One of the last posts!

They put the colored stucco on!!! The base is called Pueblo and the trim is Taos White. We originally chose darker colors, but after looking around the neighborhood, we wanted lighter colors. After seeing it on the house, I am so glad we went with lighter colors!



These last three pictures show the landscaping of our house. Where is Tuli when you need him????? Subdivision landscaping is very barebones. I was supposed to meet the landscapers and choose the plants and they landscaped without waiting for me to choose the plants. Needless to say, I called the landscaping company and they are changing out all the plants (except the tree) in the front yard. We are going to put ornamental grasses and agapanthus instead. We will eventually put more plants, or I may just use my influence of being an employee of the homebuilder, to persuade them to plant the extra plants that we buy.

The house is 99% complete. Just a few more small details and it will be done. They need to install our shower door, cap off the suntunnels, hook up the washer and dryer, etc. Our walk-thru is on Thursday 6/21 and we should be closing on 6/22 and moving that weekend. That should allow us to go to Mom and Pa's the following weekend to see everyone for the 4th of July holiday weekend. We will then be flying out to CA for my friend April's wedding and then we will really be able to enjoy our house for a few weeks before flying out to WA state for Carlos' wedding. I am also going to be starting school in the fall (if I have not missed the deadline for financial aid). Whew!!!!! So much is going on! We are so blessed and are really glad we are able to share the excitement of our home with all of our friends and family even though we are all so far apart.

More details

Here you can see that they laid the carpet. The color is Ivory Bisque. The day they put the carpet in, Mike and I were at the house and we just laid down in the middle of the living room on our backs enjoying the new carpet smell. We think it makes a nice contrast to the dark tile.
Just a close up shot of the carpet. As you can see it is Berber. We upgraded the padding, so it really is quite cushy on our feet!
This is an action shot of the shower head in the guest bathroom. We turned it on to check the water pressure. Take note for all of you who will visit us.... you will be bathing in this very shower!!!!!
This is the vanity in the master bathroom. This actually gives you a better look at the counter tops with the cabinets and tile. Mike and I have always had to crowd around one sink when we brush our teeth (not that I mind being close to my hubby!!!), so we may not know what to with all the room!

Almost there!!

This picture shows the kitchen almost complete. They have to take the protective cardboard off the counters and put laminate on the back of the cabinets on the bar. It is a little difficult to see the appliances because of the angle of the sun coming into the kitchen.

This shows the stove. It is a better picture of the black appliances.
Here is our sink. It is NOT stainless steel!! I am SOOOOO happy about that. Call me weird, but the smell of comet and the gleem of the white sink just makes me all giddy!!!!
This is our counter top. This is the best shot I could get of it without a glare from the afternoon sun. The black appliances really coordinate well and bring out the colors in the counters.

So close ..... and yet ..... so far

The house is just about 2 weeks away from completion! It seems like it will be forever before we move in!

As you can see, our kitchen cabinets are almost done. I am thrilled with the storage space! We will have a breakfast bar (which has NOT been installed yet) which will have....you guessed it MORE STORAGE!!!! Again, we chose a dark, rich, warm shade for the cabinets. We think it plays off the tile well. The countertops that are going in are called Jamocha Granite. They will be formica, but look like granite. We also chose black appliances. To add to the "richness" of the colors in the kitchen. Plus, having had white appliances forever, we wanted something different.

AND today is a momentous occasion! We wrote our last rent check!!!!!! Whooooo Hoooooooo!

We will be signing papers for the house about 1 week before our 2 year wedding anniversary. What an anniversary gift!!!!

The tile is down!

This is our entryway. As you can see, we chose a darker floor tile. This tile will be in the bathrooms, laundry room, kitchen and dining room as well as the tub and shower surrounds. We just wanted something warmer and different from the usual beige.

These two shots are the tub surround in the guest bathroom. They have since grouted the tile. We think it looks great!

These two shots are the BIG shower in the Master bathroom. I can't wait until the plumbing fixtures and the shower door are installed!

Let there be light!

The light fixtures have been installed! We are very pleased with the way they look. The finish on the light package we chose is Oil Rubbed Bronze. We really like the finish. All the plumbing fixtures will be the same color. This ceiling fan is in the living room. The hole you see next to it is the skylight and there is not much light coming from it because they have paper taped up on it to protect it from the texture spray as well as from paint.
This is the dining room chandelier. (I hope I spelled that correctly!) As you can see, we need to to a bit of "tweaking" to correct to crookedness. We will also be changing out all the light bulbs to florescent. You'd be surprised how much money that saves!!

This light is over the kitchen sink.

This light fixture is in both bathrooms over the over the vanities.

In the home stretch!!

These two pictures show that the doors are ready to be installed by now. As of this posting, they have been installed and painted. The picture with Mike with the 4'9" door ..... we had them install that for when Daniel and Paula and Caleb come to visit.
They have finally painted the inside of the house. The color of the paint is "Wind Drift Beige". The funny thing is, the walls are VERY similar to the color we painted most of the walls of the house (that belonged to Mike's grandparents) when we lived there!

They have poured the driveway and the walk leading to the front door. They will be pouring the sidewalk in the next day or two. The house, the structure is complete. Now, the only things that remain are the things to "pretty" up the house, such as the landscaping, floor coverings, appliances, etc. They have the tile ready to install. The second to last picture shows the boxes of tile that we picked out. So, it is just a matter of time!

Even closer to being ready!

They started the rock wall. All of the houses in Ken Thurston Homes have a rockwall included with the price of the house. The rockwall is 4' high in the back and on the sides it is 4' and then tapers to 1' and goes all the way to the sidewalk. It's nice not to have the expense of having to put up a fence ourselves.

They have put the stucco on the house!!! This is the first coating which is gray. Then they put the color coating on.

So much progress!!

The one and only time we will ever see this on our electricity meter!!!!

From the rest of the pictures, you can see that they have sheetrocked the entire house. It's funny, when we go and visit our house, it is actually cooler than our apartment!

Cool in Summer, Toasty in the Winter

Time for a new post again. Our attention to our blog as been somewhat sidelined for a few weeks. But I digress. These pictures show the netting put on the walls in preparation for the blow-in insulation. We bought an insulated garage door and had the garage walls insulated. This way we can store non perishable foods in the garage and have it a more even temperature all year long. Ken Thurston homes are known for their energy efficency, so we are excited about the low energy bills we have. (Well, not excited about having to PAY them, of course)

Cute

Some of the "Locals" checking out the the house!
(Look carefully, there are birdy tracks!!)

So many changes!!

This is the kitchen window. The sink will be directly underneath.

The skylight (that I got for FREE) in the livingroom.

They installed the garage door on 4/23/07. Tammy is standing in the garage looking out. The gray car is our Malibu.

This is the Network Interface box that has all the wires for
the cable and DSL and stuff.

Drum roll please......................
WE GOT OUR BIG SHOWER AND LINEN CLOSET!!!!!!!
After the Big Boss looked at our house, he said it could be done.
We are so excited. One can never have too much storage!!!

The innards of the house

This picture was taken while I was standing in the living room. Mike is standing in what will be the master bedroom.

This picture above is in the laundry room plumbing and vent tubing for the washer and dryer.

This picture is in the guest bathroom. They have installed the tub and the plumbing lines for the sink and toilet.

This is part of the HVAC system (Heating, Ventilation, Air Condition). These tubes run to all the vents in each room in the house. Once the house is complete, they do a pressure test to make sure that all the rooms are cooled and heated equally.