Spoiler Alert!!!!

So if any of you have been by to see our house and has received a tour from Justin then you are aware of what he might want for Christmas. He mentions it every time you step foot in the "Man Cave" (the "Man Cave" he never goes in).

Need a hint?????

A projector and screen. He'll start by saying something like "when I get my projector up here........". So I thought I'd try to get him this for Christmas. I researched I know for at least a month. Maybe two. I read about aspect ratios, lumens, grain, viewing angles and lots more that I slips my mind at the moment.

I finally bit the bullet and just bought a screen and a projector. I had it shipped to my parents house. I snuck over there, tested them and wrapped them up. Let me tell you box the screen came in was over 8 feet tall. (good thing we put it 9ft+ ceilings). I decided to hide it in the back closet. (Justin would have known what it was as soon as he saw it). I thought this was a relatively safe place for a short time. After all what could he possibly need from in there?

Fast froward until Sunday, I had the worst headache and decided to take a nap. when I woke up I noticed the back bedroom light was on. I looked at Justin and asked "why is the bedroom light on?" He responded by saying "I was looking for something". I asked where all he had looked and he immediately started grinning. Ugg......I knew he had found it. This happens every year. He figures out his presents EVERY year! What am I going to do with him????

On the bright side, he has been on the Internet researching media room stuff ever since. I guess that means he's siked. Maybe we'll get to watch the championship game up there.....Roll Tide!!!

Blogger Trouble????

Is anyone else having trouble following new blogs????? I have found some new ones I would like to keep on my reading list but they keep disappearing. Any suggestions??

Wanted: Out Door Furniture

I am in need of some outdoor furniture. I understand this is the wrong time of year but I want to know, what kind of money I need to tuck away and where to go as soon as spring hits. I need stuff for the screen room, deck and possibly the front porch. However not only do I need a lot but I need it CHEAP!!! So if you have a great place other than Wal-Mart to receive a deal please let me know.....

Maybe something like this for the screen room.....

And for the deck maybe something like this.......

 And if I have room maybe a couple of these off to the side of the deck....

I have also thought about six of so rocking chairs lined up on the front porch, like cracker barrel. However I have some stuff out there already but it is rusted. I may just cover it with RustOleum, paint it black and throw some new cushions on it...... its the cheaper way to go so I'd say that is what will happen :)

What do y'all think? Any suggestions or patio furniture for sale? lol

Our Stick Family

Notice the change to the Bishop stick family below......

Do you see it? Fishy is no longer with us. This actually happened a while ago. Poor fishy did not survive the construction so well. He apparently thought we moved him to Jonell's house and left him forever. He turned belly side up right before the house was finished and I forgot to even mention it. I'm such a bad fish owner....

So now we have a fish tank, stand and all the accessories but no fish. If anyone is interested it may make a good gift for a child.

What do I want for Christmas????

That is the question. Everyone has asked me this particular question and I am having a hard time deciding what to tell them. I do know that I need new shoes....

Exhibit A.....

I have worn out the heals on most of all my dressy shoes. Strangely enough most all of them are the left shoe. What is up with that??? Maybe I walk with a limp that I am unaware of. If any of you see me in town dragging my left leg along behind me please point it out to me because it is killing my shoes. I would also love some casual wedges.

I do want a rug to go under my coffee table. Not one that is too big, just big enough to show about a foot or two from every side of the table. I like the extra furry ones. Kind of like this....

I like the neutral khakis and simple patterns.

Also I am thinking the idea of a little robot vacuuming my floors sounds wonderful. So maybe a rumba should be added to the list?

I would also love really great long zoom camera but with the price tags those things carry it is on the "want in one hand and you know what in the other" list.

Oh I can't forget the present I REALLY REALLY want............. you guessed it...a baby!!!! (Justin is rolling his eyes as we speak) Oh well maybe for my birthday.... :)

Christmas Crafts

A few weeks ago I spotted some Christmas wreaths that I liked.....until I looked at the price tag. After catching my breath after a ridiculous case of sticker shock I said to myself  "I can make those". Now the one I spotted had large fluffy loops. Although I liked that better I needed to keep mine smaller in order for it to fit on the french doors.  Here is my attempt......

This is the first one, "J" for Justin

Here is the second one "B" for Brandi

Here they are together, excuse the picture quality, I have got to get a good camera

Britney came over Friday and we did some more Christmas crafts. As soon as I remember to take pics I will show them to you.

Climbing Trees

Saturday while Justin was outside attempting to blow the leaves from our yard. I heard "Brandi Come here". I hurried outside (to avoid the don't let grass grow under your feet speech) and there in front of Justin's feet sat a pretty little bird. I thought it was hurt because he was letting Justin pet him (I feel like it was male but I didn't get that close...lol). Justin then said "call Molli". I was horrified thinking that he was going to instruct her to kill it. However that wasn't what he had planned. He picked the bird up and placed it on a limb of the pecan tree in our yard.

Molli watched him do this and was quite interested. She began barking a circling the tree. All of the sudden she ran up the tree and hung from the limb!!! I ran in the house to get the camera. When I got back she had gotten down but with a little convincing from Justin she did it again.

See for your self....

 FYI:
No birds were harmed in the making of this video. You can't see it here but it flew away at the last moment. ;-)

Where's Molli???

The other day I was scanning through different pictures looking for one in particular and I noticed a pattern.

I am sure you all know my precious dog, Molli. However I am not sure if you have ever met her in person. She is a ball of energy and LOVES to run. I mean we really should have named her Forrest Gump because she is always "Runnin".....

Anyway back to my point I noticed that many of my pics have a glimps of her in them. Yes this is because Molli loves to run from where ever she is and stand in the shot. So I thought it would fun to play the game.............


Where's Molli..........

In this one I sware she wasn't there untill I hit the button.

Here is the proof. I took this one a second later and she was gone already

its like she runs in the shot, stops and looks away

I tried to cut her out of this on but she wasn't having it

This one is blurry.....

This one is a prime example....please look at her ears

 

And just to show you her in action.....

She looks like a rabbit

FINALLY Closed Part II

Last time I left with how we thought we were finished with Mr. Smith and were going to close our loan at the lower rate. As I read back I realize I left out something....

Mr. Smith appraised our house as a "New Construction" and listed the date built at 2011. This was technically incorrect. Justin asked him when he gave him the comparables why he had done this and he replied by saying we had done do much work the home had to be considered new. This sounded reasonable because we did ALOT of work.

Well, last Monday I received an email from Our Mortgage company asking if we tore the house down and restarted. I said no we did not completely tear it down. They replied by saying they needed the date built to reflect it as a remodel and not a new construction. I said okay. The problem was Mr Smith refused to change it. Our loan Officer (Melissa) asked if I could call him and request him to change it. So I did.

When Mr. Smith answered I said "What is the deal?" "Can't you change the date of construction?". Apparently this comment crawled all over him because he then began to scream at me. Now when I say scream. I mean in all since of the word he was SCREAMING at me. He kept saying "I have been nothing but helpful to you people and I don't think you appreciate it". I replied by saying what would be helpful is if you let me get a word in edge wise" (I said this because he would not stop his irrational shouting rants long enough to let me speak). He went on and on about how Justin lied and told him we tore the old house down and how he did not have to talk to us. He did not have to listen to me....ya di ya di ya.

I then said "let me tell you my side" I continued to talk hoping he would get tired of his own voice, shut up and listen. Boy, was I wrong. He ranted and raved for a minute or two longer then he hung up on me. HUNG UP on me people!!!! I called Justin and filled him in and may I just add Mr. Smith better thank his lucky stars I called him and not Justin. If would have spoke to Justin that way, Justin would have loaded up his Daddy and paid him a not so pleasant visit.

We informed  Melissa of Mr. Smith's unprofessional behavior. She decided she would call him and try again. He screamed at her too.. she simply said "I will be praying for you" and hung up the phone. They immediately put in a rush order for a new appraisal.

Tuesday we had a new appraiser come (Darlene Daughtery). She was respectful and professional. Thursday morning the value came in at what it should of been. It was HIGHER then our original appraisal. Meaning they saved our saving account from complete and utter destruction. (which is good since there wasn't that much left to destroy in the first place). Melissa and Kristina from our Mortgage Company worked all day to get us ready to close by Friday. They did it we closed!!!!  Well we did our part anyway. They require a three day cooling off period (you have three days to change your mind) But if nothing happens we will be DONE with this whole process Wednesday morning!!!!

Let me add the current requirements do not allow you or the bank to hand pick your appraiser. They are randomly selected now. However you do have the right to say who you do not want on your property. We did not know this. If we had we would have researched the local appraisers. At any rate if any of you build/buy a new home my advice to you, when it comes to the appraisal, is do your research! There ARE some bad apples out there!!!

PS:
If you are related to or friends with Josh Smith the Appraiser in Wedowee Alabama. I am sorry if I have offended you but I want others to learn from my experience. (This includes Josh himself)

FINALLY Closed!!!!

Friday 11/11/11 we signed the paperwork to close our mortgage. FINALLY!!! Now I have not updated blogger nation but this has been a NIGHTMARE!!! Who knew closing the mortgage was harder then building the house in the first place.

This is a LONG story so I will tell it in two parts:

We locked in our interest rate Tuesday 9/27/2011. (May I add rates are G-A-r-e-a-t right now). We "officially" completed our house Monday 10/10/2011 (and did not close for a month and a day later). An appraiser came out a week later. Two days after that I received an email from our mortgage company giving us what the value came in at. I FLIPPED out!!! It was 18,000.00 less then out initial appraisal they had performed based on our house plans. Now keep in mind we added square footage and the concrete drive to the original plans. These upgrades were not noted in the original pre-appraisal. With the current economy we expected it to decrease some but not 18,000.00 in five months.

Now for those of you who have not yet dipped your feet into the cold water of real estate; Let me explain why I was so upset......

The bank tells you what your soon to be home is worth then they loan you 80% of that. You either have to have the other 20% in the bank, pay Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI - essentially a higher rate that will decrease when you have paid the principal down to 80% of the value) or  you build and/or buy your home for 80% of what it is worth.

When you are building they perform a pre-appraisal for the construction loan. Then you base your budget from that. You try to build it for 80% of the value plus whatever amount of cash you have in the bank. This is what we did and if I must say so myself we did a wonderful job. We came in well under budget. Did you hear me? I said UNDER our budget (from what I hear this is a hard task to accomplish).

However when the value dramatically declined so did our budget. Meaning we were now short. We were fixing to have to drain ALL of our savings down to their minimum balances. That terrified me. I do not feel safe without at least 3 months living expenses. What was going to happen if one of our cars died or if one of us lost our job???

Justin began to be proactive. He searched the appraiser's name on google. (His name is Josh Smith from Wedowee) He found out that Mr Smith has had his license pulled and reinstated due to a court case he was involved in. He was now on probation. We then asked around and have yet to find someone who had positive things to say about him. Justin called him and gave him other properties to use as comparables. He refused to use them.

We then spoke to the Mortgage Company about contesting the appraisal. They said we could but if the next one came in lower we would have to take the lower number. This was too much of a risk to take. We decided to proceed with the closing. We put the whole thing behind us and were finished.....or so we thought........

To Be Continued

Not the Way to Start the Day

Do you ever have one of those days that go wrong from the very beginning? You know the ones that leave you debating on going back home, going back to bed and starting over. Well for me yesterday was one of those days.

My morning began with me getting in my car and saying to myself "crap I need gas, I hope I can make it to Hollis". After that I started on my way. I made it to the first reasonable gas station (Hollis crossroads for you locals). I pulled in and parked my car by the gas pump and reached for my debit card............"wait where is my purse"???? I thought. Yes that is right I forgot my purse!!!! Let me add by this time my gas light is on. I most likely don't have enough gas to get me to work in Heflin nor do I have enough to get me home to get me purse.

I decided I would call my hubby and get him to give me the credit card number (in hopes the clerk would take it as a trade for gas).  I called Justin and no answer. So I decided to "beep him" (meaning use the push to talk option on our cell)......No answer. I alert him. He comes back and says "I am busy call you later". I scream "but I need you now". I try to "beep" him again but now his phone is off. Ahh my hero. I am so glad to know he is there for me always....Ha! Good thing I wasn't dieing in a car wreck trying to tell him my last good bye!!( He is soooo very lucky I love him like I do).

Any way on ward to the next person. I called JoNell and got her credit card number. I then hung my head and moaped into the store. I told the clerk my situation and gave her the credit card number. She responded by saying "we can't put card numbers in manually". Thankfully she gave me enough gas to make it home to get my purse. I sped home got my purse, went back to the gas station, paid for my gas and was on my way.

Let me add that during this time I was calling my supervisor's office to inform her of my tardiness. I did not get an answer. I decided to email her when I arrived at work. However as luck would have it I pulled up at the audit site and saw nothing other than the black Honda sitting by the front door. You got it.....my supervisor was there waiting for me....."great". Luckily she is pretty easy to get along with and hopefully she understood.

Another Activity

The other day Justin and I were in the store getting command strips to hang the fall wreath on the door. He asked if I would be leaving it there all of the time. I said "I don't have a all year wreath to hang". Of coarse my next thought was "I need an year round wreath". So I give you the one I adore!!!....

Isn't that beautiful? Except I think I want mine to be more khaki, black and maybe a hint of green and brown. I love the white letters. I believe this will be my next project, that is as soon as we have money again ;) or until someone who loves me goes on etsy and orders one for me. ;)

Wood Floor Knowlege - Just in Case You Need to Know

You may have picked up on my floor cleaning frustration a few blogs back. It has been a task. When Justin and I purchased our floors we just went and bought them and had our contractor put them down. He did a great job but since we did not have the place of purchase install it we forgot to ask what to clean them with. (On a side note, we got a GREAT deal on all of our hardwood and tile. If anyone is in the market for flooring we got ours at Tile Liquidators in Gadsden. Ask for Sherry). So, I began to ask friends, family and the Internet what was best. The first thing that was suggested heavily by Justin someone was spraying pledge, endust, etc. on a dry mop and go to town. Well I did that and I noticed how you could see very faint streaks. I moved in to the next suggestion, my trusty steam mop. This left horrible streaks, like using cheap window cleaner on glass.

In an effort to remove the streaks I used the most popular thing on the Internet.....Murphy's oil soap. BIG MISTAKE. You may notice that Murphy's oil soap says ON THE LABEL "good for all finished woods". Don't believe them it is a lie, a lie I tell you. This just left a film on my wood. I began to notice that we could see exactly where we had stepped. There were perfect feet prints EVERYWHERE!!!!!! So I called the Colgate Company (makers of Murphy's) and asked how to remove the film. You know what they said???? They told me to use more Murphy's......you have got to be kidding me.

I then called the National Wood Flooring Association (yes there is such a thing...who knew). I was told to try 2 cups vinegar to one gallon water. I was however warned to wipe it off. Apparently extended use of vinegar and water can erode the polyurethane protective coating on your floors. It doesn't hurt them right away but it lessons the life of your wood.

I Finally did what I should did in the beginning. I went back to Tile Liquidators. They suggested using Bona Hardwood Cleaning products. I was told it could get the film off after a few cleanings and WILL NOT hurt your floors or their coating. It is actually produced by one of the top companies that produces the protective coating for residential flooring.  May I just say HALLELUJAH, the film is slowly fading and it is easy. Like a swifer but specially made for wood.

Also I may add that I found out through the NWFA if you have anything but sand and finish in place hardwood...NEVER NEVER use the bucket and mop technique. Any, prefinished solid or engineered hardwood has crevices the moister can get into and cause the hardwood to expand and buck up.

Lastly never use a steam mop. Yes they say ON the LABEL "safe on Wood flooring" but they lie. The heat can shock the wood and cause in to expand also. Who knew.

Apparently all you should ever do to your hardwood is dust it with a dry mop and every now and again mist it with cleaning solution and mop it with a micro fiber mop.....easy enough.


Notice I had done all of the bad things first...... I guess I should not automatically trust what the Internet and other owners say.

The Grand Tour: (Warning lots of pictures)

We are finally getting to some point of "settled". I know I promised some pics of the inside so I thought I'd give you the grand tour.......



This is the view of the living room/kitchen from the front door



The Kitchen 

The Kitchen table/pantry



The screen room off of the kitchen



The deck from the screen room (stormy day, excuse the fallen chair)



The fireplace/TV

The extra Bedroom (only one I'll show because the other room has no furniture)



Still the extra bedroom

The guest bath vanity

The guest bath/shower

The hallway to the office and master bedroom

My Office

The master bedroom from the hallway

The Master bed (King size, best thing ever)

The hallway into the master bath

The garden tub

A slightly closer look

Justin's vanity

My Vanity

The Tile Shower

Still the Shower

I give you what Justin calls "his office"

The hallway looking into the master bedroom. Notice the doors to the right and left, yes not only do we have separate vanities but also we have separate closets. No sharing here :)

Justin's Closet, organized by color and use

My Closet, a little less organized. Also noticed how Justin has more clothes in his than I do in mine

I do have him beat in shoes though

Well that is it except for the man cave. We still have some unpacking to do up there.

Hint Hint

I love my hardwood floors but the gritty felling on my bare feet is driving me crazy!!!! I have cleaned my floors every night this week. Also everything I have tried leaves them streaky but that is another post in and of its self. Anyway just in case anyone wants to buy me something.....Christmas is coming soon......Hint Hint

If You Only Knew........

Please excuse my lack of posts. If you only knew what all we have been juggling lately..... The past three weeks have been a scheduling nightmare!!! Trying to get everything done by the deadline I have set for us is tough!!! We of course missed our September 30th deadline but hopefully not by much. We spent all last weekend trying to move in the furniture we already owned. Right now it looks like moving day upchucked all over the front extra bedroom. It has officially been labeled the "catch all" by our visitors.

Also we have been going rounds with appliance and furniture delivery people. I mean really should it take 5 weeks to receive a microwave? I think not! Justin had to cancel our refrigerator. They weren't going to bring it until next week (almost 6 weeks after we ordered it)...unacceptable!! Can I get an AMEN????

Now he has gone to Lowes to pick one out, it's supposed to be here tomorrow, we shall see. On a side note, I am told they delivered our bedroom suit and kitchen table today (the chairs are in limbo at the moment) and having said that I am pleased to announce our first night in our new house will be...............

FRIDAY!!!!

(if all goes well).

It is pretty good timing considering I have Monday off for Columbus day. Which I am going to need because we will be sleeping there but it WILL be a mess. I am not looking forward to finding a new home for all of the junk we have acquired in 6 years.

Without further a due, here are a few pics. Not exactly the final product but close. I will post all kinds of pics when we are settled.

Our sidewalk

We put in a concrete "turn around" as Justin calls it

The view from the place we "store" stuff ;)

A little closer, maybe we will have grass soon but who knows

The deck and screen room however screen is hard to capture on camera :)

I apologize but no inside pics, I would rather show them when there isn't a family of cardboard boxes living in every room.

Here Chick Chick

There is a little off white house that I  pass everyday on my route back home. This house is right at the top of a little hill. Also apparently the lovely people that live in this house have chickens. Now when I say "have chickens" I don't mean large chicken houses and apparently I don't mean chicken coupes. I mean random flocks of chickens running loose (are multiple chickens considered to be a flock???? IDK, we'll just go with it)

Now this house is pretty close to the road (do you see where I am going with this?). Well last wednesday I topped the "little hill" this house sits on and see a "flock" of chickens in the middle of my side of the road. I swerved to the left (yes, swerved don't tell Justin....ok) and another chicken ran from that side of the road throwing himself under my left front tire. I have to admit I was upset for (for a second) then I thought of the joke "why did the chicken cross the road"....apparently to get up close and personal to a little blue civic.

Fast forward to today...........

This afternoon, again I topped this "little hill" and there was one lonely chicken in the middle of my side of the road (I wondered if the rest of the flock had met there fate under the wheels of other passers by). The chicken was easy to avoid (or so I thought) I swerved (again) to the left in order to miss the lucky little bird and if that dang chicken didn't run to the left and dive under the same left front tire. What is the deal??? Why are these chickens suicidal? Are they confusing the buzzing of my tires for a mating call of some sort? I mean really.

Now if these are your chickens or if you know whose poor chickens these are, I apologize. I promise I am not purposely killing off your chicks. I'm a monster I know, but not as big of monster as Justin. He's mad because that was not once but twice he could of  had fresh chicken to fry and because of me, missed the opportunity.....so awful.

Mainly Pics

Well blog nation I have been EXTREMELY busy this past week. In fact I am just now coming back from the house where I have helped plumb, polyurethaned doors/trim, painted, mended Sheetrock and stained fiberglass doors. Needless to say I am exhausted, so this post will mainly be pics......

The Trim

The Fire Place

The Interior Doors

The kitchen cabinets (started)

Our Vanities

Justin's

Mine

The old bathroom with some new tile

Our tub and shower

not the most current pic....it's finished now

Our wood floors (the start anyway)

I LOVE my hardwood