Starbucks Full Circle

Well it is official! We are homeowners! I didn't get a chance to write last night because there was a lot going on. I almost didn't get a chance to write tonight either, but I'm making some time for it. I imagine now that we are out of the "planning" phase and into the "doing" phase, I will have less time for writing on here. I will try to still keep up with it as best I can.

I'll try to summarize the closing process briefly. We got to the title company a few minutes before 1 and Paul was already there. We went in the room with the lady who was doing our closing at pretty much 1 on the dot. All of our paperwork was ready to go so there was no delay with that. She began handing us documents and briefly explaining what each page said. Most of this stuff is over my head so I let Andrew ask questions if he needed to and I stayed quiet for the most part. Paul was pretty reassuring about the whole thing and we really didn't have to many questions, so it was just a matter or signing all the pages. It was over before I knew it. By 1:30 we were driving down the road trying to decide where to eat lunch. The whole process took about 20 minutes. It was completely opposite of most of the horror stories I've heard about closings. In fact, it went so quick, it didn't really feel real.

The other reason it didn't really feel real was we didn't have the keys yet. The seller wasn't coming in to do their end of the closing until 3 o'clock. I almost cried when I heard this. Also it takes a little bit of time for the lender to receive all the paperwork and release the funds, or something like that. So the lady said they could get us the keys later in the day, or possibly in the morning. There was no way I was waiting till the next morning to get the keys. I wanted them RIGHT NOW. Then I remembered we had an appointment with the electrician at 8 am, so we definitely needed the keys before then. Paul came to our rescue and said he could come back for the keys and bring them to us later on in the day.

So I left feeling a little disappointed, relieved, but wishing we had the keys or something to show for it! Eating lunch at Freebirds helped to lift my spirits, but then we didn't know what to do with ourselves after that. I suggested we go to RoomStore and order our furniture and Andrew was on board with that. So that's what we did! We had been in several times and looked at it so we were ready to buy when we walked in the door. Since this weekend is Labor Day, they had a sale going on, so we got some money off on the deal. The furniture will be delivered on Sunday the 7th of September. I can't wait to get it! After we left RoomStore we went on home to hang out for a while. Paul called around 4 and said he could meet us at 4:45 to give us the keys. He wanted to meet at the Starbucks at Mopac and William Cannon. The great thing about this was on August 25th, 2007 we were in Austin looking for a rental property before we moved down, and we met Paul for the first time at this same Starbucks. It seemed very appropriate that this is where we would meet to get the keys for our first home purchase. I made Paul and Andrew take this cheesy picture. Paul was goofy and looks like a total nerd, but he was definitely a better sport than Andrew. Thanks for everything Paul!!! This is the part where I give Paul a plug and say if you need a great agent, we happen to know one.


So after we had the keys and officially felt like homeowners, we immediately went to the house. We walked every square inch and looked at every little detail. We played with all the light switches to see what they did (there are still a few I'm not sure what they do). We looked in the darkest corners of every closet and studied the thermostat and played with the garage door opener. Its weird how many little nuances there are in a new house. It takes a while to get everything figured out. Since the paint samples I ordered had come in, I wasted no time in trying them out. When I first put the green "Grass Cloth" on the wall I about freaked out because it looked neon lime green. After it dried and I put three coats on it, it looked like what I imagined, and I'm very happy with it. I'm also very happy with the yellow-gold "Honey Bear" color for our master bedroom. I'm still tackling the formal living/ dining room because the color is not working out. The one I originally picked out "Castle Stone" is supposed to be a light khaki color. On the wall it looked like a light, bright yellow. Today I bought two more samples so I now have three different colored blobs painted on the wall. I am waiting to let them dry overnight and then will see how they look. So far I have been frustrated and disappointed with these shades, because they look COMPLETELY different on the wall than on the swatch.

While we were trying out the paint last night, my friend Ellen from work called and wanted to come by and see the house. Her and her husband Jeff just bought a house a few months ago, not too far from our place. When they showed up they had brought us a bottle of wine and some toilet paper! Necessities!! We have gotten a lot of use out of both. Luckily I had brought some plastic cups over to the house in case we might want a drink of water while working. We looked super classy drinking our wine out of red Solo cups. The toilet paper was a great idea that I had not even thought of. Sometimes you have to use the bathroom in the empty house!

By the time we went to bed last night we were exhausted. It was hard to concentrate at work today because I wanted to be at the house. The electrician was there most of the day doing work, most of which was unexciting. The one thing I was excited to see was the new fans he had installed in the two upstairs bathrooms. I know this doesn't sound very exciting to most, but if you have bought a home, you know how anxious you are to see the results of any additions or improvements. Even bathroom fans. We spent a good amount of time over there tonight trying out the paint and letting the dogs run around and check the place out. Here are a few pics of the dogs in the empty new house.
We think they like it so far... they mostly tore around the rooms sniffing every inch and running around like maniacs.









They seem to like the yard although Macy is a little hesitant to leave the deck at times. There are other dogs in the yard that backs up to ours and Beamer and them are getting acquainted. There have been some hostile growls and barks but for
the most part just curious sniffing.
They will get used to each other after a while. The dogs are still kind of confused by the garage and the big door going up and down. Macy definitely doesn't like the loud noise. It will be interesting to see how they adjust to the new place. I'm sure they will like having more space.

Well it's getting late and I have had two long days so I'm ready to hit the sack! I'm looking forward to the three day weekend, even if I will be spending most of it painting! If you're here in town, feel free to stop by!!