Are you thinking of starting your own Website or Hosting?

I don't have a lot of time, but I wanted to make sure that I shared this great deal. If you need hosting, I'm working on a deal with Hostgator! 

In the meantime, you can check out their plans:

(I use the baby plan)

Click here to go to HostGator

 

I've used hostgator for my websites and blogs and they have the best customer service around! :) I hope this helps! -Charissa

I can but should I? - Working on a Two Story Home

As you all know, I have a Venice.  (Love it!) 

It's much taller than my old house which looks like this:

Why do I show you this?

Because I use to do ALL the work on this place. (Then my husband came along and did some too)

At any rate, it gave me the mentality that I really can do all the house repair and anything I want to.

But should I?

Forward several years and some time in my New Home....

I can easily do things like painting the multiple bedrooms and getting in the attic (by the inside access instead of climbing on the roof)

Here's a photo of my girl's bedroom. :) Love it!  (By the way, Walmart sells this Glitter Gloss that is 100% worth the costs. It makes the room glow in sunlight)

We do more "repair" type things with this new home than the old home and ladders are a MUST.

With the high ceilings, even light changes need a little extra boost.

I found myself in contemplation when presented with the challenge that the upstairs dryer vent needs changed every couple months.

This requires a very LONG ladder and a lint grabber on a long stick.

It's the only problem I have with the upstairs laundry room, but it's a pretty big one.

If I twist the wrong way I plummet.  Even just climbing a ladder sometimes leaves me in weird positions while trying to get the lint out of the extra long dryer hose that is trapped between the walls of bedroom 4 and the laundry room (for some of you it's a closet).

This inevitably leaves me in need of my Wexford Chiropractor friend and a pack of ice.

As much as I love climbing ladders and fixing my own things.  The inside of a huge house is big and challenging enough.

There are so many things I still want to do so I feel that risking my back and my ankles and challenging my big ole' butt on and extension ladder is likely not the best idea.

It's time to do one of two things:

1. Build a deck so I can get to the vent without plummeting two stories (it will be just one)
2. Hire someone to do the work for me.

I think I'm going with #2.  For goodness sake, I pay the neighbor boy to come and pick up dog poop.  I certainly can hire someone to climb a ladder and get rid of lint for me.

What would you all do?

Do any of you face the crazy high upstairs laundry vent issue?

How do you handle it?

Another Fall in your Home.

As another Fall approaches, I am happy to have learned so much more about the online world and blogging.

My home had held up well and what is funny is that, although I love the house and location, I have already started dreaming of a bigger home in a warmer spot.

It's not that I don't like the Venice at all, it's just that I have started to really get serious about my blogging adventures and find a need for an office in a central location in the house.

Right now I have my office/guest room upstairs next to the kids bathroom and I barely am ever in it.

I do most of my online work on my couch, morning room table or on the floor next to the fireplace (like I am right now) because I'm a heat hoarder.

I love my fireplace.

If you are building a Ryan Home, or any home for that matter....get the fireplace.

I'll have to figure out where I got my fireplace blower too (I'll share that soon) so you can get one too.

I just bought one and popped it in and here I am enjoying it.

There are some Ryan Home models that have great layouts for office space and I know I've seen the Palmaro (I think that's the name) that is a larger home with a great layout for office space on the living floor.   It's a little more closed in though but the kitchen is in a central location so it's still really nice.

With my blogging now, I can see the benefit of a home that is less of an open floor plan just so you don't get attacked by drolling and grasping little one year olds who smell like poo. (Yes...I just got attacked)

Being able to work uninterrupted is kind of a commodity around here.

Do any of you guys out there have a home you love that allows you to work but still kind of be a part of the action?

I'm curious how you do it and what you thoughts are about an open floor plan with an office to the side or a closed floor plan altogether.

Thought?  Please share! :)

Have a great day!

(Ps...if you wanna check out my biggest online adventure:www.marikinavalley.com     Eventually I'll be writing more about the job killing program for those that are interested.

Beaver County Rental Home

Hi All! We now have our rental home for rent. If you know anyone in beaver county that is looking for a home. It's in a nice older neighborhood. I'll post more info here momentarily. The home is very close to I376 and in the middle of three great towns (Chippewa Township, Beaver, Beaver Falls) and very close to a lot of things but far enough away so you don't feel like you're in a city. Here's a link to some more details: http://houserentalbeaverfalls.blogspot.com/

Which site do I use to help me rent my rental home?

www.rentalhouses.com  is a great resource for any of you out there who need a quick and easy place to go to rent or find rental homes.
Using it, I have had great success in finding quality renters.
Finding them is only half of the battle though.

Make sure you update the photos and make sure your asking price is within reason compared to the competition.

RentalHouses.com (gold membership is what I do) is well worth the cost and it plasters your information everywhere.  If it's anything like last time, I'll have a surplus of interested renters even after I have rented the home.

One thing I highly recommend when renting a home too is to join ezlandlordforms.com and utilize their credit check/background check service.   I am very diligent when it comes to prospective tenants and this valuable service has helped me keep my rental home nice and my pocketbook secure.  I have not had any problems (knock on wood) with using this method.

Charging the potential renter upfront for the background check will also deter people who already know they have shady rental or credit history.  I charge it upfront and offer it as a deduction on their first month rent if they are approved.

If you all are thinking of renting out your old home and want some more advice, I'll be glad to share.  We have been really blessed in making the decision to keep our old home and rent it.

We have actually talked about renting our Ryan Home too and building out a new home somewhere else.  Actually, building a Ryan Home Venice in a different state and moving all of our stuff to the exact same spot.

The only reason we talk of moving is because we both like a little adventure and we are turned off by the fracking that seems to be taking over all over PA.

I'm curious if anyone else out there has had fracking pop up and disturb their sleep.  It hasn't happened in a while now but when it does happen, you notice.

I'm not a fan of allowing fracking sites right next to residential areas. My main issue is the loss of sleep and the lack of information that they supply the affected residents.

What are your thoughts?

Troy Polamalu Signed Steelers Jersey!!!

I just found a great sports memorabilia place that has this Troy Polamalu Signed Jersey and a bunch of other great signed items by the Steelers.

If you're out there in black and gold land and you are thinking about getting some great sports memorabilia for our Pittsburgh Steeler's fans, you should check these guys out!

I found this great coupon, but I have no idea how long it will last.

I hope this helps the Steeler's fans out there looking for Signed Steelers stuff!!

TAKE 10% OFF at Steiner Sports with code SPORTS10! You can even use it on the Franco Harris signed football they have! I need to get a sport room up in my house to put something like this in! I hope someone out there can use this code! Click here and it will take you to the site: TAKE 10% OFF at Steiner Sports with code SPORTS10! Ttyl

Loving my Morning Room and Renting Out Your Old Home

I was just talking to another blogger the other day (it might have been today!) about how much the morning room really makes my home.

I was super "lucky" when I built my Venice because I was able to build my home with the Morning Room included.

I'm not sure if I ended up having to pay more for other things or not during that time, but I don't feel like I lost any money.

I'm so eternally happy that I got the morning room instead of the finished basement option (because you can finish a basement on your own) for many reasons.  The main one being that the morning room addition added to our square footage and I just don't see where a finished basement would even compare to that.  We did finish our basement!!! (I shared some crappy photos in prior blog post)

I think once you make the decision to build a new home, or buy a new home, you just go with it. In Hindsight, there were a lot of things that I worried about while my home was being built, that I probably didn't need to worry about so much.

But, that time was a part of my homebuilding journey and it's the only way that I got here too right? Being in the home close to 4 years now, we do not regret our decision at all. Sure there are some things we wish we had more of, but for our first home build, this is a great house and in a great neighborhood.

There are a lot of people selling homes around us in this neighborhood and that has me wondering but, of the ones I know personally, they are job relocations or divorces.

I do wonder if they decided they didn't like their Ryan Home or not but the answer to that doesn't really matter because I do like my home.

Of all the homes I have ever lived in, My Venice is literally the most energy efficient. My bills are ridiculously low compared to other homes of the same or bigger size.

As a matter of a fact, my old home that I made a rental has higher bills than my new home!

Speaking of renting a home....remember when I made that decision?

For those of you out there wondering what to do with your own home, I HIGHLY recommend keeping it.

Why?

Well, for one, there is a report out there that less and less people are buying homes. Do you know what that means?

It means that you will likely have a harder time, than in the past, to sell your home.

It also means that if people are not buying homes, they are RENTING HOMES!!!!

This is great news and because of my decision to rent my old home rather than sell it, I have to do a little bit of work here and there BUT I am getting a home paid for on someone else's money.

Certainly I pay with my time in upkeep on the property and making sure my renter pays, however, I can't say enough about how awesome it is to have someone else putting down the cash to pay a mortgage on my first home.

I get to keep all that hard work I put into it and put some time in every now and then (which ..in case you didn't know doesn't cost money...time does not cost me money in this respect) and in the end, I own a home that holds it's value and even rises in value as the area around it builds up and as inflation happens.

It almost makes me want to sell my current Ryan Home, rent it out and then buy another.

I wouldn't make money on renting my Ryan Home right now though because I don't think that the renting price would match what the mortgage is.

BUT if you are thinking at all about renting out your old home, chances are pretty good that you can rent it for close to double what your monthly payments are on the mortgage.

I make about $400 a month on my old home and of course I put it back into the home for the water bill (which I pay) and the up keep and repairs/ city fees etc..

Think about when that home is paid off though!

I get even more money in my pocket.  

So it looks to me that my retirement is going to be awesome!!

I could probably push it up a little too if I get that old house and this new house paid off asap.

Seriously, consider renting homes out.

If you can get some older homes that will do for renting, you might want to do it.

They pay for themselves and gain value while it's being paid for on someone else's dollar.

I don't know why more people aren't told about or encouraged to rent homes.

I have a friend who hates renting because she always has bad renters, but I was smart and did background checks and credit checks.  (That doesn't always guarantee much of anything but it has helped me keep a pretty sound rental income going!)

I use landlord station to help me out with stuff in that realm.  I also used a legal site and another site to help with my listing.

If I remember, I'll make sure to share it on my next post.

Speaking of posts!!!

If you are out there building your own blogs and stuff and you're building out a blog like me, learn to monetize your site.  It's not much, but it's fun to watch the traffic of your site make a couple bucks here and there.

When I started, I had no clue the "power" behind building a blog.

You know, you always hear of people making money online, but I had no clue how much or HOW people did it.

You almost feel stupid when you find out but it's pretty awesome once you know how to do it and it makes it even more fun to blog!

Alright!!

WEll...it's time to go sleep away and get ready for a super productive tomorrow!

Have a great night my Blogger Friends!

Totally Off Topic But I have to share here because I know there are other mom's out there...

So this is going to be off topic from the Ryan Homes Blog but I feel like many of you, whom built your home around the same time I did, have something in common.  

Kids.

Having my second child and being my my Ryan Home was a fantastic idea.

Both of my girls have so much space and I can't emphasize enough how safe we feel with our kids playing in the yard in our neighborhood.

Everyone in our Ryan community kind of looks out for one another and we help each other out in the winter when PA decides to throw some crazy snow at us.

Some of us in the community have found that our slopped driveways maybe aren't the most ideal and others (me) have been inspired to just buy a new vehicle that just destroys any "driving in the snow" problems that might exist.

Last winter was a BEAST.

But..that' s not what I hopped on to talk about.

I want to share my pure joy and delight for the Ergo Baby Carrier.

Seriously.  I didn't have this thing with baby #1 and I swear my back paid for it.

But I have it for baby #2 and I have to tell you it's the best money in baby carriers I have ever spend.  Literally...it is.

I have bought almost every baby carrier there was out there.   I don't know how I missed this Ergo Carrier the first time around but I"m so glad I didn't miss it the second.

Right now, I have a snuggly little baby cuddled up to me and sleeping away and when I'm done typing here, I'll be able to easily slip out of my carrier and leave her to sleep in her bed for a couple of hours.

Aside from the close cuddly contact, my absolute FAVORITE FEATURE is one of the most simple things about it.

The Ergo Carrier has a little black cloth that you can pull up and snap to your shoulder straps.

The cloth covers the babies head and makes it almost completely dark.

THIS IS AWESOME!

I'm serious.

You have no idea how much I was just struggling to get this little baby bugger to take a nap and finally in a moment of desperation, I remembered this carrier.

I tried to put her on my back first but that just didn't work.  She got more calm but she wasn't going into a trance.

So I switched her to the front carry withe carrier (cause you can do both) and BAM!  in less than 5 minutes she was conked out and now here I'm typing about it.

Little black nap cloth covering her head and a little bundle between me and my computer...BUT at long LAST she is sleeping.

Once I realized I'd have some time after she feel asleep my pure joy and admiration for this baby carrier had to be shared.

Plus...if I let her get a little deeper into the sleep cycle while I rock back and forth and type this blogpost while standing at the kitchen counter (which I still love btw!)  then I might have a chance of having more freedom today than I planned. (Freedom in regards to more time to blog my butt away!)

So there you have it.

An "off topic" blog post about my Ergo baby carrier because it is literally one of the best investments (aside from my home of course) that I have made.

Now...if I could just lose a little more weight and look sexy with this little bundle like those skinny mamas!  ....then maybe I'd share a photo.

Haha!

I hope you have a great day!
-C

ps...My horrible weight loss story is n't so horrible anymore!  Boooyah!

It's Hard. Or is it? Look at all I've done...even if the photos kind of stink!

Ok.  I love taking photos and I know that I promised I would shoe some update photos since it's been a while.

While they are not the absolute best photos on Earth..they are still pretty cool so you can see some of the neat stuff that we've added to the house. :)

The biggest thing we want to do next is to add a deck (yeah I know...we still don't have one) but it's crazy to find a reliable and good deck builder in these parts!

So anyways...here I am just chilling in my house and I forgot to tell you guys that we finished the basement!  (real nice photos to come of course)

It took just under a year because we did all the work ourselves, but now we have the coolest storage closet, a built in "library" of sorts, a full bath in the basement and a family room that still needs some tender loving decoration and care.

I can't decide what to do paint wise and I still need to get to a point where I can keep up with my kids and their toys but I think the house is looking pretty good!  I'll share more photos of that too!

Silly me. Today I didn't have the right camera lens on so please forgive the "strange" photos.  I figured something is better than nothing!

Here you go!

So this is the what I did in the morning room.  I have no idea what to say about it other than sometimes I feel like it looks like a grandmother did it and other times I just love it and that's all that really counts.

Here's one of our living room: 

Clearly I have an obsession with trees...and my daughter loves Spongebob. 

Here you can see we are run by small minions.  (aka two children who are spoiled to death).  I spent a fair amount of time picking out this two paint colors and figuring out exactly what to do on this wall.

I don't mind a plainly painted wall but I couldn't stand the only thing on this wall being a television as the accent so I stepped outside of my lazy comfort zone and spent several hours making this wall look super duper.   I love this wall and it's my favorite by far in our Venice. 

I plan on doing something similar on the same wall that goes up the stairs but I'm no 100% committed to the idea yet. The baby stuff will eventually be gone and I'll be able to show you some photos of what I envision (not with baby toys all over the place).   The book shelf thing on the right will be gone to as eventually we will run wires to have the dvd player downstairs or it will be on a shelf that compliments the tree design.  That's my challenge right now.  I know what I want but I have to find a way to balance it into the design.

Once again, I apologize for the weird angles and such.  I didn't have my wide lens on the camera so it is what it is! :) 

I love the white against the neutral background.  It took a while to do, but I just absolutely love this wall.  Really, I've painted a lot of walls through the years and this one tops all of them!

Here's the basement...(part of it).  

This is the room in the basement that is towards the street in the  Venice.  These build in book shelves were made right against the stairwell and I'm standing in the basement bathroom to take the photo.

Check out some of the bathroom:

This is the downstairs basement bathroom that use to be a rough in!  Yay!  No more concrete walls!  :)   So...we saved a ton by doing it ourselves but it sure seems to have taken forever!  I'll make sure to take better photos once I get my wide lens out.

And last but not least, here's a shameless plug for this wonderful woman named Sheri that I met.  She makes these AWESOME Minion Gourmet Treats for kiddie parties and all sorts of things.  So if you love Minions (come on...I know you do!) and you or someone you know is thinking about having a minions themed party and is looking for minions party ideas, please share her information!  I know you won't be disappointed!  Here's a link to her site where you can order the minions or any other gourmet treats!  She totally customizes things so it's so exciting for me to share her little world with you guys!  I know I'm going to be buying a Corporate Holiday Gift Tray or something like that for the holidays because these are seriousely good gourmet goodies!  (I order the marshmallow/pretzel treats for kiddie parties but I get the gourmet chocolate/caramel choices (see her site) for the more adult based stuff).

Anyways!

I hope you like them if you order them! You'd be crazy not to!

http://www.pretzelcrazy.com/products/mindless-marshmallows

Tell her you found her through me too!  I would love her to know that I'm spreading the word and trying to get her little minion creations out there!  (She doesn't get the whole minion thing...but I do!)

:) 

Have a great day!  See you next time!

Beachbody Coach? Pay for my home with extra money on the internet? Is it possible?

So, after two kids I'm wondering if I should become a beachbody coach (well really..it's not if I should become one...I did it)  So I'm just starting out with that.

It should be interesting.  I'm already making extra money online   but I want to lose weight too and why not make money doing it right?

It's funny how much motivation you have to make a living from home when you learn there is a way using the internet.

If you think you would like to try BeachBody out too, you can join me for the next beach body challenge here: http://www.beachbodycoach.com/beachbodypittsburgh

I'm really excited to workout with beachbody and the Shakeology shakes have actually been kind of good for me.  I drink them with coffee each morning and I work on my little (soon to be big) business and off I go!

If you think you might actually be interested in doing the beachbody with me ( I have 30 lbs to lose) then make sure you let me know because I would love to know if you were one of my blogger friends!

So...you're probably dying to see my kids since I've moved in.

Remember that baby from all the Ryan Homes Venice Build Photos earlier in this blog?

Check here out now:

This is that little baby from when we were first building our Ryan Home near Pittsburgh!
Can you believe it?

Here she is last Fall. 

This is the new little baby.  She looks almost like that last one huh?
She's a stinker and we are so glad we built our Ryan Home Venice because
now both of our girls have a fantastic home and neighborhood to live in!


SO I really want to make sure that I get back into shape for these two cutie pies!  I'm using the beachbody traning because I was able to lost over 20 lbs in the past before I had kids and now I'm not much a beachbody success story....BUT  I just heard about a the new beachbody cize so I'm really excited about that because my oldest girl LOVES to dance so I'm hoping we can all do that together.

Have you gals that have had kids (or guys too I guess!) noticed that once you have kids it just seems so much harder to find time to workout and lose weight?

I hate it.  It makes me crazy but it's totally my fault. I haven't not tried the p90x from beach body but I hear it's really good.
The last time I lost wait it was with beachbody insanity but that is a really high impact exercise but the slim in 6 is a little too slow for me.  So I recently started the 21 day fix and I loved the little containers but then I got busy.

So now I'm trying the Focus T25.  I have no idea what to expect.  I'm just hoping to find SOMETHING. ANYTHING that will keep my interest long enough because honestly....I use to be a fitness coach and an endurance athlete. 

How can I let myself be out of shape?

I can't.
I just can't.
Not any more.

It's time to make a change and I'm hoping BeacbBody can help me out this second time around!




Of course now I owe you guys photos of our house. Don't worry. I'll make sure to do it soon. I've been so busy building out my other site that I forget what time of day or what day of the week it is sometimes!

Life is good!

Blogging and Enjoying My Ryan Home in PIttsburgh

One of the strangest things to me is the fact that so many people pop by and check out this blog.

I really have no idea why people like to listen to me blab about my house, but that's cool!  I understand.  I spent hours and hours and days and nights and more days and night (well..you get the idea)   watching my house being built and worrying to death if everything would turn out all right.

Well..I'm here to tell you it does.

Maybe you won't have the same journey though.  I'm very fortunate that I still have a husband and two beautiful babies here in my new (err...now almost new) Ryan Home.

Not everyone is so fortunate and I have to be aware of that and attentive to it so that I understand people overall a little better and tread lightly when pain enters their hearts or anger exits their mouths.

One of my neighbors built a house here in our Ryan home development and they got "the works".  A nice deck with stairs, granite counter tops, fireplace...etc.etc..   I remember thinking once that I would love to have what they had.....but then forward 2 or 3 years.

About a month ago, we were walking in our little neighborhood and this guy was moving all of his furniture out to another neighbor's home and selling every last thing he had in his perfect Ryan Home (A Venice just like mine).   He was a bit tipsy so we got the whole story...and it's such a sad one.

To make a long story short...His wife left.   To make it super sad.....She took the boy.  To make it righteous....He did something bad.

So...it all turned out like it should, however, that's not a happy Ryan Home anymore.  I just hope that the next family that moves into it is able to fix it and make it "smile" again.

The energy that it must have had to go through while fights and battles over things that don't matter were going on must be exhausting.

I'm so glad that the majority of my childhood was filled with turmoil so in a sense it is out of my life.  Kind of like I've paid my dues I guess.

So...unlike those neighbors, I have thoroughly enjoyed my Ryan Home Venice and I'm totally happy that we spend (borrowed) the money to be here.  Our daughters love this place and home ownership (although challenging to keep up with at times) is well worth it in the long run.

We are proud of what we do and we have something to work for every day of our lives and with my new adventure in Job Killing (more about that later), we are really making a great life story here!

I have painted the morning room, the living room and put decals in one of the bathrooms.  I have learned that I really really REALLY like trees.  (Perhaps it's a little influence by my husband's deceased mother)   Trees. Paisly and swirly things.  I don't know what it is...I just love them!

Alrighty!  Gotta run. I'll be sure to post some photos of the painted morning room and stuff in the future!

BEsT LOVE to you!

I've made money at home and finished my basement in the Venice!

Well...my quest to find a work at home job has really been super successful. Just the other morning I work up to $900 I wasn't expecting in my paypal bank and I thought...Man!

  I finally found it. I found the work at home gig that I was looking for. Each day since I've been taking the courses in this program have proven to be invaluable. I will NEVER regret the money I've spent or the time I've put into this because it is seriously the real deal. I'm so glad I wasn't afraid to jump in and give it a try...and even better than that, I'm really glad I ditched the whole Ipas2 thing and trusted these guys with their new courses.

  If you are at all interested in learning how to build your own business online and help your local businesses at the same time, message me or something and I'll be sure to give you a little more information. I never thought I'd be someone writing a post like this and I totally know how skeptical some of you may be reading it..but if you have followed my blog at all, you know that I don't ever just type crap and make stuff up. This is a real opportunity and I'm so blessed to have found it. Here is an interview they did of me: http://www.marikinavalley.com             

                          If you decide this is something you might like to try, make sure you go through me because I may be able to help you get a discount or a scholarship (depending on a phone interview) to join. I was on a scholarship and I'm so glad I was. I am forever grateful to this program and I can't wait to pay off my Ryan Home and spend more time in it! :) Here is an example of what I've done and something that is currently paying me while sitting on the couch or walking the dog really!  www.marikinavalley.com I can post anywhere!

Cool huh? I have some cool stuff I have to share...like the tree sillouettes I painted on the wall (the one w/ the fireplace) and the downstairs! We finished the basement and it makes such a HUGE difference! WE got our carpet from Home Depot on the roll (I really researched this and was going to go with a family owned carpet company but I couldn't get the same great quality of the home depot carpet without spending $1500 more .....I'm so glad I decided on the "cheap" stuff because honestly it is REALLY nice. We did buy the best pad we could and it really really is awesome now. We actually go down there now and just sit on the floor. We have one chair but the floor is more comfortable! I suppose I should make a house review soon since that's what this blog is about huh? Well, I hope you all are enjoying your homes and living the dream! I definitely am and I'm so excited for what the future holds! TTL!

A New Journey and on my way to pay for my Ryan Home!

Well, I know I've been gone for awhile! But I'm back and boy am I so excited!

 I have had a lot happen in the past year. I have even found a way to work from home so I can enjoy my home even more!

Here's what I've been up to: 1. Giving birth to my second daughter!
2. Getting Assaulted by a student. (not good but it drove me to do something different!)
3. Finding an awesome work at home opportunity. After really long day in teaching, I went home and cried. A student had assaulted me. A student changed my world in a way I never thought would have ever happened in teaching. It was one of those things that makes you want to leave teaching and find another career.
 As a matter of a fact, I spent WEEKS watching the job boards desperately trying to find a work at home job or any job for that matter. I did not want to leave my house and I just wanted to find a way to make money and support my family that was flexible and with a lot less stress! For the first time in my life, I was plagued by anxiety.
 Everywhere I went, I would feel anxious.
 Something about that day changed my life forever.
 I have had a lot of trails in my life, so I knew deep down somehow that I would get through it.

 You know what? I did!

 I am now on my way to a better future than I could possibly ever imagine.

 I am in a position to make money from home  and work hard at helping others recover from the ailments that life throws at you. No more feeling alone. No more being tired all the time! More time with my family and an internal happiness that I haven't felt in a while.

 I LOVE working now!

 I love the people I work with and I love the fact that I get to enjoy my Ryan Home while doing it! This house and this new job is by far the best decision I have ever made in life. The bad thing that happened was just something to drive me into a better life and I am so thankful for it!

 If you are in a place where you are looking for a new direction, please visit:....Ask me about it!

 I have found a different venture than what I originally posted and am making some great progress. I will definitely blog about it once I get thing up and running. No MLM or quick cash...it's a real business and I'm excited about it.

 I don't have time to type because I gotta get back on and get through my courses! I will share soon!

One Year Later, the things I did right and the things I'd change:

Well, we have been in our home for one year! Wow, does time go by fast! I decided that I would write on the things I love about our home and the things that I would change. let's start with the things that I would change so we can end the post with things I love and a good note:
 Things I would change:
 1. I would have not upgraded the carpet in the upstairs. Why? Because I really don't see much difference and I'm going to pay to have the upstairs and the downstairs flooring replaced within 5 years. Let's just say, even the upgraded carpet leaves much to be desired.

 2. I would have paid for the stone fireplace. I don't mind the standard but I still dream of the stone and it's going to be a task to alter the one I have. I can do it, but I cringe at how dry my hands are going to get with all the cement.

 3. I would have asked them to place an outlet on both sides of my kitchen island. It's amazing how many times I wish I had another outlet on the other end.

 4. Thermostat placement. It is currently smack dab in the middle of the wall that it is on. I had to decorate around it. That is just annoying.

 5. SWITCH for garage light INSIDE mudroom. It would be more convenient.

 6. Bannister? Maybe...I like the look and I occasionally would like that formality, however I do also like the extra wall to back my piano against. Even still, I think if I had gotten bannisters, I would not be wishing I had a half wall. I do like how my cat and dogs can be blocked out of the upstairs though.

 7. Add another basement window. I love light. I really would love another window or two in my basement.

 8. PAY for a deadlock sliding door or different type of walkout door for the basement. It makes me nervous that it is just a latch.

 9. Upgrade the master bathroom counter to granite. I don't mind the standard white, but I would love granite. But then again...I also like a lower mortgage.

 10. INSIST on better topsoil. Our yard is ridiculous. We have put a lot of time in it and we are actually treating it with something called Claymend. I feel that we shouldn't have to do this. The "topsoil" is a joke.

11. Upgrade trim. Can you upgrade to a real wood trim? The standard stuff we have seems to nick too easily.

 12. Paint the garage before hanging stuff up. I know it seems silly to paint a garage but I love aesthetically pleasing things. It's the first thing I see when I come home...I'm going to have to do some work to paint it now.

 13. Insist on seeing the new boxes from all the light bulbs. I know this sound crazy BUT I've had more lights than I care to count burn out just a couple months in the house. They are florescent and definitely shouldn't be doing that! They are not cheap to replace either.

 14. ADD A FRONT PORCH. I didn't realize how much I like to sit on our stoop. I would definitely love a front porch. It didn't come with our elevation but it should.

 15. BEG for the panel glass door to the basement. I've seen in it in other Venice models and still love it and wish I had it. If anyone knows where they come from, please let me know.

 16. UPGRADE the dishwasher. IT works...but that's about it. It's kind of noisy and it was already rusting on the racks! Fortunately we called GE before the 1 year warranty expired and they sent us new ones, but we know they will end up rusint too. It's just a bad design for a dishwasher.

 17. INSIST on a hose bib on the FRONT of the house and not in the garage. It is just annoying to have to juggle a hose through cars. We ended up moving our ourself. It would have been nice if it was already done. We did utilize the old hose bib for a utility sink though....so that's nice.

 Things I would KEEP:

 1. I LOVE the recessed lighting in my kitchen. LOVE IT.

 2. Morning room. I would hate this house without it. I LOVE IT!

 3. Upgrade tile in master bath. It just looks and feels better.

 4. WAIT to paint until after my 10month/year inspection. This was a wise choice on my part. When they came to do all the little fixes, Ryan Homes easily painted them for me too. A neighbor of mine had to paint the fixes herself because she had already painted.

 5. Pay for a basement window. The benefit of this is indescribable.

 6. Upstairs Laundry room. It makes my life so easy and I love it.

 7. Pay for garage door opener. I like that we have never had to mess with this. I know we could have done it or hired someone, but I like that from DAY ONE we were able to get in and out with ease.

 8. Cottage Elevation. I love the way my house looks. I adore the brick and I think it will stay in "style" for a long time. I love stone and originally wanted it but didn't want to pay the extra. I'm glad we have the brick because I'm still happy with the money saved and the way the house looks. I LOVE the cedar vinyl siding on the face of the house. The flower box allows me to do a lot of creative things to give the house character too. I think it is much better than just plain siding (no offense).

 9. Placement of fireplace. I'm on and off about this, but when I have my deck, I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it. Our fireplace is on the opposite wall of the kitchen. The furniture placement is a little more challenging than if it were on the side wall, however I know I can deal with that and would be more annoyed if it was taking up deck space.

 10. VENICE house. I think that the venice is awesome. Sometimes I think I want a different model but then I always find something that turns me off. For instance, most other houses may have more rooms on the first floor or a beautiful foyer (like the Victoria Falls) BUT the size of the bedrooms are much less than the ones I have. I think the Venice is perfect for families who need space and don't mind that they don't have the "WOW!" facter upon entering the front door. The Vitoria Falls is a beautiful house with an amazing foyer and 1st floor layout upon entering. The Venice is more practical and utilizes every and all nooks and corners. I like that. Now wasted space. 9. Using Ryan Homes. I think Ryan Homes is great for a first time home buyer building a new home. The customer service has been exceptional in the sales office and from NVR for the 10 month check. Everything I asked to be adjusted, fixed and/or changed has been done in superfast time. I really appreciate that and I really appreciate the opportunity to have issues addressed close to a year after owning my home.

 10. Building in a subdivision. Although you run into a few grouches here and there or someone who knows everything about everyone, I really like the diversity and safety provided by a subdivision. When I enter my little development, I immediately feel safe and at home. Neighbors look out for each other and invite one another to little picnics and get togethers. I like seeing kids play in the front yards or selling lemonade down the street. I like a "Hey" or a wave from a passerby.

 So there you go. For us, it was the best decision of our life to build this home. Everyday we feel good about working hard for this house purchase. It is exactly the house of our dreams and we would definitely do it all over again if we had to....with maybe a little better topsoil. :)

 (Update/// One thing I did super super right!  It's right here: www.marikinavalley.com!  Not an mlm.  Just a super awesome way to take courses and learn how to stay at home or make extra income.  It's killer!

My little neighborhood is growing!

Well...I still have a lot of photo catching up to do! I attended a very nice Easter block party today and was pleasantly surprised to see that we have no shortage of kids in this new place we call home! Wow! There must have been at least 75 kids or more! I got to meet a lot of neighbors but I'll be happier to stand around and talk when the weather gets warmer. Can you believe how cold it is lately? Here's a little sneak peek of what's been going on since we built. My house is the venice on the left.

153 days and Coyotes in the woods!

Wow!  Can you believe we've been in for that much time?  We've had a lot go on with moving in and the holidays.  I look forward to taking some photos and sharing updates (probably in another month or two!) in the future.  We've had a few issues that still need resolved.  Rusmur flooring, which Ryan is using in our area, is on our s@*t list.  We will NEVER pay for them to do anything.  To make a long story as short as possible for now, they screwed up our tile in the master bath, some of it popped off, they fixed it, some of it cracked, they fixed it, some of it popped off again....etc. etc.  It's been a miniature nightmare.  Ryan Homes annoyed us by not putting the hammer down on the company the first time so we are 153 days in and we still do not have a complete bathroom.  I'll explain more and share photos once the whole thing is resolved.  Ryan Homes is coming in tomorrow to do the "final" repair.   Other than that.  WE LOVE our home.   We couldn't ask for a better view from our morning room and our bills are awesome!  We have over 1500 more square feet than our last home and pay less in our utilities.  You've gotta love that!  On a side note:  We have coyotes!!!  It's creepy when they howl at night.  We are definitely going to get a fence to protect our human and furry babies.  We also are happy to see the lot next to us being built! Yahoo!  If I remember correctly her name is Felicia??and his is Dale or Don....or maybe I don't remember at all.  At any rate, they seem pretty cool and have two little ones.  I'm excited!

Some Photos of the Chaos!

Photos of the chaos! Well!  We've been in a month and I feel like I've been on a roller coaster ride.  With teaching starting up again, my photography business busy with weddings and senior portraits, my daughter's new swim lessons (for babies), and oh...I don't know..MOVING INTO MY NEW HOME!!!! ...things have been chaotic.  So....here is some of what we have accomplished in the short month since closing.

Mums the word!  At $30.00 for an awesome looking flower box...I couldn't resist!  The lawn is thanks to my AWESOME husband!  For one month of growth from seed...it's pretty spectacular.  :)

The "formal" dining room.  We are making it into a study/piano room.  That photo has to be hung up and those boxes gone...but I'm liking it so far.  Maybe throw in an nice area rug on top.

My mother's contribution to the home.  Kaylee's bathroom.

I found some great bath photos that matched!

Rug just inside the front door.  Sorry!  I just didn't feel like rearranging the photos.  I'm TOO BUSY!

Kaylee's Sleeping room.  Yes...she has two rooms!  The rocking chair that goes in that corner is currently in my messy office.

The area that receives the LEAST amount of attention...but we did manage to get a painting and the ceiling fan up.

Master Bath...with a little mess and a paint swatch. 

"Hallway"

Family Room.  We splurged and got a plasma.  Dustin built the cool frame that we will stain or paint at some point.  Love it!

New AWESOME table from Sheely's.  Couldn't beat the deal on this so I got that too. 

Here is the bed that my Aunt bought us for the guest/playroom.  It needs some nightstands and definitely a different bedskirt color...but I like the price of FREE....so this is how it will stay for now.  Oh yeah..and all the blinds you see....that's my aunt.  She showed up like a tornado of blinds...came while I was at work and finished then whisked away to do something else.  I don't even know how to begin to thank her.  Now...I just have to think of window treatments....not privacy.  That's AWESOME!

Another view of the playroom.  I love the owl paintings.  Another Ross bargain.

Hallway decor.  Can you tell I love nature?

 So that's all for now.  The other rooms are too scary messy to share...but I will get around to decorating them and sharing that too.  In the meantime...check out these flower shots that I took at our old house.  I'm thinking of blowing two of them up and putting them in our stairwell:

I promise I will be back! I have a loan question to!

So, I finally figured out why people disappear after their closing.  BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!  If I could pay Ryan Homes to add more time to the day when I purchased the house....I would have done it without a second thought.  We have our garage cleared out (read...basement stuffed) and our lawn looks AWESOME (thanks to husband).  Our neighbors are jealous....but we water it like we're suppose to.  My flowerbox kicks some major butt and some of my decorations are rockin' out the house.  I've found some great decorative steals at Ross Discount store and Marshall's.  Just wait till you see the photos!  I will be back soon....I promise.   OH...and on a "What the crap!" note.  NVR sold the loan to PennyMac and my first payment is still due at the same time BUT the 30 years begins in October NOT in August when we signed.  I could have sworn I paid the first two months mortgage payments so I was not expecting this.  I also paid interest for at least the month of August to September.....so why was I paying interest?  And what was I paying it on?  If my loan doesn't start until October......what's the deal?  Any thoughts?  Ideas?  Please share!

Busy! And an uexpected rental snafu.

So...I've been so busy getting my old home ready to rent that I just literally haven't had time.  I'm sneaking in a minute here to blow of some steam.  My husband and I have been working extremely late to get our old home ready for a renter that we found early on in the game.  We were excited because they fit in the old neighborhood and seemed like they were a good choice.  They got us the security deposit and first months rent quickly and the only thing left to do was to have both of their signatures on the lease (we had one), copy their photo ids,  and give them the keys.

Our appointment was for yesterday at 5pm.  I waited and waited....and I'm still waiting.  They didn't return my call or email inquiry.  They've just completely disappeared. It is so strange!!

Part of me is pissed that they left me hanging and the other part is worried.  Are they even still alive? 

So...I've reposted my home and I am looking for a renter again.  I will return the money to their company that paid me for their home minus the costs associated with them after I find a replacement renter.  Right now, one of them is responsible for a year of rent.  He's not out anything though because his company was the one footing the bill.  I've got an email in to the company to try and solve the mystery.  I'm not out any money but I'm annoyed that I'm not being kept informed.  Did he lose his job?  Is he in the hospital?  Was he arrested?  Is his family ok?  Did someone die?  Is he up to something sneaky?  So many questions....

I guess it's good that this all happened now!  So...lesson learned....renting is NOT a smooth ride.

WTF? Electricity Theft.

Ok...so normally I'm not a swearing pissed off person but today I was almost there.  The new home across the street has many contractors coming and going and they all decided it must be alright to use my electricity.  WTF?   REally?    I carried their cord out of my outlet, across my yard and asked who was paying for the electricity.  I had been gone about 2 hours so I have no idea how long they were stealing from me. What really made me pissed was that they lied to me.  When I confronted them, the one guy told me that they didn't know anyone was living there.  REALLY?  You didn't see me this morning with my daughter?  You didn't see the flowers on the front stoop?  You didn't see the flowers right in your face on the lamp post?  And the kicker:   (Wait for it...Wait for it)....REally?  You REALLY didn't see that little decorative gnome with his little decorative bird friend sitting on my front stoop RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE OUTLET that you moved to get to it?   REally?  You didn't see that?  Stop lying to me and giving me your excuses.  Man up and apologize and then compensate me.  Ok...whew.  See...I told you I was a little pissed.  The guy then proceeded to tell me that he thought it was ok since the Amish guys were doing it.  Ok...so now there's more than one guy doing it and that makes it ok for everyone else to do it. GROW UP.  Then when I asked him about the figurines and the obvious signs of life, he just pointed to this poor young kid who was obviously learning and said:  "He did it, he's new.".    Wow.   Wow.  Wow.    WTF?

Here is what I did:
1. Called the SR.
2. Called my husband who wanted me to call the police for  theft.
3. Emailed the PM.
4. Called the sub contractor who consequently told me they've never had anyone make a big deal about it.  Really?  People have no problem just paying for electricity that they don't use?  I find that hard to believe.  I need to find these people and have them pay for my electricity.  I don't have a problem if you pay for it and use it but, unless you ask......and I say yes, please don't take it from me.


Here is what happened:
The PM, who did not know about it, said that they will pay for half of my first month's electric. 

Here's how I feel:

Better.  Ok.  That's more than fair and I appreciate that type of customer service.  At the very least I just wanted them to pay for what they used but how in the heck am I suppose to figure that out?  We'd have to rely on the subcontractor who already lied to me.

So....THANK YOU RYAN HOMES for making a wrong situation right once again.  You continue to impress me with your customer satisfaction and concern for your Ryan Home owners.  :)  Crisis Averted.

Oh..and on a side note and a little bit funny:  I met one of my neighbors who proceeded to tell me that there was a crazy blogger in the neighborhood.   Uhmmm....Could it be?   I'm still trying to figure out what I should say next.  I hope you all would let me know if I've ever been too nuts.  I'm relying on your sanity to keep me straight. :)  My mother told me that she thought my information about Dustin's credit score was a little bit much....then I proceeded to tell her that the whole reason we have a house right now is because of that willingness to share.  Without my blog and your replies, I would have never known how to fix his score so quickly.  Ahh...I love my little virtual world.  Much love to you all!  Now...back to moving in and getting the insane amount of stuff I have in it's new place.  Too bad blog land can't come and help me move, decorate, landscape...etc...etc.   :)

FINAL WALK THROUGH!!!!!!! AHHHH! So CLOSE!

Love!  What a fantastic day!  Here are the shots of our final walk through.   There are some things that will be completed before we close but MAN...does it look good right now or what?

My first real mailbox on a post!

Landscaping! Dustin wants the address plate to be a little nicer so he might fix it so the brick looks continuous just above it right after we move in. 

Awesome Garage Light.  Reminds me of Colorado.

Our PM explaining the ins and outs of our fireplace to Dustin.

Entry Door

Dining Room

Going up!

Master Bed

Master Bath...with a PERFECT tub!

I love all the light!

I think I'm coming straight here after we close.

NO wait.....maybe I'll just do it now!  Like my sandal tan?

Master Bed again

Master Closet

View out of the Walk-in Closet

Upstairs Laundry Room!

Attic access with some foam that will be trimmed.  No Attic light.  No Problem. :P

Kaylee's little room!

Kaylee's Big Room...maybe a bedroom maybe the playroom?

Another view of the big one.

And another.

View from the side window of the big room.

My opinion on my PM and SR and the whole Ryan process.

Kaylee's Bath

Kaylee's  Bath Floor

Soon to be Photo extravaganza room. Where the magic happens.

A view from the magic room.

Upstairs Hallway

Upstairs hall the other way.

Looking down stairs

Banister!

Powder Room!

Family Room!

Close up of Fire Mantel detail.

Kitchen!  That's my PM catching up on calls. 

Entry light!

The chandelier from the formal dining room being used as our temporary morning room light until we get a ceiling fan...which might not be until next year....cause I kind of like this.

The biggest issue we found that will be replaced completely.  They think a touch up painter must have dropped something on it from high above.

So Pretty!

My first Disposal!

Gas Range.

We decided that we are going to get molding.  Our PM is going to see what it will cost for him to order from his guy.  It shouldn't be too much because we won't need too much.  Then my husband will put it up.......To be continued.... :)

I forgot to take photos of the AWESOME brick work they did to fix that basement window for me.  I was so happy I had to stand and stare at it for a few moments.  It exceeded my expectations and that makes me giddy. :)  More photos to come next week...but for now...I'm going to breathe a sigh of relief that we are ALMOST at the finish line, relax and enjoy the rest of this wonderful day.