Stakeout

All kinds of action going on over at Lot 15 these last few days!! Here's what greeted us as we pulled into the development

Signs, signs, everywhere signs.

 Its all happening!!! Things are definitely around busier around here than they have been recently.

Concrete washout on lot 34.

Lo and behold, as we turned onto the cul-de-sac

We've been staked!

The stakes are high!

Stake your claim!

Im guessing these are meant to outline the lay of the house for digging purposes? I really am such a novice about all this. I suppose I'll get an education of sorts at the pre-con meeting Monday, but even walking around out there its hard to make heads or tails of what I'm looking at or how the house will lay on the lot. And I didn't get a picture, but they've already started digging on lot 13. Very cool!

It Won't Be Long

Finally got that call we've been waiting on - pre-construction meeting is happening on Monday! We get to meet our Project Manager (henceforth known as PM - or pm if I'm feeling too lazy to capitalize), finalize all the nitty gritty details about construction (outlet placement, light switch location, etc) Our Sales Rep (henceforth known as SR - or sr if....you remember) said we can expect it to last around 1.5 hours. Since there's no model home in our community we're meeting at a nearby development and then we'll follow pm to the home site and go over any other questions we have. And we'll get a tentative closing date along with a timeline of when we can expect certain things to be finished. It's all happening!! Very exciting. Stay tuned...

Not much to report on at Lot 15 these last couple days. We went over after a dinner out last night and the most exciting new change is 6 long, bright orange sandbags lining the curb along the front of our lot. And a concrete washout basin on another lot. Which tells me that at least they're sort of considering starting something soon? And it's a definite maybe that we'll be scheduling our pre-construction meeting soon? Fingers crossed for this week.

So I'll talk a little about why we're moving. We have a great house now, we've lived there almost 10 years since right before we were married. Our oldest - my husband's son - was 3 when we moved in. Since then we've added 2 more kids and 2 more dogs (though we've since lost 1). Did I mention it's 1000sq ft? And there's only one bathroom? Not even a half bath? Thats right, 5 people sharing 1 bath. Needless to say we've more than outgrown it. We all have so much love for our little bungalow, but it's time to bid it adieu.

Now try to contain your enthusiasm, but here's a shot of the bright orange sandbags. Wonder if our HOA will let us keep them.

Waiting on a Word.....

...about our pre-construction meeting. So to fill the time I'll talk a little about our flooring & cabinet selections and some other upgrades we decided on. Our meeting with Rite Rug was several weeks ago and it could not have gone smoother. Our flooring rep was fantastic - very knowledgeable and brutally honest about which flooring options were best and which were a waste of money. So here goes (I'm blogging from my phone, so the pics of our choices are below - I'm not entirely sure how to incorporate them into the body of my posts. I'm sure I'll figure it out, but bear with me:)

Flooring:
Carpet throughout the house(basement, living, dining, & family rooms, office, & all of upstairs) is Intuitive HGL57/00702 Sweet Tea. A very, very exciting beige w some darker flecks here & there - all have the upgraded 8lb carpet pad underneath. Kids bath, laundry & basement bath all have a vinyl - Memories 62658. Foyer, kitchen, morning room, & powder room all have a goooorgeous wood laminate - Cumberland 77721 American Cherry. And now for the piece de resistance...the master bath. We'd upgraded to the separate shower & garden tub. We knew we were going to do a tile floor in there, so we chose Stratford Place SD92 Willow Branch 12x12. Initially we'd thought to just use the standard fiberglass surrounds and do the decorative tile surround on our own at a later date. But shortly after our Rite Rug meeting we visited a friend's new home - their master bath surrounds had the most stunning tile and the decision was made. I contacted our sales rep and made a change order the next day. Because who are we kidding? We take for.ev.er to do anything (we've been talking about moving for 5 years) and we aren't really do-it-yourselfers - and isn't that the point of building new anyway? To avoid "projects"? We're sticking with the Stratford Place Willow Branch for the surrounds as well, but in a 10x14, the accent is Stone Radience SA54 Wisteria Tortoise Blend. It's going to be fantastic. All the flooring is Armstrong, except for the tile which is Daltile.

In the kitchen we went with 42in Fairfield Maple Spice cabinets with the cabinet crown moulding. Our countertops are standard Formica in Labrador ( we have the gourmet island w the morning room, so the granite was a little spendy for us - I think the Labrador is going to look terrific, though.) Backsplash tile is Stone Bluff SB53 4x4 in a diagonal pattern. Appliance package in black - getting the fridge on our own though - home depot has the same one Ryan was offering for $500 cheaper! No brainer there. Recessed lighting package, satin nickel hardware, upgraded faucet.

In the bathrooms the vanities are the same Fairfield Maple Spice cabinets like the kitchen with double sink bowls. That's all really. Nothing too earth shattering about bathrooms that aren't the master. Ha!

Morning room - ceiling fan rough-in, no optional windows, though we did spring for the 14x16 deck off the sliding glass door in the morning room. Very excited about that!

Hmmmm - I think everything else we did is pretty standard. Recessed lighting package in the finished basement. Full bath down there, too. Didn't really get any optional extra windows anywhere. Really loved the look of the stone fireplace, but after upgrading to the cul-de-sac lot and elevation C w the front porch, we had to compromise on a few things.

I'm also attaching a pic of our exterior choices. The brick front is a lighter color called Falls Canyon. Black shutters and front door. Wood siding is Monterey Taupe (the one directly left of the deep green. And I'm not 100% about the "Monterey" part - hard to read in that pic and i honestly don't remember)

So here's a few pics of our choices, though I'm not sure they're done justice - the master bath tile looks much, much lighter in the pics than it does in person, so I've added a couple directly from the manufacturers site.

The waiting is the hardest part

We actually chose the model we wanted to build, chose our lot and signed the papers back on April 30. But we were hesitant to start blogging about this experience until we got our approval from NVR Mortgage. Didn't want to jinx anything. So finally on June 7, after weeks and weeks of waiting, after providing them with everything but our firstborn's birth certificate, after many anxious calls & emails - we got the news we'd been waiting for! Woo-hooo!

We're building the Ravenna - elevation C, partial brick front (standard in our community), morning room, finished basement with full bath, cul-de-sac lot. I've attached a picture of the "sold" sign that we took the day we signed...it still looks exactly like that now except that a backhoe has removed a large chunk of dirt. I guess they're going to be contacting us about a pre-construction meeting before any building is started. But since we signed on 4/30, we've chosen flooring & cabinets & counters, picked exterior colors, met with Guardian (wiring company), decided on upgrades, changed upgrades, and now it seems we're in a bit of a holding pattern. Hurry up and wait is what it feels like. Being patient is excruciating sometimes!!