Family...

There are two ladies that inspire and support me daily:

my mother and sister.

I honestly don't know what I would do without them being just a phone call away.

So this post is for them...a heartfelt thank you.

Crystal Beach

Thank you for constant encouragement,

thank you for listening,

thank you for always giving your honest opinion.

Grandmother's Amaryllis

Thank you for constant support,

thank you for sharing your ideas,

thank you for always keeping me grounded.

College Station

Thank you for constant inspiration,

thank you for showing me right from wrong,

thank you for always bringing something new to my attention.

Brian and Allison's Wedding

Thank you for your unconditional love,

thank you for overlooking all my insecurities,

thank you for always making me feel better.

Tommy's Roses

The last few weeks have been more than crazy...

thank you both for helping us make sense of things again.

Love always,

Flooring...

Our flooring guys are troopers.

We gave them our move-in date (this Wednesday) and they've been putting in super long hours...

even worked Saturday and Sunday!

Here are a few quick shots with my camera...

not the best, but it will give you an idea.

Can you see those dusty footprints in the picture below?

I felt bad, the guys had been working so hard,

but since we still don't have our flatwork, we were tracking in

dust as we moved in our hanging clothes.

Want to see our closet? 

My husband and I each have a side.

In the center is a chest of drawers.

We decided to keep our master bedroom very simple, bed and nightstands only.

So far, things are fitting nicely.

Whew!

Well, that's it for now. 

If you're following along on our progress, I'll be back in a few days, 

we're disconnecting utilities here in our current home. 

Connecting internet and such will most likely take a while in the new place.

Kinda exciting...the next time I "see" you again, we'll be officially in our new home!

Just a few more days...

YIKES!

Our closing date is quickly approaching

and things are not going as planned.

Look what happened today.

Yep, broken water line.

ugh

I knew the propane guys were going to hit it...I could feel it in my bones.

 Surely they know what they're doing, right?

They've done this a million times.

I should have said, "STOP"...but I just froze and watched the water spill out.

ugh.

Apparently I've lost brain cells through this building process.

Funny though, how things worked out...

the subs that were scheduled today (and needed water), were no shows.

Funny, 

ha ha.

On the bright side, there was a bit of activity: 

the dirt guys delivered 5 more loads of dirt and the flooring guys came to prep the floors.

That's a good thing.

Tomorrow should be a busy day:

interior brick cleaning

trim repairs

attic insulation

tile repairs

flooring installation

three small trees taken out

and 

most importantly

water line repaired.

fingers crossed

ugh

It's not pretty...

If you're looking for pictures today, I've got them...they're not pretty,

but necessary.

This is the trench for the power.

Dirt for the grading and the tractor to level everything.

Trench for the water.

Moving from temporary power to permanent.

Putting in the sleeve for the propane.

Ok...one pretty picture, if you don't mind.

Our front yard!

Graded and smooth.

One step closer...

Hardware...

Hardware...

  kinda like jewelry, isn't it?

Well, picking out the "jewelry" for the cabinets and doors was a bit overwhelming.

There are so many different styles, colors, sizes...

the sky's really the limit.

I had to reel myself in and keep focused...

basic, vintage.

We decided on black bin pulls and knobs for most of the house.

I pinned his picture from Pinterest a while back...the iron brackets are so pretty.

I loved the look and thought about using something similar in the laundry room.

source

I found some brackets...

but, after everything was built, it just didn't work out...

kinda made me sad, ok, really sad.

But then my trim guy made a suggestion...

use them as corbels for the island.

And to add a little something to the open cabinet.

I felt much better that I was able to use them 

and

really liked his suggestions.

There was even one left over to add to the mailbox post!

For the bathrooms, I went with brushed nickel.

Yep, very simple...basic...

vintage.

Range of Emotions...

 source

This week has been a tough one for so many.

We're all relieved that the Boston situation has been resolved however mourn for the families that have lost loved ones. Thankfully the second suspect was captured, we all hope there will be answers to our questions.

We also mourn with the people of West, Texas. What a tragedy.

At the time of this writing, the final count hasn't been determined.

The loss of life and devastation is hard to process.

Through this all, there is also a sense of pride.

The work of the FBI in finding the two suspects out of all the people and thousands of photos 

is nothing short of amazing.

The "First Responders" put their lives on the line each and every day.

Tragically, some were lost this week...they gave their all.

Then there's the outpouring of care and concern.

It seems that when there's a tragedy, people become united 

and come to the aid of each other without hesitation. 

We have to remember that we are one nation under God.

America isn't perfect, but at the end of the day,

I can't help but say,

I'm proud to be an American.

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Psalm 46: 1-2a

Counter-tops...

Kitchen counter-tops

where do you begin?

Pinterest, Blogland, Houzz

Yep...

I loved the look of marble, but everyone told us not for the kitchen.

So I found this site: Seventh House on the Left

Greg and Ashley are so cute and very creative! I love their site!

And I LOVE their kitchen counters.

It's Cambria Torquay...a marble look-alike.

They've done a lot of research and shared it for us all!

Aren't they the best?!

I was sold.

Long story short: 

our counters, yep, Cambria Torquay

The edges are "eased" and the corners are rounded.

It still has it's protective plastic but hopefully you can see it well enough.

For the 2nd bath and Powder bath, we were able to get marble counters. 

Our installer just happened to have scrap pieces and was able to make them work, 

all we added was a rectangular under-mount sink.

And in the laundry, we're using cultured marble. 

For fun, we added a farm sink.

It's a good size, {perfect for bathing little poodles!}

Our master bath will also have cultured marble, white on white. 

The tub is a garden tub,

perfect for soaking.

And the shower is also cultured marble.

Whew!

Counter-tops are in...

Check.

Up next: hardware.