POD day!!

Wow its finally here - the day our POD is delivered!! It seemed like a long way away when we first booked it. So far the process has been relatively painless - we called and booked, they confirmed with hubby yesterday that it would arrive today between 8:45 and 11:45 - we didn't even need to be here for the delivery. Yet here I sit, as by true Jen nature, I was up most of the night worried. Yep that's right! Worried that it wouldn't fit in the driveway, worried they would hit the house when they dropped it off, worried that they would hit the neighbour's car etc etc...luckily, my boss is pretty accommodating and i was able to email in that I had to take the morning off to be here. (If you are reading this, thank you.)

So here I sit anxiously waiting - they had better ring the doorbell!!

****

Ok, so my worrying was needless. Its a pretty cool system that i needed to see for myself to be comfortable with the process.
I think I may have freaked the delivery driver out as I almost started to cry - we are really leaving. This is the begining of everything that is going to change for us over the next few months....AND I am so not ready!! Hormonal much??!?!

Construction Process - Week 3 (hopefully only 23 more to go...)

This week, we signed off on our colour choices – I will have to post some pics later as I had everything pulled and put back so efficiently that I forgot to take pictures. We went with black, whites and greys. I think it’s going to look really clean. This is good incentive to keep the house clean too!

I am super excited as I have already begun to think about how to decorate. We inherited a great pair of vases from one of Hubby's Aunts. I am loving the colours in them so i figure i will use it as inspiration for the colour scheme of the main level.

My inspiration vase:

Some fabrics I LOVE:

I have also started a list of projects I’d like to complete for the new place (as if having a baby wasn’t enough!) My Grandma gave me an awesome antique chair that I am going to paint and recover. The plan is to paint the wood white and then find some kind of dark grey print or lush charcoal velvet to cover it with. I picture silver nail heads in there somewhere. I hear the city offers some great upholstery classes so it will be my project!

Here’s a before of the chair:

This is what i hope the chair will become:

This is my dream bed(room):

I have thought of making one like it, but I am not sure that is project I want to tackle. And I have priced out the foam and some fabric and I think in the long run, it might just be less expensive to buy the bed as it is. Hubs likes it too so I think we may just treat ourselves and get it as our anniversary present! I love the look of the room in the picture too, although I don’t think the mirrored side tables are going to work with little ones running around - finger print magnet!! I think we will definitely put some wall paper up on the wall behind our bed as an accent. I am going to wait until we move in to get a “feel” for what I like.

I am still on the hunt for the “perfect” coffee table that I can turn into an ottoman. I am finding out this is no easy task. I am looking for something square, that isn’t going to break the bank (like I am thinking under $40) and it has to have nice looking legs. We are thinking of getting a sectional for the family room so I want something to sit in front that can accommodate feet, and a tray for drinks and snacks (hopefully not at the same time!).

My last thought is on what to do in the eating area. I am thinking of building a banquet to go either along the wall (which I guess would be more like a bench with lots of pillows) or an L shaped one that would go along the breakfast bar (we would kind of block off the breakfast bar) and down the wall. I already have the table (I am going to get my mom and dad’s kitchen table) so its just a matter of figuring out how to build it – whether its from scratch or if I buy some cabinetry from Ikea or something like that. Again, I think that project will have to wait until we are in the house to figure out.

So much to think about…I should really be thinking about packing since the POD arrives in a couple of weeks…oh yes, but this is so much more fun!!

Here are some recent pictures of the house (taken May 28^th):

Oh yes, and i forgot to mention this project. I am going to try to take pictures of the trucks that are frequent visitors to our contruction site and blow them up to frame for the boys' rooms. Here's the first one:

I am going to need some new shoes...

I am cluster blogging today. Sorry….I have lots to share but I am just not sure where the time goes….

Our builder has this thing on their website called a customer portal. You enter in your lot number and subdivision and up pops a status on your house. Since the day we got the email from the builder to say our permit has been picked up, I have been madly checking it on a daily basis (ok maybe a little more frequently then that…) to see that little green check mark next to the building permit pick up. It’s funny, because I already knew that the permit had been picked up, but I just wanted the affirmation that little green checkmark brings…

Well, last Friday it finally happened. The green checkmark was there!! And not only next to the building permit pick up, but there was a second one next to foundation started as well. WHAT?!?! HOLD THE PHONE. Building permit and foundation?!?! At the same time??? Nooooo that can’t be right – its too soon!! According to the purchase agreement, they don’t need to start until closer to the end of May. Nope. It’s a mistake. I showed Hubby and he confirms it, the green check mark is wrong….

Unfortunately this little tidbit of news caught us with our pants down, and we already had a fully booked weekend that did not include a drive out to see the lot. So I waited patiently until Wednesday evening when we could drive out there and confirm that it was indeed a mistake.

As we drove down our new street, and pull up over the bridge (about 75m from our place), we see a large pile of dirt, still doubtful (and probably trying to prepare me for the worst) Hubs turns to me and says: “See its not ours, it our neighbours, they did make a mistake” As we keep driving slowly, we pass lot 22, 21, and then we see it. The footings are in at lot 20!!!!! OMG!!! It’s true…they REALLY have started!

In all my glory, I jump out of the car to start taking pictures which I hope you enjoy because I had to sacrifice a good pair of shoes to get them.

Front:

Back:

First timer, no more!!

Two weeks ago (has it been that long already?!?!), we got the email from the builder to say that our building permit had been picked up! I will never forget the moment I checked my email and it popped into my inbox – it hit me like a ton of bricks! My first thought was sheer excitement and the internal peace of knowing that we aren’t going to have to spend 2 years waiting for this place. But another wave of emotions came over me too – we are leaving the little brown house and I find that kind of sad. It’s our first house. We brought our first baby home here. We bought our first “grown-up” furniture to fit this place. I agonized over every little detail and now we are leaving.

One thing that does bring a bit of comfort is the people we sold it to. It’s their first home too so I know that they are just as excited as we were to be moving in here. From the moment they walked in the front door the first time, I could tell – they will take care of it and love it as much as we did. So, in actual fact, it’s like we are passing the torch to the next person. Great. Now I just feel old!

Updates!

We got the pricing back on the tiles for the ensuite. I am happy to report that we are going with our desired option - the MOP, glass and marble tile as the accent to the bands in the shower and tub surround. YAY!!

I have still made no headway on figuring out the appliances. We had better get to it as we only have a week left to decide...

On a happy note, while i was completely against it at first, we had some good reasons to find out the gender of the baby....so we did and its a BOY!! We are beyond thrilled!! From what I hear, I think there is a surplus of boys on our new street, which makes hubs happy that he wont have to worry about them all wanting to date a daughter and there will be lots of "guys" around to play street hockey with!!

One step forward, one step back

I am sad to report that we will not be getting a wall oven :( I had the kitchen place make a sketch for me (ok they didnt really make it for me - i am sure they had it on file...) and our kitchen is just not a wall oven type. At least for now. Yep that's right, i am already planning my 5 year 20 year reno plan. I want to delete the wall in the kitchen which is a load bearing wall, put in a new beam and open it up to the family room. I want to then extend the kitchen into the eating area and add a great big island. Ahh dreaming is so much fun!

In the end, its fine that the kitchen is not a wall oven type - i hear they make induction ranges, so i may still be able to get my new pots!

Our ensuite is coming along nicely, interms of colours. We have picked out this week's colour options - which i think are the ones that are going to stick!

This is my inspiration picture:














Here is what we went with:

Cupboards: Ebony in the flat pannel door (its about $400 to do the upgrade, but i love the rich colour of this stain)
Floor: is a marble looking tile
Shower: We are having a few options costed out for us. They all revolve around an 8x20 rectangle tile in "white". The first is to have 3 bands of an accent tile (its mini rectangles in mother of pearl, glass and marble). The second is to have 3 bands of an all glass mosaic tile in shades of grey. The third, my budget choice is to have the 8x20 rectangle done in a brick pattern. As usual, we will wait to see how the pricing goes...
Tub deck and wall: we chose a white tile with a bit of a shiney streak running through it and for the wall, it will be the 8x20 rectangle with hopefully a band of the accent tile running through it.

Here is a picture of our selections:

Top to Bottom:
1) L: Mother of Pearl, Glass and Marble
R: Bliss Glass Mosaic (Midnight)
2)L: 8 x20 white shower wall tile
R: Counter Top Rock of Ages
3) L: Tub Deck and Skirt
R: Cupboard Birch in Ebony
4) Floor Tile

Do Magnets Stick to Your Pots?

Refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers…oh my! This is my status on facebook tonight. At first it was supposed to be funny, kinda like lions, tigers and bears…oh my! But reading it over, it’s started to freak me out. When I picked appliances the first time it was no big deal – I found what I wanted and bought it. We had an appliance allowance from the builder (and an amazing friend) so it made things a little way less expensive. I was able to get a beautiful Jenn-Air fridge and fancy Jenn-air stove and an awesome GE Profile dishwasher. This time I have a budget, sort of. Practical me knows how much I want to spend but spendy me wants to triple it.

As an aside here, I took a interest inventory test at work and I got the results back this week. Culinary Arts is my second highest interest (first is taxes and accounting – I am going to be a cooking accountant!) I’d be investing in my interest if I got the super cool appliances – some people pick photography, others pick camping, me I pick my kitchen. Now I just have to convince Hubby of this!

I am like a crack addict when I go to an appliance store and I am sure the sales people see me coming. The sales guy starts in on the amazing benefits of an induction cook top. How it cooks like gas with even and immediate heat but is electric; how it’s cool to the touch (awesome if you have kids you know!) And on and on. Practical me says: but won’t I have to get special pots?(meanwhile spendy me says pots smots, you could use a new set!!) Oh no he replys, if magnets stick to your old pots, you won’t have a problem. So the first thing I do when I get home? Run to the cupboard and pull out a pot to see if a magnet will stick – NO it doesn’t. Looks like I will have buy new pots! Looks like we aren’t getting an induction range.

I am hoping that appliance wholesaler that the builder works with will come through with some good deals but I am not holding my breath!