Did you know that alligators like marshmallows?

As many of you know we recently built a house in a nice master-planned community.  The community is really an awesome place (in the country) to come home to.  It has beautiful creeks and trails coupled with a very nature filled backdrop.  It is super serene and at night it sounds like a camp ground!  We even have a couple of peacocks that run around!

This is the view from one of our upstairs bedrooms.  It is simply beautiful.  Who would not want to have this in their life?  You can't see it, but I am raising my hand.  Please read on.

This is the same lake behind our house on a recent cloudy day.  Do you see anything out of place?  Look closer to see if you see Francis, our new alligator.  Yes I said new, meaning there have been more than one.

Luckily the Team Leader is safe from our latest inhabitant.

Why do we have an alligator in our lake you ask?  Well the lake is similar to the creek  where I walk the Team Leader every day.  One particular Saturday morning the three of us, the Nutrition Nazi, the Team Leader, and myself were out for our morning jog.  I usually let the Team leader stop and look over the edge to see the turtles that swim under the bridge, but this day we see an alligator swimming up.  CRAP!  Right about that time a father and his young daughter come along and say something to the effect of  'Too bad we don't have any marshmallows to feed the alligator.'  EXCUSE ME, Did I hear that right?  Are you morons really feeding an alligator marshmallows?  I guess they don't understand the consequences. 

This is what happens when you feed the wildlife, which is illegal in Texas, by the way.  They walk across your front porch and settle themselves in between your garage door and front door.  You back your car out of the garage and almost have a heart attack because this is one yard decoration you can live without.

For those of you seeing these pics for the first time, this 9.5 alligator decided to take up shop in our flower bed.  The game warden had to be called by the sheriff's department to come out and handle the situation.  The game warden said this is one of the most dangerous situations to be in because the gator felt totally comfortable around humans and that is typically when things go tragically wrong.

So the moral of this story is that no matter how appealing it sounds to feed the wildlife - DON'T DO IT!

This public service announcement has been brought to you by two people and a goldendoodle who don't care if they never see another alligator ever again.

House Update

It has been about a month since I last posted pics of the house, and sadly I am still having commitment issues with putting things up on the walls, so many of the paintings and photos are still leaning against the wall.  Maybe by Christmas I will have a plan.  The level of sheer chaos has definitely improved, and this time I have the pictures to prove it!  If you could have seen the chaos that was our house due to our crazy schedules, then you would believe that miracles do happen  I know I do.

The bed being completely made is definitely a miracle, let alone the blinds are open and there is something hanging over the bed.  Still debating the piece over the bed, though, and forever trying to keep muddy paw prints off my duvet....probably a losing battle.

 

I am still debating this piece over the fire place, but it is definitely growing on me.  Hopefully by next weekend the cabinet for the niche will be complete so that we can ship NN's TV stand from his college days back to the Riverhouse.  Slowly but surely we are getting there!

I am loving how clean it all looks, now if it would only stay that way!  Loving the dish towel too!

This room definitely needs a new rug for starters, but at least we aren't tripping over decorative items anymore and you can also eat at the table!

Again I can't believe how clean things are, and that the paintings along the wall may actually be hung there at some point, and not just dust-collectors.

The gameroom looks more put together now that we put some of NN's awards on the wall.  Maybe we should refer to it as the Nutrition Nazi room.

Where NN earns $1500 for the damn dog's collar.  ( Name that song)

NN gets all the credit for this one from start to finish.  He did a really good job!  As someone from work once said 'You don't look like you garden very much.'  They were right.  And I will not be for a LONG time because as I was working on this post NN called to tell me that the Team Leader found a garter snake in the back yard.  YUCK!

Disorganized Chaos

Life has been nothing short of chaos for the last couple of weeks.  We finally are starting to get a little more settled, and we have met several of our neighbors.  It is finally starting to feel somewhat like a home.  I had this plan that I was going to take some pics of the house now that it is a little more put together to prove that I wasn't really just camping out in the media room 24-7 watching movies and football and yelling for someone to get me another drink, but then our camera started acting up and my cleaned up spaces became not so clean.  So in the spirit of chaos here is what I have.

See what I mean - things started out so well, other than the picture is blurry as crap - sorry!  The family room is coming along nicely, from this angle.

I even got all inspired and put this table next to the fireplace.  Not sure if it is staying there, I mean we could always win the lottery and then I would simply have to help the economy by completely re-furnishing the house.  You never know....

We even bought a grill and the Nutrition Nazi got it all set-up.  At this point I am thinking we are in gold star heaven we are doing so well.

Then I am reminded of the 218 pictures that line my walls, similar to this, that still need homes, and heaven forbid the Nutrition Nazi to hang them.

And the piece de resistance is the crap that I am still refusing to deal with in my dining room.  What is really sad is that I only took pics of the areas that looked somewhat ok.  The really bad areas will never be seen.  I am hoping that while I am work one day someone will come over and finish it all, and I can truly fulfill my dream of sitting up in the media room hollering for NN to get me another drink.  Maybe one day.

Home Sweet Home

So we finally got moved into the house over Labor Day weekend, and it was nothing short of organized chaos.  Many thanks go out to all of the wonderful people who helped this weekend - we couldn't have done it with out you!  I promise to have more shots as we get unpacked, but here are a few from this weekend.

As I told my mom on moving day, there were so many people at the new house, it felt like  I should be serving appetizers and drinks.

Our movers really had things under control.  I am guessing Jeff warned them of the incident from the night before with furniture delivery from a store too. (See pic below)

Things are starting to come together slowly, but surely.  My BFF Type A would not let me leave it at this, though, so I continued grinding on it for several more hours.

Oops - a minor casualty from the furniture delivery guys Thursday, who shall remain nameless, but they really will save you money.  (Jumping up and down while pulling money out of back pocket).

I guess searching through all of the boxes looking for the hidden squeaky ball, that we do not let her play with on a regular basis, wore her out.  She was so proud of her accomplishment - see pic below.

Have a great weekend!

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.!

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.)

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.

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.

Floors? Check!

One of the remaining major components, the flooring, is finally in!  Can I get a Whoo Hoo?  Throughout most of the first floor we decided on wood flooring, and carpet upstairs.  A few months ago I was using the Google on the Internet machine looking for our particular floor to remind myself of choice number 4,002 that I made at the design center in April,  and I came across the little known fact that our 5 inch hand-scraped Nottoway Hickory in Weathered Saddle planks are actually distressed by prisoners.  We will save that issue for another post, but I thought I would share.

No I am not a crappy photographer, usually, there is just a ton of airborne dust hanging around the house.

I think it really completes the room now that the floors are in, I might be biased, though.

So the carpet is nothing special, but at least it is done!  I am guessing that you are wondering why all of our stuff is spread out on the floor.  Well we were trying to find furniture to fit the odd-sized media room, so what do an accountant and an engineer do in such a situation?  Of course they mark it off so they know exactly what it will look like, duh!

Then Houston's leading fitness and nutrition expert showed everyone how to successfully complete a DWI test.

I don't know why, but the logs in the fireplace make me happy.  Guess it goes back to when I was little and always wanted a fireplace.  Now I have one, complete with logs.  Santa can officially come and visit me.

Can you spot the 2 changes in this picture?  Ok I know not everyone cares as much as I do, so I will just tell you.  They shutters are finally stained and the front door is in.  Not too much longer and I will be bombarding you with endless pictures of paint choices and curtains.  I bet you can't wait!

One month

One month is all we have left until we close on the house.  One month left of living in a 12x12 cubicle (more to come on that later this week).    Don't get me wrong we have a really nice set-up, but we definitely miss having our own space and furniture. 

The front of the house is basically done, with a few minor items.  I think we may ask if they can throw in the nifty yellow portable potty.  It brings some color to the front, don't you think?

Because I know you were losing sleep over not seeing the landscaping up close.

Not that I am biased or anything, but this is definitely a kick-ass backyard view.

The handrail stain is finally in!!  Unfortunately they have very little attention to detail and it is now a few more places than just the handrail.  Can you say touch up?

Again I might be a little biased, but I love this shot.  You will too once you are at my house eating one of the 4,000 desserts I am going to make for you.

This is such a huge upgrade from the last house where you could soap up the shower walls, turn around once or twice and be totally clean.

From one of the upstairs bedrooms, no further comment necessary.