Almost There

WE ARE ALMOST DONE!!!
Wow, I can't believe I am actually saying that!
We are just about finished with the house and we are really excited. There has been a significant amount of stress on everyone these past couple of weeks but its almost over and we can (hopefully) say we survived it. Last time I updated, we were painting and we thought we were just about done. Which was a mistake. Ha! We ended up needing more paint for the living room and the lovely man at Home Depot performed a color match (something I found out later was a mistake) and after touching up white spots and fixing several places the paint turned out to be the WRONG COLOR. So after recieving 4 gallons of free paint at Home Depot we got to work repainting the living room, kitchen, master bath, and guest bedroom. Then touchups included the other guest bedoom and cut-in on everything else. Dad says the house will not ever need to be repainted! So fun....not. BUT, we have discovered that my mother in law JoAnn is an EXCELLENT painter. I think she should go into the business. Not sure how it would work but man she's good! Brandon's parents have travelled out to Amarillo going on 4 weekends in a row. Wow!
One contributing factor to repainting was the installation of cabinets/staining of cabinets/painting of doors and trim which were all performed by a painter. We were so glad we did not have to attempt this huge task but man what a clean up afterwards! Whew! But its all over now and the paint looks awesome!
Speaking of cabinets, they are BEAUTIFUL! My uncle Mark is a custom cabinet maker and what beautiful work he does. Just gorgeous. Love my kitchen. After the cabinets were installed and stained the countertops were installed. This actually happened yesterday and the nice granite men drove out at 2:30 am from Dallas to install them. They are gorgeous! The appliances have also been put in/halfway installed and next up is a backsplash.
Last week a landscaping company here in Amarillo installed a sprinkler system as well as sod. What a difference a yard makes!The fence is also finished! Never thought I would get excited about a fence but it means I have a yard!
After the cabinets were in, the tile work was grouted and finished. I love how it all turned out. Brandon's uncles came out and laid down hardwood floors and carpet. It seems just about finished with carpet!
On the agenda: finishing the hardwoods, replacing the front of the house shingles (Amarillo wind needs to just chill for a bit-please pray my dad doesn't have to do this again or he might just have a complete coronary and keel over), plumber finishing up a few things, front door install, electrical work and then moving day! Its here! Yay! Now if we can make it there!
I say this everytime but my dad...words cannot even express our gratitude. Between the driving at 3 am, the NUMEROUS phone calls, the sheer volume of work...its just overwhelming. What a wonderful man to sacrifice so much for his daughter. I'm getting teary eyed thinking about it. We are so blessed to have him in our lives.
My in laws also deserve more thank yous than I could ever give. They have spent so much time and sacrificed so much to be here working. We cannot thank them enough!
Ok now that I've gotten all of my emotions out, here are some pictures. :) Enjoy!

Windows and Wiring

It's been a while since I have updated! We are now finished with the framing and moved on to electricity, heating and cooling, as well as roofing! Dad has been working himself to death and Mom has been worried about him of course!
The first weekend of framing we had Brandon's parents come out and help us. They have been such a HUGE help in the process. Jack has been learning framing and helping tremendously with everything.
The second weekend of framing Jack rode out with Dad to help as well. I was back in Ft. Worth but when I returned I could tell they had made a ton of progress.
During the week Dad has made several trips out to work on things during the week such as putting in windows (YAY!), finishing the trim work and decking the roof.
A cool story with the windows that only God can do...I had wanted double windows (Dad says I have "expensive taste"...go figure) but we didn't think we were going to be able to do it. When he contacted the window salesman he was informed that someone had previously ordered two extra wide windows and had not picked them up. The salesman offered to sell them to use for the same price as the standard windows. So cool!
This past week everyone returned and Jack had the fun job of nailing on brick ties all weekend! Dad had an even more fun job of finishing the decking.
As I write this, Dad's good friend Mike and another worker Randall are wiring the house for electricity! So exciting! It is so fun to see things go up!
I cannot express how thankful we are to my dad as well as Brandon's dad. They have worked until they couldn't work anymore and it has been such a blessing. We have got to spend quality time with both of our families and we could not be more grateful for that. I'll leave you with some pictures; the last two are of the amazing vaulted ceiling in our bedroom. Its going to be so pretty! Hopefully next time I post we will have shingles and air conditioning started, and maybe, just maybe some brick!! YAY! Have a great week everyone!

All the Walls

Hello again friends! Time for another update. This past weekend my dad, Brandon, and Brandon's dad worked very hard and were able to get all of the walls for the house up! They were also able to get most of the ceiling joists up. They worked very hard for three days straight and boy does it look wonderful. Its so exciting to see such progress so quickly. Next up Dad is coming back this weekend to work more on the ceilings and to finish up the framing. We want to thank my dad and Jack (and Brandon of course) for all of their hard work and for sacrificing their weekend this past weekend to help us out. More updates coming soon...for now here are some pictures!

In the Trenches

What are those you ask?? Trenches!! For the slab! I could not be more excited about this, it means progress! It means that in just a few days there will be an actual slab down. It also means that in a few days after that the walls will go up and we can start envisioning our house!
So in other news, what else have we been up to in house building?
In my last post we had just closed on the lot and the loan and were ready to get started. Well, that was well over a month ago. First, we took the plans to an engineer so that our slab can be engineered. This is an extra expense that will be WELL worth it in the long run. The soil in Amarillo is very finicky (for lack of a better word) and when it is dry here (as it is now) it acts one way. Then, when the rains come, it will act another way. This can cause some major problems with the foundation. This process of waiting for the engineer was just more waiting but the Lord really opened my eyes and gave me peace during the process. During this time I literally had at least 5 people mention foundation problems in Amarillo of their own or of people they knew. I really felt like this was God's way of saying, "Hey, I got this." After the foundation plans were finished we went straight to the city to apply for a permit. While we were not the favorite of the hippie man at the desk, he finished fairly quickly and we recieved the permits and the ok to start.
Then came concrete. This has been one of the hardest parts so far. I will probably say that about almost every part but this really was difficult. There is building going on ALL around us on all sides but those concrete companies are not interested in us as they have PLENTY of work and have no need to do just one job for someone who plans on not building again and bringing them business. As a result, we decided to use my dad's concrete company in Ft. Worth. So, the day was set for them to begin! I was more than excited. Dad came to Amarillo, we ran errands, got the water line set up, and as we were heading to check on the work, we got a call. The concrete man of course says things didn't work out so we are to go to such and such office and talk to them. Little did we know this was a completely different company and we would be starting from scratch. More waiting, more phone calls, and more questions. The days drug on as we waited and waited. Are you seeing a theme here??
Fast forward to five days ago. This is the day we finally "broke ground". The new concrete company came out and did their thing. I would try to describe it but it wouldn't make sense so lets just say they came, they did work, and then there was flat pretty dirt. That brings us to today. Today the concrete company dug trenches! I was so excited to see actual progress and see the next step being taken. The pictures above are what they have done so far today and I am excited to see what it looks like in just a few days.
As soon as the "rock is on the ground" as Dad would say, he can begin the framing. We will be so relieved when he takes over and we are no longer relying on strangers for when things will be done. I will continue to say that we are so very grateful for the sacrifices he and my mom have made through all of this as it has sure not been easy. We have only just begun but we have already made great memories! Thankfully I have started back to school so I do not have near as much time to call and bug him. :)
This sure is a long post but I want to remember every step of the process! Thanks for reading!!

The Story Begins

Where to start? When Brandon and I first moved to Amarillo we searched for houses to buy. This proved to be impossible at the time as we were newly married, without credit, first time home buyers, and new to the area. The financing was just not possible. About 6 months after moving we decided to try again. This time we obtained financing, used a realtor, and searched Amarillo for a good deal and a great house. Obtaining BOTH of these items seemed to not be feasible. There are really no "good deals" to be had in Amarillo. My (Cortny) dad had originally offered to build us a house but we immediately swept that idea aside. How would it be possible to build a house while going to school (or working full time in Brandon's case) and balance a household? After searching Amarillo for several months and placing several offers on houses we decided to revisit the idea of building. Lots were available in several good neighborhoods and building started to seem like a viable option.

In March we made the final decision to build. We contacted Rockrose Group in Amarillo and found a new area being developed in the Cityview neighborhood. This housing edition is growing like CRAZY! Dad says someone is making millions by dividing up cow pastures and selling them for $30k! Lots were being snatched up right and left. So we started the paperwork process and put a down payment on a lot. Little did we know, this process was going to be extremely long. Since we are first time home buyers and this is a family transaction, there are many hoops to jump through. For several weeks it seemed that the bank was calling daily for paperwork that was needed in addition to all that we had already submitted.
The way this transaction will work is that my dad will construct the house and we will buy it from him. This meant that before he was able to obtain any financing we had to be approved for our own financing.  FINALLY, on June 1, 2011 we obtained a commitment letter needed to confirm that we are indeed qualified to purchase the house once it is finished. I don't think I have ever been more relieved to receive a piece of paper in my life.

Then there was the title company in Fort Worth who had to communicate with the property group in Amarillo as well as the bank in Fort Worth and they ALL had to be in agreement. As you can imagine, this was not easy. It was a major headache. But thankfully, the lot has been closed on and now belongs to Schallawitz Construction, Inc.! We are relieved!

At this point we are working on getting permits and settling MORE paperwork. Nothing has been easy up to this point as even simple things seem to be difficult.

I will probably say this a million times in these posts but we are so grateful to my dad (and mom!) for being so gracious and offering to build us a home. We cannot thank them enough! It has been a tough road so far but the end result is going to be well worth it. All of this may be extremely boring to some but there are times when even Brandon doesn't know all the ridiculousness that is going on. So maybe this will help him empathize! :)

For now I will leave you with some pictures of the lot. They are extremely boring but it is ours (not technically, but close) so we are proud of it! We will keep everyone updated! Thanks for visiting!