Long Overdue

So I realize that I am long overdue for a new post. I guess I do have a pretty good set of excuses though... new house, new job... you know how it is. I feel like there has been so much going on in the past 2 weeks, I don't even know where to start.

We are really starting to feel settled in now and have been busy with details making our house what we want it to be. Anthony has been quite the handy man in that he has installed our garbage disposall (which I was dying without), some under the counter lights for the kitchen, and put together the grill we bought. We just bought an area rug and a runner for the living room tonight, which really make it feel more homey.

Also, just yesterday, after more than a year of having it boxed up, I pulled out my grandmother's china which she gave me as a wedding gift. It was one of her wedding gifts when she was married back in the 1940's. I have felt so honored that she would decide to give such a wonderful gift to me. I hand't unpacked it before now because I knew it wouldn't be long till we were packing again. But hopefully, we will be here for a nice long while. :)

We have been watering our lawn nearly everyday in what has been a mostly successful attempt to grow grass. It really is looking good, but there are a few spots we're going to need to re-seed to get some grass growing. I'm so glad to have the beautiful deck to be able to relax and enjoy the fruits of our labor.... now - if only we could find the time to do that!

Also new, is my job. I am working at Staunton Foods now as the Human Resources/Payroll Administrative Assisstant. I am truly enjoying it and it feels like a really good fit for me. I have always thought that if I didn't do education in college I would have done accounting (and now wishing I had!) and I get to do a lot of things that deal with numbers and that sort of thing. I actually may take an accounting class in the fall. It's been really nice to come home and have evenings and weekends free of schoolwork.

Well, I need to wrap this up and get to bed. We have a big weekend ahead of us with a wedding here tomorrow, and then we are headed to Lynchburg tomorrow evening for Ren's bridal shower on Sunday. Here are a few of the latest pictures.


One of our first pieces of grass!!!



Living room with new arrangement and rug.



Under the counter lights.

New Pictures

Hall Bathroom:




Guest Bedroom:




Kitchen:




Master Bedroom:

We're Here!

Hello! Just wanted to post a quick update-- we are all moved in to our new house. We got everything moved in last night and have been unpacking and organizing all day long. We got a lot done, and are exhausted, but very happy here. It's hard to believe that we are really in the house now. I am so thankful to God for this blessing. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

Home Inspection

This is the last house update before we actually move in! We had the home inspection on Friday. There were a few minor things that need to be fixed, but we are meeting with Bobby Anne tomorrow (Sunday) to do an amendment to the contract to have those things fixed before we close. I am really glad we had the inspection done, even though it's a new home. Inspector Homes from Staunton did it, and I think they did a great job. The only major thing left to be done is the grading and seeding of the yard. Along with the small things that need to be fixed, I imagine it should only take them a couple days this week to be completely done. Here are some pictures.


The living room with the beautiful hardwood floors. If you can see, there are 3 electrical plugs along the front wall. The one under the window is something that most builders don't usually do, unless asked to, according to our inspector. It is on a separate circuit that is connected to a light switch. So when Christmas time comes around, we'll just have to flip a switch to turn our Christmas tree lights on and off! The 2 bedrooms on the front side have that feature as well.




My wonderful kitchen! I am so happy with the way it turned out. It was really kind of hard to pick out everything just based on a tiny sample swatch of whatever it was, but we are both very pleased with the kitchen.




The main bathroom. Of course we love the double vanity, and both bathrooms have little linen closets in them, which will be very nice.



We should be closing this Friday and hopefully all moved in on Saturday! I can't wait to update with pictures once we get there.

Update - Just for Amanda!

Hello-- sorry for the delay. What can I say? I just got lazy. But by request of Amanda, here is the latest. :)

At our latest trip to the house, we found the shutters are up, carpet is down, and the inside basically seems to be done. They still have to do the landscaping, but as far as we can see, that is all that is left. We have a home inspection this Friday at 2:30. Everything should be fine, since it is a new build, but we just wanted to cover ourselves, just in case. We close next Friday, the 15th! We reserved a moving truck today, so that was exciting. Things are moving along, and we are more excited than ever.





Sunday was really fun at Mom's house. We got our little kitchen down from the attic that Ashley and I played with when we were little. Zoe definitely loved it and was playing with it all afternoon. She has more kitchen accessories than any one child needs! Mom also got a bunch of my stuff down out of the attic since I will soon have my own attic to store them in. I went through some of my old dolls, animals, and books. There were some that I just can't bring myself to get rid of because I loved them so much. Did anyone else play with Magic Nursery dolls? Those were the best! Also, we went through a box that was some of my "special" stuff I have gained or made over the years. There was one autobiography that I must have written in the fifth grade. I read it out loud and we were absolutely rolling - I was crying from laughing so hard.



Anyways... only 2 more days of school left. I am going to be working at Staunton Foods starting this summer, and it is going to be semi-permanent. I'm not going to teach again next year, which I still have mixed feelings about, but I think this is the best thing to do for now. They know I only plan to work until we have a baby. I would love to teach at Ridgeview, but I just feel like it's not enough money to get rid of enough of our debt in order to be able to have a baby, which is the desire of my heart, more than any career. I'm not exactly sure of my job description yet, but I'm excited for a change. Teaching may still be an option for the future, but for now, I'll be at Staunton Foods. That's about the latest I have to offer. Hope that will suffice, Amanda! :)

One Year Anniversary!

Well- it's not quite one year yet, but close enough. I did somehow manage to squeeze into my wedding dress... I have put on a few pounds in the last year, probably most of those during our honeymoon during which we ate like royalty. Anyways, tomorrow evening, we are staying at the Comfort Inn in Staunton, where we stayed on our wedding night last year. We're also going to get Chili's takeout, just like we did last year. We are definitely looking forward to it. Here's a picture to commemorate our no-longer-newleywed-stage. :)

Major Progress & a Neighbor

Hello! We made the trip out to the house for our weekly visit today. We were pleasantly surprised yesterday to learn that Pam Sipe, the other realtor, would be out there from around 11 to 1 today so we could get in the house if we wanted. All the cabinets are installed, bathroom and kitchen, linoleum in the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry closet is down, and all the appliances are there. Here are a few pictures.


This is the master bathroom.



Left-hand side of the kitchen, door to the deck is just to the left.



And right-hand side of the kitchen.



We were also pleasantly surprised to meet our new neighbor, who will be moving into her house at the end of June. Not sure if she has a husband or boyfriend as well (she was there by herself), but she is expecting, so hopefully we will be able to get to know her/them. I was also encourage by the fact that she is going to have a baby. It weighs somewhat heavy on my mind that once we have children, I may have to find something to do to bring in a little extra money. A great possibility would be to babysit for a mother who works but I worry about finding someone that would be close enough to make that work. So not that I have it in my mind that I am going to babysit this lady's child, but I kind of feel like that was confirmation from God that if that is what he wants me to do, he can certainly make it work. Faith comes in funny ways, doesn't it? Here I am worried about finding someone with a baby, and God gives us a next door neighbor who is having one! So today was a great encouragement. Apparently they are far enough along that we can go ahead and schedule the home inspection, which will be our next step, hopefully this week. Our excitement is growing!