House talk: getting comfy

Here are the promised interior photos of our house. They are just a few snapshots of some of the more "moved-in" areas. There will be more.

The great room

Master bedroom/bathroom

Master bedroom

Kya's room: books


Kya's room: soft pink clothes

Kya's room: baby feet


Kya's Room: Sleeping baby

Kya really likes her crib! Corey is already an old pro at assembling/disassembling the crib.

She naps here and sometimes plays in here when I need a few minutes of a contained baby.

She thinks it is so funny!

Her room is coming together (again) nicely.

Ah. The laundry room.

The back deck. Since moving in, we've enjoyed most of our meals out here.

The front deck - almost complete.

That completes the house tour for today ... come back soon.

House talk: is it go-time yet?!

We.Move.In.Tomorrow.

I am SO EXCITED!!!!

The driveway has been packed with cars and trucks that belong to workers finishing up the last to do's. Unfortunately, there will still be a few things left to do when we move in, but they will be completed soon after. The tile I picked out for the bathroom tub and kitchen back splash were both backordered, so that is on the list for next week.

So what are they working on this week?

- The back deck. I'm so excited to have you all over for a beverage and chat on the deck. It's amazing - the views, sounds, and peacefulness out there are amazing.

- Electrical stuff

- Paint touchups

- Finishing work like cabinet knobs and drawer pulls

If you are ever in the market for cabinet hardware, check overstock - I got these for about half the price of the same thing in the hardware store.

- Cleaning. Our builder's mom has a cleaning business and her crew visited the house this week. Among lots of dusting, vacuuming, and scrubbing, they took the plastic off the windows. I didn't think the views could get much better, but they did.

- The finishing guys also installed the mirrors in the bathrooms.

- Lighting. Oh golly this was much more complicated than it should have been but I think we got everything figured out. Between my forgetfulness, too many under cabinet lighting choices, and the lighting store's mistakes, it was quite a stressful and busy couple days. I'm happy to report that we got everything sorted out and the last missing light fixture will arrive Monday.

- Appliances. As you can see, they are not in yet. Hopefully soon. Please. I really like refrigeration.

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So this will be my last post in our apartment. I can hardly believe this day has come. Assuming all goes as planned, I will have satellite internet connected at the new place on Monday.

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Oh! I almost forgot.

Kya is excited too. And she thoroughly enjoys practicing rolling on the carpet. Just the right firmness and softness.

House talk: crunch time part 2

Monday's progress:

Another part of the house that we were particularly excited about – the front door.

No door handle yet, but the door and hanging light are good buddies already.

The electrician installed most of the outdoor lights today. Tomorrow will be the day for interior lights.

Appliances have arrived.

And yet another fireplace photo.

House talk: crunch time

We'll be moving from our apartment to our new house Thursday. This Thursday.

Needless to say, the new house is getting lots of lovin' this week. Just about all the subcontractors will be there to put on the finishing touches.

Here are the new details from last late last week:

Lance the masonry guy finished up his work.

The stone really finished off the garage.

The front porch pillars are taking shape.

And my favorite wall is nearly complete.

The HVAC crew put in some vents.

Toilets and bathroom accessories.

And carpet! We only put carpet in the bedrooms, but wow, it really made the rooms feel cozy.

house talk: water, more rocks, and some dirt

My bonus mom, Andrea and I went out to the house for a visit this afternoon.

We have running water.

This is the kitchen sink. It is made of crushed granite, which was surprisingly reasonable in price compared to other sinks.

This is where the water comes into the house ... and related gadgets.

The masonry guys were still busy at work.

And, the biggest change ... dirt. Apparently we needed more.

House talk: plumbing, masonry, gutters, mail, and hail

Only 10 days until the end of the month. And sometime between now and then we will be moving in.

Needless to say, there has been lots of excitement and house progress lately.

Last week the driveway/slab was poured. I marked it with an "H" for Hager, and the year.

Corey and I installed our mailbox, which was much more complicated than I ever thought possible. It is on the post but certainly not secure ... so we'll be re-intsalling it again soon.

The mud-room flooring was installed on Friday, July 16. It looks like slate, but is linoleum. Since this area will gets lots of wear and tear, we wanted something we could easily replace later-on if it gets damaged/worn.

Gutters were also installed on Friday.

The front porch was started on Sunday, July 18.

On Monday it was nearly complete.


Lighting fixtures started on Monday, July 19. This is the half-bath off the mudroom.

This is one of the lights in the mudroom hallway.

Also on Monday, the retaining wall was back-filled. The driveway was leveled and smoothed in preparation for gravel.

Monday was also the day for installing interior doors and hardware.

Kya was impressed.

After our Monday house tour, Corey went dumpster-diving for wood scraps to help secure our mailbox. Found some!

And yesterday (Tuesday, July 20) after work, we ventured out to the house again. On the way my mom called from California to ask about the approaching hail storm. I was totally oblivious to any storm. Since we were almost at the house, we decided to test our luck, and kept on going.

It was worth it. Nearly all the plumbing fixtures were installed. This is the mud room half-bath. This misplaced mirror will hang above the sink.

This is the main bath. Corey and I are both excited about the shower curtain rod. We're simple folks.

Lance the masonry dude was there piecing the fireplace. I trust it will look cleaner/better next time I see it.

Then, we started the drive home.

We got a few miles down the road when the storm hit.

It was raining so hard (and hailing too) that we couldn't see the road, so we slowly pulled off onto a side street and sought shelter under some big evergreens.

Kys was getting antsy, so we get her out of her seat and threw a little hail storm party in Corey's car.

When all was said and done, no hail damage to the car or house, and all is well.

Thanks for the storm warnings mom!