Doggie Slippers

We are getting hardwood floors throughout our main level and thanks to RH January incentive of the month we received a huge huge discount on the floors!  Score!!  We maintain a shoe free zone home.  However, this will be our first home with hardwood floors and I became concerned about our pet dog, Harley, ruining the floors.  This is not a concern, of course, when you have carpet throughout.  So I decided he, along with everyone else, will continue wearing socks and he will have to start wearing doggie slippers.  He is going to be pissed, but it is going to be so much fun watching him adjust to them.  LOL I plan to begin training him now on the carpet so he can get used to wearing them.  Hopefully, he will have a minor adjustment to the hardwood floors when we move into our new home.  CMM asked to see pictures!  This is for you CMM!!  This is not Harley who is a Miniature Schnauzer!  I found this picture on the NET!  Thanks to Sgt. Rich, we also have the option to do a special dog nail trim called dremel work and he also directed me to this site called www.softpaws.com that provide these cute sealants for their nails.  Too cute!!  I think they are great for female dogs; but they do come in black or clear for male dogs.

Bad, Bad, Bad News!!

Yesterday was a horrible day!  We had a five o'clock appointment with our SR to finalize our selections/upgrades/customizations so that we can finally get a firm date on the schedule to break ground.  As soon as I arrived to the office, she broke the bad news.  First, paperwork we needed from CTI had not been returned.  Second, the Elevation E that I have had posted for over a week now has been withdrawn as an option for us to build!!  I was devastated!!!  This means, we have been pushed further out on the schedule to break ground and the elevation I fell in love with for our "forever home" is no longer an option.  I felt like somebody just punched me in my stomach!!!  My SR had written up a contract for another homeowner on Lot #14 who were waiting for the permit to return to start building the same elevation.  She was informed yesterday that the county would not approve the permit for Lot #14 because the permit had not been approved for Elevation E in our community even though it was on her selection list. She also informed me that it would take nearly 6-9 months before it even hits the county's desk for permit approval.  She told me she spent many hours back and forth on the phone with the county trying to resolve this conflict but the county would not budge.  These are the options she offered us:  purchase the elevation at another community (actually another state because other county's in Maryland are still waiting to be approved, wait until the permit is approved which means starting the loan approval process over or choose another elevation.  When we first submitted our purchase agreement, we were building Elevation C so it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we would continue to build Elevation C as our paperwork still suggests.  However, after being on these blogs and discovering Elevation E, I fell in love with it and was elated that we could build it.  So I am in recovery!!!!  In the meantime, we go back to the drawing board on Thursday when she returns to work to finalize our paperwork at which time I hope to hear some good news that we can proceed with building Elevation E which would be a MIRACLE or we will proceed with building Elevation C with a front porch and the shake siding.  Fingers crossed!!

Our Exterior

ROME
 Elevation E with Front Porch and Partial Stone Veneer Front
REVERSED FLOOR PLAN
(With Standard 2 Foot Bump Out Extension in the Loft)

Stone:  Aspen Fieldstone
Shake Siding:  Buff
Siding:  Sandy Tan
Trim/Garage:  Natural Almond
Shutters:  Brown
Front Door:  Carbon Copy
Shingles:  Black
Landscaping Package:  Included

In Love with ROME Model

Rome Kitchen

Rome Living/Dining Room

View of Kitchen/Morning/Living Room

Study/Office for Nadase

Upstairs Loft with 2 foot Extension
This will be our Library/Study Lounge

Huge Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom with Closet

View of the Basement

Another View of the Basement

This is a Rome I found with Elevation C -  Brick/Stone Exterior

To Rome with LOVE!

We are currently in the process of waiting for our custom requests to return to see which options will be approved to build our new dream home this week.  I have my selections/upgrades/customs waiting to share; but I must wait to get the approval for each of them.  In the meantime,  I was flipping through the paper and saw an advertisement for a ten day tour to Rome, Italy, which has visits to most of the major cities and the model homes that RH is building for their current signature series--Pisa, Sienna, Venice, Florence, Milan, Naples and Rome, of course!  I got so excited and suggested we pack our bags because the stress of waiting for the approval is over and let's celebrate!  Well, my husband reminded me of this beautiful home purchase and we must wait for our 13th anniversary trip to travel next year.  I already knew that, but decided to go for it anyway.  lol  We celebrate our anniversary every year out of the country, so this was absolutely okay with me after I had my two minute pout because building our new Rome Home is definitely more important to me.  So for a little fun...I decided to share this movie trailer which is the closest I will get to Rome, Italy, right now, until our anniversary trip.  By that time, we will be in our new home and free to do whatever we desire!  Woody Allen gave it a shot with his new movie--it's quirky and a bit amusing!  Check it out!

AT LAST.......

......OUR LOAN HAS BEEN APPROVED! our waiting days are over, because God has definitely come through.......#in our Beyonce singing voice to the lyrics of Etta James, At Last!

Our patience, perseverance, and passion for answered prayer is powerful!  GOD always says YES!!!  Much gratitude to those who shared words of encouragement and for holding the vision for us.  We are forever grateful for God, RH and our fellow bloggers!  It has been a long journey since February and the other blessing is that I was able to do lots of research and learned a great deal about the minor and major details of building a home.  Now engage me on sharing our first dance song from our wedding which fits perfectly for this occasion as well.  Let me also remind you that our Lot #28 is the same date we were married on--February 28, 2000.   WE ARE SO EXCITED!!