worth it in the end though.
So, we have our pre-settlement walk through on July 25th and then we close on the 26th!
I'm hoping to maybe have a post for our pre-settlement walk through... but with that the day before we close, and my daddy and granny leaving the day of our closing... I'm not sure if I will have time! I'll still have some packing to do since we are pretty much LIVING in this place til the day we close.
This week has been a ton of fun! So many "little" things were put in and they just look absolutely amazing. I can't believe we close in just a couple of weeks!!! Time has flown!
There are definitely little things that I want addressed with the house to make sure that things are fixed and perfect for when we get in. We will probably go out to the house on Tuesday or Thursday and I'll make a list to get to our PM just to make sure things are to our liking. Our PM was on vacation all this week, so we didn't have updates as to WHAT would be done with the house, but we also didn't want to bug him for things that can be addressed this upcoming week.
So let's see what's been done this week:
Our "second paint" was done this week. I THOUGHT it was done last week {as that's what the timeline says on the Ryan Homes site}, but it hadn't been. We were actually IN the house with the painters there and saw them painting the walls.
Our driveway and sidewalks have been poured. This also includes our porch steps.
The biggest and best update this week: GRANITE! It's been installed and I adore it! The granite was one of those things that I was really worried about liking or not liking. I loved it when we chose it, but I finally started having those moments that we had picked the "wrong" thing. We chose Luna Pearl granite. When my wheels started turning, I would Google image and Pinterest and try to find images of Luna Pearl with dark cabinets to see what we had picked. ONE blog post I read said that it was a "dated" granite. It was a new selection at our Ryan Homes selections meeting when we picked it. And of course, I only keep the one comment about it being dated in my head and not taking note of any of the other photos I have seen where it looks great.
So, the anticipation of our granite being installed has been driving me bonkers. Every time we walked into the house I was hoping that we would have our granite. And when it was FINALLY there, I was thrilled.
It's a lighter granite with darker flecks in it, and it sparkles.
My worry was that it was going to be too light. But, it's perfect! If we had gone with one of those darker grey granites I think it would have been too dark with the rest of our color scheme {and the stuff that we plan to do in the house when we paint and such}.
And then finally, our appliances were installed! Stove, microwave and dishwasher. They look fabulous! Our dishwasher doesn't seem like it's secured down. It just wobbles when you touch it. Gotta have that addressed. We upgraded our appliances to be stainless steel. Let me tell you! It sure pops with our granite and counter tops! It all looks so good! All of the appliances that were put in the house are GE appliances.
And for everyone's favorite part! Pictures! Trying to keep them in order, haha! There's a lot of them and lots of new details to show off!
This first set is from our trip out on Saturday. We had to take our puppy to the vet for his last round of puppy shots and thought that while we were in the area, we should take him in to the house to see what will be his brand new home in a few weeks. Doing this made the house seem gigantic. And, it is. But it just made it seem like it when you put our little 13.9 pound sheltie in the house and let him run around. He is going to have SO much room to run and play with his big brother dog. I can't wait.
Crosley at the top of the stairs. He did the stairs like a champ and didn't seem phased that there was no carpet.
Crosley following Jason up the stairs
Garage door opener! It's installed and it works!!
Your first look at our kitchen with the granite and appliances. It looks amazing!
Closer view of the stove and microwave
The future home of our gorgeous refrigerator
view of the kitchen with the granite from the morning room
Sink! I love this thing so much {which becomes apparent with how many photos I took of it}
Close up of our Luna Pearl granite on the kitchen island
Stove and microwave, and me in the reflections!
Granite and cabinets <3
I found A LOT of irony in this little sign that was left in the kitchen after our little poop fiasco last week.
The beginnings of a deck! This is looking down from our master bedroom window
They started the deck on Friday, July 8th
Startings of the deck. It will go the entire length of the back of the house {from the morning room}
A hole for deck posts. I had my tape measure with me, as I was measuring some stuff for potential purchases and measured this hole. It was 3 feet deep.
Electrical stuffs.
Walkway to our front porch! The second step is small. I am not quite sure the logistics of that one.
......where the sidewalk ends.
our home with her newly paved driveway!
So after we took our little Crosley out there, I knew we had to make another trip. I wanted to take Cody out there. I wanted him to see everything. He HAD been out to the site of the home before it was ever even built, the day after we lost his brother. It was a bittersweet day that day and I have a photo that I will be cherishing forever of Cody running around on our lot. And today? Today made me feel the same way. I miss our little Chase so much and can't believe that he won't be here to enjoy this gorgeous new home. But, the memories we are going to make with these two boys are going to be amazing.
This photo is from the day after we lost Chase. Cody is running on our lot before it was even a hole. I'm going to have this photo framed in the new house, I love it so much. And, it means the world to me.
Anyways. We went back out to the house today {Sunday} and were surprised to see new things! They had finished our deck! AND! When we went into the house, they had uncovered the hardwood floors so we could see them in all their glory. And our boys had a ton of fun! Cody stayed next to me most of the time, but still explored the entire house. Both him and Crosley were all smiles!
Kitchen views with our hardwood
Hardwood, Luna Pearl granite, Maple Espresso cabinets and stainless steel appliances
Stove
Microwave
Dishwasher {and hardwood floors}
Kitchen sink and faucet
morning room hardwood floors <3
Hardwood floors and our entire kitchen. It's GORGEOUS
Foyer looking to the front door with the hardwood revealed
Foyer hardwood with the stairway, and Jason and Crosley
dining room
finished deck! It's amazing!
Finished Deck
Deck stairs
Jason telling Cody to come down the stairs
another deck view
The deck covers the length of the back of the house to the morning room, and then the stairs go down in front of the morning room.
Crosley checking out his back yard
Crosley standing at the walk out, under the deck!
at the walkout, under the deck
All smiles from our Cody. I think he's really going to love it here.
We were wrapping things up to leave, and Crosley wanted to go back upstairs. I don't think any of us really wanted to leave.
Cody sitting on the front porch
Our boys <3 This photo gave me all the feels. I love these two so much.
Look at this gorgeous house. OUR house. It won't be long now and we will permanently be here <3
Visiting the house today, with the boys, it really felt like home. I feel like with each thing that gets done, it feels more and more like a house, and more and more like ours as we see everything come together. But today, with our two sweet boys in the house with us? It felt like home. And I can't wait for the memories we are going to make here.
And, if you've made it through all of the photos and blog today, you get a video!
I shot about 8 minutes worth of video going through the entire house showing off everything that's been done. The dogs were in the house while I did the video.
Enjoy it :-) And let's hope this countdown for the next two weeks goes by fast!!!
