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On Monday 9/15/2008 we closed on our very first home. It was a long and stressful process to build our first home but in the end we think it was worth it. LEARNED A LOT. Tom says he is going to write a book...we'll see. :)

As soon as we signed the papers, Tom had to get on a flight to Minneapolis so I was all alone. Of course as soon as I got off of work I called my friend Natalie and we celebrated the new house.

This past week we have done nothing but paint. 2700 sq ft is a lot of painting. I guess we were a little over zealous, but in the end it will be all worth it.

Attached are the pictures of the completed house, I took these the day we closed. Once we are done painting and all moved in (The movers come this Friday) I will post more.

Hope to see a couple of you out here to see the house in person! We have plenty of room!!!!

Miss and love you all.
Gina & Tom (The happy, tired, sore but still excited new home owners)

Well it's pretty exciting right now. The house is looking amazing, walls painted, window sills, base boards, interior doors and cabinets are in. We also now are very aware of how large our front yard is. Tom is not looking forward to keeping it watered and mowed. The interior photos are pretty boring right now but the outside looks amazing.

The constuction project manager has a close date mid September. Tom and I will have 2 weeks to paint the whole inside of the house...we will be calling in a lot of favors and owing many of our dear friends plenty of food and booze, but I know it will be perfect.

Can't wait for everyone to come out and see it.

Construction is moving fast. Framing is complete, sheet rock is up, windows are in and now they are working on the roof. Tom and I had a chance to walk through the house and stand in our rooms. Granted there are no interior walls yet but it was still pretty amazing to be standing in our home for the first time.

Here are some pictures of of the house going up. Enjoy :)

Paperwork is done, options are finalized, permits have been acquired, and they have broke ground!!!

The foundation frame is up, and they have brought in tons of dirt to level everything out. Next step will be to lay out plumbing and electrical throughout and then the foundation can be poured. We are hoping this is done within the next 2-3 weeks so the framing can go up by the end of June.

Here are some pictures...as more gets done we will post!

And one more little tid bit, we got the unexpected news that the house will not be done October 1st but....September 1st!!! One less month for me to obsess and one less month for us to get everything in order before we move in!!!

So this past weekend Tom & I went to the Design Studio and picked out all the options for the house. From the outside Brick to the Kitchen Cabinets. Here are a couple of pictures of the options we chose. They should be breaking ground within the next couple of weeks, will post pictures as soon as they do.

As if our week could not get any better (our niece Peyton Grace was born on Sunday April 27, 2008, 7lbs. 4oz 20in long...Both Mom and Baby are doing great), our home loan was approved and every is a go. They will be submitting requests for the permits this week and Tom and I have to meet with the Design Studio to finalize all the upgrades to the house. We were told they should be starting with construction within the next 2 weeks. Generally the process takes about 24 weeks but since it is a one-story, we were told that it could be a little sooner. We estimate move in at the beginning of October. We will be posting pictures as the construction moves along.

It's amazing to think I will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner in our brand new house.

P.S. Here's a virtual tour of a model home of the exact house we bought. Click HERE

Happy 30th Birthday Gina!!

Well, we spent this past weekend in Vegas for Gina's birthday and had an awesome time!! Some of her closest friends joined us for the joyous occasion. We had her birthday dinner at ESPNZone (had her name displayed accross the ticker), went to her favorite Irish pub in New York, New York, called Nine Fine Irishmen, had some Irish Car Bombs at midnight, went to Studio 54 for some club action, hung out at the Flamingo pool, and of course did some gambling. I'll have to say that the funnest gambling moment was when we went to Imperial Palace and played some $5 Blackjack with a "Dealertainer", dressed as Freddie Mercury!! The dude was totally flaming, but he made it fun...I don't think I've ever been called "darling" or "love" so many times in a one-hour timeframe!! If you're ever in Vegas, and in the mood for some cheap table games and some entertainment at the same time, I highly recommend going to Imperial palace for at least an hour or so.

Anyway, when all was said in done, we had a blast, and Gina is finally "in her thirties". We took a bunch of pictures, and you can see a little slide show that Gina put together below. ENJOY!!!

Another fun year in Arizona was had by Gina and I at Spring Training!! We got in to Phoenix at around noon on a Thursday and 'wasted' no time gettin down to business (AKA FUN). We rented our mustang and went directly to our hotel in Scottsdale, checked in and walked over to Dos Gringos to start our weekend. The rest of the weekend explains itself in the pictures below!!

Peace, Out