Now We're Cooking.....

It has taken us months to find tile that we like.  Finally, we found it! 

Decorative tile for the shower.

Tile for the floor in the mud room, guest bath, utility room and master bath floor.  

Looks pretty good together....phew!

Quarry Granite

We chose a granite fabricator out of Groveport.  With Quarry Granite, we visited four granite warehouses and revisited two of them.  As you know, in an earlier post we found several slabs that we really like.  That was until we found this slab.  I was immediately smitten, but Brian had to warm up to it a bit.....especially when he heard the name was Purple Dunes AKA Aurora Borealis.  While there is a streak of amethyst colored crystals on one of the veins, it is largely neutrals and grays.  It is very striking with a lot of movement.  Unfortunately, the picture does not do it justice and many of the colors are a bit off.  However, we can't wait to see it in our kitchen!  We chose a much more understated honed black leather for the perimeter counters.

Braeden's Blog Post

I'm getting so excited I'm ready too move in.My room is like wheat and one wall is green with a yellow stripe on top and bottom.

Fireplace and Shakes!

After much review, we finally chose this fireplace box.  We will have a large stone fireplace with this insert.    As soon as the insert comes in, the stone guys will begin work on the fireplace.  We will be using the same color of stone from the outside of the house, but we will be using a Ledgestone (stacked stone).

Shakes in the front.

Shakes above the garage.  On the right, you see the soffit  is complete.  On the left, they are working on it.  

The shakes for the gables are in.  We were praying that it would all tie together correctly and we really like it now that they are up.  Phew!!  It is so hard to look at small samples and know if they are really going to work together.

Stone columns on front porch.

Exterior of Master Bedroom

Shakes going up above the rear lanai.

Septic System Installation and Columns

This week, the septic was started and the columns have been built so that the stone guys can cover them.  

It is not the most exciting thing to occur, but is vital to us moving in.  Here are pictures of the septic installation.

My Sweet Boy is 7!

Well, as I stated, this first part of February has been a whirlwind.  Now, it is time to celebrate, not just for Braeden's birthday, but for Dad being here to celebrate with us.  We were so blessed to have Mom, Dad, and Braeden's other grandparents in from Connecticut to celebrate with us.  After dinner, we surprised Braeden with a trip to the pet store to pick out a guinea pig.  He has been asking for one for quite some time.  

Braeden chose to use a certificate he earned for a dress down day and he wanted spiky hair.  While his hair is a bit long for spiky hair, we did the best we could.  We also had a party with his school class.  Thanks to Jennie Woods, his cupcakes were adorable and tasted great!  If anyone needs cupcakes or sweet treats, I would encourage you to contact Jennie!

Oh, I can't tell you how happy we are to have Dad at home with us!  Braeden needs his best buddy.  We had to stop by to show Papaw and Mammy our new friend before we even went home!

Braeden and Mellow.......formerly Maizy Pearl.   She is actually a he : )

Here are the yummy cupcakes that Jennie made.  They are so cute and tasted so good!

Superbowl Sunday

While most spent their Sunday eating goodies and watching the game, our day was spent at the hospital with my dad after he gave us a pretty intense scare.  Thankfully, the good Lord and the on call cardiologists at Fairfield Medical Center took good care of him.  Three days and one stent later, Dad was released and is already tired of "the girls"(AKA Mom and my sisters Pam and Beth) taking care of him.  While we were not back at the house much during this time, Brian managed to snap a picture of the siding.

February Has Been A Whirlwind!

Considering I have not posted for almost three weeks, I am going to do some serious catching up.  I am going to post on the days that the pictures were taken so that the timeline remains accurate.  The stone guys really took advantage of the nice weather.  They did such a great job.  We really love the stone.  Here you can see the garage and then where they moved around to the front of the house to the first arched window.

Garage

Arched window

Garage

60 in January = Siding, Stone and Geothermal

It was a busy day, Monday.  We had drywall, stone, siding and geothermal going on!  It was quite interesting seeing how they dig the fingers for the geothermal lines.  I have a few pics to share from when I ran back to snap a few pics while they were working.  I would have loved to stay......but work gets in the way of that.  At least we live close enough so that I can take a quick break and run back when they are doing something exciting.

And........Now We Have Stone!

After spending quite some time in granite warehouses, we received a text from Tracy indicating that they started on stone since it was such a nice day.  Even though it was dark, we HAD to go take a look.  So, with the flashlights from our iPhones, we were able to see what they have done and snap a few pics.  Little did I know, Brian was sweating bullets wondering if I would like the stone.  I was pretty set on ledgestone or stacked stone, but Brian and Tracy really felt the stone that we went with would be better for the outside and they were right!  The stone is beautiful and we are so happy with the coloring.  The second picture is from the following day where we had a little light to take a better pic!

A Day of Shopping......Cabinets, Flooring, Granite

On Saturday, Brian, Braeden and I went to Columbus to go to a granite warehouse called MontGranite, as well as to a discount flooring store and another cabinet/granite supplier(which will remain nameless).  MontGranite was great, but the other two were fails.  While we were pretty certain that we were not going to go the discount route, we just had to check them out and make sure of our decision.  Needless to say, we did not stay long at either store.

Now, on to MontGranite.  The warehouse was huge and the selection was fantastic.  They had beautiful options ranging from A-Z.  A being the least expensive to Z being the most expensive.  All of the granite was very pretty.  We just noticed that the A's, B's, and C's are very pretty but look very similar without much movement.  The higher the letter, the more movement and variation in color you see.  I can say that my heart went pitter patter over a few of the S-Z slabs.  However, with the amount of granite we need, Brian had to keep me in check and bring me back to reality!

One thing is for certain, is that we are in love......with more than 1 piece of granite!!  Trying to decide between these will be very difficult.  They are very different.  Unfortunately, the photos really do not do either of them justice.  Our plan is to take a cabinet door and the flooring sample with us when we go.  Feel free to leave a comment with your favorite.

Braeden's contribution for today....he took several of the photos from today including the warehouse pictures.

Another photo of the warehouse.

Slab # 1 - Siqqime.  This is very pretty.  It has tans, browns, grays, and a touch of blue.  It is very pretty and has a lot of movement with many variations throughout the slab.  

Close up of Siqqime.

Slab #2 - Telli Gully.  This is just a very striking piece.  The color variation of steel gray and browns is just beautiful and would go very nicely with the cabinets.  

Siqqime

This is a great picture of the variation in the slab, but the color is not nearly as orange as it shows.  

Drywall Update

Over the past few weeks, the drywall guys have been working diligently.  The progress they are making is great!  Here are a few pictures showing their progress.  Soon, they will begin skim coating.