Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Cross Your Fingers

I know that many of you have heard about the delays with closing on the house and the added stress, but hopefully if all goes well today we will be closing in the afternoon. No more window shopping for us. Today we walk in and buy this house, finally.


Today this empty lot becomes all ours,


Where we make our new home and new memories,


Where the outlook is bright and unfiltered hope guides us towards our future.

We are looking forward to having everyone out to the house once we get a little settled.  And on a side note to all of the craziness, I saw it is supposed to rain for the first time in months on our moving day. When life gives you limes, make margaritas.  And I will for you, but only if you come help us since I hurt my back and cannot really lift anything.  No it was not planned - see lime comment.!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Way too much free time

Very rarely am I so blunt about other people's craft projects, but this is totally dubya.tee.eff.  For the record I was on Etsy ordering a new address stamp when I thought I would search 'Goldendoodle' to see what they had for sale. OH.MY.GOD. is all I can say.  I am sorry, but I feel I must share my horror with you.  I wonder how many of these this person sells.  Be sure to read the description thoroughly.  For the record the picture below is a goldendoodle.  See also the Team Leader's page.


Monday, August 22, 2011

Life is not perfect...

We are getting ever so close to closing sometime next week, and moving over Labor Day.  Everyone cross your fingers and hope the stars and moon align for us!

I actually went to the big storage unit this weekend for the first time and visited all of our furniture because I missed it so much!  Just kidding!  We were looking for a couple of items we knew were easily accessible. 

On a funny note about moving, we were having dinner with a few of the Blair family members Saturday night, and Louise told us a funny story from their days of moving frequently because of work.  The story goes that one day they went to storage, like us, to find something, and her young son saw some of his toys, etc and all of their furniture sitting in the storage unit.  He looks up at her and asks 'Is this is our new home?'  Some days I share his sentiment about not knowing where we live. 

This weekend we also went to the house and finally got to see the appliances in all their glory.  Slowly, but surely...


MMPH - Makes me pretty happy!  I am ready to start baking!  I have no idea who the fingers at the top right belong to, though.


I changed things up and added another single oven along with the microwave so we have added capacity for baking more fattening desserts that violate all of the NN's core principles.


I never would have guessed how happy this would make me, but Time makes you bolder, Children get older, I am getting older too.  (Name that song!)


And another happiness of the weekend was my brother standing in my kitchen. Many people do not know that I have a brother because he is so quiet.  But every now and then he breaks out with something like the quote below when I married NN, and he makes me smile because the quiet facade is perfectly him.  He speaks only when he needs to say something of value.

Life is not perfect and neither are we, but all you can do is try your best, and life will do the same.


(Sorry for the blurriness of the pics.  I did not realize the camera was messing up until after I got home.)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Rain Delay, Figuratively Speaking

We made it through the entire house building experience without any weather-related delays.  And then we began dealing with the world's slowest mortgage company.  So since we are not closing until next month even though the house has been complete for 2 weeks, and no I am in no way joking, here are some pics from this summer.



Captain Save-a-ho & NN hanging on the pier.  Fifty Cent is that you hanging out on the San Bernard?


The Team Leader finally got a backyard, and a yummy stick thanks to our temporary housing!


She also maintained her level of high maintenance.  Please note this is very typical for her to ride in NN's lap on the boat.


Daredevil Barbour girl.  This one has no fear and tried several different towables and the knee board.


Even Millie got in on the fun at the river.



The Barbour girls had so much fun that they started smack-talking NN, which is never a good idea.  Trust me I speak from experience.


We saw wildlife in the front yard of the house in New Braunfels where we stayed.


NN 'cooking' at the Salt Lick in Driftwood.  Reminds me of the Grist Mill, except the whole in the middle-of-nowhere thing.


After drinking too much salty river water and getting sick, this is the only swimming she is doing for the rest of the season.


The Team Leader learned to blend in with the furniture, by far her best achievement to date, I think. 

So if you are still reading this, thank you!  I promise I am going to put together more entertaining posts for the interim until we get closer to moving.  Email me with suggestions or recipes for new posts - littlemissfajita@yahoo.com.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Playing with Blue Tape

Earlier this week we, I use that term loosely, spent almost 4 hours combing through the house and looking for any tiny little imperfection.  Now for the record I normally win the Miss Attention to Detail award, but on walk-through day, the award went to NN and Cody the Construction Manager hands down. I was almost in tears watching them pain-stakingly go room by room looking at menutia that will not matter because I am not sure I am going to visit said rooms on a regular basis.  Here are some of the items that I have yet to show you because they were not done until now.


Just what every one needs....a working fireplace in August.


The blinds are finally in!  These are necessary in August, and to keep relatives out.


Yay for the non-giant-sized vanity.  I even got a nifty mirror to go with it.  You can't see the blue tape, but the plumber lost the drain stopper.  I am guessing there is some kind of black market for those types of items where top dollar is obtained, since it is ludicrous that it is missing for any other reason.


See the blue tape?  There are approximately 5,236 more pieces scattered on walls throughout the house.  I am only responsible for 5.


More blue tape = 4 hours of time I will never get back.
I wanted to crawl in the tub, and tell them to come get me when they were done.
 

So when are we moving in you ask?  That is a great question considering I heard that the final piece of the puzzle, the appliances, went in on Wednesday.  Blame our mortage company, who is making it impossible to schedule movers, cable, utilities, my sanity being restored, etc.  Poor planning and crappy work ethic should not be my problem, do you hear me Ashton Woods Mortgage Company?  As of right now my best guess is somewhere around the 26th of this month, hopefully.

Monday, August 8, 2011

NN's Birthday Weekend

Because it's Monday and I am running behind, and because I love my mom and she asked, I am deviating from house posts today and posting some pics from NN's birthday at the riverhouse, and the recipe for his birthday cake.  Hopefully I will have some more house pics soon.  Also one of these days I am going to post pics of the baking process.  Someday.


The birthday boy opening his presents.  He says that his birthday should be celebrated all month long.  I told him not to hold his breath on that one.


They only posed for this because I threatened everyone with the 'no cake if you don't do what I say' tool I like to use to get things done.  Seems to work well.


She's not spoiled at all,


She just knows what she wants!


Handsome man and his grandpa sitting on a pretty comforter.


Tollhouse Cake

1  Box Yellow Cake Mix
2  Tubs of Chocolate Frosting
1-2 Bags of Mini Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar

Make cake as directed on package for 2 8-inch round cakes. 

Once they have cooled completely, then slice the cakes in half horizontally, so that you now have 4 layers of cake.  Place the first layer on the plate and frost with chocolate icing.  Now the next step is to sprinkle the top of the layer with the mini chocolate chips, but you could also mix them into the frosting first, your choice.  Repeat this process for the remaining layers.  If you have not already done so, frost the sides of the cake.  Once that is complete, pat the brown sugar onto the sides.  Place in the fridge to setup, and it seems it actually worked better all around to keep it in the fridge. 

A word of caution is that this cake fools you into thinking you need a huge piece.  WRONG!  A little goes a long way because of all the chocolate chips in the icing layers.  Milk is strongly encouraged!

*Now I know some of you may be shocked at the 'boxed' ingredients, but some times it is not worth the extra effort.  How ever if you feel compelled to make this from scratch, I will be happy to come over and eat a piece with you!*

Friday, August 5, 2011

Happy Birthday NN!!!!

Today Houston's leading fitness and nutrition expert celebrates the last birthday of his 30s. I can't believe how quickly time goes by.  It seems like just yesterday he was stalking me trying to gain the courage to ask me out and start this crazy roller coaster we live! The Team Leader and I love you very much, and hope your weekend is super relaxing!  <3


Monday, August 1, 2011

Punch List

Why is it called a Punch List?  Is it because by the end of it all you really want to punch someone?  In any event we are finally down to all the little punch list items.  Also our inspector comes this week, so that should be enlightening.  Below are just a few of the wonderful items that need to be corrected.


Not sure why, but the AC drain line is clogged and creating havoc on the side of the house. 


This is one of my favorites....the granite in the kitchen which is the size of a bed has a score mark across it.  Not sure how they are going to correct that one. 


The cabinet looks fine at first glance, right?  Well numb nuts at the design center raised my vanity to the same giant height as the Nutrition Nazi's vanity.  I need a step stool to wash my hands. We are waiting for the new one to come in.


So I almost had a heart attack when I saw this.  I mean I know we have to be safe, but who wants a red smoke detector?  Then I was told it is a dust cover.  Ok..I over-reacted a little.


This complaint goes to the Nutrition Nazi.  These are our bushes in our backyard NOW.  However a few weeks ago he had the landscaping crew come back and rip out 30 holly bushes in the back because they hurt when you brush up against them. I can't believe they agreed to do it.  Great job NN!

The list could go on and on with all of the little crap that still remains, like the grading of the yard sucks, or the dead bush in the back, or the missing garage door opener, but we (ok really me) have to take a step back and remember that in less than a month it will all be done and we will no longer be roomies with the landlords.  Bailey will finally get to bark until her heart is content and not have to worry about waking up Grandma in the morning.