more fires... this time close to boulder

happy day!

This is the view from our master bedroom.  I can see the mountains!!!  If you look hard you can see them in the distance! I was so happy I almost cried. 

Franci, our realtor, taking photos in the basement.  Sorry the pics are blurry. Franci is sending me the good photos.

Here the construction guy has a wheelbarrel in the house that he's filling with cement.  The cement is going through the house to pour the patio in the back.

Another blurry photo, but you can see the cement truck up front, the windows have been placed, and siding going up on the right side of the photo.  And of course, Erin, my trusty side kick. 

Erin and I had coffee and then Franci picked us up and took us to the house.  I was so excited to see how the house looked and the beautiful views.  It was very very warm!  Franci said, "Aren't you glad you chose to have air conditioning!!"  Yes, yes, I am.

Tonight, the ER is having a bridal shower for me.  It was supposed to be for both of us... and in reality it benefits both of us...but Jon is not here to attend with me.  =(  However, it will still be fun.  Another happy thing is that Jon is coming to visit this wk end!  With Verda and Nathan!!! Yay!!! I get to have my husband back.  =) 

More pictures!!! I love pictures!!! and lots of comments!!!

This is what I am doing right now...  drinking french press coffee and looking at colors for our house!!  There's orange, multiple shades of blue, green, and brown.  =)  The french press is great by the way. 

Tried to capture the fire place in the corner of the living room.  It's a little hard to see.

Look we have a ceiling and roof.  This is the living room where the higher ceiling will be.

This is looking from the living room into the kitchen.  On the left is the kitchen, the right is the garage.  In the middle you can see where the stairs for both up and down will be.  Further in is the powder room and the very back is the laundry.  If you look all the way in the back on the left you can see where the pantry will be.

This is looking from the living room up to the 2nd floor.

Another shot looking at the upstairs and the mid-section of the house.

garage ceiling (or extra bedrooms' floor)

looking in the garage

Looking from the garage into the laundry room and powder room.  Which leads to the kitchen.

Looking from laundry room towards patio door and living room.

Closer view of kitchen with pantry on left and laundry room and powder room on right.

Looking from entry way towards living room window on left, patio door center, and kitchen window on far right.

Entry way window that faces street

Back view of house

The view from my balcony at 1:30 am.  This is where I sit when I can't sleep at night.  This is the firestation. 

high park fire the view from loveland

more house photos

happy thoughts and a look at the past 12 months

Found out today that we do not have pay a lock fee to put in a 90 day lock on the current interest rate!  It is 3.5% right now by the way!  This is a definite answer to prayer...We have had multiple difficulties with getting a loan.  Our first loan officer seemed non-existent and then once we found the USDA loan--we found out we make too much.  We did not expect them to count Jon's GI bill money as income since it is non-taxable.  Apparently we are rich.  Anyway, the long and the short of it is that Jon quit school so that they wouldn't count his GI bill.  Jon is in KS with my family helping my Dad.  I see this as a definite perk since he can teach Jon lots of techniques and tricks that will come in handy with our new house. =)  Not that I don't miss him! 

I wonder if all the issues we had with the loan, were strictly to get Jon to KS.  Perhaps now that he is there, it will be smooth sailing on the rest of the loan and house??  We keep talking about all the interesting circumstances that took him to KS.  It seems that God has big plans for Jon and his time in KS.  I have been amazed at how calm I am with him being gone.  This is also a sign to me that this is a "God-Thing."  I had a rough day on Monday when he left, but have been doing well since then. 

This time apart has also given me time to process the last year and the whirlwind that rushed through it.  Started dating in July...
Finished my BSN program (well, at least the nursing part) in August...
Spent Sept in Minn (where Jon came to visit me--after we had been dating officially for 1.5 months)...
Went to visit my family in Oct over Matt and Andrea's wedding...
First holiday together in November...
Met his family in December at his cousin's wedding...
Got married in January at the justice of the peace with my parents present...
I turned 30 in February...
March we went to Israel and decided to build a house...
Visited Karen in April for our belated "pre"marriage counseling, and Jon bought a truck...
May we started building a house and visited my parents...
In June Jon moves to KS and I take charge nurse training, and we sign papers for the loan...

And that brings us up to date for my year!  So I have been spending an incredible amount of time thinking and processing since Jon left.  A luxury that I didn't have most of the last 12 months.  I have been taking a long look at our finances and what I want our next several years to look like.  This has brought some much needed long conversations with Jon, that have been relaxed and have brought relief to my somewhat worried mind.  I am sure there are others that start thinking the worse when there is no time to process events.  I would say that I tend to do that very quickly.  I guess my main concern now is that after we move into the house, that we continue our relaxed pace and thoughtfulness.