Stupendous SUNday!

Yesterday was such a great day! The sun was out, and we had such a fun agenda for the entire day. We started the morning at church, honoring Palm Sunday. Noah was even chosen to be one of the people to walk down the aisle twirling a ribbon in celebration. He did a good job, and I told him he was a very manly ribbon twirler.

After mass we can home and had a quick snack before heading to our next stop, Cabela's. Noah had a gift card to spend there and got lots of fishing stuff and some bow-hunting gloves. I even got myself a new hat! I really wanted to take home a moose, but I guess they aren't for sale. Hah.

As we continued heading south, we stopped in Maple Grove to have some lunch at Olive Garden. MMMmmmm. We filled our bellies and ventured on out. Oh! While at the Garden, I received the news that Nicole had her baby boy! YAY! I'm so excited for her and Ben; they will be amazing parents! Congrats to them!

We arrived downtown mpls with some time to spare before the Suns game, so we checked out Target Field--

It was awesome! I'm so excited to cheer on the Twins this summer in their new home! Here we are in the golden glove--

It was almost time for the doors to open at the Target Center, so we headed up for the game. I was so excited to see my Suns again! I think it's so funny at the Timberwolves games, when there are more Suns jerseys in the crowd than Wolves. Hehe. That's what they get for being a crappy team! They had lost 15 games in a row...would tonight make 16?

We made our way down down down to our awesome seats. Here was our view--

We were even closer than last year! It was a great game, and of course the Suns won. The Wolves had a comeback that made me a bit nervous, but I knew in the end the Suns would take them down. We had lots of fun, and I can't wait to see them again next year! It's gonna be tough to get any closer, but I will try!

Oh Let the SUN-Shine In!!

In three short days I will finally be sitting here:

Eating a hot dog and watching my Suns beat up on the Wolves. I feel like we've had these tickets forever, and I can't believe the weekend is almost here! Now my only dilemma is deciding which Steve Nash jersey to wear. Orange 0r white? Big decision!

UPDATE: An hour after posting this blog I received my NBA top 5 video email. Who was the feature in one of the videos? Steven J. Nash, of course. Top 10 assists, he's ridiculous.

Attack of the Cookie Cutter Houses

Over the past couple weekends, Noah and I toured many houses in the Parade of Homes. I believe we hit 9 different houses, 7 in St. Cloud, and 2 in Buffalo. We went to the houses in Buffalo the first weekend, and had a blast. We got many different ideas, and were so excited to see the St. Cloud ones the following weekend. My excitement was quickly squadooshed.

These houses were horrible! Everything used was builder's grade, and looked like it would fall apart with the touch of a finger. They were, of course, in these huge developments where the only thing that sets your house apart is the number. Sad! I can't believe the prices on them. I feel sorry for anybody who thinks these houses are actually worth that price.

I know not everybody is as lucky as us and can build a custom home, but I highly highly highly (yes, that highly) suggest to anybody looking to buy a house to consider building their own. If not, at least choose a house with some personality and high grade construction! Now, I'm not saying to go buy some huge fancy $500,000 house. But you get the idea. Don't fall for the trap. If you do want to buy one of these cookie cutter houses, please be smart enough to completely low-ball them, for most of these houses aren't worth near what they're asking.

Ok, sorry, I just had to get that off my mind. Oh, and yes, there was one house in St. Cloud that was awesome. And yes, it cost $550,000. But it rocked. Oh, and it was actually in St. Augusta.

The end.

PS- I think we picked our house color...SW Mega Greige. At least that's the choice for this week, I'm sure it will change :)

Blow your Trumpet...

We have made a decision. Like, for real. A decision 4 months in the making. And the final answer is...

Silestone quartz countertops! Wahoooo! We originally went back and forth between granite and quartz. Then we were going between HD laminate and quartz. Well, the common denominator in both scenarios was the quartz, so there you have it! I am probably way more excited than I should be, but a decision made now is one that can be wiped from my boggled, overstuffed mind. We even have a color picked out (Sienna Ridge). Yay us!!

Now on to picking out our final Hardiplank color...argh.

Hi...it's me, laura!!

After over a month of a blogging hiatus, I have returned. We have been super duper busy lately, but hopefully now I should have more time on my hands. I believe this is turning into a house building blog, as we pretty much do nothing else. Here are some of the things we have been up to...

-We had the land surveyed, and found that we will have 17.4 acres. We are so lucky! Don met with the lawyer, and we are in the works of getting our names on the deed.

-We met with our builder on Friday night and got our final cost estimate. I was so nervous! It turned out okay, and with some cuts here and there, I think we can make it work! Step by step we are getting closer to our dream home!

-We spent some time on Sunday afternoon touring a few homes on the Parade of Homes tour. We got some great ideas, and found out that we both agree on what we like and don't like. That will make it much easier once it's time to make our final choices! I am already looking forward to next weekend so we can see some more!

-I spent a lot of time looking at appliances yesterday, and have made our final (well final for now) choices on our fridge, range, micro, and DW. I'm still working on washer and dryer...two things I know nothing about, so will have to do lots and lots of research!

-We are waiting to get the material list from the lumberyard, and need to get the sworn construction statement to the bank before we can move along in the banking process. Once that happens, the fun will begin! At least I HOPE it's FUN!

It has been really stressful, but it will all be worth it in the end. I don't know exactly what the future holds, but I do know one thing...we're going to have a painting party, and would love help from anyone!! Food, drinks, music, and laughs will be supplied!!