HAPPY 4TH EVERYONE!

We're having a cookout on Sunday. This will be the first time a lot of our family will see the house. I'm going to pick up my mother-in-law tomorrow from Detroit. We're so excited. Happy 4th. Let's not forget what our forefathers did to get our lovely country started and the men and woman that protect us to keep us great.

SMALL PROGRESS MADE!

For the past 24 hours Daniel has been surprising me with stuff he's done or gotten for the house. First thing he did was yesterday by getting our recycling can. Not the one that our township provides. Oh no. This thing is about the size of our garbage can and is on wheels. We recycle a lot so the one or two "crates" our township gives won't be enough. Plus being able to roll out both cans makes it easy on me if I have to take it to the curb. Second thing, we have a shelf in our garage. Our countertop on the breakfast bar bowed a little so they came in a replaced it today, during our 30 day inspection. So instead of throwing it away our punch out guy just used it to make a shelf. Last thing, OUR TV IS MOUNTED in the family room. I came home and I instantly heard the TV. I thought Daniel had the tv up loud upstairs. Nope, its our lovely Samsung hanging above the fireplace in all its glory. I love my hubby. So our 30 day inspection went well. There really aren't any issues. We had loose floor board in our bedroom, which was fixed last week. The countertop issue mentioned above. We had the electrician in here 2 weeks ago because the treadmill kept tripping the breaker. They painted the scrape marks on the wall too. In other house news, our concrete sidewalks are in. Well and I'm still working on putting together my closet. Sorry for the rambling, but I'm about to go to bed now. Toodles

RYAN HOMES CURRENT SPECIAL!

Is a free morning room!!!  I'm hot.  When we signed it was a finished basement, but a morning room?  I've only seen that incentive in a new community, but not as an official campaign.

In home news, nothing has changed.  Well other than the stainless steel cookware set that we got from Costco that I'm in love with.  Daniel is in the family room right now marking the studs for the TV.  Slow and steady wins the race right?

Miss you guys and congrats to all of those who have closed recently. 

Special shout out to my girl Noey.  What did I tell ya, it's all in his plans.  Glad the house is officially yours.  :-)

GUESS WHO?

We're back. I can't believe that we haven't made a post in such a long time. This is madness to me.

We'll we're pretty much settled in. Let me get this out of the way now, there a no pics. But we're 90% unpacked. We have to unpack our clothes, Daniel is way ahead of the game than me though. We also need to unpack and mount both TVs. Daniel put up all of the blinds and curtains, I'm so glad he's tall.  We still have no idea what we're going to due with the morning room windows.  Daniel drove on the street behind our house, which is up on a hill and there are no houses up there yet, and was able to see my mom and I in the kitchen.  I want something that would give privacy, but not detract from the beauty and the light that the morning room brings. 

We both took vacation the week after we closed, and boy did we need it.  Movers came that Monday, Tuesday the garage door openers were installed and the asphalt for our driveway was laid, Wednesday our bedroom furniture came, Thursday washer and dryer delivery and installation, Friday and the weekend we put up the blinds and curtains, and Monday the microwave was installed.  And last Friday Guardian came to activate the alarm.  Busy, busy, busy.  Oh and we also had guests that first week too.  My dad and stepmom came in.  We surprised them with an actual bed as they expected to sleep on the air mattress they gave us.  It sucked going back to work, but we have to pay the mortgage now right? 

I'm using our washer and dryer for the first time as I write this post.  We got the LG 3360 series washer and dryer.  They both have steam and the 6 motion technology.  We also replaced our range hood with an LG microwave, LMV1680BB.  We love it.  I couldn't have imagined getting Ryan to install the microwave.  It's literally just high enough for me to use it.  So pretty much the only GE appliances we have in the house are the stove and dishwasher. 

Once everything is tiddy, I'll take pics and post them.  We gotta keep up with India and her faboulousness. 

MOVING PART 2

As I write this we are waiting for the movers to show up. It's ironic when we move out of our old place they were early and we were not ready. We even went over the schedule time. This time to we are ready and they are held up at another site. I pray this time around there are no hiccups. We had Directv installed on saturday and we love it! The contractor they sent was very knowledgeable and is okay with Daniel calling and asking questions since he wasn't there during install . You want to know something hilarious? Remember that last minute change order we have to do so we can get the extra output for the dvr, the contractor said we don't have to have it anymore. Also in tap for today Verizon is supposed to come out and fix the phone. I know its small and we do have cellphones, but service is so bad I can't even send text messages sometimes. Gotta go movers are here

AT LAST, IT'S OURS

Yesterday was jammed packed. Closing went smooth. We were greeted to a "congratulations on your new home" sign at the front desk. Ours names were first on the list. Our realtor also came to the closing and gave us a thank you gift, which we hope to use soon. After closing the running around began. First we went to Costco and picked up some items. Namely the replacement for our kitchen faucet. We also stopped by our garage door contractor's office to order garage door openers. Definitely cheaper than doing it through Ryan and since its the same company no issues with our warranty with Ryan. The hiccup of the day came with Verizon. As of now we still don't have phone service. I called them around 4 pm because we both thought a technician was coming to the house. Turns out the line was activated for phone and internet, but the phone isn't working. We don't know about the internet as we haven't opened up the Guardian panel downstairs. The phone issue really sucks because they gave us a new phone number, after we started giving out the original number of course, and we really need a landline phone. Cellphone service really sucks out here so we really, really need a landline. So after that hiccup we headed over to Levin to order our bedroom furniture. It's going to be delivered Wednesday. The last stop was Best Buy. We ordered our washer, dryer, and over the range microwave. The washer and microwave is coming Thursday and they dryer Friday (because its gas its a separate install). All three are LG. Washer WM3360HWCA, dryer DLGX3361W, microwave LMV1680BB. The great thing about the washer and dryer is that we got them cheaper than what is advertised. They didn't remove outdated signs so we got that price. When we finally get home we tried to turn on the heat upstairs, but that unit didn't kick on, but the downstairs did. So we were a little chilly last night because I refused to run the lower unit. That's the purpose of dual zone right? Well it didn't dawn on us until I looked in our homeowners manual to check the breaker. See during pre-settlement we asked our PM which breaker switch controlled which furnace. So he turned one of the breakers off and it was the one for upstairs. Well no one thought to turn it back on until this morning, lol. Now its nice and toasty. Today Direct TV is coming and our refrigerator will be delivered. So you know what that means, GROCERY SHOPPING. Oh the things we're going to put in the pantry. On another note, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the natural light in the house. We didn't turn on the lights until we got home at night. All in all it feels great to be in our home. It's going to be chaotic for a while with the movers on Monday and the deliveries and installs throughout the week, but this is what we dreamed of. Homeownership. To all of the mommy's and mommy's to be, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

PRE-SETTLEMENT & BEYOND!

Our pre-settlement yesterday was great. We had the inspector come in at 10 am and he was there until just after our pre-settlement started at 2 pm. Daniel was there the whole time as I had a half day at work. Overall the inspector said the house was built well and he didn't see any major issues.  The inspector gave us piece of mind and I feel we learned a lot from him and our PM.  Something that I feel made it so great was that our inspector took time.  Being there for 4 hours he did a through job.  Our PM said most inspectors come in and are done in like an hour.  Our PM even asked him for his card because he did a thorough job looking at the house.
Most of my time was spent in the kitchen. I didn't want to leave it because...we have cabinet crown molding. I didn't think we would have it. I wrote a note to ask our PM for contact info for the cabinets so we could add it later. Now there is no need. Also just before we left we ran the dishwasher to get a sense of the noise factor. It's defiantly quieter than ones we've had in the past, so we're keeping it for now.

WE'RE GOING TO BE HOMEOWNERS TOMORROW!!!!!!

I'm so glad we went through NVR settlement.  The fact that we don't have to wait for a wire to come through in order to get our keys is fantastic. 

So let's finish this countdown

#2

NEW CONSTRUCTION

For us we required a new home.  We kinda got spoiled.  Our first place together was an rehabbed apartment with new everything.  Plus we couldn't find our requirements in existing homes in the areas we were looking.  Plus something has to be said for piece of mind in not needing to replace our HVAC, appliances, and a roof.  Plus the experience of building from the ground up is awesome.  Going from a flat piece of land to our dream home is so amazing to us.  Which leads me to #1


#1

WE BUILT OUR FIRST HOME!

I know there are a few of us in the Ryan blog family that are building our first home, but it is not the norm throughout the country.  To top it off, we didn't build a starter home, we built a forever home.  That's such an amazing and at the same time a humbling experience. 

I didn't take a lot of pics on my phone yesterday, but here it is.  The finished product...




Isn't she a beauty?




Showing off our FABULOUS crown molding on top of the cabinets




Just in case you got basic black appliances.  The back burner on the right is a simmer burner



AND WE WAIT!

We don't have really nothing else to do before closing. Our rep from NVR settlement called me yesterday to give our final figures and what we need to bring to closing. Ironically after what we went through to get our SSN cards, we don't need them for closing. Can't wait to see the house tomorrow for pre-settlement.

#4

TRAY CEILINGS

I know this is something small, but I LOVE TRAY CEILINGS.  Then to make it even better we have two of them.  I can see myself just staring at the ceiling in looking at how marvelous it is in all it's glory. 

Don't get me wrong, tray ceilings were not a requirement of ours and we don't expect to get it back for resale, but they're gorgeous and I don't care, lol. 

#3

(I can't believe we're in the top 3 of our countdown.  It feels like it was yesterday figuring out what would and wouldn't make the countdown.)

MORNING ROOM

Did you really think this wasn't going to make the countdown?  We love them.  They let in so much light and just make the kitchen feel even more open.  Of course our favorite thing is the center window with the semi circle window on top.  Also we like that we have a patio door, due to extending the family room, as opposed to the sliding door.  Just makes the space feel more formal.

We feel Ryan adds value with this upgrade by including the additional square footage in the basement.  A lot of builders don't do that, yet the price point for the upgrade is very close to Ryan.  In addition to the fact that we love the morning room, we pretty much had to add it for resale as about 60% of our community has them.  At least that's what we kept telling ourselves to justify the upgrade.

BAD JIM, BAD!

So we attempted to show my brother more than the outside of the house yesterday, but we couldn't because...OUR PERMANENT LOCKS ARE ON! Yay! Thus the title of the post, Jim is our PM, lol. It was exciting driving up to the house and seeing the landscaping (mulch, shrubs, and tree) has been done, our mailbox is installed, and the door has been painted. Our locks are sexy because they're all ours. The door isn't as deep of a chocolate that we thought it was going to be, its more like a milk chocolate and we love it. All in all we're a little disappointed that we couldn't show the inside to my brother, but he really enjoyed what he saw in person and we showed him the pics on the blog too. We decided not to take pics since we'll be there again Wednesday for pre-settlement.

Now on to the second bust if the day, the Victoria Falls model is complete and open in a new community. Did we see it? Nope. Epic fail #2 of the day. Now we've had this happen before and we learned to call before hand to make sure someone was there. This time we did not. No biggie because we'll be living in our house on Friday. I text our rep to let her know, just in case someone asks her, and she took it as a personal mission to find out why no one was there on a Saturday. She's great, even makes sure to keep juice boxes in the fridge at the model for us, lol.

Yesterday wasn't s complete bust. I think we found our dishwasher at a great price. It has everything that we want except for steam and adjustable racks. For that price we get what we need.

#6

REC ROOM

We have dubbed the largest bedroom as the Recreation Room or Rec Room for short. We even labelled the boxes for it as Rec Room. In this room will be our treadmill, our first couch that we bought as a couple, our entertainment center, our first flat screen TV, and the PS3. Eventually we'll transition this down to a dedicated area in the basement once we finish it, but for now its upstairs. Stephanie, our sales rep, is excited about this room too. We joke that one day we'll come home and my mom is in the kitchen cooking and Stephanie is in the Rec Room on the treadmill and taking phone calls from the model on her cell via Bluetooth, lol. Yeap one big happy Ryan Homes family.

This portion of the countdown from this moment on is in ranked order.

#5

AREA AND SCHOOL DISTRICT

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh. So it was important for us to be in a sense behind our family geographically. So when we have kids and are dropping them off, thanks Mommie, it
will be on our way too and from work. We still had 5 communities to consider between the three builders we were looking at. Three of the communities were also in the same school district. When we made the decision that we were going with Ryan that put us into 3 communities all in different school districts. In researching school districts we used schooldigger.com and the annual report that the Pittsburgh Business Times comes out with their statewide rankings. We factored in lot size, school district, taxes, HOA, and community size. Out of all of the communities we got the biggest bang for our buck in our community and we couldn't be happier.

OKAY I'LL ASK: ROYAL WEDDING

Who watched it and what are your thoughts?

I didn't wake up to watch it. I watched the special on cbs. I loved her dress except for the neckline. Her blush was horrible, I heard she did her own make-up, but I loved everything else about her attire. Other than that I was very happy about it. Oh and I loved the cake, great design.

1 WEEK COUNTDOWN!

YES!!!!  In one week we'll be home owner's.  I think we're really prepared so far.  We got an email from our processor that we're CTC and package has been prepared.  We're just waiting for final figures at this point.  I called and set up utilites today for the day of closing as well.  I was really excited when I called for our trash collection.  I asked what can and cannot be recycled and was pleased to know that they sky is the limit practically.  They'll even take junk mail. 

We also ordered those Ginsu knives that ThriftyAmy told everyone about.  I LOVE GINSU.  My father gave me a set years ago and we still have them.  But now we have fancy ones.  Just like with Amy, they came in 2 days.  BTW, if you have a Sam's Club membership, they sell them there to.  I'm not sure if they only have them online or if they're in the store also. 

In other news, my brother is in town and we'll be taking him to see the house tomorrow morning.  We haven't been there since Monday.  Can't wait. 

#8

WALL MOUNTED TV'S

Finally, we have a domicle that we can do this.  We're mounting TVs in our family room and owner's bedroom.  Matter of fact I ordered the wall mounts yesterday through Monoprice.  I spoke to a technical support rep online, gave them the make and models of our TVs, and told them what we wanted (fixed, tilt, and/or swivel).  They looked up the specs and gave me the model numbers.  It was so worry free.  The rep also gave me a link to a youtube video for mounting.  For about $85 we got two wall mounts including shipping.  Oh and we did get a new TV for our bedroom



VIZIO XVT373SV

 #7

BASEMENT & ATTIC

We both had basements growing up so it was important to use that we had as much space as possible.  Therefore we only considered homes with attached garages.  Ideally when we finish the basement we'll be able to put a full bath, we got the rough ins, a bedroom and a media room.  Thoughts have also swarmed in our heads to maybe turn it into an apartment for an income property.  It's great having options. 

The attic is new territory for us.  We both had them, but they were more like the crawl space type.  Not the pull down ladder type that we have now.  It's great to know that we have extra storage for when we finish the basement.

FIRST SINGLE DIGIT COUNTDOWN!

#9

WINDOWS AND NATURAL LIGHT

What better way to save on electricity than to use the natural light the sun gives?  It's also way warmer too.  I think we have 28 windows between the first and second floors so there will be plenty of sun in the house.  I can't wait until we get bamboo floors in the house.  It's going to feel so warm when the sun hits the floors. 

Funny a few years ago we were anti sun light, but that was when we have our utilities included in our rent as well, lol.  Although waking up with sunlight in our faces isn't the best way for us to wake up, once we're up, let the sunlight in.  Every time I go in the house I notice how much is in the house.  I love how we won't have to turn on lights until just before sundown. 

HOUSE INSPECTORS!

How many of you are planning on using one either for predrywall and/or final walkthru?  We have one scheduled to come in before our final walkthru (we were going to use the same guy for the pre-drywall, but he was unavaliable), but I'm on the fence about using them.  I keep going back and forth.  On one hand if this was an existing home, I wouldn't have a second thought.  However, since we've seen our home being built from the ground up and generally don't go more than 3 days without seeing it, I'm wondering if we need one. 

Every issue or question that we've seen and had have been promptly answered by our PM.  I wonder if it's really necessary. 

What are your thoughts? 

YESTERDAY IT FELT LIKE OUR HOUSE!

It's amazing what carpet can do, lol.  We stopped by the house yesterday and our sales rep let us in.  As soon as we walked in we saw the carpet on the steps.  Sadly, we didn't get a picture of it.  I didn't even think about it until now.  Carpet is installed throughout the house.  Shelves are up in all of the closets, pantry, and laundry room.  All of the lighting fixtures are all and working, yeap we turned on every single light in the place.  We used energy star lights in our old place so we're used to how they brighten up a few moments after being turned on.  The faucets and toilets are in, didn't think to turn on the water, but we will before closing.  We talked to my Dad last night and he said to put in a stopper and fill up the sinks at least halfway, then drain to test the drainage in the sinks.  He also said to get an voltage thingy (yes I can't remember what it's called) so that you can plug into the outlets and test the voltage. 

I will have to say that I think part of the amazement was walking up to our front door on concrete (no pics of the walkway either).  No more mud for us, lol.  Oh and did you notice the countdown has single digit days now?  OMG, it's almost here.  I was telling Daniel yesterday that my co-workers were asking me when we were closing.  I said next Friday and it felt so good.  No longer a couple months or weeks from now, but next Friday.  Then it will become just Friday.  Can't wait. 

Okay so I know I owe ya'll pics and a countdown.  Pics are first, then the countdown.  Oh yeah, this is going to be a long post. 

Super pumped that we have a Lazy Susan

Laundry room shelves

Owner's Bedroom



Owner's closet



Owner's closet, gotta love the window

Owner's bath linen closet

Powder room

Pantry

Pantry doors



Upstairs linen closet



Shower with faucets and soap dish



#12

SECURITY SYSTEM

I don't like leaving lights on or having them come on with a timer.  Neither of us come home around the same time everyday and I think it's wasted energy to have lights on when you're not home.  This will give us great piece of mind.  We also like the fact that the house is already internally wired so in the event we decide not to renew with Guardian we can go to another company.  Plus we did save on our homeowners.  Not as much as we thought, but its a savings none the less.. 

#11

VACUUM

When Dyson first came out I dreamed of owning one, but I couldn't justify having an expensive vacuum and a small place.  Then as I researched Dyson and other higher in vacuums I feel in love with Miele and have been obsessed with them since.  I can't wait to use it.  It was actually cheaper than some Dyson's and IMO a much better vacuum.  Plus the appliance store that we got it from will service it if we have an issue even after we've had it for a year.  The funny thing is that I don't like vacuuming, unless its with a canister vacuum.  I can't wait to open it up and use it.

#10

PANTRY

We can probably fill up the pantry now with our non-perishables that are at my mother's house.  We love soup and cereal.  Like when I say we love it, we love it.  We will buy both of these in bulk and finish off the supply in two weeks.  This, plus the fridge, and the insane amount of cabinet space will allow us to shop how we want without having to wonder if we have enough room to store it. 

DO NOT ENTER!

That's the message that our PM sent us today when our sales rep and I attempted to access the house. Our walkway and stoop finally got poured. We walked on the dirt part beside the walkway and we were greeted by two pieces of plywood in a cross bone pattern, minus the skull. Yeap he was trying to tell us something, lol. Even the garage doors were locked.

I took pics, which I can't post until Monday, of the outside. I got pics of the lighting fixtures on the outside of the garage doors, the air conditioning units, the walkway, and the front door, wood planks and all. One exciting thing was that the front porch lights were on. Well one of them was on. I'll ask our PM about that on Monday.

On to the countdown.

#14

BACKYARD

Ours is huge. We measured about 60-70 feet behind the house for the flat part and 100+ including the hill up to the easements. For us this is a huge backyard. We could probably build a small house back there and still have plenty of room. When we have kids and get a dog there's plenty of room for them to play. We have no idea what we want to do with it other than adding a covered deck/patio. It feels great knowing that we have a lot of possibilities.

#13

ROOM TO GROW

Speaking of kids and a dog, lol. This is one if the reasons that we got a bigger home. We know so many people that wished they would have bought a bigger first house. Plus we despise moving. Also we both grew up in the same house and we wanted to provide that opportunity for our future children.

UPDATED PICS!

Porch lights.  Daniel said that garage lights are installed as well, but he didn't get a pic.

Faucets and lighting fixture



Foyer chandelier



Powder room.  Daniel said the light fixture is installed, but he didn't get a picture of it

Better shot of foyer chandelier

Dining room chandelier

Dishwasher

The complete fireplace



Utility tub


We went with basic appliances, faucets, and lighting fixtures.  I hope when we get the washer, dryer, and microwave, there's still room for a new dishwasher.  The included dishwasher is really loud for an open floor plan. 

2 WEEKS FROM TODAY

We'll be getting up and getting dressed for our 9 am closing. We're so excited and we just can't hide it.

Pics will be coming later on today.

HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY EVERYONE!

COUNTDOWN & RANDOMNESS

I'm a little sad that I have nothing else to do regarding the house before the week of closing.  I've called Verizon and Direct TV and scheduled service, got our homeowners insurance set up, verified settlement, and what, as of now, we have to bring to settlement.  Well we did have a little scare.  I thought I made sure that we had EVERYTHING that we could possibly need prior to and during settlement handy during and after the move.  This way what we did yesterday and this morning wouldn't happen.  What did we do yesterday and this morning you might ask?  Go through the boxes at my mom's house for our social security cards.  We couldn't find them and I'm so upset about it.    When I say we have EVERYTHING ELSE I mean EVERYTHING ELSE.  We had our local tax payment stubs for the first quarter even.  I know they are in our possession somewhere, but I didn't want to take any chances.  So this morning we went to the SSA office and ordered replacement cards.  BTW if this happens to you, the office can give you a stamped letter with your name and SSN.  I verified with our NVR Settlement rep today that if we don't get the cards by settlement that the letters will be fine.  So other than that, I have nothing to do before setting up the utilities the week of closing.

Speaking of utilities, I have a question.  In our pre-settlement letter one page says to set up the utilities for the day after settlement and the next page to set up utilities for the day of settlement.  What day did ya'll set up your utilities on?

Last thing before the countdown.  As I write this post, Daniel still hasn't sent me the pics that he took from the house today.  So blame him for no pics, lol.  He did tell me that everything is installed in the powder room (sink, toilet, and light fixture).  Come to think of it, I'm not sure if the mirror is up.  Also the faucets are installed in our owner's bath and the light fixtures.  Our chandelier is up in the foyer and dining room and our dishwasher is installed in the kitchen.  He didn't look in the garage so we don't know if the stove and range hood are there yet or not. 

Now on to the countdown

#16

DUAL ZONE HEATING AND COOLING

I'm super excited about this.  Sometimes we need to adjust the temperature after we're settled in the bedroom.  Then it becomes a matter of rock, paper, scissors, the loser goes downstairs, lol.  Now we just have to jump out of bed and walk a few feet to change it.  I also like that the heating unit for upstairs is in the attic and the vents are in the ceiling.


#15

GARBAGE AND RECYCLING

I know this may seem weird, but I miss having our own garbage and recycling cans/bins.  Having to put the garbage in a dumpster can get interesting depending on how close it is to pick up day and the weather can be a nasty smelling experience.  I love to recycle.  When my municipality growing up started requiring residents to do it, my dad gave me the packet and he said that was my project.  I made sure the family recycled the right things in the proper way.  Our last place was the only rental that we had that offered recycling.  Of course it was in one location for the whole complex.  Whenever we put our recyclables in the bin, I was always disappointed that it wasn't full.  Some days I felt like we were the only ones that recycled.  I can't wait to get the information for our house and our bins.  I think I mentioned before that I want to have a shelf with bins for our recyclables in the mud room.  I like to have a rain barrel and a compost bin as well.  I kind of wish we had a rain barrel now.  With all of the rain we've gotten these past few weeks, we would've had enough water  for our lawn. 

#17

STAIRCASE

I can't wait to stare it and know its all ours. I wish all floorplans offered this type of staircase. Under the previous model, Victoria, there was a lot more wasted space in the foyer. At least to us it seems like less wasted space in Victoria Falls. I do wish we would have upgrade the staircase to oak, but that's something that I hope we can change later.

I know I mentioned this yesterday, but we love the stain on the staircase.

PICS FROM YESTERDAY!

Gourmet island



Lower railing




Upper railings




Random doors in the owner's bedroom.  I just thought this would make a cool pic




Attic insulation.  It's been blown in, Daniel saw it, but they must have put the batt to hold it in




Fireplace mantel installed