Has it really been over a year?

It is extremely embarrassing to realize that our last blog post was over a year ago.  It's not that we have not had anything important to report-it's simply that we have so many other things going on in our lives, that 'blogging' seems unimportant in comparison.  There have been many interesting and exciting events in this past year, that I am afraid that we will not be able to give each one the importance that it deserves. Hopefully, over the next couple weeks, we will be able to review the events in our lives from 2010, and also be more dedicated going into 2011 and beyond.

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

The end is in sight!  We have our final inspection walk through this Friday morning, December 4th, and then we sign the papers that afternoon.  During the inspection, we have the opportunity to point out anything that needs correction or repair before they turn it over to us.  They then have two more work days to make these corrections before we close on Tuesday, December 8th and get our keys to our new house that afternoon! Below are some updated pictures....the front landscaping will be completed in the next few days along with our RED front door! 

Downstairs Half-Bath

Master Bathroom

And Then There Were 3 (Weeks That Is)

     It has now been a month since we last posted to the blog, so we figured now was the time.  Since there has been little noticeable change in the outward appearance of the house (the only changes have been the addition of the garage door and the driveway, front porch and back patio concrete has been poured) since our last post, we kind of figured that there was no need to post a weekly update.  However, the interior work is moving right along, and as you can see in the pictures, it is coming along great!  About two weeks ago, we walked through the house after the walls had been painted, and it was exciting to see how much different it looks with walls as opposed to just open studs.  We were slightly concerned, however, because it seemed that some of the rooms seemed smaller than what we had envisioned.  My fear was that, after getting cabinets and counters installed there wasn't going to be much room to move around, and the addition of furniture would make it seem even smaller.  Luckily, our fears were disproven after walking through yesterday.  The rooms-especially the kitchen-is quite spacious and we should have plenty of room.
     While the house nears completion, we did receive a bit of bad news last week.  Due to illness and delays from the suppliers, Quadrant called two 'non-scheduled, non-work days', which pushes our closing date from December 4th to the 8th.  We knew there was always a chance of delays, but with everything progressing so smoothly, we hoped we would be lucky and not have any.  The only real downer to the delays is that the closer we get to Christmas, the harder it will be for Scott to get time off and to find people willing and able to help us move.

Kitchen before and after cabinets and counters

Living Room and fireplace before and after mantle

Almost Halfway!

This marks the fifth week of construction on our house, and man does it look awesome!  Last week, most of the work was internal, with the plumbing and wiring installed and the garage floor finally poured.  This week, they put the siding on and the consensus is the green color with white trim really "pops"!  Yesterday, we had our frame walk with the Superintendent.  It was really cool to walk through the rooms and get an idea of what the finished product will really look like.   

                   Living Room with corner fireplace

                                                           Kitchen

A View From The Top

     This past weekend I was blessed with one of those rare Saturdays off from work, so we decided to take the kids to Seattle and finally get to the top of the Space Needle.  We have been wanting to go since we moved here, but the cost for the elevator ride is so outrageously expensive ($16 for adults; $9 for kids) that we have never been able to justify the cost. . . . until now.  A couple months ago we received a voucher for 4 free elevator rides from Quadrant Homes (the ones building our house) as a way of saying "thanks for doing business with us", and this past Saturday we were finally able to use them.

     With traffic in Seattle seemingly always horrific, we decided to take the train rather than drive.  We drove to Tukwila (near Sea-Tac Airport) and hopped on the recently opened Link light rail to downtown Seattle.  The Link currently runs from downtown Seattle to Tukwila with the extension to the airport scheduled to open in December.   With the cost being reasonable (a lot cheaper than parking downtown) I think I have found a new way to get to Seattle for Mariners games next year.  After a 30 minute ride, we got off at Westlake Center, which is the current end of the line, we crossed the street to the Monorail station and after a 2 minute ride, we were at the foot of the Space Needle. 

When we left home that morning, the weather was typical of early fall in Western Washington (cloudy, chance of rain).  With the anticipation of less than perfect weather, and thinking that it might be windy at the top, I had instructed the kids to bring a jacket and to dress a little warmer.  However, by the time we actually got to the Seattle Center, the sun had broken out and it was a really nice day with little to no wind and the sun making it very pleasant.  We stood in line to get our tickets, and then we stood in line while they searched our bags, and then we stood in line some more waiting for the elevator.  The observation deck on the Space Needle is 520 feet high and gives you a fantastic view, not only of Seattle and Puget Sound, but on really clear days you can see Mt. Rainier, and the Cascade & Olympic Mountain ranges.  There was a little haze over the mountains but, otherwise the view did not disappoint.

     We spent probably a little over an hour on the "O Deck" and then decided it was time to head home.  It had been over 25 years since I had last been to the top of the Space Needle, and a fun time was had by all.

3 down . . . . Eight 2 Go!

The house really began to take shape this last week.  During the 3rd week, the roof was completed and the windows and sliding glass door were installed.  I must admit that the grids in the front windows really add a nice touch to the look of the house.  The roof over the front porch was also put on, which gives the house a more complete look, even if there is no porch yet!  The last thing done this week was wrapping the house entirely in Tyvek.  If memory serves, Tyvek  is a type of waterproof paper that acts as a barrier against moisture.  

This week promises to be pretty busy given the amount of work to be done.  This week the heating, gas and electric lines are supposed to be completely done as well as painting the trim and the beginning of installing the siding.  We are all very excited to see how the siding color (Quiet Willow-a really nice shade of green)will look in real daylight; it's kind of hard to get a true feel for the colors when you are looking at a 2' X 3' section in the showroom. 

Here is an interesting story about how we came to pick the color of siding.  We had originally selected Scottish Thistle (also a shade of green), but the community has rules about the number of same color houses on a street, so we had to pick a different color.  It seems that the house next to ours had already picked 'our' color and since they were further ahead of us, we had to change colors.  Apparently because the other house is actually on the cross street is how we were able to select the same color as them.  This gaffe was discovered when Vicki & I went to the showroom for our final selection appointment.  We did not like any of the other colors (they were mostly brown tones) that were on the included price list, so we asked about upgrading to the 'Mid-Premium' pricing.  We were told that the upgrade was $800 extra, but we could have it for only $400 since our original color choice was initially on the list of approved colors.   We figured this was fair, so we started looking for areas we could make changes since we were already at the maximum we could afford to spend.  Imagine our surprise when we were told that the upgrade would actually cost us nothing!

After The Second Week

Here we are after 2 weeks (9 working days) of construction.  With the progress the builders are making, it seems hard to believe that it will still be another 45 working days before we actually move into our house.  The kids may appear to be flashing "Peace" signs, but actually they are indicating that Week 2 is now over.  We decided the photos did look a little bland, so we decided to add a little personality to the pictures (is this better, Beth?).  We have yet to receive our actual construction schedule for next week from our Sales Manager, but according to what we do know, the framing is to be completed by tomorrow and the roof will be complete by the end of Day 13.  We then get to walk through the framed house either the end of next week, or the beginning of Week 4.  One unexpected bonus is discovering that our one neighbor is putting in a fence.  Since the neighbors behind us already have put in a fence, we are looking at the possibility of only having to pay for one complete side and half of another.  It would be great if the other neighbors decide to put in a fence before we move in, but if not, we will see if they would be interested in splitting the cost.