STILL HERE

I'm still here and have several pix to share and stories to tell. I've just been so tired and so busy. If any of you have ever moved, you understand! So, bare with me and I promise I'll have more sooner or later.....

HILLCREST MANOR - OY!!

after a big thinderstorm last night, i woke up at 9am!!!
power was out
back on at 930
went to old place to clean
did a half-attempted effort
cleaned carpet enough to remove BAD staind
one stayed
will not get entire depost
at this point i don't care
one last car load
home
mom/dad helped unload
told them nathn b/r color and how i wanted shelves in pantry
they come tomorrow while i'm at work
they left
i shower
went to see diary of wimpy kid
home
relax

more details/pix to come

DAY ONE - Unpacking ??

Again you're getting high points because I'm exhausted and just wanna sit and relax before bed.

went to bed at 9pm last night
up at 11pm (tossing/turning)
up at 115am (same)
stayed up and watched hairspray x2h
back in bed 315am
up at 635am
SORE SORE SORE
sat with nathan for a bit until i got going, still tired
started painting living room
mom/dad show up 130pm w/pizza/coke zero
get tour and i give my ideas
eat pizza from rozelli's
mom unpacks and put away my/nathns clothes
boxes in middle of room
i start painting pantry
nathan paints part of pantry
mom/dad/nathan leave
nathan to stay night so i can go, go, go
dad tells me to go to bed early
can't - *I'm* only one to do stuff.....i HAVE to
finish setting up cable/internet
had wrong box on wrong tv - that's why no dvr - DUH
did second coat of mustard in living room
second coat in pantry
DONE for the day
eat last two pieces of pizza and a coke zero
watch tv
relax
pray i sleep better tonight
plan to take ibuprofen before bed!

I'll elaborate later and add some pix too.
too tired again!

Day 3 the big move

im too tired to go into details right now so will give u the high points. 

woke up 6

david cAme630 to takeapart swingset

gave him key to house

took nathan to daycare

dumpster boxes

wm for few things

home to fill boxes with leftovers

finally sat down for 2h befire movers came at 115

finished 315

filled 24' truck!

pick up nathan

drive to new house

met dave there

finished sump pump and swingset

pd him. he left

movers arrive.

unload truck

i try to help bug too worn out

nathan helped some

he did good

left to geg morecash

back to house

they leave abt 7

i pay

they leave

i hook up cable stuff

no dvd or snything

no internet yet. too tired

tv good

bath no shower curtain

nathan bath

eat other half of dinnerfinally

watch tv

ill type more with pix later. this will helpme remember.

DAY TWO Before Move

Well today went much better!!!

It didn't quite start out that way though. After I dropped Nathan off at daycare, I headed up to the new house. I was about half-way there when I get a phone call from David Blair. He's the guy who was going to put up a privacy fence for me, as well as a few other little things. I was meeting him up at the new house to walk him through and get an estimate. I could have sworn he said 9am. Nope! He said 8am! Great! So, I'm on my way and I'm almost there and I see police lights. No, not behind some....in front of me! I had to detour. I hate detours, especially when I don't know where I'm going. Anyway, I got there fine and he wasn't upset!! I walked him through, we talked, and I got my quotes. VERY reasonable! YAY!

Once David left, I headed down the street to get some ice for my Coke Zero. You see, I STILL didn't have electricity!! Thankfully, it wasn't too unbearably hot out! I got power right around 2/2:30pm!!

I finished removing the wallpaper from the pantry. I plan to paint the walls, sides and bottom a dark brown either tomorrow or Saturday. I brought the shelves home today so I could apply the Contac paper. I need to scrape the dry bits off and the leftover goo as well.

On to PHASE I of Nathan's room!

I thought about NOT taping it off, but I don't have that steady a hand and I wanted it to look nice. So I taped it off. That's the part that took the longest! 

 The FIRST brush stroke!!

 PHASE II complete! I painted all around the edges, corners, and trim. On to the really fun part!!

 PHASE III complete!!! I love how this came out! A little darker than I had expected, but I love it nonetheless!! I can't wait to see how it ends up tomorrow when it's all dry!

 I went on to PHASE I of the living room, but forgot to take a pic, so here's PHASE II. I love this so far. I was going for more of a cream color, but ended up with a washed-out light tan-ish color. I still think it looks great!

I used the headband to help keep the sweat out of my eyes and it worked wonderfully!! I also tried to protect my hair from getting paint in it with the bandana.

 It didn't work!!  LOL!! But, truthfully.....I really like what happened to it! I wonder if I took this pic in to a salon if they could duplicate it somehow? 

Tomorrow is another day.

Tomorrow is MOVING day!

Since I didn't have anyone to help me move and I really didn't want to do it myself, I broke down and went looking for movers. Of all places, I actually found a legit mover on Craig's List!! For a little more than renting just a U-Haul truck, I get a huge truck, all the moving fixin's, three guys who load/unload and I get to direct them where to put things!!!  YAY!

DAY ONE Before Move

WOW!!
What a (wasted) day!!

Yup. Wasted!

I dropped Nathan off at daycare this morning. Then I headed up to his new school and got him registered. YAY! That was probably the ONLY thing that went according to plan today!

After I stopped by CVS to pick up some Coke Zero, I went to the house. The garage door opener didn't work. Why? Because the power isn't on. Could I get them to come out today? Nope. Not a chance! No power = no A/C!! Thank goodness it wasn't too hot a day!! Mid to high 80's today with a very nice breeze. I made do with what I had.

So what DID I do, you ask? I started with the pantry thinking that it was all covered in Contac paper. Well, it wasn't!! It was covered in wallpaper!! Yeah! can we say near impossible to remove?? I removed what I could by pulling up edges and corners. This is what I was left with.

Doesn't look like I got too far, does it? It's cuz I didn't!! Here's a close up of the shelves!!

I plan to paint the back, bottom, and sides either a dark brown or black and put down some granite-looking Contac paper on the shelves. I also plan to paint the doors too, I just don't know what color just yet.

At this point, I turn my attention to the hall linen closet. Again, thinking it's Contac paper. Again, it was NOT!! So, after I don't know how long (but it was a long while and a lot of elbow grease) I did the pantry, but after (I am NOT lying) 10 minutes I am left with THIS in the linen closet.

Where's the wallpaper, you ask?? It's GONE! Every bit of it! in 10 minutes! I found this beautiful Pepto Bismol pink underneath. What the heck were they thinking???  YUCK!!

Needless to say, I plan to sand down a bit and stain these shelves. Painting or Contac paper just won't cut it this time around! The wood is too pretty with some pretty awesome lines!

I decided at this point (after a quick cleanup) to head over to WalMart to pick up some more paint for tomorrow and Friday as well as some wallpaper remover for that darn pantry.

Their credit/debit machines were down! Of course they were!! I ended up walking out with 3 cans of paint, a new shower head that's Nathan-friendly, and a few other things.

I then decided to get something to eat, but McDonald's was packed! So, I went to Arby's. They took FOREVER!! I finally made it back out to the main road and was heading back.

I got back and covered that pantry in that goo. I was getting excited now!! I needed to let it sit for 15-20 minutes, so I went and "installed" the new shower head. I went back to take off the wallpaper. 

What happened, you ask?? The goo dried!! UGH!!! I scraped off what I could.

So, how did I leave things, you ask??  Like this!!

SO, SO, SO unlike me to leave a mess.  But I was just so doggone tired at this point, I just wanted to go get Nathan and just chill the rest of the night.

Tomorrow's another day! Let's hope it goes better!!

I have a TON of painting to do and I BETTER have power!!!

HILLCREST MANOR - 11

PAPERS ARE SIGNED!!

KEY IN HAND!!

Tomorrow morning I'll get a copy of the paperwork the sellers signed a couple of hours after me. I'll get the rest of the keys, any codes needed, and home paperwork (receipts, etc.).

Wed - Fri I'm off work to paint, paint, and paint.

Sat I plan to move

Sun I will be cleaning this place up for my walk-thru.

After this is said and done....the fun begins!!

HILLCREST MANOR - 10

The last few days have been......oh gosh.....I don't even have the words!!

I'm going to need a vacation when this is all said and done!!

My loan has been approved as of 1:00 pm today!!

FINALLY!

After a lot of back and forth, lots of knots in my stomach, and tons of anxiety.....

I have an official closing date/time!

YAAAY!!!

Closing at 3:00 pm on Monday. The sellers will sign their part of the paperwork at 5:00 pm. Since they're signing so late, the title company won't be able to release the funds for the purchase until the following morning. I wont' have immediate possession, but Tami said that's how they have to do it. I guess it makes sense. They won't be able to put the paperwork into their system until the next business day.

So....Tuesday morning I will have a new home!!! 

YAY!!!

Now, I need to make sure I call the utilities on Monday morning.

I asked to have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off so I can paint, clean, and prepare the house for moving in next weekend.

Next step??

Recruit help!

I'm gonna need at least two strong-ish guys to help lift the heavy stuff. That includes disassembling and reassembling Nathan's swingset. I also need someone to drive the U-Haul. I do NOT want to drive that thing for an hour on the highway! I plan to get the truck rented Friday evening, fill it as much as I can, sleep, and then Saturday have strong-ish people load the rest.

I'M MOVING SATURDAY, AUGUST 3RD!!!

HELP ME!!!

HILLCREST MANOR - 9

Okay, so I *think* my closing is this Friday, but......I haven't heard anything official yet. When I look online to see what my loan status is, I see this:

So, I'm hoping they finish the loan process and everything is set to go. As of right now, they still show the closing date for this Thursday!

I'm not good at waiting!!

HILLCREST MANOR - 8

Before and After-thoughts!

I used a quick online tool to kind of get a quick peek at how the colors we chose would work. Please keep in mind these are not the EXACT colors, but I will be happy to tell you what they are.

This would be Nathan's room as you walk into the room, this is the opposing corner. Now it's a baby blue color.

Nathan wanted Basketball Orange walls....Well, now we can't have the entire room be orange, but I did settle to two walls. Which two walls? The two walls with windows which will be covered with his Navy Blue curtains! I plan to use black electrical tape to make large "basketballs" on the walls.

This is the wall where the door is that you use to walk into his room. LOVE that dark wood!

This wall will come off the one orange wall and will continue to the other wall which will also be Navy Blue (like his curtains). 

This is the living room with a wood burning fireplace. Right now it has white beadboard with the dark trim. Ick!

I plan to use Mustard Yellow for the top part of the wall and a Cream color for the bottom part with a dark stained wood trim in the middle. What do I hope to use for the center trim? Well.....pallett wood of course....at least that's the plan. 

So the living room colors will run into the dining room which is just behind the living room. I don't know if the burgundy curtains will stay, but they do blend into the kitchen! And it's a really cool pop of color! 

So, feel free to chime in with your thoughts or ideas....i'm open to suggestions.....

HILLCREST MANOR Wish List

What would I love to have in my new home?

Well, let me show you!

I have always wanted a rod iron bistro set! This one is awesome! It's brown, not black!

 I'm sure somewhere I will need a corner shelf thing. What cooler one than something like this!

 Hat/Umbrella rack anyone? You can't really tell in the pic, but it's a very rustic/oldish looking one. Again, iron.

 Storage, anyone? This would be really cool for my unmentionables in my room. Although, I'm sure my scrap room could easily use it too!

 A matching set!

 Loving this! It has just one shelf inside, but sometimes, that's all you need!

 Okay, I absolutely must have this, or something similar. My deck out back is kind of odd (to me). The top part of the deck comes out, but the bottom part is kind of inset about 2-3 feet. I figure that would be the perfect spot for something like this!

 More tables and cabinets.

 A cool set of three multi-level tables. All of them? No. Just one will do!

 Nother cool table.

 I love this! The wire wrapped around is barbed wire. I don't have to have the star in the middle by the railroad ties and barbed wire are a must!

 I don't necessarily want this, I just thought it was a really cool idea!

 Don't know what to do with your old belts? Make a cross!

 Ok. It took everything I had not to snatch this up! I totally want this for my scrap room, but I know The Scrap Room has some awesome lines that I could use to create this myself!

 Same goes for this one!

 Okay, this is probably the coolest welcome sign yet!

 This looks like something my sister would create. After all, she DID make wind chimes using spoons!

 Okay. Between me and my sis....this can totally happen! An old door, cut to size and made into a table!!!  I totally and emphatically love this!

 Who doesn't like a spiral staircase? I don't really like the birds on it, but I like the rod iron in brown and I can put cute (rustic/old) deco pieces on there.

 Yes.  This chair does look a little modern-retro-chic. No. I don't want this chair. I have two perfectly good chairs that my dad found near a hotel dumpster. Okay, he found a ton of them. Anyway, I want to find some material similar to this design/color so I can reupholster the chairs....somehow.

 I just thought this was a neat idea.

 Do I need barstools? Probably not. But, if I do. I would love something like this. Now, I am NOT going to pay $100 for ONE, but I might for two. The cool thing about it is that you can raise/lower it to the height you need! Oh and I can totally stain the top too!

So, there's my Housewarming Wish List - well, kind of. I don't want everything. I don't even want some of it. I love the ideas and the ideas I get from it. That said, if anyone would like to make donations (as far as parts and pieces I could use to create any of these), I'm happy to accept after I move.

HILLCREST MANOR - 7

Consider it done!! My "Home Buyers Course", that is....

Okay, so....I've bought THREE houses in past years and the lender's loan program requires me to complete their "First Time Home Buyers" course. Not quite sure how that makes sense....but, whatever. I finished it!!

Ok, so the actual certificate has my name on it. I removed it on here for obvious reasons!

HILLCREST MANOR - 6

Well, papers were signed this afternoon!!

- selling price lowered by $10,000 -

- $1,000 less towards closing -

- no cash at table -

- fixing what was agreed upon -

- pushed close date up one more (7/27 - friday) -

So excited!! 

Now I just have to wait for the Mortgage Lender to tell me everything is done and the time and location for close!!

Can I wait?

Do you KNOW me?

HILLCREST MANOR - 5

Okay, so the appraisal from the bank came back and it as $10,000 LESS than the purchase agreement! Can we say, "Heart fell to the floor!" Yeah....I immediately texted my realtor to let her know the appraisal was on it's way. They purchased the house FOUR years ago for $14,000 more than the purchase agreement. So, that meant that in FOUR years the house dropped about $24,000 in value. Everyone I talked to thought this was ridiculous! All the updates and upgrades they've done----

So, after a very LONG 24 hours - this is what I got:

--Sellers agree to a purchase price for what the appraisal came back at

--sellers will pay $1,000 less than agreed upon towards my closing costs

--sellers will still fix what they previously agreed to fix

--sellers will not bring a cashier's check to the closing table (for me) for additional fixes

My realtor (and I) left a message for the mortgage lending agent. My message was pretty brief. I just said that the purchase price is dropped to the appraisal amount and she could continue to review my paperwork as the new purchase agreement would be in her email tomorrow morning. I'm not sure what my realtor said, but I'm sure it was something similar.

My realtor did say that she talked to the sellers' agent and let him know that as long as the bank approves it, I am in agreement with their offer. She wanted him to know what was going on and that I am all in.

Now, we have to wait for the mortgage lending agent to either call me or my realtor, probably tomorrow.

I don't see there being a problem since the lending agent said that the bank won't finance more than the appraisal and after down payment and closing costs, it will end up being less than the appraisal.

Please send prayers.

HILLCREST MANOR - 5

Well, closing has been pushed back, again! Now, I'm set to close on 7/26, a Thursday. Since it's at month-end, I can't have a full day off. I will have the time I need off to go to close, but that's it. So, that Friday night I'll grab Nathan and prep the house for painting and hopefully strip/stain some trim. Saturday/Sunday I plan to paint, paint, paint. I will still have to work, more than likely, at my FT job and my PT job. That next Saturday I plan to move, move, move. Uhaul and all..... That Sunday I'll be cleaning this place including the carpet. Hopefully, I can get my walk-thru so I can complete my term here. Wish me luck!

HILLCREST MANOR - 4

So, they agreed to about half the stuff.....nothing too major or costly of course. They didn't offer to fix the radon detector or sump hole, but they are going to fix quite a few things.  I'm not complaining.

My realtor, Tami, suggested I go back and ask for the rest of it once more. Instead of offering to fix anything more, they just offered a cashier's check at closing. Ok.....I'll take that!

Now, it's just a matter of time.....a long, long, loooooong time until closing. I was initially supposed to close on July 13th, but the Mortgage Lender said that they should have the loan application approved on July 6th-ish and then 2w later would be closing. So, we're looking at July 20th. I have it planned to move on Sunday, July 22nd. I still don't have anyone with a definite yes to help. I hope I get at least one person to help. I work in an office with over 30 people.....surely SOMEONE knows someone who could help.

I really HATE waiting!!!!

HILLCREST MANOR - 3

Not much going on lately. 

Just waiting, waiting, waiting.....

I had the inspection on Monday afternoon. Tami (realtor) sent it on to the seller's agent requesting everything in the first two categories be fixed. Now, I'm just waiting to hear back and see what they will fix or won't fix. I hate waiting!

Here's a copy of the Summary page showing just section #1 of the inspection report:

HILLCREST MANOR - 2

Well, the inspection went pretty good. There are a few things that I would prefer be fixed before I move in, but not enough to cause me to withdraw my offer!

Okay, okay....on to the pictures!

KITCHEN

Loving all the upates here! I do have to get used to the bottom freezer. It seems much smaller than your normal freezer though. But, I guess that's what separate freezers are for!

Love how it looks into the dining area. I think they added on the living room and dining area. Looks great don't it?

This is the pantry!! Absolutely love it! It's cereal-box deep. Perfect!! I hate how pantries nowadays are arm-length deep. It makes no sense to me. This makes perfect sense!

That weird contact paper will be getting removed one way or another. I haven't yet decided if I want to sand and stain the wood in there, paint it, or apply a better looking contact paper.

It all depends on what I see under that contact paper and that's always a scary thought! You have to wonder, "What were they trying to hide?"

LIVING ROOM

 Loving the built-ins here! The cabinets on the bottom have pull-outs! Top cabinets are perfect for my good china and the lower is great storage for movies and video game stuff!

 I love these original windows! The shades are too cool! They should stay....

 WOW! Not a lot of ceiling fans have such a cool light cover! This is cool!

I really like the transition from the kitchen to the dining area to the living room! Very good flow! Now, hoping my 6-seater table fits in there!

BATHROOM

The tub is awesome!!! It's short, well it's lower

than your normal bathtub. Also, it has a slanted back end. When I laid in it, I could stretch my legs straight out!!!

Have you ever seen a hexagon style sink??
Me either! I think it's so awesome!

What is this, you ask??  I'l tell you.... It's a LAUNDRY CHUTE!!!  How flipping awesome!!

 This is in the hallway before you reach the bathroom. It's built into the wall! It's the linen closet! Again, the contact paper has got to go! And again, I don't know if I will stain, paint, or recontact paper it. Can't wait to see what I find!

OUTSIDE

This is the outdoor patio above the garage enclosed with screens. It needs some work with the tile floor. Seems like they just slapped some glue on top of the drywall of the top of the garage and stuck the tile down. I also need to create some drainage finctions.

 This is what the patio looks over. It's the end of the driveway. The middle of those white thingies is a basketball hoop. So, the one I got Nathan for his birthday can be sold on Craig's List now for a little extra house fixing money.

 Fire pit!!!  It's nestled in a little patch of decorated land and a little bench to boot!

 At the bottom, you see the retaining wall for the fire pit. The rest is the rest of the back yard.

 Our nice new deck overlooking the backyard.

 Pretty? I like it.

 Looking down off the deck. To the right is the fire pit.

 How cute is this?? These are just simply some cut tree stumps. They can easily be moved to anywhere in the yard! Like the fire pit, maybe?

 They did some really nice landscaping all the way around! I like that it's practically effortless to keep up.

INDOORS

This, I think, was the original living room. Now, it's the formal living room (AKA a huge foyer). I want that wall decor!

 This will be Nathan's room. Look at those doors! Yes, that's a light blue. Yes, I'm painting. Two walls will be basketball orange and made to look kind of like a basketball. Navy blue curtains will be hung on these walls. The other two walls will be navy blue.

 This will be my room. I was going to paint, but I think I'm going to leave it as is for a while and see if it works for me.

BASEMENT

This is the entry to the basement. There's two huge shelves overhead. The door(s) open double!

 Basement "rec-room". Simple yet functional!

 This is what was the original garage. Now, it's a workshop or storage. I'm thinking this would be a perfect place to do home repairs!  And a wonderful SAFE ROOM! It still has the original garage door!

 The opening is the original garage door. The rest you see is the two-car garage. HUGE space and perfect for Nathan to ride his bike in in the winter.

 Basement showers look like this, right?? Well, I plan to build up a wall between the shower part and the toilet and then tile. I'd like to put up a wall of some kind for privacy when going potty. I will also need to move the vanity somewhere.

So, that's the quick version! I don't know how many more pix I will have until I sign the papers and the house is officially mine to make payments on.

Lots of plans for when that happens. Stay tuned to follow along!