Our First Fire

Dave and I went out and bought some firewood yesterday. We ordered a load to be delivered tomorrow to the house and we also picked up a small bundle to try out the new fireplace last night. Needless to say, our wood was fairly damp, so the fire wasn't very successful, but we'll let it dry out and just keep trying! Notice our new poker set/log holder set we got from Home Depot! The joys of after Christmas shopping with 20% off the floor model that was already on sale! We got it for a steal!!

Dave is busy setting up the surround sound today...he was off work, while I had to go back today. But, I left him a "honey do" list to hang some pictures and do some other small household items. Now, he's on the most important item, surround sound. He's almost done and I'm sure we'll just have the greatest effect while watching movies and tv now! ha ha ha

Happy Holidays!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a Happy New Year! This is a picture from Christmas Eve at my Dad's house...the three of us! And, a picture of Sasha at Dave's parent's house on Christmas Day.

More Work Around the House

We've gotten some more done around the house since I last posted. Figured I'd wait until we got a couple more items crossed off the 'to-do list' before I posted, so I could put them all up here at once. We painted the upper part of the dining room walls last weekend and put up 2 pictures we bought for the room. We're going to paint the bottom half a yellow-brown color and continue the chair rail through the center of the room that's in the foyer. We also finally got our two bamboo roman shades from JCPenney that we ordered back in October, that Dave put up this weekend. We're pretty excited with how they look in our nautical room!! Now we still just need to get the wallpaper for the bottom half of the walls, so it doesn't look so silly with half green. This weekend I also decided to tackle the painting of the guest bathroom.

Some other things we got done this week, were buying doors for our fireplace, since it only came with the mesh curtains, and we also got a log holder to sit outside when we eventually order wood to be delivered!! We still are on the look-out for a poker set and an inside log holder. I love having a fireplace, but I tell ya, there's a lot of accessories you need just to run the darn thing! Hopefully we can have a few fires before spring!

Other than that, not much else is new with us...just trying to relax and enjoy the new place over the holidays! Happy Holidays to everyone!!

2 Week Progress

As promised, here are some pictures I took tonight of the house. We need some more lighting, so some of the pictures are kind of dark, but you can get the general idea of what it looks like now. There are pictures of the Family Room, Kitchen, Living Room, Foyer and the Library or as Dave named it this weekend the "snake cave". Oh yes, and a picture of my closet, because I think it's hilarious that my closet is HUGE and I don't have a lot of clothes to fill it up...I'm sure it's most women's dream size though! Guess I need to go on a shopping spree now! The Library looks funny right now because we've painted the walls, but plan to put wallpaper up. Of course, everything costs money, so in time we'll have the wallpaper! Enjoy and hopefully you can all visit to see the house in person, it's a lot easier to capture everything in person versus a photo. Until then...

THE MOVE!

Well, Dave and I had our closing at 3pm Monday and it went on without a hitch! We were homeowners by 3:45 officially with keys in our hands! Monday evening we unloaded the rental truck into the garage and painted the laundry room. Tuesday we continued to paint (the kitchen) and Dave's parents were gracious enough to bring over lunch and help us do two loads to empty out our storage unit. Wednesday was by far the most interesting day...the garage door opener was installed and luckily for us, the installer alerted us to the fact that there was a leak in the ceiling of our garage, and it was getting a steady stream of water on top of our stuff!! Luckily, we found the source of the problem (a roofer left off a piece of flashing when putting our garage roof on) and it was fixed quickly. Thank heavens it wasn't in our living area!! The painters also came over and started painting the foyer and family room. Dave and I painted our closets and started to situated boxes into rooms, the basement and unpacking the kitchen items. Thursday we finally felt like we started to see progress because my Dad came over to help empty the POD and we finally started setting up furniture! While the boys moved heavy furniture, I painted the library and continued to organize things in the house. The best part of Thursday was that finally, after 6 months, we were able to sleep on a normal mattress...and boy did we sleep well!! Friday was spent setting up all the furniture that came out of the POD on Thursday and I did a bit more painting. (I was actually supposed to work on Friday, but because of weather they told everyone to work from home...wahoo, I felt like a kid having a snow day!) Friday evening, we went and picked up THE BIG SCREEN that Dave was so badly missing and set it up in the entertainment center. Saturday was spent hanging window coverings and some art work, sealing the grount in the bathrooms and foyer and having our cable and internet set up (Yes, I am blogging from home now!!!). I think tomorrow we'll enjoy the Bears game at home to relax a bit before we go back to the grind on Monday, but I'm sure we'll do a bit more painting and situating with the day also. I will load some pics up soon to show you the progress we've made. We'd love any visitors too!

Ooo, La la

Dave and I had our final walkthrough today from 2-4:30 or so. We were instructed on how all the items around the house work and looked for any defects that we could see that needed to be fixed before we closed. There weren't many things that needed to be fixed honestly and it was so awesome seeing the whole thing completed!! Now, it's just a waiting game for 7 more days and it's ours to live in!! Here are two pictures where you can now see the wood floor is uncovered and the carpet is in...

Oh yeah...we found out because Pulte had a flaw in their paperwork...we actually got an additional $2k of upgrades that we didn't even know! (ceramic tile around our master tub and some crown molding in the foyer) He he...I guess it pays to sign early in a new subdivision, before they proof all their paperwork...

No more pics for a while, since we're on vacation next week moving. Although, I might just withhold anymore pictures so that we can have visitors come see us...since we refused to invite anyone over while living in our apartment.

Next time I post, I will live in a real house!!

Black Belt Fever

Dave and I had a very busy weekend...I drove with my Mom to Urbana to pick up my brother for Thanksgiving break. One thing that made me laugh is that there must be some unwritten rule for college kids that you should hold out doing laundry for at least a few weeks before Thanksgiving. That way, you can bring a HUGE bag of dirty laundry home for your Mom to clean!! I swear, every kid we saw coming out of the dorm had at least one huge mesh bag full of laundry! I guess every quarter counts in college though!

Saturday was a big event for my Dad and brother...they both took black belt tests (Dad - 5th degree and Patrick - 1st degree). It was a grueling 3 hour test with a total of around 12 people testing. The test was hosted at my Dad's facility in Yorkville, so Dave and I went to show support and helped set up the celebratory feast afterwards (and I made cupcakes...mmmm!). Of course they both passed with flying colors!!!

Sunday was pretty boring for me, Dave worked from 9-6:30p.m. and I just did errands around the apartment and started to get a few things ready for packing this next weekend....yee ha!

2 Weeks

As you can see by the pictures, our sod and mailbox are now there, kitchen island was put in and the final coat of paint was put on. We have our final walkthrough a week from today and closing 2 weeks from today! We're trying not to get too excited because it is 2 weeks away, but we're hoping with Thanksgiving right around the corner, time will fly by!!

On another note, I've discovered I'm starting to like sushi a little bit. We took Dave's Dad out for a birthday dinner at a place called Blu Coral on Saturday and I tried a piece of 'Red Dragon'...pretty good!

One other news item from this weekend...Dave's car was hit by someone in our parking lot Friday night! We came out Saturday morning and noticed his front, right panel was pretty badly hit! It's a shame with such a short amount of time left in the place and someone has to be stupid. We went around that night investigating all the cars in the lot that might've been responsible. We found one car that might've done it, but hard to prove without someone seeing it happen. So, time to call the insurance agent!

3 weeks

Here are pictures from this past weekend. They had our wood floors done, appliances were in the house ready to be put in, and all railings were done. I'm sure there were more little things they did that we couldn't see, but it's definitely coming together!! We can't wait to get moved in and start painting and getting our old things back! We took Sasha again this weekend and I really think she's starting to like the place! :)

Rowan Ashmore

Here is a picture of our new little niece!! She's so adorable! Dave's parents went out to PA to visit and sent us lots of pictures of Rowan. Dave and I can't wait to meet her in person hopefully early next year!

4 weeks until closing!

Another Saturday trip to the house with Sasha this weekend and a lot more was completed in the house! We have our cabinets in (kitchen and bathrooms), all interior doors were on, paneling above the fireplace, outside shutters, and they started the railings! Enjoy the pictures...

In an effort to really hype ourselves up to move, Dave and I managed to take full advantage of the JCPenney home sale this weekend and got several window coverings and pieces of art work for 50-60% off! We even got a call from the fraud group at our credit card company wondering if we were shopping in JCPenney...guess it's good we're being watched, but we thought it was rather funny! So, once we move all our stuff inside, we'll now have artwork and blinds to hang to make the place look more homey!

5 weeks...

Dave, Sasha and I went on Saturday to see progress. Yes, we took Sasha, she gets to enjoy the excitement of her new digs too!! There was a lot more done that we expected for this week. All the ceramic tile was done, painting was completed, our railings and cabinets were all in the garage ready to be installed, our driveway was poured, exterior brick and siding finished, deck completed, and light fixtures were in! Can we move in yet? Here are some pics for you to enjoy!

We have a niece!!

Rowan Carlyle Ashmore was born on Saturday (Sweetest Day!) around 3a.m.!! Congratulations to Lesley & Robin on their little girl. We hope to see pictures of the newest addition to the Hickman family today and Dave and I plan to visit PA to meet our new niece early next year.

The countdown continues...6 weeks to go!

Not too many more exciting pictures, besides this one of the full brick work done on the front of the house. We went in and all the drywall was taped-up and still needed a bit of sanding to be done before painting. I did get a call this morning saying that the first coat of paint will be going on tomorrow, so hopefully next weekend there will be some exciting interior photos we can take.

Not too much else exciting for us this weekend, I was sick with a cold starting from about Thursday night, so I kind of laid around the apartment. Dave actually helped a friend put drywall in his garage, so he got some practice for our garage in the future. (I did get out of the apartment for a little bit to visit the boys at work, I was going crazy in the place all by myself with only a fuzzy channel 7 to watch on tv!)

7 Weeks and counting!!

Before we get into the house update, let's talk for a minute about the apartment living. Not only are Dave and I sharing a 700 sq. foot apartment with a dog and a snake..I discovered mouse droppings yesterday afternoon when I decided to start some laundry! Now, normally I'd be on the phone in a split second with the leasing office, but due to our decision to 'hide' the fact that we have a dog, we are on our own to deal with these things (I guess this is our payment for saving the $600 dog deposit fee). Not only did I find droppings on the floor in the laundry room, but I found them on our counter this morning (and I know that I wiped off all counters yesterday)! My husband being the clever man he is, offered to allow Merlin, our pet boa, loose in the apartment to be our 'mouse trap', but I think I'll opt for keeping her in the cage and buying the traps to catch the rodent(s). So, we are sitting at 7 weeks left in this place and then we're on to the house!

We drove out Sunday morning to see the house progress and boy, they got a ton done this past week! Almost the entire outside is done, just a small amount of siding left and about half the brick work to finish up. On the inside, the entire place was drywalled! The pictures tell the story, so here it is. (We are only making one trip a week out there now - on the weekends so we can get the key and go in...for those of you that were used to the twice a week update with pictures). Enjoy!!

Urbana visit

Dave and I drove down to Urbana Friday night and got there around 10p.m. Boy, traffic was still nuts at 7:15 when we left town! We dropped Sasha off at Dave's parents with her prescription food and 2 bottles of pills in hand to get her back feeling better and headed out. Because we got to the Grandparent's house so late on Friday, we visited for about an hour and then crashed for the night. Saturday morning we got up and ate a marvelous breakfast...you have to love a good home cooked breakfast! (cinnamon rolls, bacon, egg casserole, fruit, orange juice) Mmmm! After breakfast, we headed out to the Homecoming football festivities. We had great seats for the game, only 12 rows from the field on the 30-yard line! It was a great 1st half for the Illini, but they lost ground in the 2nd half and ended up losing by 2 points literally in the last second of the game, when Indiana scored a field goal. I was pretty bummed that they didn't win because it really looked hopeful most of the game. Here are a few pictures from the game (notice I packed blue and orange for us to fit in like college kids)

After the football game we visited more with the Grandparents and then we headed out to see my brother. Imagine this, we offer to take a college student to dinner wherever he wants and where do you think he wanted to eat....Pizza Hut! I was quite surprised at the choice due to all the stories I had heard to date about free pizza at different events around campus. The answer I got to this question was that he wanted some 'good pizza'. Okay, I love my brother and all, but aparently Pizza Hut doesn't agree with my stomach anymore, and so I will be suggesting a different restaurant for future visits. After taking him out to eat, we took him grocery shopping at Wal-Mart and he definitely stocked up on snacks for the dorm room. Finally, we helped him carry his groceries up to his dorm room, met some of his friends on the floor and then headed back to Downers Grove to pick up Sasha and go home.

Update

Sorry for those that look forward to the picture updates, I have none today. Dave and I went by the house last night after working out, but it's amazing that it's pitch black now by 7 p.m. So, we put the brights on, on my car and checked it out the best we could. The brick was mostly done on the garage and the drywall was almost complete inside. We were able to sneak inside again and stumble around in the dark to see the drywall, because they left one of the garage doors cracked open. We plan to go back on Sunday during the day and take pictures because they'll give us a key to get in and look around!

On a family note, poor Sasha is suffering this week. She got a urinary infection and unfortunately the medicine she's taking to get better makes her 'sick' in other ways. So, Dave and I are getting a small taste of what is means to have a kid, because she's waking us up once or twice a night to be let outside. I guess we are thankful she wakes us up, but I just feel so bad and want to make her better. I'm trying a new vet today hopefully (one that's closer to where we live now) to see if they can help us. Of course this all happens the week when we plan to go out of town. So, thankfully I have the greatest in-laws and they are offering to still take care of Sasha while we're out of town, but we're probably cutting the trip short so we're not completely inconveniencing them! We'll be at the Illini Homecoming Football game Saturday and visiting Dave's grandparents and my brother at school. So, hopefully we'll have a few pics besides the house to blog next week.

Perfect Day for Apple Pickin'

Dave and I went apple picking in Maple Park on Sunday with some friends. The day started out looking pretty gloomy, but ended up being a bright and sunny day in the end! At the apple orchard, we walked through the gift store and tried out the hot apple cider...mmmm, good! Then we got a short hayride to the start of the orchard and walked the rest of the way. We ended up picking Empire, Fuji and Golden Delicious apples to bring home (I think half of them were Fuji, which are Dave's favorite). After apple picking, we finished up by watching the second half of the Bears game at a sports bar in downtown Geneva.

As for the house, no new pictures, but we did have our pre-drywall meeting yesterday afternoon. We spent 2 hours walking through the house with one of the Pulte construction mgrs and then we video taped and took lots of pictures of the house. Sounds like they have two different inspections the house has to go through (1 prior to insulation and 1 after) and then they will start drywalling on Friday. So, it should get more exciting now to see the inside come together! The only unfortunate thing that came out of the meeting is they are tentatively scheduling closing for Nov. 28th, but we've asked for them to at least move up to the day before Thanksgiving if at all possible, which sounds like it can be done.

Wood trim & Brick delivery

Dave and I were very excited that the wood trim work was done on the outside of the house and our brick pallets were delivered!! We're hoping they'll start the brick today, since it will be raining tomorrow. We couldn't sneak into the house this time, because all doors and windows were locked, but we at least could peak through the front door. Looks like the duct work is progressing, but no electricals were done from what we could see. We haven't gotten the call for the pre-drywall meeting yet, but we're still hoping for next week. Overall, 9 of the 10 houses on our court are now started, so it's starting to look more like a little neighborhood.

A hunting we will go..

Dave and I decided to get out in nature this weekend, to enjoy the last of the nice weather. We went mushroom hunting and Dave was extremely excited that I spotted a bright orange sulphur shelf mushroom. Dave hasn't had one of these in over ten years and this was the prize of the day! Of course, after the good rain we had at the beginning of last week, there were many other mushrooms in the Downers Grove forest preserve, but this was what Dave was truly hunting for! We also brought Sasha along for the trip - she enjoyed the nature walk - especially when we saw squirrels and other fury creatures she wanted to chase! Here are pictures of Dave walking with his mushroom hunting bag and Sasha and I following. The second picture is my prize find - sulphur shelf prior to us cutting it from the log to bring home to fry up and eat.
On the house front, we went by there Friday. We actually had to sneak in because now the front door is on and locked and the garage doors are shut and locked. Luckily, Dave was able to walk up a board and lift himself up in the sliding glass door and then he unlocked the basement window for me (shhh, don't tell!) We were excited that the plumbing is completed - our bathtubs and showers are in place. They also started the duct work for heating and a/c. We're hoping for a pre-drywall meeting next week sometime!

Shingles & Garage Doors

We went by last night and the shingles were on, garage doors were in and a significant amount of plumbing was done.

Windows and stairs

Dave and I drove by last night after working out and all of our windows are now in!! They also cut the hole into the basement from the first floor and mounted the stairs, mounted the stairs from the garage inside and from the foyer upstairs. Now we just need our front door up and shingles on and I believe we're weather-proofed!! They've now have 7 of the 10 houses in our court at some point in the building process, so soon it will look like a more complete subdivision from our view!! Here are 2 of the more exciting pics I took of the house.

Ready for windows & shingles

Dave and I drove by last Friday to see progress. The roof and most of the trim work was done, so the next step is to put the windows in and then the shingles (then we should be water-proofed). We thought it would be a bit further along, but because it rained twice last week, that put them back a bit. We also had our lumber for the deck delivered, so hopefully that will be put up this week as well. Not too much else to report on the house.

I can see a roof line...

Okay, so Dave and I made our way to the lot last night (as you can probably tell now, we make at least 2 visits a week - but as you can see, if we skipped much more than that, we'd miss many photo ops of the progress!). So, as you'll see in the pics, they started to put our roof line up, there are still two missing on the house as of last night. They had about 1/3 of the roof boards up that go down to attach the shingles to. They also had poured the cement footings for our future deck (NO WHERE near the nice deck Dave bulit us, but all in good time). I'd say that's pretty good progress considering we had a fairly rainy day on Thursday.

Of course, we checked out the progress on the neighbors houses too, there was another neighbor with shingles delivered, garage doors were on and the windows were in. And, the neighbor that had the shingles delivered as of last Tuesday had their shingles completed and the plumbing piping was started.

So, I've taken a guess as to where I think we'll be as of next Friday and we'll see if next week's blogs prove me right. I've taken a guess that we'll have our roof completely finished (w/shingles), the deck will be done, garage doors on and windows in. A hefty list, but I have faith! This is a little game Dave and I play to make our life exciting...guess what progress will be made. Call it lame or just 2 people that want to get out of our tiny apartment asap! Until next week....

The roof is started...

Just as we had expected, the roof was started this week!! We drove by last night and took pictures of the progress. Here is a picture of the front of the house as well as the pultrim being added to parts of the roofline before they put them on the house. If you look closely in the garage you can see our stairs are sitting there, waiting to be put in. Also, sitting just outside the house is the trim that's used around the bay windows and on the inside of the entry way and various other places. It's fun to see the delivery of different things so we can guess when each step will be completed.

Other progress we saw in our neighbors' houses...the house that was started two weeks before ours had the windows and garage doors in, the plumbing and mechanical supplies in the house and bundles of shingles on the roof to be put on! Another neighbor had their deck put on in the back as well as their brick pallets sitting in front of the house. It's so exciting to watch our little court blossom. :)

2 days later & look at the progress!

Dave and I drove back to the site last night to check out the progress and our second floor was done, along with some work on the garage!! I can't believe how fast they can work on these houses, but I guess they become pros after building them for so long! Judging by our neighbors that were started before us, we should have a the roof boards up and the pultrim (decorative trim they use on the roof line) done by the end of next week. We're hoping for a pre-drywall meeting in about a month, but I guess we'll see. It's kind of nice that our neighbors were started 1-2 weeks before us because we can kind of gauge where our house will be by what has been done to theirs.