movin' on up

tomorrow is moving day! we still have things to do at this point. really, we don't have anything else much to pack that the movers are going to move, but we need to clear off and away what they are going to move. also, going on tomorrow, is the cable guy is coming between 8am and 5pm. not 8-12 or 1-5. but all day. sometime. he will come. so i will be taking the dogs to sparky's in the morning for their overnight and baths/grooming on wednesday and jay will be in the apartment, waiting on the movers to come, between 9am and 11am and staying here to keep them on track. i met (jay already had) the across the street neighbors, mike and sharon. they are very sweet and in between the age of our parents and grandparents. they are both chefs and chocolatiers. yummy! i think we are getting some chocolate covered strawberries this week. i told them i would be happy to taste anything they needed tasted! :) i promise to post some pictures soon.

"Home is a place not only of strong affections, but of entire unreserve; it is life's undress rehearsal, its backroom, its dressing room. "
-Harriet Beecher Stowe

homeowners!

the closing went smoothly today and we are officially homeowners again. they were finishing up our yard today- they needed more sod than they planned for yesterday. we bought our ceiling fans and microwave today and will be getting larry (jay's dad) to help with the installation. and moving day is still set for next tuesday, even though we will be moving some stuff ourselves. we will be sending out change of address information soon, so don't worry. and the mail will be forwarded so if anyone sends anything it will get to us. thanks for all of your well-wishes and good thoughts. we appreciate you all!

finishing touches

tomorrow is the big day... closing! we have a final walk-through today and we do still have a small list of things that need to be fixed/resolved, but nothing that should prevent closing tomorrow as planned. we are still very excited. i have a few more pictures to share now that the electricity is on. and i imagine today we will get the rest of our yard. we have a small patch of grass so it will be nice to have it all sodded. and we are also very glad it is supposed to rain a lot the end of this week. less watering... especially since we won't be living there yet.

jay found out he finally got a full-time position at one of the urgent care centers he has been working at, so that is good news. they have great insurance so we are happy to get that once it starts because mine from the hospital is fairly horrible. (yes, it is true.) he starts full-time there may 1st. he is still working part-time for the EMS service as well. my job is still going well and i am still working on my course for legal nurse consulting. i should be taking my first exam sometime after we get moved in. i have a few pages left to read before taking the test. (and the animals are doing well, too. :)

lovely front door

everything and the kitchen sink!

the stove finally made it, too.

i even sat in the tub yesterday to get a feel for it... i can't wait until it is filled with water!

welcome to our home :)

the dining room

our scrubby shrubs

the little bit of yard we have so far.

saturday was for houses and waterfalls

we spent saturday driving and sight-seeing a bit after a delicious brunch at mayfel's. we drove to the house, only to find it locked, for the first time ever. so we walked around the yard and later on got in touch with the builder rep., who unlocked the house for us. but in the meantime, we took mom and dad to the pisgah national forest and shared the beauty of looking glass falls and sliding rock.





then it was back to the house. we now have carpet, a mailbox, a SOLD sign, and our cabinet knobs. they have graded our lot so it is ready for sod. they should be painting this week and finishing the landscaping and that is about it. :)












mom and dad left sunday, mid-morning. we had a yummy breakfast at ihop and then we were off on our separate ways. we had a lovely weekend with wonderful weather. couldn't ask for anything more.

festival of flowers!

i hope you are ready for pictures! it is officially the festival of flowers at the biltmore. mom and dad made it down on friday and we spent the afternoon at the biltmore. we took a "behind the scenes" tour at the house and the winery and in between those tours we visited the gardens and the conservatory. the weather was beautiful and we were able to get some fantastic pictures. i took the new camera jay and i bought for christmas and played with a few different settings. we were very thankful the wind and rain held off.

my favorite flower is the tulip and there was definitely no shortage of them. i have always wanted to go see the tulip gardens and now it is much more convenient, since they are just down the road. there is so much to see at the biltmore, that it is impossible to see it all at once.

after we were done with our day, jay was finished with work so we met him and ate at one of our favorite little mexican restaurants, don papa's. then it was back to the apartment and we were all tired and ready for bed.

(remember if you click on a picture, it will open larger in a new window!)

i still cannot imagine living in a house like this now, much less at the turn of the 20th century.

the servants' entrance. in this courtyard, also, is the depositories for the coal for the furnaces.

the architecture is beautiful. george vanderbilt also had his copper flashing gold-plated, for a double color effect after it oxidized so you would still be able to read his initials and see the acorn trees in the larger pieces of flashing.

we were on a balcony for this picture. this is the top of the atrium/solarium in the house.

if you look above the window, you can see the G. and V. carved into the stone.

all of the stone was carved after it was on the house. the stone work took a total of 6 years to complete and was left up to the artists doing the carving.

this is my favorite picture from the entire day.

they have beautiful hydrangeas in the conservatory, along with many other flowers and trees.

beautiful orchids

the pineapple tree had two little pineapples growing!

the daffodils were blooming along with the tulips.

the conservatory is just as artistically made as the house.

this is only one side of the garden.

dad took this one of me on the other side.

i loved the "black" tulips growing tall in the back of all of these.

more snow?

seriously. we have snow in our forecast for sunday night and monday. how crazy for one weekend. oh well. mom and dad (anita and jerry) are leaving at an early 6am tomorrow for their weekend visit. jay will be working on the ambulance from 7a-7p tomorrow. i plan to come home and nap for 4-5 hours and should be getting up around the time mom and dad roll into town. we are planning a trip to the biltmore tomorrow. dad has never been there. we really are hoping the rain holds off b/c the tulips are blooming and the gardens should be beautiful tomorrow. we are planning a "behind the scenes" tour and also plan to tour the winery. saturday will entail brunch at mayfel's and going down to the house. mom has seen the lot and dad has seen only pictures. everything should almost be done so that is nice that they will be able to see the almost finished product. and i'm sure mom and i will find a little shopping that can be done. :) and sunday will just be sunday. we are continuing to make a little more progress with packing. we plan to use movers for the furniture and appliances and tvs and such... all the heavy and bulky things we don't want to carry up these stairs ourselves! but we plan to move the little things ourselves so that we can save some money. and we don't have to be out of the apartment for 2 weeks after our closing date, so we have plenty of time to get things done. but for this weekend, at least, we are looking forward to some family and fun and maybe some snow! we will have some pictures to post later on this weekend, too.... i think we get carpet tomorrow!! hope everyone is doing well. email/call/write and update us on you soon.

cute templates

ok. so i found a great website that makes finding a unique and cute background way easy for your blog. i have the link over on the side. i love my new background and hope you find one you like, too!

busy bees

we are so thankful that things keep moving right along with the house. there is still something little and new every day and we were told by our field manager that everything should be done by next wednesday for inspection purposes and everything. so our closing is definitely still on for april 22nd. that date is one month and one day shy of our one year of being here in asheville. time flies! my mom and dad, anita and jerry, will be coming in town this weekend. we will spend some time friday afternoon and evening at the biltmore, so please pray that the rain/storms will hold off until that evening. and then saturday will be leisurely with brunch and seeing the house! jay's dad and stepmom, larry and mitos, may be coming in town on saturday as well. we aren't sure about that yet, but they have some things they want to do in asheville, so it may be a family affair on both sides. anyway, here are some pictures of what is new....

kitchen table light

dining room light

bathroom fixtures

linoleum in the laundry room (also in both bathrooms)

laminate in the kitchen and foyer

bathroom sinks and faucets

even the kitchen sink!

something new every day

things with the house are rapidly changing... it seems like something new has taken place every day. it is very exciting to see everything come together. we are so used to driving up and seeing external changes that now we really have to walk inside to see what else is happening. here are some pictures of the new additions.

beautiful maple cabinets (the dishwasher goes on this side)

the stove and microwave and refigerator go on this side

our fabulous faux granite countertops

our front door is painted black to match the shutters

our doors have knobs! all of our fixtures will be the same brushed nickel

bathroom sinks

master bath cabinets

guest bathroom vanity

recessed lights are in in the kitchen

and we have outlets and switches