Wow. It's been way too long. The house has been such a delight to spend nearly every waking moment working on and so we've not done much else. It is decorated for Christmas and like most of the neighborhood it is just right :)
Just a few more days of work and then we're headed down to Atlanta. yay! I'm really looking forward to it, but there are sad things awaiting us. I can't really go into it now (seeing that I'm at work and I really can't start bawling and if I write about recent and near future events I will totally lose it). I am excited about waking up in my parents house, in a real bed and not facing a hotel "breakfast lady" for the FIRST TIME IN 15 years! 15 years people!
Not much time to write more, although I hope to get back at this thing soon. Merry Christmas to all!
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
UNC Asheville -- Campus Advisories
UNC Asheville -- Campus Advisories
Although this isn't house related - it's crazy! Campus closed last week b/c of flooding and water probs after Hurricane Francis, geez!
Paul is working somewhere in southern Alabama and acting as if the storm doesn't exsist... and somehow I am trying to convince myself that he is out of harm's way.
Our backyard is a MUD HOLE... so if we get the expected 4-6 inches, we'll have our own mudslide. I really hope ASheville DOES NOT get the 10-15 inches they are predicting, it is crazy crazy crazy.
In case the link is broken, here's the UNCA advisory:
Campus Advisory
Updated at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2004
This notice provides information about the University's current response to the approach of the storm system "Ivan."
CLASSES
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Classes are currently planned to be held through 12:15 p.m.
Classes are cancelled after 12:15 p.m.
Friday, September, 17, 2004
All scheduled classes are cancelled
Monday, September 20, 2004
Classes will resume as scheduled unless conditions require a modification of the schedule. Decisions about classes next week will be made as promptly as possible.
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
Please maintain regular communication with the University. We anticipate that the phone service will be functional. Remember that phone service often remains even in a power shut down. Thus, plug phones directly into the jack and not through a answering machine. Some phones may not ring but still be able to call out. Also, in event of loss of power, our website will be hosted by the Office of the President. Our URL will be remain www.unca.edu. Thus, while Asheville and regional residents may not be able to access the web due to power shutdown, one may be able to call someone outside the region who can access web information.
The University is committed to provide information updates twice each day by 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. as possible.
The adverse weather phone number remains 828/259-3050.
INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS
UNCA expects students to work with their instructors so as to maintain academic progress in their courses. Even when classes are cancelled students should continue to work on their courses and complete assignments as directed by their instructors. Therefore students are responsible for taking with them all necessary class materials when they leave campus. It is anticipated that the current academic calendar will remain the same and the final exam periods will take place as planned. Check your email regularly for information from your instructors.
RESIDENTIAL HALLS
The Housing Office will be communicating with campus residents regarding safety plans. The University expects that all residents will leave the campus from Thursday to Sunday. If this is not possible you must check in with the Housing Office to make arrangements to stay. There will be a no visitors policy in place. The Housing Office will provide regular updates, including information about dining.
RAMSEY LIBRARY
Ramsey Library plans to remain open Thursday until 9 p.m., to be open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Friday, and to follow the regular schedule for the weekend: Saturday (10 a.m.-6 p.m.), and Sunday (1 p.m.-midnight). This may be affected by staff ability to make it in, the availability of electrical power, etc. Please check the library's hours line at 251-6546 for the most current information. Please note that some services (even potentially including circulation and reference) may not be available depending upon available staff. There will be no ABC Express delivery Friday.
INFORMATION FOR CHAIRS AND PROGRAM DIRECTORS
Please contact all of your instructional faculty to encourage them to prepare study plans with appropriate assignments so that students do not fall behind in the event of a prolonged closure (due to power and water outages, etc.). It is essential that we take every measure possible to maintain the academic cohesion of the fall semester. We ask the faculty to accommodate students who will need leave prior to the ending of classes on Thursday at 12:15 (e.g., students who need fly home out of state).
FAMILY WEEKEND
The decision has been made to cancel Family Weekend, scheduled for Sept. 17-19, and to postpone the Faculty and Staff Appreciation Dinner, scheduled for the evening of Friday, Sept. 17.
RECOMMENDED PREPARATIONS
In anticipation of heavy rains and flooding, students are advised to make the following preparations:
Be sure your vehicle has a full tank of gas
Have cash on hand; ATMs will not operate when power is out
Charge your cell phone batteries; prepare to use a calling card as a backup
If UNC Asheville closes, tell your parents where you're going
Have a communication plan in place with your family and friends
Restock critical medications, such as asthma inhalers, insulin and antidepressants
Purchase extra batteries for your flashlight and battery-powered radio
Stock up on antibacterial hand wipes and hand sanitizers in case of water shortage
If you're stocking up on food, choose canned items that do not need to be heated; have a manual can opener on hand. Protein bars, bottled water and juices, peanut butter or canned tuna can be a good start to an emergency pantry.
Although this isn't house related - it's crazy! Campus closed last week b/c of flooding and water probs after Hurricane Francis, geez!
Paul is working somewhere in southern Alabama and acting as if the storm doesn't exsist... and somehow I am trying to convince myself that he is out of harm's way.
Our backyard is a MUD HOLE... so if we get the expected 4-6 inches, we'll have our own mudslide. I really hope ASheville DOES NOT get the 10-15 inches they are predicting, it is crazy crazy crazy.
In case the link is broken, here's the UNCA advisory:
Campus Advisory
Updated at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2004
This notice provides information about the University's current response to the approach of the storm system "Ivan."
CLASSES
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Classes are currently planned to be held through 12:15 p.m.
Classes are cancelled after 12:15 p.m.
Friday, September, 17, 2004
All scheduled classes are cancelled
Monday, September 20, 2004
Classes will resume as scheduled unless conditions require a modification of the schedule. Decisions about classes next week will be made as promptly as possible.
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
Please maintain regular communication with the University. We anticipate that the phone service will be functional. Remember that phone service often remains even in a power shut down. Thus, plug phones directly into the jack and not through a answering machine. Some phones may not ring but still be able to call out. Also, in event of loss of power, our website will be hosted by the Office of the President. Our URL will be remain www.unca.edu. Thus, while Asheville and regional residents may not be able to access the web due to power shutdown, one may be able to call someone outside the region who can access web information.
The University is committed to provide information updates twice each day by 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. as possible.
The adverse weather phone number remains 828/259-3050.
INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS
UNCA expects students to work with their instructors so as to maintain academic progress in their courses. Even when classes are cancelled students should continue to work on their courses and complete assignments as directed by their instructors. Therefore students are responsible for taking with them all necessary class materials when they leave campus. It is anticipated that the current academic calendar will remain the same and the final exam periods will take place as planned. Check your email regularly for information from your instructors.
RESIDENTIAL HALLS
The Housing Office will be communicating with campus residents regarding safety plans. The University expects that all residents will leave the campus from Thursday to Sunday. If this is not possible you must check in with the Housing Office to make arrangements to stay. There will be a no visitors policy in place. The Housing Office will provide regular updates, including information about dining.
RAMSEY LIBRARY
Ramsey Library plans to remain open Thursday until 9 p.m., to be open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Friday, and to follow the regular schedule for the weekend: Saturday (10 a.m.-6 p.m.), and Sunday (1 p.m.-midnight). This may be affected by staff ability to make it in, the availability of electrical power, etc. Please check the library's hours line at 251-6546 for the most current information. Please note that some services (even potentially including circulation and reference) may not be available depending upon available staff. There will be no ABC Express delivery Friday.
INFORMATION FOR CHAIRS AND PROGRAM DIRECTORS
Please contact all of your instructional faculty to encourage them to prepare study plans with appropriate assignments so that students do not fall behind in the event of a prolonged closure (due to power and water outages, etc.). It is essential that we take every measure possible to maintain the academic cohesion of the fall semester. We ask the faculty to accommodate students who will need leave prior to the ending of classes on Thursday at 12:15 (e.g., students who need fly home out of state).
FAMILY WEEKEND
The decision has been made to cancel Family Weekend, scheduled for Sept. 17-19, and to postpone the Faculty and Staff Appreciation Dinner, scheduled for the evening of Friday, Sept. 17.
RECOMMENDED PREPARATIONS
In anticipation of heavy rains and flooding, students are advised to make the following preparations:
Be sure your vehicle has a full tank of gas
Have cash on hand; ATMs will not operate when power is out
Charge your cell phone batteries; prepare to use a calling card as a backup
If UNC Asheville closes, tell your parents where you're going
Have a communication plan in place with your family and friends
Restock critical medications, such as asthma inhalers, insulin and antidepressants
Purchase extra batteries for your flashlight and battery-powered radio
Stock up on antibacterial hand wipes and hand sanitizers in case of water shortage
If you're stocking up on food, choose canned items that do not need to be heated; have a manual can opener on hand. Protein bars, bottled water and juices, peanut butter or canned tuna can be a good start to an emergency pantry.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Monday, August 16, 2004
Friday, July 23, 2004
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Parent's House in Georgia !!!
It's almost official - my parents have found a NEW house in Atlanta! They've found this new 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, formal living/dining room, family room and large garage for a great price not too far from the rest of my mom's family. The lot is 2/3 an acre with beautiful oak trees in the back along with a pristine flat year with a sprinkler system! It's more than parents dreamed (except that it does not have a basement or covered front porch). On the inside it has a 2 story foyer, central vacuum system, hardwoods, marble and tile floors - an amazing master suite with stating area and large tiled bathroom with his & hers closets and sinks and a WHIRLPOOL corner tub (man, I can not wait to visit!!!) Just a couple of pictures below... there will be more once mom gets hers developed (man, they really really NEED a digital camera, since they old 35mm died anyways!)
Mom is on her way back to Raleigh as I write this entry. The paperwork is almost complete for their new house and the closing and moving dates are set for their departure from Raleigh. The buyers have requested to CLOSE ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 13th! Even we decided that wasn't the best day to close and we had Thursday, August 12th! They will live in the house until August 31st then they will be off to Atlanta! Not thinking about that one too much - 500 miles is going to feel really really far away...
Today we got a quote from a local moving company - one that has much praise for a co-worker or mine.... they say we've got about 8,000 lbs of stuff to move!!! That's A LOT! If they came in and worked on it as it is today, it would take 10-12 hours for a 4 man crew. Thankfully, I plan to do a TON of packing and cleaning out to make that total about 5 hours less! For a 4 man crew and a truck is $120 an hour during the week... it is going to be SO worth it - there's just a lot to do between now and then... which is the next problem... when don't know when THEN will be... is was August 12th... but it looks like they might have fallen about a week behind, so that sets the closing around the week of the 16th or 23rd. Who knows... the later we close in the month, the less interest we pay, so that's good, BUT we HAVE to be out of the apartment by Tuesday, August 31st. We had to give 60 days notice (back at the end of June) and at that time, everything was on time or ahead a schedule. Darn inspections!
Current progress on OUR house:
-exterior work is well on its way to being complete... most of the siding is UP and painted as well as the "shakes" on the garage and 2nd level (not sure what color those are going to be...)
-drywall was complete upstairs on Sunday evening
-Paul saw the drywall in great progress on the 1st floor early yesterday afternoon.
-driveway was dug out, thankfully it's going to be plenty big enough for our "fleet" of cars
In the next week, we expect:
all drywall mudded in
some painting to be started
possible cabinet and sinks to be in
then flooring!
yay!
Mom is on her way back to Raleigh as I write this entry. The paperwork is almost complete for their new house and the closing and moving dates are set for their departure from Raleigh. The buyers have requested to CLOSE ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 13th! Even we decided that wasn't the best day to close and we had Thursday, August 12th! They will live in the house until August 31st then they will be off to Atlanta! Not thinking about that one too much - 500 miles is going to feel really really far away...
Today we got a quote from a local moving company - one that has much praise for a co-worker or mine.... they say we've got about 8,000 lbs of stuff to move!!! That's A LOT! If they came in and worked on it as it is today, it would take 10-12 hours for a 4 man crew. Thankfully, I plan to do a TON of packing and cleaning out to make that total about 5 hours less! For a 4 man crew and a truck is $120 an hour during the week... it is going to be SO worth it - there's just a lot to do between now and then... which is the next problem... when don't know when THEN will be... is was August 12th... but it looks like they might have fallen about a week behind, so that sets the closing around the week of the 16th or 23rd. Who knows... the later we close in the month, the less interest we pay, so that's good, BUT we HAVE to be out of the apartment by Tuesday, August 31st. We had to give 60 days notice (back at the end of June) and at that time, everything was on time or ahead a schedule. Darn inspections!
Current progress on OUR house:
-exterior work is well on its way to being complete... most of the siding is UP and painted as well as the "shakes" on the garage and 2nd level (not sure what color those are going to be...)
-drywall was complete upstairs on Sunday evening
-Paul saw the drywall in great progress on the 1st floor early yesterday afternoon.
-driveway was dug out, thankfully it's going to be plenty big enough for our "fleet" of cars
In the next week, we expect:
all drywall mudded in
some painting to be started
possible cabinet and sinks to be in
then flooring!
yay!
Friday, July 16, 2004
Finally Friday
This post was going to orignally be about how excited I am about seeing the house tonight, but sadly, I don't think we will. Paul is still stuck at the Smucker's Plant in the boonies of Kentucky. He won't be home before it's dark (or for the weekend). Guess we'll just give them some more time to get that drywall up before we go and see it. Maybe I'll have a new picture if I decide to head out that way this weekend.
Mom and Dad have a contract on their house - and they've got to close on August 16th and move out COMPLETELY by August 31st! I don't know how they are going to do it, especially since mom has been down in Atlanta for the last week looking at houses and they still haven't found what they are looking for - oh the headache.
Mom and Dad have a contract on their house - and they've got to close on August 16th and move out COMPLETELY by August 31st! I don't know how they are going to do it, especially since mom has been down in Atlanta for the last week looking at houses and they still haven't found what they are looking for - oh the headache.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Small changes and the waiting game
I've been sorta busy and distracted, so this blog has recieved ver little attention from me. Here is the latest scoop:
-House is still without drywall... really hoping that it will get moving this week. We're about 30 days from the orignal closing date
-Someone put in an offer on my parent's house (finally!) They looked at it last night for 2 hours. Made an offer, my parents counter offered, the buyers counter offered back and today my parents plan to counter again. Wow. The buyers want to close BY AUGUST 16th! That's the DAY Paul and I had been planning on moving (pending our closing on August 12). This may be a bit crazy. They have looked at quite a few houses in Atlanta and have narrowed down to a certain area with very specific amentities. AGH!
It's going to be a crazy next 2 months... pray for us all. Justin is returning from his roadtrip to Texas with a friend from Carolina. I'm going to pick him up at the airport tonight. Yay! For going to the airport twice in 2 days!
-House is still without drywall... really hoping that it will get moving this week. We're about 30 days from the orignal closing date
-Someone put in an offer on my parent's house (finally!) They looked at it last night for 2 hours. Made an offer, my parents counter offered, the buyers counter offered back and today my parents plan to counter again. Wow. The buyers want to close BY AUGUST 16th! That's the DAY Paul and I had been planning on moving (pending our closing on August 12). This may be a bit crazy. They have looked at quite a few houses in Atlanta and have narrowed down to a certain area with very specific amentities. AGH!
It's going to be a crazy next 2 months... pray for us all. Justin is returning from his roadtrip to Texas with a friend from Carolina. I'm going to pick him up at the airport tonight. Yay! For going to the airport twice in 2 days!
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Quick update
Paul and I visited the house last night (he just could not resist the urge to see the changes that 2 days of working on it would be). It looks like the electrical is just about done... it's awesome to see where everything will be. There were some issues with a few things (fridge location, master closet, lights...), but most everything is taken care of! Yay!
We spent almost 45 minutes talking to our neighbors across the street. They are very nice, he's a fire fighter and she works in Raleigh, and they have a 2 year old daughter (she is precious!) 2 dogs and 2 cats. They seem like very nice neighbors, and they said that they've met a few other ones.
Well, that's about it for now. Still focused on the August 12th closing date! :-)
We spent almost 45 minutes talking to our neighbors across the street. They are very nice, he's a fire fighter and she works in Raleigh, and they have a 2 year old daughter (she is precious!) 2 dogs and 2 cats. They seem like very nice neighbors, and they said that they've met a few other ones.
Well, that's about it for now. Still focused on the August 12th closing date! :-)
Monday, June 28, 2004
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Nothing new to report
Although there's not much of anything new to report, I thought I'd just add a little post. The month of June is almost over and it's getting closer and closer to the time where we'll be moving. We're still waiting to hear back from the mortgage company - we've been warned that the underwriting can take a little while, and since we're not closing until the middle of August, I doubt they'll be rushing to get ours done.
I've got to start making a list of all the things we need for the house... like blinds, towel and toilet paper holders, the fridge, rugs, furniture, paint... agh! It's craziness (and everything is so $$$!) We'll get it all together soon, we'd better!
Paul's been working at the NC plants this week. He was in Eden yesterday and he's in Raeford today. It's really, really nice to have him home for dinner. We've cooked the last 2 nights and tonight we're planning on meeting my mom and brother for dinner at the cafeteria... it's a Wednesday night tradition thing.
That's all for now. Guess I'd better attempt to be productive. It's still just a bit too early for lunch. I'll update more after the weekend (we plan to take Philip and Jenn to the house on Friday).
I've got to start making a list of all the things we need for the house... like blinds, towel and toilet paper holders, the fridge, rugs, furniture, paint... agh! It's craziness (and everything is so $$$!) We'll get it all together soon, we'd better!
Paul's been working at the NC plants this week. He was in Eden yesterday and he's in Raeford today. It's really, really nice to have him home for dinner. We've cooked the last 2 nights and tonight we're planning on meeting my mom and brother for dinner at the cafeteria... it's a Wednesday night tradition thing.
That's all for now. Guess I'd better attempt to be productive. It's still just a bit too early for lunch. I'll update more after the weekend (we plan to take Philip and Jenn to the house on Friday).
Monday, June 21, 2004
House June 19, rear windows. All the windows are in and there are a whole lot of them! The insides are coming together quickly. According to our estimated closing date (and hearing from other residents about their determination to be one time), we're just 7 weeks out! Yes, we have 7 weekends to go until we close and the house is ours! YAY!
Friday, June 18, 2004
There is a house on our lot!
Just a few quick updates:
-The house has a roof - with shingles!
-We have ALL the windows and doors installed (including the special block window in the master bath
-Tubs and showers are installed
-Air ducts are almost completely installed
-Plumbing lines are run all over the house
-The hardi plank siding has been delievered and is waiting to be installed
-Brick is ready - sand was delievered
We're going back tomorrow to take some pictures and make sure everything is in the right place...
Countdown about 55 days until it's supposed to be complete!!!! So exciting!
-The house has a roof - with shingles!
-We have ALL the windows and doors installed (including the special block window in the master bath
-Tubs and showers are installed
-Air ducts are almost completely installed
-Plumbing lines are run all over the house
-The hardi plank siding has been delievered and is waiting to be installed
-Brick is ready - sand was delievered
We're going back tomorrow to take some pictures and make sure everything is in the right place...
Countdown about 55 days until it's supposed to be complete!!!! So exciting!
Friday, June 11, 2004
BIG UPDATE
Wow, so much has happened since I was last able to write, so here it goes:
Paul and I had an AWESOME anniverary trip. We headed down to Wilmington on Sat. (6/5). We detoured to go to Southport and take the Fort Fisher Ferry back across. It was a nice day, the humidity was down and the wind was cool. The ferry ride was pretty hot, somehow we weren't getting any breeze and it was a bit sticky. It's about a 30 minute trip across (not to bad for $5) We didn't stop while at Fort Fisher or at Kure and Caorlina Beaches, they were packed with weekend beach goers.
It was late enough for us to trek into the historic area of Wilmington. We took our "special" back road that goes through the industrial port area. Last time we were there (Aug 03) there were HUGE military ships loading supplies and materials, but this time, it was really calm. We arrived at the Hilton Riverside right at check-in (4ish) and got a room on the TOP floor (9th) on the Cape Fear River side. There was an awesome sunset that evening. We headed out to dinner soon after, and decided on The Pilot House. It was riverfront and the food was absolutely amazing. We had a great bottle of wine and a 4 course dinner. What a delight! We walked back to the hotel and leisurely looked at the ships and other things along the river. We took it easy that night ;-)
On Sunday, we had a day packed with going to Wrightsville Beach (where we both didn't get sunburned, yay!), then eating lunch at Dockside (mmm!), a Riverboat cruise in a bit of a drizzle/rain. It was fun... but a little slow. They need to work on their history narration a bit. I know Wilmington is a lot more interesting b/c we went to the Cape Fear Museum on our way out and learned lots... We then went to the Battleship NC and walked around quite a bit. I felt really really claustropobic and just couldn't keep going down deeper and into narrower walkways... it was fun, but it had really warmed up and bit. We had late dinner reservations at Roy's at Riverboat Landing. What a awesome experience... we had dinner on a private 2nd story outdoor balcony. It was just us, out little table, chairs and bottle of wine for sunset. The dinner was absolutely amazing. Once again, we stuffed ourselves with four courses and headed back to our hotel (after I'd had a key lime martini...mmmm!)
We headed out Monday morning to run by the HOUSE (which I will update on shortly), then out the the Fearrington. When we arrived, just at tea time, they UPGRADED us to the most amazing suite they had. We had booked a deluxe (one step up), but we got the GRAND suite, the very best, with lots of neat touches. I'll have to post some pictures - but let me tell you - we had a window in every direction, a large sitting room with palladim windows, 3 chairs and sofa with a FIREPLACE. The bedroom had a 4-poster king bed with great views towards the cow pasture (those belted galloways are just too cute). Our bathroom was AWESOME... the ceiling had to be at least 12-14 ft throughout the suite, and the bathroom had a great skylight, stocked closet (robes, amenties, fun things), a large shower and the whirlpool tub (I took advanatge of that thing TWICE!). We also had a "sleeping porch" balacony off the bathroom with 2 rocking chairs, table and ceiling fan (of course screened in). We took our port-wine after dinner out on the balacony.
Ok, here's the scoop on our dinner. We had dinner at the Inn's resturant (the only 5 star in NC). It was great - but I didn't choose wisely. I got way tooo brave and had the duck and soft shell crab. I tried my best to eat it, but just didn't like it a bit. Paul had goat cheese, tuna carpaccio, the angus tenderloin... and he was absolutely in love. We had a great dessert wine with our fruity desserts. It was a great dinner, thankfully included in our package (otherwise it would have been $85 a person + wine and gratuity). After dinner we returned to our room that had been prepared with turn down service - bed was ready, chocolate mints, fuzzy slippers (that we could take home), the port wine and the lighting was set. If it hadn't have been near 90 outside, I would have loved to have had a fire... alas, it is summer.
I hope to return to the Fearrington every year. It is absolutely amazing. We rode their old style bicycles around the village and through the paths in the fields. What fun, and how relaxing. We still have a $25 gift card to their shops. We'll have to return! :-)
That's all for this part of the update, stayed tuned for the next on the house!!!
Paul and I had an AWESOME anniverary trip. We headed down to Wilmington on Sat. (6/5). We detoured to go to Southport and take the Fort Fisher Ferry back across. It was a nice day, the humidity was down and the wind was cool. The ferry ride was pretty hot, somehow we weren't getting any breeze and it was a bit sticky. It's about a 30 minute trip across (not to bad for $5) We didn't stop while at Fort Fisher or at Kure and Caorlina Beaches, they were packed with weekend beach goers.
It was late enough for us to trek into the historic area of Wilmington. We took our "special" back road that goes through the industrial port area. Last time we were there (Aug 03) there were HUGE military ships loading supplies and materials, but this time, it was really calm. We arrived at the Hilton Riverside right at check-in (4ish) and got a room on the TOP floor (9th) on the Cape Fear River side. There was an awesome sunset that evening. We headed out to dinner soon after, and decided on The Pilot House. It was riverfront and the food was absolutely amazing. We had a great bottle of wine and a 4 course dinner. What a delight! We walked back to the hotel and leisurely looked at the ships and other things along the river. We took it easy that night ;-)
On Sunday, we had a day packed with going to Wrightsville Beach (where we both didn't get sunburned, yay!), then eating lunch at Dockside (mmm!), a Riverboat cruise in a bit of a drizzle/rain. It was fun... but a little slow. They need to work on their history narration a bit. I know Wilmington is a lot more interesting b/c we went to the Cape Fear Museum on our way out and learned lots... We then went to the Battleship NC and walked around quite a bit. I felt really really claustropobic and just couldn't keep going down deeper and into narrower walkways... it was fun, but it had really warmed up and bit. We had late dinner reservations at Roy's at Riverboat Landing. What a awesome experience... we had dinner on a private 2nd story outdoor balcony. It was just us, out little table, chairs and bottle of wine for sunset. The dinner was absolutely amazing. Once again, we stuffed ourselves with four courses and headed back to our hotel (after I'd had a key lime martini...mmmm!)
We headed out Monday morning to run by the HOUSE (which I will update on shortly), then out the the Fearrington. When we arrived, just at tea time, they UPGRADED us to the most amazing suite they had. We had booked a deluxe (one step up), but we got the GRAND suite, the very best, with lots of neat touches. I'll have to post some pictures - but let me tell you - we had a window in every direction, a large sitting room with palladim windows, 3 chairs and sofa with a FIREPLACE. The bedroom had a 4-poster king bed with great views towards the cow pasture (those belted galloways are just too cute). Our bathroom was AWESOME... the ceiling had to be at least 12-14 ft throughout the suite, and the bathroom had a great skylight, stocked closet (robes, amenties, fun things), a large shower and the whirlpool tub (I took advanatge of that thing TWICE!). We also had a "sleeping porch" balacony off the bathroom with 2 rocking chairs, table and ceiling fan (of course screened in). We took our port-wine after dinner out on the balacony.
Ok, here's the scoop on our dinner. We had dinner at the Inn's resturant (the only 5 star in NC). It was great - but I didn't choose wisely. I got way tooo brave and had the duck and soft shell crab. I tried my best to eat it, but just didn't like it a bit. Paul had goat cheese, tuna carpaccio, the angus tenderloin... and he was absolutely in love. We had a great dessert wine with our fruity desserts. It was a great dinner, thankfully included in our package (otherwise it would have been $85 a person + wine and gratuity). After dinner we returned to our room that had been prepared with turn down service - bed was ready, chocolate mints, fuzzy slippers (that we could take home), the port wine and the lighting was set. If it hadn't have been near 90 outside, I would have loved to have had a fire... alas, it is summer.
I hope to return to the Fearrington every year. It is absolutely amazing. We rode their old style bicycles around the village and through the paths in the fields. What fun, and how relaxing. We still have a $25 gift card to their shops. We'll have to return! :-)
That's all for this part of the update, stayed tuned for the next on the house!!!
Friday, June 04, 2004
We Have a Slab and....
Just a quick update before the weekend...
We have a slab AND walls! YES! In less than 48 hours, we have the REAL makings of a house!!!!!!! It was a rainy day, but somehow they got about 55% of the first floor wall framing done! We have pictures to prove it... but no time to download them, resize and upload. It's vacation time :) But we have walls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome!
We have a slab AND walls! YES! In less than 48 hours, we have the REAL makings of a house!!!!!!! It was a rainy day, but somehow they got about 55% of the first floor wall framing done! We have pictures to prove it... but no time to download them, resize and upload. It's vacation time :) But we have walls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome!
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Waiting for the SLAB!
Paul, Mom, Annie and I treked out to Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon to check the process. Besides the blinding heat and humidity, it was great. It looks almost ready for concrete to be poured (feels like I've been saying that forever), but we KNOW this time it's gonna happen. They've got the gravel laid, the plastic moisture barrier in place and it's all ready to be poured. We are excited. Paul really wanted to drive out to the site today and see what might be new. He thinks we'll have the major material delivery by the end of the week and when we return for our mini-break (as Bridgette Jones would say), we'll have the frame of a house (what a HUGE change that will be!) We are really excited. Did I say that yet?!
Let's see, new news...
-Justin is considering a job at NCSU (gasp! a UNC Chapel Hill grad!!)
-Mom has turned in her resignation letter to Bassett (only 14 more days of work for her)
-Dad resigned from his job and took another one, still in Atlanta (all in a matter of 2 days last week) It's a bit insane, but none-the-less they are still moving to Atlanta somewhere in the near future, whenever the house sells
-Paul is home for the time being - we're leaving on Saturday to head to Wilmington. We're staying 2 nights at the Hilton Riverside and doing lots of touring down there (looks like the bikes are gonna come... I'm gonna be so sore!) Then we are spending next Monday night (our offical 1 year wedding anniversary) at The Fearrington Inn. Ahhhhhh, the Fearrington! We have a special package for a deluxe room, dinner and some other fun things. It kinda broke the bank, but you only celebrate these things once! CAN'T WAIT!
-Our apartment is slowly feeling more empty - the storage building is getting full. Wow, can't believe that we'll be moving in a little over 2 months! (crossing fingers!)
Picture below from our new vantage spot (ontop of the transformer in the front corner of the lot... more to come)
Let's see, new news...
-Justin is considering a job at NCSU (gasp! a UNC Chapel Hill grad!!)
-Mom has turned in her resignation letter to Bassett (only 14 more days of work for her)
-Dad resigned from his job and took another one, still in Atlanta (all in a matter of 2 days last week) It's a bit insane, but none-the-less they are still moving to Atlanta somewhere in the near future, whenever the house sells
-Paul is home for the time being - we're leaving on Saturday to head to Wilmington. We're staying 2 nights at the Hilton Riverside and doing lots of touring down there (looks like the bikes are gonna come... I'm gonna be so sore!) Then we are spending next Monday night (our offical 1 year wedding anniversary) at The Fearrington Inn. Ahhhhhh, the Fearrington! We have a special package for a deluxe room, dinner and some other fun things. It kinda broke the bank, but you only celebrate these things once! CAN'T WAIT!
-Our apartment is slowly feeling more empty - the storage building is getting full. Wow, can't believe that we'll be moving in a little over 2 months! (crossing fingers!)
Picture below from our new vantage spot (ontop of the transformer in the front corner of the lot... more to come)
Friday, May 21, 2004
House website updated :-)
The house website has been updated with a few new pictures. I realize that there isn't a whole lot to see right now... but, we are just SO excited about seeing it come up out of the ground. We're planning on going out there on Sunday and getting into the almost completed mirror image of our floorplan. (it's across the street, at the far end of the cul-de-sac, brick and green shutters) That particular house has the same kitchen cabinets and countertops. I plan to take quite a few pictures and measurements. So, there will most likely be another update at the beginning of next week, YAY!
Site: http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/aomp/house.html
Let's see, in other news... nothing else is really new. We went out to dinner with the neighbor's last night (Phil & Jenn). We had a yummy dinner at Carker Barrel (didn't know there was one near the airport!) then went out and watched planes land at RDU. Phil bought a new truck over the weekend (finally got what he wanted after the Accord was totalled last fall). He has an awesome black Toyota Tundra, extended cab, leather seats, 6 CD changer, long bed, 4x4, some special Toyota engine thingie... anyways, we sat out in the truckbed, up on the grassy area (at Paul's request) and had a GREAT time hanging out with another married couple and damaging our hearing from the ROARS of the planes overhead. It is SO awesome... we're geeks, and I could spend HOURS watching plans land. FYI - the FedEx plane lands around 6:30pm EVERY night (maybe not Sunday) and an American Airlines 777 takes off each Saturday evening around 7:45pm (it's quite a sight to see... those things are HUGE, holding about 250 or so people!) Our "spot" is a great place to watch the planes land, the deer run, Candian geese fly and enjoy the gentle roar of planes. Ahhhh...
Site: http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/aomp/house.html
Let's see, in other news... nothing else is really new. We went out to dinner with the neighbor's last night (Phil & Jenn). We had a yummy dinner at Carker Barrel (didn't know there was one near the airport!) then went out and watched planes land at RDU. Phil bought a new truck over the weekend (finally got what he wanted after the Accord was totalled last fall). He has an awesome black Toyota Tundra, extended cab, leather seats, 6 CD changer, long bed, 4x4, some special Toyota engine thingie... anyways, we sat out in the truckbed, up on the grassy area (at Paul's request) and had a GREAT time hanging out with another married couple and damaging our hearing from the ROARS of the planes overhead. It is SO awesome... we're geeks, and I could spend HOURS watching plans land. FYI - the FedEx plane lands around 6:30pm EVERY night (maybe not Sunday) and an American Airlines 777 takes off each Saturday evening around 7:45pm (it's quite a sight to see... those things are HUGE, holding about 250 or so people!) Our "spot" is a great place to watch the planes land, the deer run, Candian geese fly and enjoy the gentle roar of planes. Ahhhh...
Thursday, May 20, 2004
House update - and pictures below!
Update - Paul and I went to see the house on Wednesday afternoon and the 2 pictures below show what we saw...
The plumbing lines are in and the outside forms are set for concrete to soon be laid. The brick has been delivered! The color is "bessemer gray" although, it doesn't look gray to me, and we didn't want a gray finish, just a sandy, lighter look. We'll have to wait a little while to find out!
Can't wait until we have more to post. I've lost access to the house site (http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/aomp/house.html) for now (dang new computer and settings), so I can't post all the other misc. pictures there... will do it AS SOON as I have access and dreamweaver up and running again.
YAY for house progress! :-)
The plumbing lines are in and the outside forms are set for concrete to soon be laid. The brick has been delivered! The color is "bessemer gray" although, it doesn't look gray to me, and we didn't want a gray finish, just a sandy, lighter look. We'll have to wait a little while to find out!
Can't wait until we have more to post. I've lost access to the house site (http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/aomp/house.html) for now (dang new computer and settings), so I can't post all the other misc. pictures there... will do it AS SOON as I have access and dreamweaver up and running again.
YAY for house progress! :-)
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
HOUSE UPDATE
The plumbing is almost IN - the concrete should start flowing soon! :-) We got a few pictures and they will be posted soon. The skies are looking like rain today and tomorrow, so we may not see much change between now and early next week - BUT they DID deliever the brick! It's so pretty and it will be on our house! Our house! Wow... it's just SO exciting!!! Pictures to be posted soon :-)
Brief Update
So, here I am at yet *another* blog. I wanted to make this one special for house updates, family news and general notes. I looked at livejounral, but it reminds me of college and I think I am ready to move away from that mind-set.
Here's what's new:
-Justin graduated from UNC-CH with HONORS on May 9th (he's still searching for what to do next)
-Mom & Dad are still attemping to sell their house...and have narrowed their area of houses in Atlanta to Swanee
-Paul is in town THIS WHOLE WEEK! He'll be off to some far-off locale soon enough.
-Paul and I rode our bikes yesterday, great fun, but I am a total weenie... road bike... Raleigh roads... not my cup of tea
-HOUSE: concrete for slab should be poured ANY day now! Yeah! Target date for closing, still August 12th.
That's all for now, gotta get back to playing with the settings on this thing.
Here's what's new:
-Justin graduated from UNC-CH with HONORS on May 9th (he's still searching for what to do next)
-Mom & Dad are still attemping to sell their house...and have narrowed their area of houses in Atlanta to Swanee
-Paul is in town THIS WHOLE WEEK! He'll be off to some far-off locale soon enough.
-Paul and I rode our bikes yesterday, great fun, but I am a total weenie... road bike... Raleigh roads... not my cup of tea
-HOUSE: concrete for slab should be poured ANY day now! Yeah! Target date for closing, still August 12th.
That's all for now, gotta get back to playing with the settings on this thing.
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