Meetings and more...

The past two days have been busy! Last night we met with Guardian to figure out our "home technology" options.  We felt like almost everything was completely overpriced and a lot of the things we could do ourselves down the road.  The only thing we decided to do for sure is to install cable outlets in the bedrooms. Since we haven't officially been approved by NVR yet, we were not required to make our final selections and put our deposit down, which made me really happy because we were able to come home and talk about everything instead of hashing things out in front of the rep.  We are also considering the alarm system, but we have also been looking at other companies to compare prices.  We are torn about having our great room cable installed over the fireplace or on a different wall.  The way the room is set up, I feel like it would be an awkward and confining room arrangement if it's over the fireplace. We may just have cable installed in both areas and make those decisions when the time comes to move in.

Today we had our pre-construction meeting.  It was very.....long.  It was informative and thorough though, and I really enjoyed meeting our project manager.  The best part was we were able to walk through a Sienna that is about to be finished in our neighborhood.  There are no Sienna models anywhere near us, so it has been really hard to visualize everything.  Before we signed our purchase agreement, we made arrangements with the sales rep to visit a Sienna that was already being lived in, but it's been so long now that we forgot what it was like! When we walked into the Sienna today I was VERY excited to see that they chose the same fireplace (absolute black) and cupboards (wyoming cherry bordeaux) with a very similar countertop and the same stainless steel appliances that we chose.  So it was almost like seeing what ours is going to look like! I had a smile on my face for at least an hour after leaving :)

We also went to our homesite with the project manager and everything has already been staked out! The house looks so small looking at it that way, but it was really exciting.  Now all we need is NVR to approve us...any day now! I would hate to think that everyone is putting so much time and energy into this if we are not going to get approved! Fingers crossed.....

Beginning our Build..

Our house-hunting process seriously began in September, with 8 months until our wedding.  In mid-October, we took a drive to the Ryan Homes model to "stop by and look around".  That quick walk-in turned out to be a 2-hour meeting where we began to look at prices, options, and lots.  After several weeks of talking, late-night discussions, arguing, and debating, we decided we were finally ready on November 17.  Since then:

November 20-signed purchase agreement
November 24-met with NVR mortgage rep
December 1-had flooring consultation meeting

We are building a Sienna and we have been OVERWHELMED with the options, choices, etc.  We've both lived in multiple apartments and both of us moved back to our parent's houses within the last two years to save money and prepare for this wedding/home-buying thing.  So, neither of us know a damn thing about houses, cabinets, carpets, lighting, countertops, or any of those other wonderful things that come along with building a house.  Hopefully we're making good decisions!