More Siding

And one of my fabulous red shutters is up.  When I first drove up to the house today I kept wondering why my house looked so strange.  Then I noticed she had only set of eyelashes (shutters) in place.

In fact, it looks like they ran out of siding.  I could be wrong, but in any case I am starting to see my colors come together.  Now just imagine, my door the same color as my shutters?  What do you think?  

I also noticed workers delivering a ton of stuff from an over sized truck.  I wonder what goodies they brought this time?  New reason to check out my home this weekend. 

We have stakes!

I decided to drive by our lot today. Okay, so since the new home is about 30 minutes away from our current home its technically not a 'drive by" but you get the point.  And it looks like they staked out the lot!  Unfortunately the forecast for rain on Monday has moved from 60% chance of rain to 80% chance of rain  :/  And maybe some snow flurries later in the week!  I hate bipolar weather

Now if look you look closely at the upper left corner, you will see that our neighbors have decided to place a playground set at the property line.  Not quite sure why they did that but I am pretty they are going to wish they hadn't. With construction starting soon and the fact that RH will have to regrade our lot, it will probably cause an issue with the setting of the play ground.  That is also the place where our sump pump will drain.  I wonder if they placed it there to help them remember the property line markings?  I will have to ask them at the next community event.  

Pre Construction Meeting- The Results

The pre construction meeting was rather productive.  Our PM (who has done this for 10 years but our house will be his first home in this community) caught a few mistakes in the selections and layout.  We were quite surprised that our free elevation came with a bay window for the living room, yes!

Another surprise- building permits are already in hand as long as it doesn't rain on Monday, we will be breaking ground on November 24th!  I was quite prepared to wait another 2 weeks.  No turning back now  :)

Settlement is projected to be at the end of March.  I need to ask if that pushes our first mortgage payment out to June. 

Kitchen

-how big is the island? We have a morning room hoping that the standard island will be on the larger side Resolved- change order for gourmet island submitted and accepted

how big is the refrigerator cabinet? trying to buy the largest refrigerator that can easily fit in this area 

The space for the refrigerator is 40- 41 inches wide, Plenty of room

50/50 or 60/40 sink Neither- 70/30 with the garbage disposal on the smaller sink

what is the model of the appliances? GE Profile- mid level

Do the cabinets come with sliding shelves?  Noticed this all the models have this feature would like to know if this comes standard with the cabinets YES!

Mudroom

can we have the light switch on the inside of the mudroom No need, 2 three way switches installed, one on the inside of the mud room and one on the garage side

is the bead board included over the bench? Didn't ask

Family room

where are the outlets located Every 12 feet with a little wiggle room

does the family room have recessed lights NO

Owner's Bedroom

can we put an outlet with a dedicated switch on the tray ceiling ledge Maybe- ask again when the electrician begins work

Are there recessed lights in the hallway/ archway? Yes

Can we move an outlet to the master closet? Possible- ask again with electrician

are there lights in the walk in closet? Yes

We are planning on installing a closet system- will this be a problem for our 10 month  drywall inspection? No problem

Bathrooms

does the towel bars come in the bathrooms? Where are they located? Didn't ask

Where is the toilet paper holder located? Didn't ask

Is there a shower rod in the hall bath? Yes

Exterior

How wide is the driveway 18 feet

Where are the hose bibs located Chose location while at the meeting (my husband picked the spots)

Where will the egress window be placed, Had egress location moved to were a walk out door would normally be

Placement of the basement windows in relation to the deck Only one additional window with no option to add others  :(

How big is the buffer- how much yard will it take up? 25 feet- we have a walking trail in our community and our lot is right beside it.  The buffer is trees that Ryan will plant and take care of on our property 

Laundry Room

How big is the laundry space?  What size washer and dryer can I feasibly fit into this space? 

Would the laundry door to swing OUT- so the door will not have to be closed while doing laundry
How high are the vents and the water valves placed (I'm short) Mixed bag on this one, the door is 28 inches, we can not move the valves to a different height and they will not change the door so that it will swing out.  I will ask again about the door- makes no sense to say no. 

Dining Room

Is the tray ceiling included? No and no option to add, previously a standard  but was removed

Is the columns between the living room and the dining included Yes, currently a standard in the CG

How will the tile in the bathroom be laid?  Can we get the tile in the hall bath to be laid at a diagonal?  This would add interest to all the white tile we placed in there  Grid style, diagonal request should have been made with flooring and tile selection

Starting to look at furniture purchases.  How wide is the door frame with the door in place? Is it easy to remove and replace the door if we have to? 36 inches, Mud room is 28 inches and basement door is 26 inches!

What exactly is included in Trim Package #3?  Does it comes with the wainscoting in the dining room and up the steps?  Easy fix if it doesn't 2 piece crown molding through, chair rail throughout, paneling in the dining room

How far in advance do you schedule pre drywall and pre settlement meetings?  I need to be able to time the arrival our own inspectors.  Will call us to let us know when we can schedule

Which rooms get locks? Didn't ask

As for any left over tiling and flooring (handy for decorating,paint choices and repairs) Yes

The CG model in DE had storage under the basement stairs- will we also have that? No- will not pass inspection if it is not dry wall and it is not an option in the home.  I think I will bring the contractors a case of beer. 

How big are the ledges in the shower?  The ones we saw in the model in MD was rather small.  Can we make them bigger? Very small, intended for a foot not for a butt, cannot make them bigger.

Where is the access door  to the attic located?  Can it be moved to the laundry? Located in front bedroom

We are considering installing our under cabinet lights- can an outlet be moved into inside a cabinet to hide the wires? No

Dehumidifier- yay or nay?  What size and brand is best to accommodate the size of our basement? No to dehumidifier but recommends whole house humidifier for wood floors and some of the hand made furniture.  Recommends Aprilaire

A little about my family

It's November 1st and we are still waiting to break ground  :(.  Building permits and underwriting of loans (ours apparently is going pretty smooth) is taking up most of this time.

SO.........
I decided to give you guys a quick run down on my family to kind of pass the time.

I have known my husband for nearly 15 years, married life has taken up 7 of those years.  I married a super intelligent man and I like it that way.  And I love how he keeps his major promises (changing the light bulb is a work in progress).  Year after year he tells me what he is going to accomplish for himself and for us as a family.  And year after year he exceeds expectations.  Yes, he drives me nuts when he gets a clean cup for a drink rather than re using the one he JUST finished drinking from and so nicely left on the table, but I think he does it just to see if he can drive me crazy.   I can honestly say marrying him is the best decision I have ever made.

We are college graduates with master degrees in our fields: he is a software engineer and I am a pediatric physician assistant.  We absolutely love what we do which made finding a home a hard choice.
I moved to Philly in 2002 to start my graduate coursework.  A few months after graduating and finally getting a job in my career I discovered I was pregnant with our first son.  And thus begin the spiral of  I don't have time for myself.  It wasn't until recently that I truly felt established in my career and developed some friendships where I could truly be myself.  I took root.  My husband on the other hand is a free spirit.  California is the way to go, he would tell me.  This after he took a job in New York and wanted us to move there. Notice the spots he loved are big tech areas- places where he would definitely feel at home.  I hate change and I just had this feeling of my well established life being ripped away from me every time he peppered me with questions of why I didn't want to move so far.   In the end, I got my way and after the children are out the house, I will happily follow him anywhere he wants to go.

Our first son, SC, is a dream boat.  I am not being biased here although as his mother I have every right to be. We have always been told that we should have him model and had we not been so busy paying bills, we probably would have established his career by now.  I have a thing about sharing too many pics of my kids so don't expect to many here either, you just have to trust me.  SC was 2 1/2 when he started having seizures.  We took him to the best doctors we could find and for another 2 1/2 years we had no answers.  None of his seizure activity would show up on EEGs but he would consistently have them one right after the other, sometimes up to 40- 50 seizures a day.  He had to wear a helmet because he would have drop seizures (where he would lose all muscle tone and fall but wake up as he was about to hit what ever hard object was in the way).  At one point he was on 6 different medications with no relief.  We were referred to a specialist of the specialist.  She listened to his medical history intently and afterwards, put her finger to her lips and then pointed at him and said "I think he has Doose Syndrome"  Wait? What? After all this time, we have a name for his condition?!  SC was a complicated case because he didn't have just one type of seizure.  He had every seizure you ever read about in the medical books: Generalized, partial, staring spells, walking in circles, drop attacks, yelling.....  My son had it all.  Now we had a name to his collection of seizures, otherwise know as Myoclonic-Astatic Epilepsy, but do we have a cure?  Not a cure- but better meds had just hit the market and better yet HE CAN GROW OUT OF IT.  There is a lot that I am leaving out BUT his seizures have been under control for a little over 2 years now, and he is down to 2 medications.  At this point we are working with the fall out from having seizures so young in life and currently have him in a private school to help with reading while encouraging his strengths in science and math.

Little did I know, that while my first born was going through the fight of his little life, I was pregnant with number two.  Yep, MC, was born in the middle of chaos- his brother was ill and Philly had record snowfalls. I'm talking 30 inch drops within in 2 weeks of each other plus other "smaller" snow storms.  I kind of think, MC likes it that way.  He is a smart, strong willed (read as stubborn) little man that is going to take the world by storm. We just have to finish raising him first.  While my other son is peaceful and the big compromiser, MC is all about bull dozing his way through,  We call him the body guard as he doesn't take kindly to anyone messing with his family.   Thankfully he only has asthma, something I can manage quite well between me and his doctors and yet another illness that he could be finished with by time childhood is a distant memory.  For those of you who say "only asthma?!", I say after going through the hell of trying to help my oldest with his seizures with no real answers in sight for YEARS,  yes "only" is the perfect word to use.  He is already learning how to read and he starts kindergarten next year.

We also have a cat named Fuzzles.  He was a rescue cat and named by SC.  He appears to be a Siamese mix.  He is a fierce about protecting his home (he snuck out the other day to give the stray cat that's been stalking our house a good swat) and of course refuses to listen about not sitting on the furniture or the laundry.  We are a little concerned over our new hardwood floors and carpet as he still has his claws and he will not let me trim them.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated (unless you say declawed- that is NOT an option)

If any more children get added to the equation- it will be adoption.  My pregnancies are high risk and busy career does not make it easier.  With both pregnancies, I was told to slow down. Uhm yeah, tell that to all the sick kids or over anxious mothers I help daily.  And I am so type A, that would NEVER work.  Besides we could be a very loving home to a child who would have otherwise not had that option.  My husband is still voting for both another pregnancy and adoption. ;)

UGGHHH!

Two things:  I changed the title of the blog.  My husband did not like the original title and I must admit it was a bit unoriginal.  I might leave the url the same.

AND- I am desperately trying to find an example of our exterior color choices.  I mean I FOUND an example of our exterior color choices and even showed my husband.  And it was so easy, the first time.  For the life of me I cannot, I mean CAN NOT find that image again.  I know it was a still from a video so I have been scanning all the Ryan home vids and I have yet to find anything.
I would have been happy and tossed my desperate search to the side had I been allowed to snap a photo of our color scheme from the book, but my husband wouldn't let me.  The kids and I tend to linger when ever we go to the model home and he wanted to be home in time for the Eagles game (after we took the kids trick or treating of course.  Yes on a Sunday)

Thus I am a maniac trying to find THE image again.  I think they even had our stone!  (Totally different community. So far we seem to be only one who have picked the Spanish olive siding).

SO- if anyone in blog land can find the color scheme from Ryan Homes with Spanish Olive siding, fiery red shutters and French Roast exterior colors  PLEASE POST A LINK!!!!!

Please and thank you.

Structural Addendum Dilemma

"I've been thinking" is the phrase I have come to dread hearing from my husband during this whole process.  It normally means its something that I will not like.   And this time when he said it, I was totally in dismay.  Until this time all he wanted to do was add windows and a garage service door.

This time he gave a whole list of changes that HE wanted:  keep the windows, get the brick veneer with full porch, get a standard owner's bathroom, add a sitting room, move the house back to lot 41 and REMOVE the morning room.  Excuse me? 

I tried to remain calm, I tried to be reasonable.  His reasoning for removing the morning room:  we don't need it.  Okay this isn't a house about needs, this is a dream home and we put what we WANT in it.  I want that morning room.  We can afford it so let's get it. 

I avoided the conversation again until we had to submit our requests to the SR.  "What do you want me to tell the SR"  His response:"Well you know what I want but you won't listen to me"  Wife translation:  Do what you want.

So I submitted the changes for the additional window and the service door. 

Fast forward to Family Day at the community and we went to sign the paperwork for the changes and to meet a few of our new neighbors.  We walk into the sales office at the model, the addendum was placed before us, he reads it, shakes his head, and says "I'm not signing it."  My head was reeling, he really wanted to take away the morning room from me.

I walked outside and he followed me trying to argue his point, but I kept walking and I wouldn't turn around.  I kept walking right off the community site and right into the surrounding neighborhood. I discovered the park that is situated behind our new house and I sat in one of the swings.  I cried.  My heart was so heavy that I couldn't breath.  Now a few of you may say I am bit dramatic but I knew if I didn't get this morning room there would be no way to get it later.  I just had to convey that to him and I needed time to think without getting super emotional in front of him.  I needed to think, so I sat and swung for the next 45 minutes or so.  

I started a slow walk back, dreading the next conversation.  That's when he texted me to come back so we could sign the paperwork.  What?!   YIPPEE!   I later discovered that my neighbors talked him into it after they discovered I disappeared  in disagreement.  I love my new neighbors.   

Structural changes and NVR Meeting

We set our meeting with NVR 4 days later.  In the meantime our SR was trying to pressure us to have any structural changes ready by Wednesday.  Don't let them do this to you!  You have a full week and after much back and forth between me and the husband we finally requested that we be given our full 7 days.  See we purchased on our Courtland Gate based on the floor plan alone (insert gulp here).  The nearest model was about 1 hour away and we hadn't seen it yet.  More on that later

The NVR meeting was set to happen at the model in our community.  We came prepared.  Both I and my husband had been doing our homework.  Something I suggest you do if you are planning to purchase a home, new construct or resale.  This doesn't just mean saving for a down payment (which is actually the least of your worries) but checking your credit and fixing any problems, pay down debt and begin gathering documentation.  In our case, I knew our debt to income ratio.  And I knew that our buying a home would not be contingent on selling our current home, because our DTI was very low.  Check this link to help figure out your DTI: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/why-debt-to-income-matters-in-mortgages-1.aspx  I suggest that you calculate your DTI before hand, this information will be used later to fill out any mortgage paperwork.  

Now don't get me wrong- our credit is not "stellar".  I have a ton student loans, but all my bills were paid on time giving me a close to excellent  FICO score.  My husband also has his share of snafus, but he had been working on showing a good payment history and removing any erroneous reports on his credit report.   To this end, I suggest you actually purchase the service of credit monitoring service.  Can't afford it then try this:  www.creditkarma.com.  It is free, just have to deal with upsale attempts but nothing too intrusive.  

Our meeting went very smoothly and we spent most of the time just randomly talking.  

Now back to viewing the model- we rushed to Delaware on a Tuesday after I got out of work.  What a nightmare!  We had to rush to get my youngest from pre school- who decided to have an "accident" that had to be cleaned up before we could get on the road.  Then of course, there was traffic.  Ever traveled 95 south after work?  Unless you have time to kill I wouldn't suggest you do it.  We got there with 5 minutes to spare and did a quick walk through.  My thoughts:  my home is going to be beautiful!  My husband's thoughts:  our house is way too big, we need to downsize.

Uh oh. 

Lot 41 turns into Lot 14

We sat down with our SR to price out our home and we were told we could have the Courtland Gate.   Yay!  We were going to be an original in the community (more on that later).

So we upgraded our Courtland Gate, and we upgraded.   And after all that upgrading we discovered that our design would not fit on our preferred lot. What are we going to do now?  Our SR gave us a list of available lots that would fit our chosen layout.  Call me selfish, but  I wanted a lot where we didn't share a backyard with our neighbors.

Dutifully we checked out the other sites, in the end we chose lot 14 at double the price of our original lot.

What made this new lot just right?  It was situated right at the beginning to the proposed walking trail (this trail will lead right to the park that was behind the community) which meant we would pretty much get upgraded landscaping for free, at least along that edge of the property. Now I will miss the ability to have a walkout basement but having a daylight basement is cool as well.  And if we are so inclined we can shell out a few thousand dollars and make our daylight basement a walkUP basement.

Pssstttt- I will be posting a list of our options and upgrades soon.  We got a really good deal! (or at least I hope so)