Moving Right Along

So everything is moving fairly smoothly. We had a bump in the road earlier this week when the Mortgage guy called and told me that we didn't qualify for the USDA Rural Housing Loan (where we wouldn't have to make a down payment or pay Private Mortgage Insurance) because we make too much money. I never thought that I would ever be denied something for making too much money. How ridiculous! Our only option now is to apply for and FHA housing loan (which bears a greatly lower down payment requirement than conventional loans at 3.5%). After a near meltdown (on my part, not Mike's), we spent the latter part of the week coming up with down payment money. We got that all taken care of and now things are back on track again. We picked out carpet on Tuesday and that should be installed on April 2, and the air conditioner was installed sometime this week. I've also been window shopping for appliances all week...

Mike and I went to the house this afternoon. I wanted to measure for window treatments and appliances. We also wanted to check out all the changes. It already looks a lot different. Most of the trim has been installed. It looks a lot more finished and like a real house.

We also got a chance to meet one of the neighbors; the wife on the east side. Her name is Brandy (or Brandi). She was excited to have neighbors. She asked if we had kids and was a little sad that we didn't. Her son, Brandon (8), stepped outside and Brandy told him we were the new neighbors and we didn't have kids. Brandon was back inside as quickly as he had come out. It was actually kind of funny. The neighbors also have 2 dogs, a boxer(?) named Odin and a bull dog(?) named Gidget. Cute dogs, barked like crazy, but they're inside most of the time. The neighbors are also very eager to go in halvsies on a fence. They've been living there almost 2 years and have had a "chicken wire" fence up temporarily until some neighbors moved in. Brandy said that they have been through the house (they often left it unlocked during construction), and she loves the dining room. I told her thats one of the reasons I fell in love with this house.

I took a TON more pictures today. This may seem kind of repetitive, but hopefully, you can see the changes... Tomorrow, I'm taking mom, dad, grandma, Sachi and Kamron to see the house. If there's any more progress, I'll take more pictures.

Brad put up the "SOLD" sign today. Yay!

Front entry. I didn't realize how big the coat closet was before. It's going to be great for our Christmas Eve parties.

Front window. 95" wide. The window treatment for this one is going to cost a fortune. I'll be searching for a deal on this one forever.
I like the tile on the fireplace. Fairly neutral. This should go with just about anything.
Front bedroom.
Back bedroom.
Master bedroom.
Master bathroom. Identical to the main bathroom.
Both bathroom sinks are the same. Pretty standard...
Dining room. I forgot to get a picture of this last week. Its huge! I would like to buy the sideboard that matches our dining room table and maybe a china cabinet.... but that's a ways off.
Kitchen. The sink and garbage disposal will be installed soon and you can see the trim and doors are going up.
Kitchen countertop. I don't think the lighting is right. It is really more beige/tan.
Just a drawer...
Or is it? I love love love having a pull out cutting board. Its one of my favorite things about this apartment. It adds quite a bit of counter space and is a perfect place for making sandwiches.
Lazy Susan. There are two. This is the larger one. I can't stand that the hinge is on the right. Every time I've tried to open it, I go for the wrong side. I think I'll ask the builder if they can change it and the cupboard that is above it.
Small pantry.
Large pantry.
Master closet.
Ceiling texture.
Door to the attic and standard bedroom/hall/closet light fixture.
Cable/Phone box in the garage. This is where the cable and phone comes into the house and splits into the rest of the house. We won't be having land line phones, so we're going to turn the phone jacks into "cat5" jacks to network the whole house. The phone cables are actually "cat5" cables so we won't have to go into the crawlspace and run new cables. Bonus!