It's Official...

I'm an adult now...I made my first mortgage payment this week. I'm not sure the reality of it all has set in yet...probably won't until I'm actually moved in and living there. I met with my flooring man Monday and picked out my new carpet and he promises me the hardwood floors will be installed by the time my appliances arrive next Thursday..I'm praying he sticks to his promise! Someone from H.D. came out and measured my windows for my new wooden blinds and they called today with the reasonable estimate, so I placed my order. They will hopefully be here and installed within two weeks! My sister and niece accompanied me to Mayer Lighting on Tuesday. As you all know, I am renovating my house on a budget and I'm really trying to stick to it. While at the lighting store, we were looking at some pendant lighting for my kitchen and of course my sister picks out the most expensive ones they had...I had to drop a bow on her! haha I was able to buy all my lighting that I needed and all of it was in stock except for my pendant lighting, which will hopefully be here within a week!! Here are some pics from our excursion.

Powder Bath fixture

Guest Bath fixture

My contractor Mike called me this morning to check on things. He told me my countertops were being installed tomorrow! This afternoon while driving down the road, Sean, my countertop man called me. This man is hilarious...he is a very large man and has a thick country accent. This is how the conversation went: "Virginia, I have some bad news. I don't think we can have your countertops in for another three weeks." I said, "What??!!!" Then Sean said, "I'm just messin' with ya Virginia, they'll be installed tomorrow." He was dying laughing and I had almost driven off the road with the news...I'm glad he has such a sense of humor!!

I'm the new VIP customer at Home Depot

It has been another busy week in the renovation process. The painters have finished all of the painting on the inside and I am very pleased with the colors! It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do for a house. Here are a few pics of the newly painted inside.

My newly painted kitchen with no cabinet doors, appliances, or countertops...kind of looks funny!

After getting four more quotes on my granite, I finalized that and my countertop man came out EARLY (6 a.m.) Friday morning and removed my existing countertops and laid the templates for my new ones. The new ones should be installed by this Thursday! There was a little controversy over a drop-in sink vs. an undermount one. He had initially told me he thought a drop-in sink would be easier, but he told me Thursday that I could go ahead and buy an undermount...I was thrilled!

Dad had the day off of work on Friday, so he and Mom headed down to B'ham to help me shop for home stuff. It was nice to have Mom and Dad to myself and I think it was the most productive day we have ever had. We spent almost two hours in Home Depot and we somehow managed to escape without getting in an argument and no one's feelings getting hurt, which is a miracle in my family!! Here is a list of what all we purchased: front-loading washer and dryer, refrigerator, range, microwave, dishwasher, stainless steel sink, garbage disposal, faucet for the kitchen sink, two ceiling fans, a granite vanity top for my powder-bath, a vanity top for the guest bath, new faucets for the master and guest bath, and two medicine cabinets. Also while being in H.D., I made an appointment for them to come out and measure my windows for some wood blinds. We filled up one buggy and one flat-bed cart. It took all three of us to make it to the register!! Every time I purchased something, they were like, you look familiar-apparently I am spending too much time there!! Here are some pics from our shopping extraveganza.

I'm so excited about my new washer and dryer!

Anyone smell cookies baking??!!

OOC!!

You know you've spent a lot in H.D. when the staff voluntarily comes out and helps you loud up your car! After filling up my dad's Expedition, we headed back to the house and unloaded everything. I am tyring to buy as much ahead of time so the contractors can start installing everything before I have to move in. The only thing I did not get to purchase was the vanity for my master bath. Apparently, it will have to be custom ordered...just another item to add on my list of questions for my contractor on Monday morning. We had planned on going to Mayer Lighting and buying all the new lights, but they were closed for the 4th. After unloading, we headed to Macy's to look at beds. I think my family takes the cake for the fastest shoppers ever. I picked out my new mattress in under 3 minutes. Our sales lady loved us!!

I got a Sealy mattress that is "Plush". I can already see deep-sleeping nights in my near future! After the purchase of the bed, we were finished. The only problem I'm having right now is with my flooring man..he's very sketchy and unreliable. I'm going to call him tomorrow and drop a bow on him because the appliances are being delivered on the 16th and my floors HAVE to be installed before they get there!!

Wednesday = Busy Day

My day started off with a dentist appt. at 7:10..who knew the dentist was even open that early? I received a bit of bad news while being there..my very first cavity. I have always prided myself on never having had a cavity..well the good luck streak is over! The news was traumatic that early in the morning!

After the dentist, it was off to my sister's house to wait on Katherine to wake up from her nap. While driving to her house, I received a call from my contractor, Mike. Have I mentioned before how great he is? He is always easy to get in touch with and always on top of things. He let me know I needed to drop by the new house and leave a check for the rest of my windows..who knew windows were so expensive??

When Katherine woke up, it was time to load up the car to go shop for granite!! My countertop man gave me an address for a place downtown that had slabs of granite and he suggested I go down and find the one I liked best. Since my parents are at the beach under an umbrella enjoying a much deserved vacation, I needed my sister's expertise help. Thank goodness I did not venture down to this store by myself...it was in a very sketchy part of town! After driving around and finding a safe place to park the car, we went inside and saw a warehouse full of marble, granite, and onyx. OMG!! For all you Real Housewives of New Jersey fans (I'm obsessed) this place would have been Teresa's heaven!

The sales lady gave me a clip-board and guided us in the direction of the granite. I tried to tell her not to show me anything that wasn't in my budget because I would probably pick one that I couldn't afford! She said she suggested I go through by myself, write down the ones I liked, then come back inside the office and she would give me their prices. If you know me at all, you know I make super-fast decisions and have very specific tastes. If I like something, I know it when I see it. So it actually didn't take us that long to find the ones we liked the best. Below are pics from the granite store.

Disregard my sister's hand in the way.

Here's the winner...Absolute Black!!!!

This is the money shot. Katherine loved my choice!!

I knew I wanted something black because I'm planning to do white cabinets. If you like swirls and colors in your granite, this place is the place for you..they basically had every color and style you could imagine. I only came back with three choices on my clipboard and thankfully they were all in my price range! My favorite was Absolute Black. After we left I called my countertop man and told him the good news. All I need to do now is buy my new sink so he can cut for that in the granite.

After finishing with the granite, it was time to head over to the new house and pay some bills. The painters are in the middle of painting and it already looks 100% better!! While at the house, I received some WONDERFUL news. Mike told me he had a final price on my cabinets, and it was MUCH lower than the first two estimates. One lesson I have learned during the renovation process is to always get more than one quote. The first quote I received for the refacing of my cabinets was 5 times this quote!! Since I was on cloud nine, I decided to save Mike a trip and I went and paid for the cabinets myself. Oh the joys of being an adult! I also called my flooring man and left him a message about which floors I have decided on. I feel like things are finally truckin' along.

Finally Some Changes

Things are finally starting to happen at the new homestead. Over the past week and a half, all the exterior work has been finished, new windows and doors have been installed, I have met with the counter-top man to discuss the granite, and the painters started this morning!!!!!!!
Here are some pics of my new windows and doors and some pics of the outside work that was done.

Not sure what you call this..but it keeps water from dripping onto my lower-level deck.

Two new support beams were added underneath my deck

The painting is supposedly going to take around two weeks, so hopefully I'll have some pictures soon. My countertop man was suppose to leave some granite samples for me last week on my front porch. I got a call this morning from my contractor, saying he had talked to my countertop man and he supposedly left the samples at my house on Friday. I went to the hacienda this morning to meet the painters and look for the granite...there was no granite anywhere. Does anyone know where my granite is??? We're trying to track it down...I just pray it wasn't stolen!!

Christmas in June

Yesterday, my mom, sister, niece, and I loaded up for a shopping trip in ATL. I ordered a tufted ottoman from the Ballard's Outlet last week (without even seeing it) so we headed over to the Peach State to pick it up and do some additional shopping! First stop...Ballard's Backroom. They had some great stuff, if we would have been driving a U-Haul, we could have bought the whole place, but we were limited to my dad's Expedition. The ottoman I ordered is great. I'm not super-crazy about the color (tan/beige), but I got a great price on it and was able to get the largest one they had. Second stop..North Georgia Premium Outlets in Dawsonville, GA.

My mecca...if only I could win the lottery!

Jackpot! As soon as we walked in to the Pottery Barn Outlet, my favorite song (Aint too Proud to Beg) was playing and I knew it was a sign that we were about to hit the mother-load...and we did!! We filled up two buggies-My mom pushed Katherine in the stroller and AK and I each had a buggy. I picked up a floor lamp with a shade, throw pillows, a dark wooden tray (to put on the ottoman), a large jar to place beside my fireplace, and a light fixture for my master bathroom. My mom told me Merry Christmas!! I am SOOOO excited!

While at the outlets, we went to Williams & Sonoma and Restoration Hardware. We picked up a few odds and ends at each. For those of you who know me, you know I'm a major clothes shopper. This was the first trip in my life, where I did not enter a clothing store-it was strictly house shopping for me!! At Restoration Hardware, Katherine had a slight melt-down so we knew it was time to load up and head back to B'ham. We were loaded down!!

I told my mom since I could see out the back window that we had room for more...but she disagreed!!

On last week's post, I mentioned about not being able to check my mail. The problem has been fixed! I spent an hour and $20.00 on Tuesday at the post-office and now have 3 brand-new keys to my mailbox. Also, work has begun on the outside of my house. When I met my post-man on Tuesday at my mailbox, I drove around to my house and there was MAJOR work being done. There were generators, ladders, saw-horses, and guys with no shirts!! haha They were repairing all the rotted wood, etc. on the outside. My contractor called me at 7:30 this morning to tell me my new windows will hopefully be here tomorrow!

On a sidenote, this morning I was able to go to my niece's 9 month check-up at the Dr. My brother-in-law is out of town for the day, so I went for moral support. Katherine did a great job and barely cried when she got her one shot!!

She actually was flirting with the doctor...she kept smiling at him and clapping!! I think she is definitely going to be a heartbreaker when she gets older. She was in the 90th percentile for height and head circumference and 70th percentile for weight. She is growing like a little weed!!

Good-Bye Carpet

On Thursday, when I pulled up at my house, I was thrilled to see this van with all of my yucky blue carpet. The place still reeks of pet odors, but it's not quite as overwhelming now that the carpet is gone. It already looks 100% better!! Now, if we can just get the floors installed, all will be well in the world.

My living room is now carpet-free!!

I am so thankful the reno. has officially begun, but with that comes the not-so-fun part...the spending of major money!!

The first of many checks to be written. This one was for new windows!

I finalized my paint colors for the house and sent them to my painter. Some of the colors are: Ferret, Outback Beige, and Sand. Who knew there were so many paint choices? And then there's the finish and the trim..I had to call for reinforcement with my choices from my sister and brother-in-law who are great with paint colors. My mom came in town for a few days and we went to Mayer Lighting and found some great choices for my new light fixtures. Also, I ordered my new couch from Pottery Barn and picked up my fabric for my new bedding.

The plaid is my bed-skirt and the solid fabric will be my euro shams!

Have I mentioned that I cannot check my mail? No one knows which mailbox is mine and the previous owner did not leave me a key. I have spoken with my home-owners association and my mailman and no one can tell me which mailbox is mine...so frustrating! I mean, I have never heard of such...Anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this problem? If I can ever figure out which box is mine, I guess I'm going to have to get a lock-smith out to make a new key for me...Ahh...the joys of owning a home!!

What a Busy Week

What a busy week I have had! Last Monday a girl from HD came out and spent THREE hours measuring for my new floors. THREE HOURS!! My house is not very large, but she said what was there was VERY complicated!! And after the three hour visit she didn't even so much as give me an estimate! I received a call on Friday from HD telling me that they could NOT install my floors due to some moisture they found under my floor...of course I started crying and immediately called my dad. Needless to say I will not be using HD for my floors or cabinets!! What a waste of time!!!!

I took some time out of stripping wall paper to make a quick trip up to Albertville to see my parents. My dad's birthday, my parents' 33rd wedding anniversay (WOW!), and my mom's last day of work were all last week! A great/emotional week for the whole Decker family. My mom has taught school for 18 years and Friday was her last day!! I am super-excited she is done working so now she can come to B'ham more often, but I was sad to say good-bye to her school and her classroom.

My mom's last day of teaching-let the retirement begin!!!!

After spending some time with my mom at school, I met my dad to check-out some vanities he had found. Who knew Sand Mountain had such treasures?? This store is definitely a diamond in the rough. We're thinking of putting one of these in my powder-bath downstairs to kick it up a notch!!

We also began looking at paint colors. I'm planning on keeping things pretty neutral..mostly tans and creams. I met with our new contractor this morning and he gave me another estimate on the whole renovation. It was MUCH better than our original estimate. (i.e. cheaper!!) My financial advisor gave him the go-ahead to begin!!!! I have already talked to my painter and he hopes to get started this week! He also gave me the most amazing news yet...I don't have to take down anymore wall-paper, wahoo!!!!! His team is going to do it for me...this was amazing to hear considering my fingers almost fell off last week pulling down the double layer of floral and aztec design in the kitchen.

This weekend I headed to Nashville for one of my best friend's, Miss Bess Skipper's Bachelorette Party. It was hands down the funnest weekend I've had since college. Nine of us were there and boy did we have a great time. We surprised Bess and rented a party trolley Friday night to drive us around town-I'm not going to lie..we kind of felt like celebrities!! On Saturday night we went to Cabana and had an AMAZING dinner...I mean, lobster brie mac-and-cheese....it doesn't get much better than that! I'm sad the weekend is over, but now we are looking forward to June 27th for the big wedding.

I received a call today and the fabric I ordered for my bedding came in!! I am heading home to A'ville tomorrow to finish picking my paint colors so the painting can begin. The flooring man is also suppose to be coming out this week to bring me some floor samples. Things are finally starting to begin!!