House Tour, Part II

Here is Part II of our house tour - the upstairs.

I have to mention, there is a LOT of work to do upstairs.  The walls are essentially bare.  While blinds have been ordered, the windows are currently covered in temporary paper shades and in desperate need of some fabric and color.  All of the bathrooms need accessorizing and new towels.  So, things will (hopefully) change quite a bit over the coming weeks and months, but at least this will give you the lay of the land.

Special shout out to my "tech girl" friend who clued me in on how to get videos to play on the iPad.  Thanks Laura!

House Tour, Part I

As promised, I finally got around to taking a quick video of the house, or half of it anyway.  My apologies for the shaky camera.  Hopefully you won't get motion sickness trying to keep up with me.

And without further adieu...welcome to our home!

Closing Day

Eek...I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since my last post.  Time flies when you're moving into a new house!

In the last batch of pictures I shared we had walls and a few bathroom fixtures inside, but not much more.  We were two weeks from closing and I didn't go back to the house until our final walk through on August 1.  It was hard to stay away, but I was so busy getting everything ready for the move the time flew.  Logistically there was a lot to work through: packing, moving trucks to reserve (and village covenants that limited their access to the neighborhood), hired help to schedule, loading and unloading, walk through with the builder and closing.  To add a layer of planning, Jackson's school was closed for teacher in-service on our closing day (yay Aunt Nikki for planning a fun-filled day with Jack at the water park, bowling alley and movie theater while Drew & I were occupied).  And, of course, being 90 miles away every trip required 1.5 - 2 hours of drive time each way.  The entire process needed to be a well-oiled machine and I had it choreographed down to the minute.

Our walk through on August 1 was fabulous.  The house looked great and we were so excited to finally be homeowners again the next day.

Unfortunately, even the best laid plans often go awry.

The first snag came Thursday afternoon.  We were expecting to get the final closing statement from the lender so that we could pick up a cashiers check for the proper amount and have that item checked off the list before closing day (we're still banking at our Kansas bank and there are only 2 branches in the Denver metro area - not exactly a quick trip).  Those numbers never came.  Not a huge deal, but Friday's to do list got a bit longer.

The first item of business Friday morning was picking up the Penske at 8 am.  We had exactly 4 hours to pick up the truck and fill it with load #1 before needing to head to the bank and then the title company for closing.  Except it wasn't ready.  An hour delay turned into two hours by which point our blood was boiling and my perfectly planned schedule was history.  Several angry phone calls later we had a truck (and a significant discount).  Somehow, Mom, Dad, Drew & I managed to load all of our furniture on the truck in about an hour.  I dashed off to the bank (the numbers had come through first thing that morning) while Drew finished loading and we met at the title company 2 hours later.  Where we learned that the Certificate of Occupancy had not yet been issued.  Turned out they were waiting on a city engineer to approve the sidewalks in front of the house.  After signing all of the loan documents and going over the warranties with the builder we sat in the conference room of the title company with our Realtor for an hour waiting for the Certificate of Occupancy to come through. Thank goodness it did.  Just as we were getting ready to head to the house...our house...we remembered that the title company was to reimburse us our $1,000 escrow deposit.  Except they had no record of that.  Several more minutes of scrambling...and waiting...resolved the issue and finally we were headed out the door, check and house keys in hand!

We went straight to the house but had no plans of moving anything Friday evening.  We had hired help on Saturday morning and planned on bringing 2 truck loads from Castle Rock to Fort Collins while Jackson spent the day and overnight with Nana & Papa, giving us a chance to get things somewhat put together before throwing Jack into the mix.  

Walking through that door was such a relief.  We were exhausted from all of the emotions of the day - the packing, the loading, the excitement and the waiting, waiting, waiting through one snafu after another.  I knew it was going to happen (I even told Cortney so earlier that day) but I couldn't hold back the tears.  We had finally reached the moment that was put into motion nearly 9 months ago when Drew dusted off his resume.  I could hardly believe it.  Once the tears slowed, we cracked open a beer and toasted to new beginnings.

The straw that broke the camel's back happened on the way back to Castle Rock.  We had picked up a pizza off the interstate and were 5-10 minutes from Mom & Dad's house when we got caught up in some mysterious police barricade.  Once again...we waited.  Eventually we were forced to travel about 20 miles out of our way and finally got back to the house 40 minutes late with cold pizza.

Thinking back now, the series of events that day almost sound comical.  Except it wasn't.

Although, despite being frustrated and exhausted, we went to bed happy.  The next morning we were headed home!

Here are the "before" pictures that I snapped on Friday afternoon just after we took possession.

Home Sweet Home

Kitchen

I've been dreaming about this pantry!

Gas stove.  My other favorite part about the kitchen.

Living/Dining area.

Entry

View of the main floor

TV Room

Upstairs hallway to laundry and all bedrooms.

Laundry room.  So excited for a room instead of a closet and love that it's on the same floor as the bedrooms.

Master. 

Master Bath.  Walk-in closet to the left, toilet nook straight ahead, soaker tub and walk-in shower to the right. 

3 car tandem garage.  Drew's favorite part of the house!

Despite planning to do all of the moving on Saturday without Jack, we decided to bring him along for one of the trips.  He was so excited to see the house and really wanted to be part of the process. I'm so glad we did.  Here's the little guy headed back to his room for the first time.  He insisted on bringing his Jayhawk pillow - his first item in the new house.

 

Here we are just over a week later and things look quite a bit different.  In fact, dare I say, it feels like home. I'll be sure to share the progress as we get each room closer and closer to done.  In the meantime, we're enjoying a more normal schedule as Jack gets settled into his school routine, I'm back at work and Drew gets 3 hours of his life back each day instead of spending them stuck on I-25!

If you would have told me last Fall that this is where we would be I'm not sure I would have believed you.  But we did it.  And we couldn't be happier!

House Update

Since starting my reduced work schedule in June, I am off on Fridays.  Over the past month we've taken full advantage of these three-day weekends by traveling to Fort Collins every Thursday evening for an overnight stay.  We've had a great time getting to know our new hometown on these weekly visits.  As a result, we're practically experts on the Fort Collins hotel scene - and Jack has become quite the efficient little traveler.

Most importantly though, our weekly visits mean more house updates!

The first big change was getting the last of the concrete work done.  The driveway, front steps and backyard patio were all poured just after our last visit.

With the outside nearly complete, from this point on the updates are all interior so I wasn't really sure what to expect when we walked in the house last Thursday evening.  I figured all of the dry wall would be hung, but completely textured and painted walls was such an awesome surprise.  It's finally starting to look like a house we can live in!

Main floor taking shape.

Kitchen.  The huge closet on the right is a pantry.  My first big pantry - I've been dreaming about that baby!

Family room.  This was exciting as the fireplace was an option we added but never saw in any of the models we toured.

Standing in the dining area looking at the entry/sitting room.

Soaking tub.  Another first for us that we can't wait to enjoy!

Of course, the boys were most impressed with the garage and all of the happenings in the basement.

Guy time in the 3rd car garage.

Seems impossible that one house needs all these doors.

Checking out the utilities.

We are told the carpet is scheduled for install this Wednesday so I image cabinetry and counter tops are happening as we speak.  That just leaves all the finish work (doors, fixtures, appliances, outlets, etc.) followed by our final walk through on July 31.  We have one more weekly visit planned on Thursday so hopefully we can get inside for a final in-progress look prior to completion next week.  

The latest update came yesterday when Drew sent me an exterior picture that he snapped while in town doing some work Sunday afternoon.  It's been painted!

You can scroll up to the top of this post for a before/after comparison.  I can't wait to see it in person for a true assessment of the colors, but based on the picture I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Whew!  I was sweating that one a little.

Fingers crossed for just one more construction update and then...moving day!!

Construction Progress

Two weeks.  

An important milestone because it's been just over two weeks since our last update on construction progress.

But that's not the most exciting news.  Two weeks from today - just fourteen days and counting - is our builder's scheduled completion date.  Did you hear that?  I could have sworn I just heard the Hallelujah Chorus being sung from the heavens!

We're working on nailing down the final walk through, inspection, appraisal and then closing - hopefully all taking place within a couple of days of completion.  Which means we will be moving somewhere on or near the first of August.  If I stop to think about all of the things that need to happen in the next two weeks (reserve a moving truck, schedule movers, set up utilities, pack/load/unload, put together an entire house) and beyond (establish residency in Colorado and transfer everything from mail to banks to doctors and ohmygosh that list seems endless) I start to have heart palpitations.  But most of all I'm just excited.  Absolutely, positively, over-the-moon, excited!

But enough about that.  For now, let's just focus on the construction progress over the last two weeks.  This is where we left off on June 30.

The framing continued for the next 2 days and on July 2 we finally had what looked like a house.

A week passed before we were able to snap any more pictures, but the progress continued.  On July 9, the roof was finished, siding hung and windows installed.

The very next day the stone was added.

While Drew is able to check-in daily and is great about keeping me updated via pictures; Jackson and I finally made a visit to the job site on July 11 to see the progress for ourselves.

Look - we have a garage door!

It was well into the evening hours so the pictures are far from perfect, but it was so exciting to be able to walk (well, climb actually) through the front door and see the interior taking shape.  As of the 11th, the HVAC, electrical, gas, plumbing and insulation was done.  The fireplace, tubs and showers were in place.  Sheetrock was delivered and ready for install.

Kitchen

Standing in the living/dining room.  You can see the kitchen on the left, family room in the center (2 steps down into the room with the sliding doors) and stairs leading up to the laundry room and all bedrooms.

Master bath soaking tub. 

Jackson/Guest Bath.

Family room fireplace.

This is the view out the master bedroom window.  Swimming pool just 1 house away.  Across the street (to the right) of the pool is the yet to be built neighborhood park.  The 2 tall rectangle buildings you see in the skyline are from the Budweiser brewery just a mile away.  Yes, Drew is in heaven.

Since our visit last week we know the driveway, front steps and back patio have been poured and I'm sure the interior progress has been extensive.  I'm also eager for the exterior painting to begin, which should be any day.  We chose the colors from small sample boards and I'm crossing my fingers that I still love it in the life-sized version.

We'll be back again in two days for another walk through.

So there you have it.  What a difference two weeks makes!

Let the Framing Begin

It's been just over a month since I wrote about the progress on our new house.  Most of that month was pretty uneventful, but when things get moving boy do they get moving!

The middle part of May was spent pouring the street, sidewalk and running utility lines to the house.  Clearly, all very important and necessary steps, but nothing much to look at when you're waiting on pins and needles for a house to appear.  This picture of our street was taken on May 23 and things looked pretty much just like that for another 12 days.

June 4 is when the real action started and our Realtor forwarded us this image from the builder with the caption, "Breaking ground on the Elser house today."

One day later the hole was dug.

One week later we had a completed basement.

Over the next 12 days the plumbing was roughed in, dirt work completed for the basement and garage floor, and then concrete poured.  Finally, on June 25 we got word that the lumber had been delivered.  That meant framing was going to start any day.  It also meant that our deadline to request (and pay for 50% of) upgrades had arrived.  We reviewed our list one more time (A/C, fireplace, stainless appliances, gas stove, garage door opener, a few ceiling fans, a few additional cable/electrical outlets), signed the amendment and wrote the biggest check of our lives.  So yeah.  This is really happening.

2 days later, on Thursday, June 27, the framing had begun.

All 3 of us happened to be in Fort Collins over the weekend so we were able to go to the job site for the first time and see some actual activity.  And what a difference a day makes!  Here is a series of pictures we took on Friday evening.

Standing in the 3 car garage

Jack is standing in our future family room.  Sliding doors will look into the backyard.

He came prepared to "do some work" - complete with tool belt, work gloves and, of course, safety goggles.

And this is how it looked on Saturday after the crew put in another half day of work.

I can't even imagine how it will look by the end of this week.

All signs are still pointing to a late July closing date, so the countdown is officially on.