Update

 Since returning from Florida I got to see my cousins twice on their way to and from Nags Head, NC. I had a great visit with them each time.  Also since returning from Florida we worked on our front porch flower garden - we placed a stone boarder all around and planted a few more flowers.  We had in ground sprinklers installed a few weeks back so hopefully this time next year our lawn and garden looks great!

Happy Early Earth Day!

This land is my land, this land is your land.  Let's work together, to make it better.  To tall green forests, and clear blue waters. This land depends on you and me!

I hope you all have a wonderful Earth Day on Tuesday.  We were working hard in the garden again this weekend.  We planted some small flowers around were the rose buses were put in last weekend.  We also planted a yellow Forsythia tree and installed our 3rd rain barrel.  The 2 rain barrels in the front of the house are hooked to soaker hoses that are weaved around all the plants. 

The 3 fruit trees we planted last winter are actually doing well.  Our peach tree has tons of flowers on it and our red apple tree is starting to get green.  Not sure if the yellow apple tree made it though the winter or not yet, it has a couple little buds on it but not much. 

Workout time!

Our unfinished basement gets lots of attention in our house.  We started with our gym equipment from New Mexico - A elliptical, bike stand and rowing machine (all bought in yard sales or craigslist).  Then we added our old TV when Grandfather bought us a new TV for the house. Then we threw down some spare carpet the builders left for us.   Now we have Dexter's playset built - which has ladders, monkey bars and a trapeze.  It also has a pull up bar for us.  Finally we are adding a treadmill from Dan's Aunt as soon as we have a truck or trailer to get it home.   It is a great place to workout and just in time for winter to hit us. 

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Daddy's birthday.  He will get presents and ice cream cake!   I will wear my new silly glasses I got at the dentist yesterday.  Mommy and I both saw the dentist and we both have awesome clean & straight teeth :)

Another present is Daddy gets new tile in the master shower.  We discovered last week that it was leaking into our basement and they came Monday to rip out the tile and saw that there was a hole in the shower drain pan and they have to replace it and re-tile.  Hopefully that is the only major issue we ever have with our new beautiful house! 

Window Film

We finally put a window cover over the front door window today.  We went with a decorative window film that was super easy to put on and actually turned out really pretty. 

Settling in

Dan has been home for one week now, our visitors have all left and I start work on Monday.  We are all officially settling in here in Gainesville, VA.

Ophelia and Bosley love the grass but with temperatures 90-105F and high humidity they have not been able to just hang out like they want to.  Bosley has trouble getting down the stairs so we decided to get an invisible fence and give them a chance to walk out the front yard and side yards

My dad bought us a beautiful 55" TV that makes watching Star Wars that much easier!   Dexter loves to dress up like a jedi complete with sharpie marks on his face to look more like Darth Maul.

Even the compost worms are settling in to our new home.  We will eventually plant some flowers, trees, etc around the yard and these little guys will help reduce our trash waste and feed our garden.

Dexter really likes his new school.  Here are some things he did this week.  Built a structure out of sugar cubes and icing, built shapes out of straws and pipe cleaners like the pyramid, and made lots of animals like snakes.  Next Friday they have another field trip this time to Leesburg Animal Park and Daddy is going to be one of the chaperones!  We are in the process of getting him into the county speech therapy program as well.  We gave them his New Mexico report and filled out some paperwork, they should call next week to schedule an evaluation of him and see if he needs more therapy. 

The playroom is coming together also.  We have my desk and chairs for coloring.  All the puzzles and toys are set up.

This week we installed the garage door openers, ceiling fans in most rooms, set up the home gym and many other little things.  I start work Monday morning and Dan has one more week off before he starts back on the 29th.  Hopefully this weekend we will finally check out the pool, it is hot out there!

My day

Today I went on a field trip to a printing press.  I got to see several large printers that make books.  My class got to make photocopies of our hands at the end as well - that was great!

My bedroom - before shot

My bedroom space mural!!

My arts and craft station in the playroom 

After the school field trip mommy went home and back to work on the house.  Today mommy and grandfather put up an awesome space mural in my room and hung up lots of arts and crafts stuff on the playroom wall.   Next up for the playroom is to get a desk for under the window and then a TV stand or cubbies for toy/book storage on the other wall. 

Workers

  Ever since we arrived in Virginia is has been non-stop projects, todo lists and trips to Lowes.  Grandfather has been an amazing helper (and so have I)

We have hung curtains on almost all the windows

I got to hand screws to grandfather and put the poles in the curtains.

Just one of the many, many windows in my house - the Dining Room

 

I got to help paint the garage walls - cool gator orange and blue racing stripes!

Here is what it looked like when we pulled the tape off.

Today we placed 3 rainbarrels around the house, these 2 are under the stairs.  We had to dig down several inches to lay pavers and rocks and level everything under the barrels.

Here they are so far.  We still need to add more rocks around the pavers and connect the gutter diverters

This is in a little nook right when you enter the house from the garage (thanks IKEA),  A little bench for putting on my shoes and a couple floating shelves for putting wallets, keys, supermans, etc.  Mom is going to add some hooks for backpacks or coats.

We also mounted an American Flag on the front of the house.  You can also see the other rain barrel we placed.

 Overall we have been very busy!  I get to help around the house which I love, but I wish I had my tool box with me (it is on the moving truck)  Grandfather will be here for a few more days and the projects seem to have no end in site!

Maryland and Virginia!

I had a nice weekend in Maryland - I got to drive a big dump truck around Gram's yard, I went to the beach with my cousins Ben and Nicole, I had ice cream and yummy dinners and then finally after 6 months of hearing about it I got to see my new Virginia house!!! 

I love my house, the first thing I said when I went inside was "This is awesome!"  I love my room and my personal Spiderman bathroom.  I like eating breakfast and dinner on the fireplace mantel because it is the only place to sit right now until we get some furniture!   Our first meal was Mac & Cheese :)

Busy Friday

No pictures to show today but just wanted to tell you about my successful Friday.  At 9am I met with the builder to make sure all the final items were corrected - that went smooth and everything was fixed.  At 11am I went to the title company to sign the mountain of paperwork that goes with buying a new house.  Not only did I get to sign my name 100 times but I got to sign for Dan as well.  For Dan I had to write "Daniel R Karrels by Allison Karrels, his attorney in fact".  Then at 2pm I had a job interview for a part time PACU position at the hospital closest to our new house.  That went great, it seems like a nice place and I am sure I would enjoy it there.  Then at 4pm I met with a "wood artist" carpenter guy about building a window seat and bookcases in the playroom.  It was very busy but everything went great and now we are proud owners of an amazing new house.  I can't wait to actually live there in a few more weeks and finally show Dan the house in person when he arrives July 11th!

Home inspection

Today was the home inspection for our new Virginia house!  The inspection went great.  My inspector said they built a really nice home and only had a couple points to bring up when I did the walkthrough with the builder.  Issue 1 - the outside patio stairs are not completed yet, they are about halfway done but will be done before closing next Friday.   Issue 2 - The AC unit has two zones, upper level and lower two levels, but the zones were not talking to each other.  If the heat or cool was on with one thermostat it was blowing on both levels.  The builder was already aware of this and said a part was ordered for the HVAC dampener and will be done prior to closing.  Issue 3 - Pluming - the water was not connected to the fridge for water/ice and one of the toilets was missing the tube that connects water from the pipes to the actual toilet.  Issue 4 - one of the central vac outlets was not working.   That was it, there were a couple really minor areas were painters will come around and touch up.   Next Friday at 9am I have another quick walkthrough to make sure all issues were fixed and then we close at 11am.

Here are some interior photos:

Family room and windows overlooking the patio

My amazing kitchen

Looking into the dining room

The unfinished basement - future gym! (long-term project)

Unfinished garage - this will be my project to paint and seal the floor prior to Dan's arrival

Here are some exterior photos of my house and neighbor houses:

my house on the left - looking down the road to the east

my driveway looking down the road to the west

back yard - looking west

The unfinished patio stairs

My backyard view - looking north

 

Our beautiful house

Looking across the street to the east

Looking across the street to the west

Overall the house looked soooo nice!  I can't wait to move in June 29th, and I really can't wait for Dan, the dogs and all our belongings to arrive July 11th. 

Latest home pictures

Outside - some gutters, AC, basic landscaping

Finished fireplace

The baby jesus arch outside the master bedroom - I need an artwork idea for this

Pantry

The loft - aka playroom

Main floor staircase - will be stained later

Kitchen - appliances and lights are in

Outdoor patio

Master bath - shower stall and my vanity

Side of house - they added some dirt and will sod next week

Several of the finishing touches went in this week - plumbing and light fixtures, carpet, kitchen appliances,  gutters and some basic landscaping.  A few more finishing touches will go in next week like the grass, patio stairs, staining the hardwood stairs and cleaning.  The final city inspection will be in two weeks.  I have my inspector going in May 24th in the morning and then my walk through with the builder that afternoon.  They then have a week to fix anything on the punch list before closing on May 31st.