Mi casa!

Last month I flew out to Idaho to finalize the plans on the house so they could start construction. I will try to make a really long story short by saying that it took me two half days. I came in significantly under budget on day 1 so I worked hard to remedy that on day 2 (ha)! It was a very short trip, but very fun, and very productive. So, let's dive right in with the good stuff:

 

A picture of the exterior. Colors: the roof and shutters will be black. Trim, the tops of the pillars, and garage doors will be white. The stucco (around the garage) will be dark gray (which I'm really hoping isn't going to end up looking like cement - fingers crossed). The vinyl siding (all the horizontal lines) will be a light gray/beige color. The shake (the stuff in that triangle section at the top of the house) will be dark gray. The front door will be bright yellow. I was going for a house that looked classic, but not really dark. Plus, a yellow door is just fun!

Exterior colors. The stone will be set at the bottom of the pillars. The light grayish square in the top left section is the main house color, that darker gray top right is the shake, the white square bottom left is the trim, and that yellow square is the door color (that Justin picked out - I love it)! Ignore that red rectangle, that's nothing.

Better pictures of the paint colors. Isn't it going to be lovely! Also, the stucco color is going to be somewhere between the two main house colors (but probably a little on the darker side).

Moving on (these are in sort of a random order):
Our kitchen cabinets! I love them! These were something that I'd originally skimped on, but when we realized we were underbudget, I upgraded! I love how simple they are. Also, they will be a bright white color. (They didn't have this door style in white, but you can imagine it can't you? It's glorious!)

My dishwasher.

My microwave (and our cabinetry will be raised above the microwave like it is here)>

My stove/oven. I am the most excited about this. It'll be gas and I'm so happy. Muy bonita!

Our kitchen faucet. We will have a stainless steel, undermounted sink to go with it.

Bathroom faucets.

My carpet. Oh, you guys, I wish we had feel-o-vision. You really need to feel how soft and luxurious this carpet is (so see, reason to visit). Trust me, it's ultra soft. I also like that it has flecks of color running through the shag. Gotta hide those stains! The carpet will go in the living room, all the bedrooms, up the stairs, and in the upstairs loft.

Okay, here we go: Top left - our carpet pad (not sure why the design studio lady threw that one in there). Bottom left: The tile that will be the fireplace surround. Middle bottom: The tile that will be in our entryway, master bathroom, and downstairs half bathroom (I love this tile). Above the entry tile: Our carpet (I've already talked about that). Above the carpet: the wall color. It doesn't look like much, but it's actually a light gray. That color will go on all the walls in the house. The trim and ceilings will be white. Middle middle: Our hardwood. This wood will be in the dining room, kitchen, and hallway leading from the kitchen to the garage. Bottom right: the travertine that will go in the master bathroom and downstairs half bath as a backsplash around the sink and as a decorative feature around the master tub. Middle right: that scrap of wood is there to show the color of the kitchen cabinets (and all the bathroom cabinets, since they'll also be white). Top right: our granite countertops. These will be in the kitchen and in the master bath and downstairs half bath. Justin picked out this granite and I think it's spot on. I love the lightness of it and the flecks of burgundy (which are hard to see in this pic - but they're there). Far top right: you can sort of see our kitchen backsplash - but we'll get to that later.

Here's a closer shot of how all the flooring options look together (with the wall color). I think the tile, wood, and carpet will flow together so nicely!

Backsplash time! Our kitchen backsplash will be the pewter subway tile. What's going to happen is that they will lay the pewter subway tile halfway up the backsplash. Then they'll lay one row of those rectangular tiles (but not all six rows of them, they'll only lay 4 rows). Then they'll finish with the pewter subway tiles. Make sense?

Basically, it'll look sort of similar to this (except our row of rectangular tiles won't be so thick AND, ours will be much, much more awesome looking):

Okay, bottom left: upstairs bathroom and laundry room countertops. Top left: upstairs bathroom and laundry room flooring. Middle left: travertine backsplash for the upstairs bathrooms and laundry room. Basically, I saved a little money by NOT upgrading the upstairs bathrooms and laundry room. I think they'll still look nice, but they won't be as nice as the downstairs stuff. I am sure some of you are thinking: "Woah! Just upgrade it all!!" But here's the truth: this ISN'T our forever home. We only intend to live in this house for 5 or so years before we build our perfect dream house. For this reason, we didn't really see the need to go for broke here. We had a budget and we stuck to it. That means that we skimped a little upstairs. No biggie. You already know what the rest of this stuff is. (Except for that little glass sample on the bottom left: that's the textured glass that will go in the window and the shower door of the master bathroom. It's cool.)

Our interior doors will look like this:

Our front door will look like this (except it will be yellow - man alive, I'm excited about this door):

Our shutters will look like this (and stay black):

And that's it (for now)! As a reward to myself for choosing some top notch features, I took myself to lunch at Boise Fry Company (see, it's already a tradition!). Sweet potato fries, brussel sprouts, and a delicious burger! YUM!

About a week after I came home, we got a message from our Idaho realtor with this picture:

They have started the work on our house! They were just leveling the dirt and getting everything ready, but Justin and I were so excited! A pile of dirt never looked so gorgeous! Also, these pictures make our lot look super small. And, while the lot isn't huge (it's .25 of an acre), it's certainly larger than what it appears in these pictures.

The following week, she sent this picture:

They've poured concrete and are putting in footings! The foundation of our house!

So these days, we basically live for pictures and updates from our Idaho realtor (who's awesome by the way) and when we do get them, we pour over the pictures and ooh and aah at the progress. We can't wait to go out there in a few weeks and see what it's looking like in person!

So that's it, we're down to our final stretch here in the Hoosier state. We close on our Indiana house in six days (SIX) and leave for good in 12! It's all happening so fast. I have so many conflicting emotions right now and, depending on the day, you'll either find me in tears or bouncing around with excitement. Real life starts soon. Real, no-more-school, no-more-training, life. It's exciting!

Sunburst 5k!

Every year since we've moved out here, I've run in the Sunburst. It's a really fun local race that starts in downtown South Bend and ends in the Notre Dame football stadium. I've run the 5k when I was largely pregnant with Sammie and last year, I ran the 10k with a personal best time! The Sunburst is one of those races that makes you feel like you can do anything. People (the other runners as well as those on the sidelines) are so positive and encouraging, the atmosphere is so energetic, and the race is just a good time all around. I've loved being able to be a part of this race and am sad that we won't be around to do it next year.

This year, honestly, I wasn't going to run it. We have so much going on with the move, plus Justin was working and I just figured I'd let last year (with my personal best 10k) be my Sunburst swan song.

Enter Noah. Ever since he saw me finish the race last year, he's been itching to run it. He would randomly bring it up during the year and I'd just sort of dismiss it. The closer we got to race day, though, the more adamant he became. So, two days before the race, I worked out a plan for the other kids and entered us both in the 5k.
 

We got everything ready the night before.

The morning of the race we woke up bright and early (before 6!). I woke the kids up by blaring the song, "Everything is Awesome" from my iPad. Noah popped right out of bed, excited to race. The whole drive downtown he kept asking me if we were sure we were on time (he didn't want to miss the start of the race). His nervous excitement was contagious. I usually get a little nervous before a race, and it was cute to see how similar we are in that regard!

Me and Noah, at the starting line.

We got to the starting line a few minutes early and it was just fun to see how excited Noah was getting. His energy was definitely rubbing off on me!

Noah showing me his tough "ready" face:

Noah showing me his super fast start position:

Before we knew it, we were off. This kid, I tell you. He held my hand the entire race, kept up a steady stream of chatter (and quite a few MarioKart references), high fived anyone who had their hand sticking out (which was quite a lot), and ran more than he walked. For entering a race without training AT ALL, I can honestly say I was beyond impressed. He never once asked to stop or told me he was done, he just kept plugging along. At one point toward the end of the race, someone had turned their lawn sprinkler on to face the road so the runners could run through it. Noah got so excited! As he screamed and ran through the sprinkler, everyone around him was just smiling and laughing. He kept everyone in good spirits for sure! Before I knew it, we were staring at the finish line. We dropped hands and agreed to sprint through the finish. Boy, did he ever sprint! I am sure I was beaming as I finished the race. My boy did it. He was so proud! And rightfully so!

Noah and I after the race:

Two of my favorite things about the race this year:
1. Noah's attitude. After the race we saw a friend who came to watch at the finish line. She was talking to Noah and asked him if he beat a lot of people. His response? "Well, that's not really what's important. What's important is that we finished!" Oh yes, proud mama moment right there!

2. As friendly and encouraging as people are to me when I run this race, they are a thousand times more friendly and encouraging to the kids that run. All along the course, people were cheering for Noah, high fiving him, patting him on the back, and encouraging him on. It was wonderful to see so many good people cheering my kid on.  

Noah with his well deserved, end of race popsicle.

After the race, we went to the hospital to eat breakfast with Justin. Noah loved recounting the race for his dad (who was almost as proud of him as I was)!

This was, by far, the most fun race I've ever run. I would run a million races with this kid, it was so enjoyable. We didn't do it for time - though our time was 37:45 - not bad for his first timed 5k. I am so, so glad that Noah kept pestering me until I signed us up. I can't believe I would have missed this amazing opportunity to run with my son.

Of all the Sunbursts I've run, this was by far my best one. I am so glad that this year was our swan song. Perfect way to end. I love you Noah. You're the most awesome 7 year old I know!

Josie's end of preschool concert!

Another year down. Josie officially finished preschool...for good! I have such mixed emotions about this. It's nice to be done with another school year (for her - the boys still have a few more days), but this means she's officially a new kindergartner and I'm. Not. Ready.

 

Josie is so many things. She's smart, she's sassy, she's confident, she's outgoing, she's funny, she's independent...all things that tell me that, not only is she ready to move on to kindergarten, she's going to OWN it!

 

She had a really great year in preschool this year. Mrs. Monserez (her teacher) is my favorite. I have absolutely LOVED the preschool that we've had out here and am truly sad that Sammie will never get to go here. We also found out that this was Mrs. Monserez's last year. She's retiring and said that this class is very special to her because it's the last class she'll ever teach. I can't tell you how much Mrs. Monserez has meant to us (particularly to Noah - he still talks about her). Josie's grown and learned so much this year. I have loved watching her progress.

 

At the end of every school year, the kids perform in a little concert. Last year, Josie was the standout star performer and I was kicking myself because I recorded NONE of it. I made sure not to make that mistake again!

 

While, she wasn't quite as much of a standout as she was last year, she was definitely one of the most prepared and loudest and entertaining kids (I'm serious - you can hear her over most everyone in almost all of the songs). I posted the videos of each song at the bottom of the post. I realize that you probably won't watch them all, but you should watch one or two - they're pretty short and Josie's pretty entertaining!

 

Here's Josie getting her "diploma" from Mrs. Monserez.

Josie and Mrs. Monserez.

Sammie was totally entranced by the performance. Justin is trying to convince me that Sammie will be ready for preschool this fall but I'm not so sure. Once my baby (my BABY) starts school, there's no going back. I know it's totally selfish, but I'm just not ready to let her go yet!

Me and my girl after the show. Love this little ball of energy!

Justin and Jo.

First song: Sing, sing, sing:

Second song: Down by the Bay (this is one that Josie really loves - she's the loudest voice in this song - this one is one of my favorites):

Third song: Counting song:

Fourth song: Miss Mary Mack (her voice in this one is also the loudest - if you can hear it over the stick tapping):

Fifth song: Our Sticks (again, that loud voice - that's our Jo - she's also quite the hip shaker!):

Sixth song: Rain Song (she takes an interesting bow at the end of this one):

Seventh song: Rainbow Song:

Eighth song: Oh Mr. Golden Sun (I like this one, because all the kids are just belting it out, but you can still here Josie's voice over everyone else for most of the song. Plus it's cute!)

Ninth song: Musical Instrument song (Jo knows how to get down to the music of a maraca!):

Tenth song: Square Dancing! (And if there's one thing that Josie does better than singing her heart out, it's dancing her heart out!) *Also, I should mention that we're really glad that we had her wear leggings under her dress this year - her curtsey could use a little work.*:

Eleventh song: Can't catch the name of this one, but it's short:

Twelfth song: Skidamarink a dink:


So basically, I have the best girl around and I'm incredibly glad she's mine! I love everything about this little diva (even the things that frustrate me sometimes) and am so grateful to watch her perform. I look forward to watching many more concerts from this young lady in the future. So proud of my little preschool graduate. Next stop: KINDERGARTEN!!