ohhh the holidays!

so we may have kidnapped Karen's fake Christmas tree. I promise we'll return it after the holidays though :-) . The holidays are the best!!! I can definitely say this is the earliest I have ever put up a tree...but I just couldn't resist! We need to buy more lights tomorrow though. And today Nick built our first in-house fire! El nino fuego loco was back in action...I also think it's Biscuit and Teddy's first tree as well.

La Maida is FINALLY a House!!

oops excuse the boxes in the guest room!
I can't believe it! We are finally living in our house! Three months after construction began, we are settling in and figuring out where we want everything to go. We've been in for 2 weeks now, and after a few what Nick called "hiccups", things are finally wrapped up. Sure, the first night we discovered the furnace wasn't working and neither was the water heater (no heat AND a cold shower, really?) but all in all there haven't been any major catastrophes. We DID find out that our security system DEFINITELY works (crazy scary loud sirens).
Here are a few pictures of the house right now. The new mantle is in, most of our things are unpacked, and the living room is oh-so-livable.

Master and Large Guest Rooms

Move-In Countdown

Nick REALLY needs to step it up when it comes to packing, because stuff will be moving on in this week. Or week-ish. The floors will be done within the next couple days. The vanities are finished (save a few knobs which we'll put in), we have a new closet door, and a new giant cabinet where our old closet used to be. This new cabinet was Nick's idea (my only requirement being that it had shelves for my books).

Our new microwave will go in tomorrow since the current one doesn't open how it should (it runs into the cabinet to the left of it).

I can't believe we are about to move in!!! Each time we go to the house I want to stay longer and longer just to stare at everything!

Scratch That: Move In, NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kitchen before...










AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eddie told us today that we can start moving in next week...and this time, I believe him! The kitchen is amazing, the appliances are in (with a few glitches...microwave doesn't quite fit how it's supposed too...) and the faucets are in our master bathroom!!! Nick actually needs to start packing now!!! Reality is sinking in...

Move In: Just a Few Short Weeks...

Hopefully.

The house truly is almost finished. Of course the project is taking much longer than we expected, as do most renovations I'm sure. Most rooms are finished, but of course have the "little" things to complete. The bedrooms are painted, recessed lights are everywhere, granite is in all bathrooms and in the kitchen, the bars are off all windows, and molding covers the baseboards and windows. I started a list two days ago of everything that still needs to be done at the house before we move in. The vanity frames are finally in, but we are waiting on the actual cabinet doors. Faucets in the bathrooms as well as bathroom appliances (toilets) are going in this week. Our new kitchen sink was installed today into the new granite countertops that I love. Eddie and his crew finished the tile floor in the half bath, and our shower door finally made it to the master bathroom. The list of things to do as always seems endless, but we are definitely seeing the the finish line approaching. Things have been pretty hectic here, so we're trying to handle what seems like a million things at once! The photos below are the latest for the master bathroom, our new funky kitchen faucet, and my attempt at getting a picture of the new granite in the kitchen.

Paint! and Today's Surprise

I am really loving the new paint colors in our house!! All of the rooms except the half and guest baths are painted. I still can't get over how well the bathrooms are coming along. Eddie and his guys demoed the half bathroom and started laying tile. Recessed lights are going in and, the most exciting change: no more bars at the front door!!! It felt so weird to just...walk...right up to the front door instead of being required to pass through a metal gate first!